September Dawn

Occasionally I receive an e-mail from a visitor to my web site asking about the Mountain Meadows Massacre. Here is a sampling of some of the questions I have received:

• What was the Mountain Meadows Massacre?
• Was it as bad as I have heard?
• Were Brigham Young and other Church leaders involved?

One cannot fully chronicle in a blog, or even an article, this event and the circumstances that led up to this tragic page from Church history. For a brief summary, I refer the reader to this excellent article by Richard Turley posted at LDS.org: The Mountain Meadows Massacre.

This past week a major motion picture was released chronicling the events surrounding the Mountain Meadows Massacre. No doubt, this movie will increase the questions surrounding the massacre and even the Church. A few days ago I listened to an interview with the director of the movie, Chris Cain, and actor Jon Voight on the Hugh Hewitt radio program (click here for transcript). Mr. Cain and Mr. Voight would have one believe that this is a great movie that tells the truth about Mountain Meadows. Consider the statements from the following movie critics:

Roger Ebert: “The Mormons are presented in no better light than Nazis and Japanese were in Hollywood’s World War II films. Wasn’t there a more thoughtful and insightful way to consider this historical event?.... I am trying as hard as I can to imagine the audience for this movie. Every time I make any progress, it scares me.” (complete review)

Kyle Smith in the New York Post: “SEPTEMBER Dawn succeeds completely at failure; the unified incompetence of its writing, directing and acting suggest a man who manages to be on fire and drowning at the same time, just as the bus runs him over. I was baffled: Why does this film even exist?” (complete review)

Michael Medved in USA Today: “The film's producers insist it's merely coincidence that their project's release coincides with the surging presidential campaign of the most serious Mormon candidate in American history; after all, planning and pre-production work took place years before Mitt Romney launched his campaign. Nevertheless, even a modest motion picture like this one with little chance of achieving blockbuster status will spark intense new discussion of Mormonism's origins, while powerfully re-enforcing negative stereotypes that already lead millions of Americans to tell pollsters that they wouldn't vote for a Mormon.“ (complete column)

As I scanned several other reviews, I couldn’t find one that praised the picture or its historical accuracy. Yahoo reviewers gave the movie a C- rating.

Mr. Medved raises the question about why this movie was produced and released at this particular time. He believes it has something to do with the candidacy of Mitt Romney. The producers claim it has a message about religious fanaticism. However, it is clear that they were not aiming for historical accuracy. Based on the reviews I have read, a visit to the September Dawn website, and watching the trailer, it seems to me that there is another agenda. The movie trailer itself speaks about a secret that has been cloaked in conspiracy. That statement alone brings the past into the present,creating a link from the massacre to Church leadership from Brigham Young to President Hinckley.

How should members of the Church respond when asked about the massacre? I do not believe that we need to see the movie to make a reasonable response. The article by Brother Turley provides excellent background. We cannot excuse the massacre, but we can put it in its historical setting. The perpetrators were an isolated group living in southern Utah. Many had fled from Missouri and Illinois after the assassination of Joseph Smith, the Hans Mill massacre, and the Missouri extermination order. The U.S. army was marching on Utah under orders from President Buchanan. Their beloved apostle, Parley P. Pratt had been murdered in Arkansas only months before. Their fear cascaded into an unspeakable tragedy. I think we can ask the questioner to consider the full history of the Church and not one isolated negative incident.

September 28, 2007

A follow-note to my previous entry. September Dawn remained in theaters three weeks. The movie cost over $11 million to make. During its three week showing it grossed just over $1 million, which means the investors are stuck with the bill. We can only hope that it will do as poorly once it is released on DVD.