1930-03-10—Brooklyn Eagle—Mormon Elders Score Divorce and Stimulants
Mormon Elders Score Divorce and Stimulants
- Brooklyn Eagle, March 10, 1930, p. 6
Mormon Elders Score Divorce and Stimulants
President Grant and Elder Ballard Offer Tenets to Solve U. S. Problems
Heber J. Grant, president and highest official of the Church of the Latter Day Saints, and Melvin J. Ballard, one of its 12 apostles and a former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, offered the tenets of the Mormon faith yesterday as a solution of a number of present-day problems, at the services held at the Mormon Chapel, 273 Gates Ave.
The stand taken by Henry Ford in regard to the use of stimulants was approved by both elders. Mr. Grant condemned the use of tobacco in line with the prohibitions of the Mormon "Word of Wisdom." which specifically forbids the use of tobacco, alcoholic liquors, tea or coffee.
Mr. Ballar discussed the prevalence of divorce in the United States. The Mormon divorce rate, he said, is only one-fifth that of the country as a whole.
"Marriage is the foundation of church and state," he said, "and when the institution loses stability, the nation stumbles and church declines.
"The low rate of divorce among Mormons is due to the fact that Mormon marriage is contracted not for this world alone but for the hereafter, and is as a consequence more sacred."
He praised the efficiency of the Mormon system of community economics, whereby the upkeep of the church and the care of the poor is made safe by a system of regular tithes.
