66 lines
3.9 KiB
Plaintext
66 lines
3.9 KiB
Plaintext
CUL:The Mountian Meadows Massacre by Walter Martin
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from "The Kingdom of the Cults"
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We cannot, of course, discuss the history of the Mormons under Brigham
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Young in great detail because that would easily necessitate a full
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volume by itself, but suffice it to say that Smith gave the movement
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its initial thrust and Brigham Young supplied the needed momentum
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necessary to establish it as a bona fide religion. Young himself was
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a character of many facets, and one cannot understand the theology of
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Mormonism without understanding the tremendous influence exercised
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upon it by the person of "prophet" Young and his teachings. Smith and
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Young, in company with the pronouncements of the succeeding
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presidents, have made Mormon theology what it is, and apart from
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Brigham Young, Mormonism cannot be thoroughly understood.
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Young was a man of indomitable courage, possessed of a canny nature,
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but given of fits of ruthlessness now conveniently forgotten by Mormon
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historians. One such evidence of his determination to control Utah
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was the order which he gave to massacre over 100 non-Mormon immigrants
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in what has now become known as the infamous Mountain Meadows
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Massacre. In this particular instance, for reasons known only to
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himself, Young entrusted to Bishop John D. Lee in 1857 the task of
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annihilating a wagon train of virtually helpless immigrants. This,
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Bishop Lee did faithfully, and 20 years later he was imprisoned,
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tried, convicted and excuted by the government of the United States
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for this vicious, totalitarian action.
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In his momorable book, the confessions of John D. Lee, a consistent
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sore spot in the Mormon scheme of historical "reconstruction," Lee
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confessed to his part in the infamous doings, but he swore that he
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acted upon the order of Brigham Young. However, the testimony of Lee
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and of some of his lieutenants and others connected with the massacre
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indicates beyond question that Young ordered and sanctioned the
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action. As we further study Mormon theology, it will become apparent
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that this was not at all beyond the limits of Young's character; he
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was the law in Utah; and as it has been so wisely observed, "power
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corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely."
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Mormonism today, then, is a far cry from quite a number of the
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principles and practices of its early founders. To be sure, it
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remains faithful to their basic tenets, but, as in the case of
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polygamy, when those tenets come in conflict with government statutes
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or political influence, the latter-day saints have wisely chosen to
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ignore (the word commonly used is "re-interpret") the counsels of
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their two chief prophets. The history of the mormons is a vast and
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complex subject; it is a veritable labyrinth of books, testimonies,
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affidavits, photographs, hearsay and opinions, and it is only after
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the most careful analysis of the contemporary evidence that a picture
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emerges consistent with verifiable facts. For the average faithful
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Mormon, one can but have sympathy and regard. He is, by and large,
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honest, industrious, thrifty and zealous in both the proclamation and
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promulgation of his beliefs. One only regrets that he has accepted at
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face value a carefully edited "history" of the origin and doctrinal
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development of his religion instead of examining the excellent sources
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which not only contradict but irrefutably prove the falsity of what is
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most certainly a magnificent reconstructed history. It is to be hoped
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that as we further study the unfolding drama of Mormon doctrine, and
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the Mormonism and the pitfalls which most certainly exist in taking at
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face value the gospel according to Joseph Smith and Brigham Young.
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The verdict of history, then, is overwhelmingly against the Mormon
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version, particularly where Smith and Young are concerned; and there
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is a vast amount of documentation all but a few Mormons seem content
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to ignore, but the facts themselves remain too well verified to be
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ignored.
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