“I wonder what the survivors of the Fancher party thought of Mormons.”
I saw this months ago and never forgot it.
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I grew up hearing about the Massacre at Mountain Meadows from age four on. It was an expected topic at every Thanksgiving, Easter, Valentine\’s Day, summer potluck, fall harvest, winter hearth fire, and spring fling. My six siblings and I, along with a pack of cousins, drew straws for who would have to stay and listen while the others snuck off to play. We were drilled with the details so we would never forget. But then, I\’m a Fancher descendant with blood ties to 29 of the massacre victims. My grandfather (who held court) grew up in Arkansas with memories of the aging surviving children. His life has been a quest to resolve the dispute of blame and extract an open apology from the Mormon Church.
My generation has wrestled with the question of respecting the dead, who can not rest peacefully under a banner of truth until the church admits to an orchestrated crime and cover up; while at the same time wanting to have a life and devote ourselves to our own families and future. We wanted to play soccer, ride horses, eat ice cream, fall in love, get married, and snuggle our babies. I grew up frustrated that the issues of the dead stole joy from the living, and frustrated that a church that claimed to seek and share the truth couldn\’t just TELL THE TRUTH, however ugly, and let the little bird that told it fly us all to freedom from the shadow of evil.
I was in New York (age 30) during 911. I served at Ground Zero for six weeks and my perspective about my grandfather shifted. I was separated from my close net family (living on the West Coast) by a huge gulf, in that; they thought they knew what I knew because they \”saw it on the news.\” I was often speechless to explain but driven to try. They could not know. I went to places no cameras dared desecrate. I breathed in the very dust of the people we were looking for, and felt the horror of guilt when I coughed them up again in blackened spittle.
Then I began to better understand my grandfather. He heard first hand testimony from surviving victims, as I did. I now shared his burden to help others to know and to remember. I also realized how impossible it would have been for Americans to get past this event and heal from 911, if a lone pilot had been blamed and Osama bin Laden built a University of higher moral education. And how would any of us move on if the very earth at Ground Zero were owned by followers of bin Laden? How would we ever get closure?
When Hinkley stated at the memorial service in 1999, \”\”That which we have done here must never be construed as an acknowledgment of the part of the church of any complicity in the occurrences of that fateful day,\” my heart sank. Better described here in a clip of my PBS interview http://www.pbs.org/mormons/view/extra.html
Why is it so hard to own this one??? There is too much evidence that points to compounded cover ups. I used to be frustrated at a historical church. But this issue remains because the follow on years have not produced a leader strong enough to stand up and be publicly repugnated by that which is repugnant for fear the stench will stick if openly named.
Dallin Oaks\’ quote, at the end of the above PBS bonus video, offered the strongest apology and ownership I\’ve read, heard, or seen anywhere from a church official. He disarmed me. If more Mormons, including Hinkley, approached the topic in that tone, what would be left to be angry about? Nothing. If Mountain Meadows was surrendered by the church to be a National Monument in Federal Trust as the descendants continue to request, this history would fade into a teaching topic like so many other human events that have no direct hold over us because they are past.
The issue of Mountain Meadows persists for lack of Mormon humility and humanity. After reading this blog page, I found this group of writers does not strike me as the kind of people who glory in that perception so I thought I would pass my thoughts along.
I\’ll also leave some links for those who, like Jaynee, want to ponder the outsider takes in search for the truth. These sites also have original memoirs and findings as well as some reference material for Ardis and others looking for info on the blood atonement.
I think so much can be done in this generation to bring a rest to this divide and I glimpsed this in your sincere thread. I was most encouraged by #106 as I feared the members were still caught in evil monkey hands (hear no/see no/speak no) Until now, I\’ve had an unchallenged perception that Mormons do not know about, or do not want to talk about MMM, and they certainly will not admit anything was amiss save for a kooky JDL. Mike\’s conspiracy theory #107 gave me a hearty laugh, and we know that does a heart good!
http://www.timesandseasons.org/?p=3840#comments
Good post, JRochelle. Thanks.
I think members who take the time to learn the facts about MMM are quite sympathetic, and ashamed, as am I, that fellow members of the faith are capable of such despicable acts. It’s humbling to say the least. Do I personally feel the need to apologize? No, just as I feel no need to pay for slavery reparations. Does the LDS Church as an institution bear some responsibility for instigating the act? According to the evidence I’ve seen, that doesn’t appear to be the case, although I can see the argument to be made for a more intensive investigation and punishment for the act by the LDS Church. I don’t know why this didn’t occur; perhaps the LDS Church does owe an apology for this. This may have been a motivating factor behind the memorial mentioned in the video, I don’t know; it concerns me that some people aren’t willing to be satisfied, though, until the LDS Church apologizes for acts which, I believe, it did not commit. If this is the case, they will, sadly, never be satisfied.
It seems to me that, like so many injustices, the events are past and gone, and best left there. That doesn’t mean that wrongs weren’t committed, and we should certainly learn what we can from them and see to it that such an event is never repeated. It should never be excused; and I hope that the old wounds can heal soon.
It is equally tragic that some have seen fit to let this wound canker their own lives. Christ did teach forgiveness in addition to repentance.
Perhaps September Dawn will be the “jolt” that everybody needs to fully confront the issue and place it behind us for good. We can only hope.