Doctor Scratch wrote:
In one of the more bizarre explanations of Mountain Meadows Massacre that I’ve seen, Dr. Peterson is now proffering the idea that the Massacre was a consequence of prejudice that Mormons had faced during their journey westwards:
Sic et Non wrote:
That said, though, I do not think that the Church, as such, is really connected with it. Nor do I think that it was essentially matter of religion. Let me clarify that: Some have tried to portray the Mountain Meadows Massacre as an expression of religious zeal and fanaticism. However, in my judgment, that is to misread it. It was an expression of fear. It was connected with religion in the sense that those Mormon militiamen, some of whom had experienced religious persecution and being driven from state to state, all of whom knew about the persecutions in New York and Ohio and Missouri and Illinois, feared for their homes and their families. They were afraid, with a U.S. army already headed for Utah territory to put down a non-existent “Mormon rebellion,” that they were about to be driven from their homes yet again.But where were they supposed to flee? In coming to settle the Great Basin West, they had already left the United States. When would it ever end?
Huh. I wonder how these musings square with the scholarship one can find in, say, the work of Will Bagley or Turley et al.? For DCP to be correct, you would have to accept the premise that these southern Utah LDS (and elsewhere, he says they do not even deserve to be called “Latter-day Saints”), basically said, “Huh. This Fancher Party? Heading west? They might kick us out of our homes, just like those bastards back east! We better slaughter them all, including women and children!” This, friends, was the thought spurred on by Peterson’s visit to Mountain Meadows Massacre.
Of course, the subtext to this is his own feelings about the criticism that has been directed towards him: “When will it ever end?” is something he has said about this board on more than one occasion.
Interesting, in any case.
Hey Doc,
This is indeed interesting...DCP wrote "expression of fear?" How about "expression of revenge?"
In 1857 the Mormons more or less owned the Utah Territory, and I doubt there was much fear at this point...and any fear that was building was due to not losing plural marriage via politics (soon to come Edmond's Act), not by a small wagon train of immigrants moving through their Southern border.
But taking the former at face value, in regards to DCP, it makes perfect sense. DCP's mindset is one of fear and paranoia. He "reasons" and process information coming from a critic, in terms of being the picked on victim. If we were to go back and look at his "writing", most certainly share this victims mindset. You are his stalker. He was fired by a "purge"...etc, etc. There is always a boogie man in his closet.
Being LDS, as most of us know here, demands a certain amount of this "expression of fear" attitude; it is the only way to avoid dealing and processing certain truths and realities. However, DCP takes this to another level, and it certainly shows in his blogs and rants.
In his mind, his religious view is true and he is always right...which is fine, but he adds because of this, everyone is out to get me, and he writes with an expression of fear.