The Good Neighbor policy is the 1927 reform of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The ch ...

(LDS Church) that removed any suggestion in church literature, sermons, and ordinances that its members should seek vengeance on US citizens or governments, particularly for the

assassinations Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have a ...

of its founder

Joseph Smith Joseph Smith Jr. (December 23, 1805June 27, 1844) was an American religious leader and founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. When he was 24, Smith published the Book of Mormon. By the time of his death, 14 years later, ...

and his brother, Hyrum. The church gave no official name to this process, but after it was implemented, some Mormon-history commentators began referring to it as the church's "Good Neighbor" policy, taking the name from US President Franklin Roosevelt's foreign policy, the

Good Neighbor policy The Good Neighbor policy ( ) was the foreign policy of the administration of United States President Franklin Roosevelt towards Latin America. Although the policy was implemented by the Roosevelt administration, President Woodrow Wilson had prev ...

Changes in temple ordinances

In 1919, shortly after he became the president of the LDS Church,

Heber J. Grant Heber Jeddy Grant (November 22, 1856 – May 14, 1945) was an American religious leader who served as the seventh president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Grant worked as a bookkeeper and a cashier, then wa ...

appointed a committee to review the content of ordinances performed in LDS Church temples. The committee completed its work in 1927 and recommended to Grant that the

oath of vengeance In Mormonism, the oath of vengeance (or law of vengeance) was part of the endowment ritual of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Participants swore an oath to pray for God to avenge the blood of prophets Joseph Smith and ...

be removed from the temple endowment ceremony. The oath of vengeance required participants to agree to be bound by the following oath:

"You and each of you do covenant and promise that you will pray and never cease to pray to Almighty God to avenge the blood of the prophets upon this nation, and that you will teach the same to your children and to your children's children unto the third and fourth generation."

On February 15, 1927, apostle George F. Richards, acting on behalf of the

First Presidency Among many churches in the Latter Day Saint movement, the First Presidency (also known as the Quorum of the Presidency of the Church) is the highest presiding or governing body. Present-day denominations of the movement led by a First Presidency ...

and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, notified the presidents of the church's six temples that "all reference to retribution" was to be removed from the endowment ceremony and that the oath of vengeance was to no longer be administered. He also added that "all reference to avenging the blood of the Prophets" should be omitted from the prayer given in the temples' prayer circles.

Changes in church literature

In 1927, the church also moved to change similar references in church literature. For example, since 1844, Latter-day Saints had sung the hymn " Praise to the Man" as a tribute to Joseph Smith. Part of the second verse read, "Long shall his blood, which was shed by assassins, / Stain Illinois, while the earth lauds his fame".Anonymous . W. Phelpsbr>"Joseph Smith"
''

Times and Seasons ''Times and Seasons'' was a 19th-century Latter Day Saint newspaper published at Nauvoo, Illinois. It was printed monthly or twice-monthly from November 1839 to February 1846. The motto of the paper was "Truth will prevail," which was printed u ...

'', 5 (1 August 1844), p. 607. In its 1927 hymnal, the church substituted "Stain Illinois" with "Plead unto heav'n". George D. Pyper (1939). ''Stories of the Latter-day Saint Hymns, their Authors and Composers'' p. 100.

References

{{Portal, LDS Church 1927 in Christianity History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Latter Day Saint practices Revenge Mormonism and violence 20th-century Mormonism Mormonism and politics