The California Collection/TheCaliforniaCollection.cdr/his075/lds28.lzh/LDS28.TXT

Text File | 1991-07-08 | 4KB | 66 lines

CUL:The Mountian Meadows Massacre  by Walter Martin

from "The Kingdom of the Cults"

We cannot, of course, discuss the history of the Mormons under Brigham
Young in great detail because that would easily necessitate a full
volume by itself, but suffice it to say that Smith gave the movement
its initial thrust and Brigham Young supplied the needed momentum
necessary to establish it as a bona fide religion.  Young himself was
a character of many facets, and one cannot understand the theology of
Mormonism without understanding the tremendous influence exercised
upon it by the person of "prophet" Young and his teachings.  Smith and
Young, in company with the pronouncements of the succeeding
presidents, have made Mormon theology what it is, and apart from
Brigham Young, Mormonism cannot be thoroughly understood.

Young was a man of indomitable courage, possessed of a canny nature,
but given of fits of ruthlessness now conveniently forgotten by Mormon
historians.  One such evidence of his determination to control Utah
was the order which he gave to massacre over 100 non-Mormon immigrants
in what has now become known as the infamous Mountain Meadows
Massacre.  In this particular instance, for reasons known only to
himself, Young entrusted to Bishop John D. Lee in 1857 the task of
annihilating a wagon train of virtually helpless immigrants.  This,
Bishop Lee did faithfully, and 20 years later he was imprisoned,
tried, convicted and excuted by the government of the United States
for this vicious, totalitarian action.

In his momorable book, the confessions of John D. Lee, a consistent
sore spot in the Mormon scheme of historical "reconstruction," Lee
confessed to his part in the infamous doings, but he swore that he
acted upon the order of Brigham Young.  However, the testimony of Lee
and of some of his lieutenants and others connected with the massacre
indicates beyond question that Young ordered and sanctioned the
action.  As we further study Mormon theology, it will become apparent
that this was not at all beyond the limits of Young's character; he
was the law in Utah; and as it has been so wisely observed, "power
corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely."

Mormonism today, then, is a far cry from quite a number of the
principles and practices of its early founders.  To be sure, it
remains faithful to their basic tenets, but, as in the case of
polygamy, when those tenets come in conflict with government statutes
or political influence, the latter-day saints have wisely chosen to
ignore (the word commonly used is "re-interpret") the counsels of
their two chief prophets.  The history of the mormons is a vast and
complex subject; it is a veritable labyrinth of books, testimonies,
affidavits, photographs, hearsay and opinions, and it is only after
the most careful analysis of the contemporary evidence that a picture
emerges consistent with verifiable facts.  For the average faithful
Mormon, one can but have sympathy and regard.  He is, by and large,
honest, industrious, thrifty and zealous in both the proclamation and
promulgation of his beliefs.  One only regrets that he has accepted at
face value a carefully edited "history" of the origin and doctrinal
development of his religion instead of examining the excellent sources
which not only contradict but irrefutably prove the falsity of what is
most certainly a magnificent reconstructed history.  It is to be hoped
that as we further study the unfolding drama of Mormon doctrine, and
the Mormonism and the pitfalls which most certainly exist in taking at
face value the gospel according to Joseph Smith and Brigham Young.
The verdict of history, then, is overwhelmingly against the Mormon
version, particularly where Smith and Young are concerned; and there
is a vast amount of documentation all but a few Mormons seem content
to ignore, but the facts themselves remain too well verified to be
ignored.