Missouri Executive Order 44 "Salt Sermon”

    PRESSING OF 300  Based in Kansas City, Missouri Executive Order 44 takes its name from a dark chapterof its state's history: in 1838, amidst tensions between Missouri residents and aburgeoning new Mormon population, Governor Lilburn Boggs issued an order stating,"The Mormons must be treated as enemies and must be exterminated or driven fromthe state if necessary for the public peace."Clad in the bike helmets and white shirts that commonly signify LDS evangelists, thefour members of MEO44 – vocalist Jarom Johnson, guitarist Elos Olsen, bassist EsauFullmer, and drummer Malachi Hatch – use that specific historical moment as theirrallying cry as they blast out blistering hardcore anthems in opposition to all forms ofpersecution. While a majority of bands in the scene take a stance against organizedreligion, the band flips the script and claims allegiance with the Saints of the 1830s,holding them up as victims of the state's tyranny.Olsen states: "The struggle against fascist, violent