-- January 1965
[N]ationally prominent Mormon journalist Jack Anderson was reporting that the First Presidency was exasperated with Reed Benson's role as his father's surrogate for the Birch Society.
In response to an inquiry by a Mormon Bircher about this allegation, Clare Middlemiss replied that "neither Elder Ezra Taft Benson of the Council of the Twelve nor his son, Reed Benson, have been rebuked by the church." Barely concealing her own pro-Birch sentiments, the church president's longtime personal secretary added: "Reed Benson, a member of the church in good standing, used his own intelligence and free agency in accepting his position with the John Birch Society." The Mormon Bircher almost immediately released this endorsement to the press. (1)
-- 15 Jan 1965
Reed Benson ... published full page ads in Idaho of Apostle Benson's endorsement of the Birch Society. (2)
-- 23 Feb 1965
"All of us are one hundred percent against Communism in all its phases," [Hugh B.] Brown wrote in February 1965, "but the leaders of the Church are not convinced that any conspiracy exists within our own country." (3)
-- 7 Mar 1965
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) [called] for a prayer march in Salt Lake City "to ask the LDS Church to use their influence for moral justice in regards to civil rights." (4)
-- April 1965
In Church general conference in April 1965, he warned, "To have been on the wrong side of the freedom issue during the war in heaven meant eternal damnation. How then can Latter-day Saints expect to be on the wrong side in this life and escape the eternal consequences?" (5)
What are we doing to fight it? <Before I left for Europe I warned how the communists were using the civil rights movement to promote revolution and eventual takeover of this country. When are we going to wake up? What do you know about the dangerous civil rights agitation in Mississippi! do you fear the destruction of all vestiges of state government?
Now brethren, the Lord never promised there would not be traitors in the Church. We have the ignorant, the sleepy and the deceived who provide temptations and avenues of apostasy for the unwary and the unfaithful, but we have a prophet at our head and he has spoken. Now what are we going to do about it?>
Do Homework
Brethren, if we had done our homework and were faithful we could step forward at this time and help save this country.
Note: the words in angled brackets (<>) were omitted in the Improvement Era. (6)
-- April 4, 1965
"Benson linked the civil rights movement to Communists and made vague insinuations about "traitors in the church." Last month the NAACP protested the Mormons' failure to endorse civil rights legislation by picketing the church headquarters wile the Utah Legislature was in session. [Hugh B. Browns pro-civil rights statement] was contradicted at this month's conference [by] Ezra Taft Benson, an apostle of the church. ... "Before I left for Europe, I warned how the Communists were using the civil rights movement to promote revolution and eventual takeover of this country. When are we going to wake up? ... Do you fear the destruction of all vestiges of State government? Now, brethern, the Lord has never promised there would not be traitors in the church. We have the ignorant, the sleepy, and the deceived who provide temptations and avenues of apostasy for the unwray and the unfaithful." (7)
-- April 7, 1965
Departing from his prepared text, Elder Benson ... referred to the fight against communism as "the war in heaven now raging on the earth." ... Elder Benson detailed the various arguments which he said Satan is using in a effort to blunt the fight against communism. ... "The Lord may not set up a specific program to fight for freedom for fear it might split the Church." (8)
-- 7 Apr 1965
While in Utah for general conference, Ezra Taft Benson ... complained to BYU's president that "many of our political science and economics teachers are teaching false doctrine." This was a month after the Provo "section leader" of the John Birch Society began receiving reports from a Birch student majoring in economics about his "covert surveillance" of BYU's "liberal professors," including professor Richard D. Poll. BYU's Wilkinson concluded that Apostle Benson had received this information through his son Reed. Wilkinson was ... receiving separate reports from this same BYU-Birch student about Poll. (9)
-- 12 Apr 1965
[Regarding] Benson's April 1965 conference talk... One LDS student wrote a letter to the Utah Chronicle that Benson "told a damned lie" when he instructed LDS general conference that Communists controlled the NAACP. (10)
-- 13 Apr 1965
Asked about Benson's [April 1965] talk, [Hugh B.] Brown replied "tartly" to reporters that the apostle "speaks strictly for himself. My statement is the official Church position. It was personally approved by President McKay . . ." (11)
Endnotes:
1 - Anderson, "Reed Benson Spreads Birch Gospel"; Clare Middlemiss to Kent Brennan (ca. 20 Jan. 1965), quoted in Anderson, "Church and Birch In Utah," 14; also published in "No Church Rebuke Given to Bensons," Spokane Daily Chronicle, and reprinted by the Salt Lake City Citizens Information Committee, Comments and Corrections, No. 3 (15 Jan. 1968): 8, which inaccurately dates the Chronicle article as 15 January 1965, three days before Brennan's original letter to McKay. These are referenced in in D. Michael Quinn, "Ezra Taft Benson and Mormon Political Conflicts", Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 26:2 (Summer 1992) and Quinn, The Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power Salt Lake City (Signature Books, 1994), Chapter 3
2 - Jack Anderson, "Reed Benson Spreads Birch Gospel," Washington Post, 15 Jan. 1965, B-13 -- as referenced in D. Michael Quinn, "Ezra Taft Benson and Mormon Political Conflicts", Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 26:2 (Summer 1992) and Quinn, The Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power Salt Lake City (Signature Books, 1994), Chapter 3
3 - Brown to Mrs. W. E. Daddow, 23 Feb. 1965, LDS archives, photocopy in my possession -- as referenced in D. Michael Quinn, "Ezra Taft Benson and Mormon Political Conflicts", Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 26:2 (Summer 1992) and Quinn, The Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power Salt Lake City (Signature Books, 1994), Chapter 3
4 - "NAACP Calls March for LDS Appeal," Salt Lake Tribune, 7 Mar. 1965, A-18; "Marchers Pray At LDS Doorstep," Daily Utah Chronicle, 8 Mar. 1965,1. These are referenced in in D. Michael Quinn, "Ezra Taft Benson and Mormon Political Conflicts", Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 26:2 (Summer 1992) and Quinn, The Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power Salt Lake City (Signature Books, 1994), Chapter 3
5 - Encyclopedia of Mormonism, "Ezra Taft Benson," Reed Benson and Sheri Dew, Daniel H. Ludlow (editor), New York: Macmillan, 1992
6 - Improvement Era, June 1965, p.539; 135th Annual Conference
7 - "Mormons Bickering Over Rights Issue," Pittsburg Courier, Apr 4, 1965 (provided by Joe Geisner)
8 - Deseret News, April 7, 1965, "Fight Red Influence" (provided by Joe Geisner)
9 - "Benson Ties Rights Issue to Reds in Mormon Rift," Washington Post, 13 Apr. 1965, A-5 -- as referenced in D. Michael Quinn, "Ezra Taft Benson and Mormon Political Conflicts", Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 26:2 (Summer 1992) and Quinn, The Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power Salt Lake City (Signature Books, 1994), Chapter 3
10 - Leon Johnson, "Benson Told A 'Damned Lie,'" Daily Utah Chronicle, 12 Apr. 1965, 2 -- as referenced in D. Michael Quinn, "Ezra Taft Benson and Mormon Political Conflicts", Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 26:2 (Summer 1992) and Quinn, The Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power Salt Lake City (Signature Books, 1994), Chapter 3
11 - "Benson Ties Rights Issue to Reds in Mormon Rift," Washington Post, 13 Apr. 1965, A-5 -- as referenced in D. Michael Quinn, "Ezra Taft Benson and Mormon Political Conflicts", Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 26:2 (Summer 1992) and Quinn, The Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power Salt Lake City (Signature Books, 1994), Chapter 3
LDS History Chronology: Ezra Taft Benson
Mormon History Timeline: the life of Ezra Taft Benson
http://lds-church-history.blogspot.com/
