The Muslim terrorists who perpetrated the 9/11 acts didn't just wake up that morning and decide to fly jets into buildings killing people. Those acts took months of planning and thousands of dollars of financing. Planning and financing that could only come from a group bent on our ultimate destruction. Short of Christ's return or every Muslim in the world renouncing Islam, I don't see how we can eventually 'dance' together.
Lots of possible reasons...the fact that they stole the finest horses in the West from the group -- along with everything else -- makes robbery a motive...even if that was an "after-the-fact" reality.
High suspicions...unsure of letting "Gentiles" roam freely through their state when threats of a "war" breaking out...some say Brigham ordered it as "prophet" of the church...some say "revenge" since Fanchers were from Arkansas & Lds apostle Parley P. Pratt was murdered in Arkansas not long before. Anyway, you have it, I don't think there's any good reason for executing children & their parents & point blank range, do you?
Did they give the immigrants the Islamic choice of convert or die and the immigrants chose die?
No. "Just" cold-blooded mass murder on a nice day.
Was it a planned massacre or did something trigger it that day?
The ambush was planned. They probably didn't think (a) that they would put up such resistance...the siege on the wagon trains started before Sept. 11...and (b) they thought they could clearly pin it on the Indians...but the Indians went home after the initial siege...As for the point-blank massacre end to the party, the "trigger" could have been Brigham Young...but they say he was days away in SLC. So the account has been told both ways.
Is the author suggesting that since Mormons are accepted today in spite of the past murders, we should overlook the act of war the Islamic community launched against our country?
Seems to...His message seems to be: "If you don't want to accept murderous Muslims & their descendants, on what ground have you come to accept murderous Mormons & their descendants?"