A Diabolical Disneyland in Zion: the Mormons and the MX

TL;DRAbstract

In September 1979 President Jimmy Carter publicly announced his decision to support the deployment of the MX missile and mobile basing scheme in Utah and Nevada. Despite local opposition and the close proximity of the proposed base to its headquarters, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) remained silent until 5 May 1981, when the First Presidency issued a statement opposing the MX plans. The purpose of this work is to narrate the history of the development of the Mormon position regarding the deployment of MX missile in the Great Basin and evaluate the response to the statement both locally and nationally. As described in this work the initial deliberations within the Mormon Church were held within the Special Affairs Committee (SAC), which gathered information on the issues concerning the MX. In the process the SAC met with scholars, politicians and religious figures furnished by the grass-roots opposition in Utah. As argued by this thesis it was the arguments pr

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