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“Searching Out the Truth about the Mountain Meadows Massacre”

“Searching Out the Truth about the Mountain Meadows Massacre”

Last updated on: July 7, 2023 at 9:46 pm by Dan Peterson

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“Searching Out the Truth about the Mountain Meadows Massacre” 2023-07-07T21:46:45-06:00 Dan Peterson

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The Mountain Meadows Massacre as imaginatively envisioned by an artist who wasn’t there. In this illustration, John D. Lee and his Mormonites are behaving as . . . well, as Mormonites DO.
(Wikimedia Commons public domain image)

Having just read two new books on the subject — Vengeance Is Mine: The Mountain Meadows Massacre and Its Aftermath, by Richard E. Turley Jr. and Barbara Jones Brown, and Convicting the Mormons: The Mountain Meadows Massacre in American Culture, by Janiece Johnson — I published an article in Meridian Magazine today, Friday, that appears under the title of “Searching Out the Truth about the Mountain Meadows Massacre.” You are welcome to read it. There is no charge and it’s unlikely that you’ll be damaged by the experience in any really permanent way.

A monument erected (by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I’m told) at the site of the Mountain Meadows Massacre in southern Utah

(Wikimedia Commons public domain image)

Moreover, four new articles went up today on the website of the Interpreter Foundation:

“Moses as Midwife: What the Exodus Birth Story Teaches about Motherhood and Christ,” written by Becky Holderness Tilton

Abstract: This work explores an alternative interpretation of the Exodus narrative as a metaphor for childbirth. Gleaning from Old Testament and Judaic sources, we find rich female birth and salvific imagery in the saga of the migration of the children of Israel and the Passover itself. This perspective of sacred childbirth, when coupled with traditional Christian interpretations of the first Passover, ultimately paints an enhanced picture of the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

“Interpreting Interpreter: Birthing Israel,” written by Kyler Rasmussen

This post is a summary of the article “Moses as Midwife: What the Exodus Birth Story Teaches about Motherhood and Christ” by Becky Holderness Tilton in Volume 57 of Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship. An introduction to the Interpreting Interpreter series is available at https://interpreterfoundation.org/interpreting-interpreter-on-abstracting-thought/.

The Takeaway: Tilton explores the Exodus narrative as a metaphor for the birth of Israel and that metaphor’s implications for our view of spiritual rebirth through Christ.

“Verbal Punctuation in the Book of Mormon II — nevertheless,” written by John Gee

Abstract: One example of verbal punctuation that has a very clear pattern of usage in the Book of Mormon is the term nevertheless*. It is used to draw a marked contrast between what the previous text would lead one to expect and what follows it. It is not clear what the ancient antecedent to the term might be and the English term and usage might be an artefact of the translation process. The frequency and usage of* nevertheless in the Book of Mormon contrasts with the way that Joseph Smith’s writings use it.

“Interpreting Interpreter: Nevertheless,” written by Kyler Rasmussen

This post is a summary of the article “Verbal Punctuation in the Book of Mormon II — Nevertheless” by John Gee in Volume 57 of Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship. An introduction to the Interpreting Interpreter series is available at https://interpreterfoundation.org/interpreting-interpreter-on-abstracting-thought/.

The Takeaway: Gee notes that the word nevertheless is used consistently in the Book of Mormon to mark a contrast between two phrases. That usage does not match Joseph Smith’s use of the term in either type or frequency.

Another of the relatively new monuments at Mountain Meadows
(Wikimedia Commons public domain image)

This is really, really welcome and encouraging news: “The number of Latter-day Saint missionaries is rising rapidly: Scholar says religiosity in recent generations of Latter-day Saints is up compared to baby boomers” May the trend continue! We’ve gone through a relatively bleak period, but things may be looking up again.

“‘Sound of Freedom’ outperforms ‘Indiana Jones’ and ‘The Flash’ on 4th of July: Anti-sex trafficking film, “Sound of Freedom,” impresses at the box office”

“Human-trafficking film ‘Sound of Freedom’ trashed by liberal outlets as ‘QAnon-adjacent’: Website Jezebel claimed, ‘At last, QAnon’s camp appeal gets the cinematic exploration it demands'”

My wife and I saw Sound of Freedom on Tuesday, the Fourth of July. There isn’t a trace of QAnonism in it, so far as I could tell. (I have no sympathy whatever for QAnon. Quite the contrary, in fact.) My only complaint, to be perfectly candid, is about the film’s pacing. I thought it somewhat slow, especially in its first half, and overly long. It could have been edited down a bit. That said, I hope that as many people as possible will go to see it. Efforts like this need to be supported, and the cause to which the film seeks to call attention is enormously important: “God’s Children Are Not for Sale.”

And, by the way, Tim Ballard — who is portrayed in the film by Jim Caviezel (who starred in such films as The Passion of the Christ and in The Count of Monte Cristo) — is a Latter-day Saint, and, although the film doesn’t mention his religious affiliation (it actually shows him drinking coffee and tee and, on one occasion, smoking a cigarette to create rapport with a captured pedophile) and wasn’t produced by members of the Church, Angel Studios, which is distributing Sound of Freedom, is based in Provo, Utah.

The principal memorial at the site, as it appeared quite a number of years ago
(Wikimedia Commons public domain image)

Finally, here are a few short but gratifyingly horrific articles retrieved, for your indignation, from the Christopher Hitchens Memorial “How Religion Poisons Everything” File™:

Posted from Ucluelet, British Columbia

History and Religion

Politics and Religion

Mountain Meadows Massacre

Richard Turley

Sound of Freedom

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