Mormon Hidden History : Mountain Meadows Massacre

From Court TV's Crime Library :

Beneath the sands of the once-beautiful land lie the bones of more than 120 men, women and children slain at Mountain Meadows in 1857, their mortal remains left to the caprices of nature and their killers protected by Utah's peculiar theocracy. Only one participant was ever punished for the butchery, although more than 50 men took part.

The killers were mostly Mormons; they were respectable members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, but even to this day, the church, while recognizing that Mormons took part in the massacre, disputes claims that the murders were part of an organized plot directed by the church's leaders.

Guilt, however, is a nebulous concept, and even if the upper echelons of the Saints did not specifically order the murders, they still bear some responsibility. At the time, the Mormons were on a war-footing, and leaders like Brigham Young had instilled a culture of vengeance, fear and anger in their people. Just as military leaders are responsible for the acts of their subordinates, Young and the rest of the Mormon leaders could not simply wash their hands of the blood that was spilled at Mountain Meadows.

For an excellent article detailing the events of the Mountain Meadows Massacre click here


This is an absolute unknown and unrecognized historical occurrence within the LDS church. I had never heard of it from within the church when I was a member. I only became aware of it through historical records in U.S. History accounts. Imagine that, withheld information about the true history of the church. Well, as one famous apostle, Boyd K. Packer put it:

"Some things that are true are not very useful".

My thoughts:

Although I would like to go into very detailed analysis of this historical tragedy, all one has to do is Google "Mountain Meadows Massacre" and all will unfold naturally. But if one were to follow the advice of LDS leaders, such research is deemed unnecessary:

From Boyd K. Packer's talk "Do not spread disease germs!" (Brigham Young University Studies, Summer 1981, pp. 259, 262-271):

"I have come to believe that it is the tendency for many members of the Church who spend a great deal of time in academic research to begin to judge the Church, its doctrine, organization, and leadership, present and past, by the principles of their own profession.... In my mind it ought to be the other way around...."
"Your objective should be that they will see the hand of the Lord in every hour and every moment of the Church from its beginning till now....there is no such thing as an accurate or objective history of the Church which ignores the Spirit.... Church history can be so interesting and so inspiring as to be a very powerful tool indeed for building faith. If not properly written or properly taught, it may be a faith destroyer..."
"The writer or the teacher who has an exaggerated loyalty to the theory that everything must be told is laying a foundation for his own judgment...."
"Teaching some things that are true, prematurely or at the wrong time, can invite sorrow and heartbreak instead of the joy intended to accompany learning.... The scriptures teach emphatically that we must give milk before meat. The Lord made it very clear that some things are to be taught selectively and some things are to be given only to those who are worthy."

"In an effort to be objective, impartial, and scholarly, a writer or a teacher may unwittingly be giving equal time to the adversary...."
"In the Church we are not neutral. We are one-sided. There is a war going on, and we are engaged in it. It is a war between good and evil, and we are belligerents defending the good. We are therefore obliged to give preference to and protect all that is represented in the gospel of Jesus Christ, and we have made covenants to do it...."
"There is much in the scriptures and in our Church literature to convince us that we are at war with the adversary. We are not obliged as a church, nor are we as members obliged, to accommodate the enemy in this battle."

Noting Elder Packer's concern that an accurate history of the Church must consider the spiritual powers operating therein, Packer has created 'an enemy that doesn't exist,' for it is impossible for any good historian, Mormon or otherwise, to write about Mormonism without discussing the prophetic claims of its leaders. Here, we are advised that truth comes by way of faith in those that teach it, and therefore truth only comes by those worthy to impart knowledge.

This is like giving each and every member of the General Authority absolute control over what you think, read, and believe because to gather information from other sources is to "tempt Satan to lure you from the church". This puts an unreasonable amount of fear in each member, as they force themselves to limit their reach, adhering to counsel of their ecclesiastical leaders, and forever receiving "milk" before "meat" twenty, thirty and even forty years into their membership of the LDS church.

When will the members receive the "meat" of the sandwich? Is the church ever going to disclose where the tithing money goes? Are they ever going to admit that DNA evidence does not support their belief that American Indians are Jews? Will they ever come to a true understanding of how the Book of Mormon was translated?

I think that the whole point of steering the members away from learning "too much" is to maintain the mystique and uniqueness of the teachings. If it was discovered that the church had very ordinary beginnings and even had some dirty secrets and cover-ups, it would discredit all the Faith Promoting Rumors and other designs of the General Authorities in keeping the Book of Mormon as a "revealed work" and Joseph Smith as a "chosen seer".

The reality is devastating to the testimony, that's why they work so hard to keep the members wary of seeking too much, of becoming too educated, and afraid to challenge their beliefs against the facts brought forth by those who disagree with their views. Most of the information is gathered by people who were once strict adherents of the system, who had every reason to believe it until they were given new and compelling evidence that challenged their beliefs and helped them overcome the trap of "limited reach".