They disarmed themselves at the request of Mormons who said they would lead them to safety but instead turned on the settlers, murdering every man, woman and child above the age of 8.

There is a lesson in there somewhere...

What was the purpose of killing everyone over 8 and what happened to the kids?

Another old fart Republican for McCain...

What was the purpose of killing everyone over 8 and what happened to the kids?

Because children under the age of 8 can be influenced to convert to their religion, and after several years will have little memory of what happened to their family. Tribes of people have done this for time immemorial.

*** Romney for president.

PBS showed a 2 hour thing on the Mormons the other night, and the Meadow Massacre was mentioned. The children were spirited away to live with Mormon families, according to the show.

As I understand it, Mormons believe that under that age of 8 the soul is not yet fully formed and therefore the small children can still be "molded".

The kids were taken in by various Mormon families and raised as their own.

In a sort of odd coincidence, the date of the massacre was Sept. 11.

PBS had an excellent 2-part series this week on the Mormon faith.

While I have to say that every Mormon I've known seems to be a person of outstanding character, there are still some things in their doctrine that I just can't reconcile with.

What a blatant, naked attempt at a Mitt Romney drive-by. Not you, of course, necessarily, but the author.

PS, I'm no Mitt supporter. But this was obvious.

How come the MSM never mentions that Harry Reid is a Mormon. (Of course in Harry’s case the word has one too many Ms)

(Of course in Harry’s case the word has one too many Ms)

Hee, hee.

(Of course in Harry’s case the word has one too many Ms)

!!!

Well played!

I think it is more of a “Hey, look what is in the news!”. People eat up this kind of stuff. See DaVinci Code

Harry Reid is a Mormon, so they don’t all have outstanding character.

This is just a hit on Romney. I'm not a Romney supporter by any means, but not on account of what his co-religionists did 150 years ago. How is he responsible for the Mountain Meadows Massacre? Might as well say that modern Southerners are responsible for slavery and the Civil War . . .

. . . oh, wait. People DO say that . . .

. . . never mind.

>>attended an April 11 screening of the movie hosted by its lead actor, Jon Voight (who plays a fictional Mormon bishop). A conservative, he said this was no hit against Romney. “I didn’t even know he was running when we began this,” Voight told viewers after the screening. But he said this terrible story is important considering America’s war against terrorists.

Didn’t even know he was running?...Jon’s really up on the
news, isn’t he? Though I guess that depends on when the
movie started filming. btw my older brother played drums on a couple albums by Chip Taylor, who is Jon’s brother (Chip’s
real name is James Voight—Chip wrote “Angel of the Morning”, a hit for Merilee Rush and then Juice Newton, and also the Troggs’ classic “Wild Thing” and Janis Joplin’s
“Try (Just a Little Bit Harder)”)

This should also be bad for Harry Reid (D - Mormon). Oh wait, the media isn’t crucifying that Moron.

I was just reading A Study in Scarlet (the first Sherlock Holmes myster) and Mormons seem to be the bad guys there as well. Even if that is true though, it’s all in the past, and while Romney isn’t my choice, I am tired of the gratuitous drive-bys on his religion.

"What a blatant, naked attempt at a Mitt Romney drive-by. Not you, of course, necessarily, but the author."

It is indeed. And what this show doesn't tell you than when it came to persecution and mass murder, Mormons were ususally on the recieving end of it. They left Illinois because Methodists chased them out from the barrell of a gun. Later, Joseph Smith was murdered by another Protestant denomination. When the Mormons got to Utah, they considered it their sanctuary. They went there specifically to get away from the mobs attacking them, and were understandably paranoid about Protestants making their way out there.

Painting the Mormons as bad guys from this one event is like painting America as the bad guys in World War II because of the Dresden bombings.

Another “Historical Masterpiece” along the lines of JFK and Fahrenheit 911.

"His greatest liability has been religious bias against him. He has never seized this issue, thinking it so wrong-headed that it will go away."


Ah. Nothing like the smell of a hit piece in the morning.

Personally I think a movie about King Jesse Strang and his Mormon Kingdom of Beaver Island would be a much better movie. The history itself is hillarious so it would be a great comedy.

No one should commit on this movie if they don't know the history. All should read or re-read the late Irving Stone's "MEN TO MATCH MY MOUNTAINS". The Mormon's were pivotal in settling the west. The only “religion” cum cult to demand total obeisance is Islam; no other makes that claim. The thought police and the producers have an agenda here.................gee, I wonder what it is, hummmmmmm?

I guess that is one way to spin it. The truth would probably not make you happy though.

To be really REALLY scared, check out this site!
http://www.famousmormons.net/

Man, this is awful, that this horrible group is even considering offering up one of it’s own as a presidential candidate! Have they no shame?!? What is this world coming to?!?

</bigoted crap off>

(Disclaimer: I am totally ambivalent about Mitt Romney and Mormons in general, but I really hate seeing this kind of bigotry pop up in the MSM.)

Romney will not comment on "September Dawn" and indeed will not watch it.

What a coincidence! I won't either, and I'm not even Mormon!

The simple fact is that this movie has been made and was likely finished long before Romney announced his candidacy. It’s an interesting historical story but it doesn’t make me believe that Mormons are evil.

Since Ex-Gov. McGreevy is joining the Episcopalian Church I think questions should be posed to him about the behavior of its founder.

I'm waiting for someone to make a movie about Harry Turtledove's alternative U.S. history books.

THEN you will see angry Mormons.

The children were fostered out to Mormon families, and were later recovered by the U.S Army. Apparently children under 8 were considered innocent by reason of age, and not liable for blood atonement under then Mormon beliefs.

The massacre took place for several reasons. The Mormons were aware that the U.S Army was on the way to enforce U.S laws in the state. A leading Mormon missionary had been killed by a husband whose wife had abandoned him for the Mormon, and married the latter. She arrived in Salt Lake City demanding vengeance at about the time the wagon train was crossing Utah [and the Mormons refused to sell them them supplies, etc].And the train had a large herd of cattle and livestock that wound up largely in Mormon hands [along with their belongings] after the massacre [The Paiutes claimed they received little of the booty for their aid].

The U.S Army buried the remains they found, and erected a cross. Young had it torn down. the Mormons stonewalled the investigation for years. Only after an accommodation over political power was reached years later did they offer up Lee as the scapegoat.

In Mormonism children over the age of eight have reached “accountability.”

Before age eight they are not responsible for their sins, after age eight they are.

Mormons took the children under their care, until the Federal Government became aware of the massacre and retrieved the children for the survivng family members. The Mormons had the audacity to charge the government for reimbursal for expenses related to caring for the children. Isn’t that nice.

Calling Romney the anti-christ is a little overboard. Besides, Bill Clinton still holds that title.

The movie was filmed WAY before Mitt ever announced his candidacy. It has been in production for almost three years. It’s no hit-piece aimed at Mitt.

It is a movie that depicts an historical event. Why exactly is that seen as an attack.

Again I will state that the movie was filmed THREE years ago. It had nothing to do with Mitt.

Those people are long dead. It’s more important how we react today. If the LDS church reacts by saying “We had no idea, it’s not our fault” when they really did know and were at fault, it speaks badly of the church.

There is no excuse for this type of crime. None. Women and children were slaughtered. Children were kidnapped. The 1800’s were rough times but we have the gift of “looking backwards” now. It’s OK to say “That was wrong”.

Exactly wehre is the evidence of this movie "miffing" Mitt? I at least expected a quote of Mitt being "miffed" and instead got this:

Romney will not comment on "September Dawn" and indeed will not watch it. That follows his decision not to defend his Mormon faith or actively fight religious bias that has impeded his candidacy.

Gee, are they going to now demand Steve Young be removed from the NFL Hall of Fame in Canton, because he’s a direct decendent of Brigham Young?

This is ridiculous, and I’m not a Romney supporter, I’m just tired of seeing this sort of nonsense in politics.

This is why good people don’t run for public office, folks.

There’s some revisionism going on in your post there. For a good account of the Mormon religion read Krakauer’s Under the Banner of Heaven which also devotes a chapter to the meadow massacre.

I passed through the town in Arkansas (Harrison) where this wagon train originated. There is a monument erected in the town square with a recounting of the massacre and, if I recall correctly, a list of names of those massacred. They haven’t forgotten.

And I STILL oppose Romney because he was the most liberal Governor in America between 2002-2004.

Whoops. Make that 2002-2006.

Why exactly is that seen as an attack.

Not the movie---this piece.

Great website. I especially like the embedded clips.

And I STILL oppose Romney because he was the most liberal Governor in America between 2002-2004.

You're entitled to your opinion, of course, but I'd say the Massachusetts electorate---perhaps one of the most liberal electorates in the nation---wouldn't agree with you in the least.

Oh humm, ancient history. People were burned alive at the stake for not believing in God, and they were tortured to convert, so much violence was done in the name of God. It still continues today, but to think that Romney is some kind of an evil being that would do this to anyone is ludicrous. Good Christians burned native Americans alive regardless of their age. Romney is several generations away from the early 1800’s. Pointing to something that occurred over a century ago to influence people today, is like saying, you shouldn't run because some relative in your family tree was a guard who shot prisoners at Andersonville. He is not my choice of a candidate, but I won't hold his religion against him. I want a strong candidate that will protect our country and look out for our interests. Whether he goes to a different church on Sunday or not will not influence my vote.

Your Mormon history presentation needs a bit of clarification. Mormons were persecution both in Missouri and Illinois, but they were far from innocent bystanders. The Danites, a Mormon militia, fought and killed people against the church. Joseph Smith was not killed by any Protestant denomination, but a group of anti-mormons and masons. Don’t accuse any protestant denominations of terrorizing Mormons without proof.

“there are still some things in their doctrine that I just can’t reconcile with.”

My father, long deceased, grew up in a Mormon family in Utah. He was older when I was born, and no longer a practicing Mormon.

The Church at times assisted us when we were in need. However, as a Christian, even as a young Christian, I could see through some of their strongly held beliefs.

The Mountain Meadows Massacre happened 150 years ago, and was well documented in “Massacres of the Mountains”, written by J.P. Dunn, Jr., and published in 1886. It’s now a movie and the subject of a PBS special last month. The timing is very suspect, while atrocities committed DAILY by Muslim extremists will NEVER be connected to Barack HUSSEIN Obama.

Can you name me another Governor on whose watch gay marriage, a permanent assault weapons ban, socialized medicine complete with taxpayer-funded abortions, and the homosexualization of the public schools, were all enacted?

This event inspired the very first Sherlock Holmes story. The one that hasn’t been made into a movie of filmed for television.

Can you name me another Governor on whose watch gay marriage, a permanent assault weapons ban, socialized medicine complete with taxpayer-funded abortions, and the homosexualization of the public schools, were all enacted?

I'm not here to debate the pros/cons/whathaveyous of Romney's tenure as governor here: you red meat politicos who live to fight this early can do that elsewhere. I'm merely suggesting that your characterization was a bit hyperbolic. If Romney were really the ultra-liberal you claim he is, he'd be governor-for-life in this state. As it was, the electorate was all-too-happy to see him leave. You do the math.