"No other American religious body has had quite the same military experience as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS). No other American religion has fielded uniquely religious armies and supported military intervention in the same ways and to the same degree that Mormons have. LDS Church doctrine and practice has always renounced war, but simultaneously, these tenets also espouse military service under certain conditions. During most American conflicts LDS church leaders have supported military service ...
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"No other American religious body has had quite the same military experience as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS). No other American religion has fielded uniquely religious armies and supported military intervention in the same ways and to the same degree that Mormons have. LDS Church doctrine and practice has always renounced war, but simultaneously, these tenets also espouse military service under certain conditions. During most American conflicts LDS church leaders have supported military service obligations as a matter of policy and also adapted church practices and policies to support national objectives. Yet on occasion the official church has also strongly opposed military policy when it was a moral issue, the most recent being in 1981 with the MX Missile basing plan. This is the first book to present a historical overview of the Mormon military experience. It is also a story about changing loyalties over time: as the LDS Church transformed from a personalist religious movement to one that has mainstreamed into American religious and political life, Mormons have moved from battling the US military to serving with distinction in it"--
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