Movie Review
The storm of animosity faced by this dramatic retelling of one of the most horrific events in the history of the westward expansion of the United States shouldn’t stop anyone from seeing this outstanding film. Directed by Christopher Cain, who has come in for a large dose of media vitriol, and co-written by Cain and Carole Whang Schutter, September Dawn recounts the Mountain Meadows Massacre of September 11, 1857, in which 120 men, women, and children were killed in cold blood by a Mormon Militia, specifically, the Iron County Brigade of the Nauvoo Legion. Starring Jon Voight, as fictional Bishop Jacob Samuelson; and Terence Stamp, as Brigham Young – Governor of Utah, Superintendent of Indian Affairs, Commander in Chief of the Mormon Militia, and President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (hereinafter, the Mormons, or LDS) – September Dawn serves as an allegory for all of the evil done in the name of religion when people subject themselves to a highly controlling and self-proclaimed representative of God on Earth.
So what is it about this film that arouses the anger and derision of movie critics from Michael Medved to Roger Ebert to Doug Ware of Salt Lake City’s KUTV? (Okay, so Ware’s derision is predictable and required of someone in the Salt Lake City media.) One suspects that there is a form of denial going on here. Cain has touched a nerve in the human psyche with his depiction of top Mormon leadership issuing orders to murder in the name of God, and of their followers quite willing to carry out those instructions. When we look at September Dawn, there is a sense in which we are looking into a mirror, and not liking at all what we see. It suggests that deep within many of us there lays a destroying monster waiting to emerge. As Americans, it seems we find this especially unnerving when we are dealing with Mormonism, a homegrown cult that is overrepresented in national politics, and for all intents and purposes, runs the State of Utah.
More about reactions to this movie later – but first, my review: ignore what the negative critics are saying – this movie deserves to be seen. The story line is strong, the characters are depicted with thorough realism, and the pacing of the picture keeps viewers fully engaged. The contrast between people living in freedom, and people living under the iron hand of an all controlling despot comes through in the interaction between Jonathan Samuelson (played by Trent Ford), the son of the Mormon Bishop, and Emily Hope (played by Tamara Hope), the daughter of the Protestant Pastor traveling with the doomed Francher party wagon train, enroute from Arkansas to California. In a private moment, Jonathan can only wonder, and not quite comprehend, that Emily’s father doesn’t use his Office of the Public Ministry to control and punish people, but to proclaim God’s love and forgiveness. Emily, in turn, cannot begin to comprehend the absolute control that the Mormon Bishop exercises over even the most private aspects of Mormon lives.
The outcome is never in doubt: after all, the Mountain Meadows Massacre is a matter of public record. Though so intense as to deserve the R rating, Cain accomplishes a masterful retelling and depiction of the final moments, when the cry, “Mormons, do your duty,” led to the slaughter of 120 human beings. The dehumanizing effect on the murders is portrayed in a strong performance by Jonathan’s half-brother, Micah (acted by Taylor Handley), as he cannot stop himself from obeying the commands of his father to murder, and yet pleads for his own death to make “Blood Atonement” (more about Blood Atonement, later) for what he has done at the direction of those with ecclesiastical authority over him. Even Bishop Samuelson, true believer though he is, is revealed to be likewise held in bondage by his own delusions and by those higher in church polity than he.
Jon Voight’s portrayal of Jacob Samuelson is both compelling and chilling, as the ultimate ending is foreshadowed by his first visit to the emigrant’s wagon train. Likewise, Terence Stamp’s portrayal of Brigham Young captures the essence of Young’s persona. Young’s ruthlessness in first seizing and then consolidating power over the LDS in the wake of the death of Joseph Smith Junior is still present in the now older and even more sinister man who holds the keys to all power – ecclesiastical, political, judicial, and military – in Utah Territory. The adage, “all power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely,” rings true in Stamp’s performance.
Shaun Johnston, (Captain Francher), Lolita Davidovich (Nancy Dunlap), Daniel Libman (Reverend Hudson), Huntley Ritter (Robert Humphries), and Hal Kerbes (Highbee) all turn in good performances. However, Jon Gries, who portrays John D. Lee, deserves special mention. Gries presents Lee as a tortured soul, one who has made a pact with the Devil and sees no way out but to keep his side of the bargain. In reality, Lee had a long history in the Mormon Church, and was the adopted son of Brigham Young – the choice he is faced with at Mountain Meadows is to continue to obey Young and his minions by committing an unspeakable atrocity, or to face certain death at the hands of his fellow Mormons. Sadly, after protesting as much as he dares, Lee chooses to obey. Ultimately, after 20 years of justice delayed, Lee becomes the only man ever tried, convicted, and executed for the mass murder – offered up by the LDS as the scapegoat, to stop the investigation from continuing all the way to Brigham Young.
This movie is not likely to be around long, given the unrelenting media attacks on both the movie and its message. So don’t wait to go see it. While rated R for the violence that is necessary for any retelling of the Mountain Meadows Massacre, this film would be suitable for more mature 13 – 14 year olds, accompanied by their parents, and would provide an opportunity to discuss the evil that lurks within all humans. September Dawn goes a long way toward helping all of us to understand the conditions that lead teenagers and other young people to willingly strap bombs to their bodies and commit suicide in the name of Allah.
**** Four out of Five Stars for “September Dawn”
Background Commentary
I have read and reviewed thousands of pages of trial transcripts, written histories, autobiographies, and other records in preparation for writing this commentary. Let me say at the outset that I agree with the conclusion reached by Christopher Cain - I believe that the record shows that Brigham Young ordered the Mountain Meadows Massacre. The record is unequivocally clear in proving that he committed perjury in his deposition for the trial of John Doyle Lee. While some may arrive at a different conclusion as to whether he issued the actual orders to kill the emigrants, the record is likewise unequivocally clear that he issued orders to incite the Native American tribes to attack the wagon train, and that he created conditions that could only lead to the massacre through his sermons, commands, and official acts. The LDS has at long last conceded that the Mountain Meadows Massacre was perpetrated by Mormons. However, the LDS finds itself unable to implicate Brigham Young in this monstrous crime. To do so would call into question the very truth claims upon which the entire Mormon religion is built. Nevertheless, I believe that this movie accurately places responsibility squarely where it belongs - on Brigham Young.
While the Mountain Meadows Massacre took place 150 year ago, just within the past three decades we have seen similar violence and death among religious cults involving Americans. In November 1978, at least 913 people died when the leader of the People’s Temple cult, Jim Jones, ordered mass suicides and murder at the cult compound known as Jonestown in Northwestern Guyana, South America. In many cases, whole families lined up to drink a lethal mixture of Kool-aid laced with valium and cyanide, at the direction of cult leader, Jim Jones. Most of the dead were Americans.
On February 28, 1993, the United States Treasury Department’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) botched a raid on the Branch Davidian Compound near Waco, Texas. The Branch Davidians are an off-shoot of the Seventh Day Adventist Church. At the time of the ATF raid, they were led by Vernon Wayne Howell, AKA, David Koresh, who claimed he was the second coming of Jesus Christ. What followed was a 51-day siege of the compound, culminating on April 19th with another botched assault by law enforcement, led by the FBI and ATF, acting with the approval of the Clinton Administration. This assault resulted in the deaths of approximately 79 Branch Davidians, 21 of whom were children. Many, including their self-proclaimed messiah leader David Koresh, died of single gunshot wounds to the head – suicide in the case of some adults, and ritual sacrifice in the face of the government assault for the other, apparently following orders of Koresh.
On March 26, 1997, in a rented mansion in the wealthy San Diego suburb of Ranch Santa Fe, authorities found the bodies of 38 members of the Heaven’s Gate cult dead, in addition to their leader, Marshall Applewhite. Applewhite had convinced the cult members that, by committing ritual suicide, they would depart this plane of existence and rendezvous with a spaceship, which was shadowing Comet Hale-Bopp, and join Jesus, who Applewhite claimed was riding in that spaceship.
What all of these groups have in common – especially the Peoples Temple, the Branch Davidians, and the Mormons – is a tightly controlled, highly structured, religious system under the complete domination of one or a small group of leaders that are believed to possess direct access to the thoughts and will of God. In addition, these cults view outsiders as the “other”, and their leaders encourage separation from the rest of humankind by continually whipping up a mass paranoia over perceived persecution by the “other”. By nature secretive, believing themselves or their leaders to be a law unto themselves (since the leaders are believed to be infallibly guided by divine revelation), it proves easy for most who join these cults to be readily seduced by their feelings of being both special and persecuted by the sinful world. They believe that they have a unique place as “the chosen ones of God”. Once indoctrinated, they blindly obey their leaders, even when those orders call for them to commit atrocities, such as The Mountain Meadows Massacre.
One of the criticisms leveled against September Dawn is that Cain chose as his subject an event that happened 150 years ago, among Mormons living in what is now one of the United States. Well known movie critic Michael Medved has faulted Cain for not choosing modern day Islamists, instead. I believe Medved misses the point. What Cain has accomplished in this movie is to provide a cautionary tale that should inform how we look at all religions. While the LDS has tried with varying degrees of success to become mainstream in the 150 years since the Mountain Meadows Massacre, the very nature of Mormonism continues to lead to the spin-off of a multitude of smaller, more secretive Mormon cults, primarily in the Inter-Mountain Region of the United States. The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS), led by Warren Jeffs, is an example of a Mormon denomination that has recently emerged from the shadows, and epitomizes the aspects of Mormonism that resulted in the Massacre in 1857.
Operating in a remote area along the Arizona – Utah border, in and around the community of Short Creek, Arizona, the FLDS has been a highly secretive, tightly controlled Mormon denomination since the beginning of the 20th Century. Even earlier, Brigham Young visited the area and declared that, “This will someday be the head, and not the tail, of the church. These are the granaries of the Saints.” In 1954, the Governor of Arizona, John Howard Pyle, engineered a raid on Short Creek, in the face of widespread publicity over polygamy and other illegal practices by the FLDS. The raid backfired, as images of children being torn from the arms of their mothers filled the newspapers of the day, and Pyle lost his bid for re-election. Law enforcement backed off, and the FLDS operated “below the radar” for most of the next 50 years.
In recent years, however, following in the wake of the Branch Davidian fiasco, concern over religious cults increased, and the FLDS came under greater scrutiny. In his best seller, “Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith,” Jon Krakauer chronicled the story of the FLDS and several other Mormon denominations. Finally, law enforcement intervened, making public the arranged marriages of under-age girls to middle aged men, the continuation of polygamy, and a host of other frightening cult practices by the FLDS. As a result, the FLDS has scattered, with some moving to Texas and others going deeper underground. Their leader, Warren Jeffs, has been arrested and faces prison time for statutory rape and similar charges. However, the FLDS is but the tip of the iceberg. Throughout the American West, and spreading throughout the United States and internationally, Mormon cults at variance with the public face of the LDS continue to practice the kind of religious extremism depicted in “September Dawn”.
Blood Atonement is a doctrine of the Mormon religion that pronounces as follows: “But under certain circumstances there are some serious sins for which the cleansing of Christ does not operate, and the law of God is that men must then have their own blood shed to atone for their sins.” ("Mormon Doctrine", by Elder Bruce R. McConkie, 2nd Edition, published by Bookcraft, Salt Lake City, Utah) Elder McConkie continued his exposition of the Doctrine of Blood Atonement as follows: President Joseph Fielding Smith has written: “Man may commit certain grievous sins – according to his light and knowledge – that will place him beyond the reach of the atoning blood of Christ. If then he would be saved, he must make sacrifice of his own life to atone – so far as in his power lies – for that sin, for the blood of Christ alone under certain circumstances will not avail.
…Joseph Smith taught that there were certain sins so grievous that man may commit, that they will place the transgressors beyond the power of the atonement of Christ. If these offenses are committed, then the blood of Christ will not cleanse them from their sins even though they repent. Therefore their only hope is to have their own blood shed to atone, as far as possible, in their behalf.” (Doctrines of Salvation, vol. 1, pp. 133-138).
McConkie continues, “This doctrine can only be practiced in its fullness in a day when the civil and ecclesiastical laws are administered in the same hands.” In his opening sentences on this doctrine, McConkie takes pains to assert that, since the days of Joseph Smith, the doctrine of Blood Atonement has never been practiced by the Mormon Church. However, there is a contradiction here – in 1857, in Utah Territory, both the civil and ecclesiastical laws were administered in the same hands – namely in the hands of Brigham Young and those he placed in positions as bishops, judges, and other positions of authority over the entire citizenry of Utah, both Mormon and non-Mormon. Despite the secrecy that accompanied the carrying out of Blood Atonement, there are numerous reports of the doctrine being carried out, all the way back to the Mormon sojourn in Missouri, if not earlier during their time in the Kirtland, Ohio, area. The depiction of Blood Atonement being instituted in September Dawn is in keeping with both Mormon doctrine and historical accounts.
Under the doctrine of Blood Atonement, as it was and is understood by many Mormon authorities, killing either a Mormon or a “gentile” (i.e., a non-Mormon) by slitting their throat or other means, so as to spill their blood upon the ground, is an act of love. Their twisted logic is that murder is an act of love because by the spilling of the target’s blood, their sins are atoned for, and they may eventually gain admission to at least the lowest level of heaven, as taught by other Mormon doctrine. Again, it must be pointed out that most LDS officials of recent years disavow any imposition of Blood Atonement. However, the secrecy and oaths of silence that surround this doctrine have not prevented reports of these ritual murders from entering into historical records and the collective consciousness of generations of Mormons. Thus, Blood Atonement acts as one more lever to control the behavior and ensure the obedience of Mormons still today.
So what does this tell us about the world we live in today? All cults deserve continuing public scrutiny. Secretive religious organizations (often based on devotion to a human leader who is proclaimed as being a god, or who claims to be receiving continuing direct revelations from God), religious organizations that advocate violence and oppression in their official doctrines and scriptures, and religious organizations that isolate their adherents from mainstream society all deserve close attention. Freedom of religion must be upheld, but religious leaders that practice mind control techniques, isolate their adherents from the rest of society and control the information and view of reality that these adherents have access to, must be viewed with concern and skepticism by the rest of society. While we hear less about the dangers of cults today than we did during the decade of the 1970s, in fact there are even more cults forming now than at any time in the past. While many at least start out as benign, those that continue evolving have a tendency to become more dangerous over time, as the leader resorts to more and more outrageous claims to maintain control over cult members. Some very large religious groups (e.g., LDS and various other Mormon denominations, Unification Church, Islamists) fit the cult profile, and merit continuing concern and vigilance by all Americans.
Finally, the lesson of September Dawn is the chilling truth that people under the control of cult leaders are capable of the most horrible atrocities imaginable. Eternal vigilance is, indeed, the price we must pay for our freedom and liberty. The Islamist terrorists are not Mormons, and the Mormons are not Islamist terrorists. Nevertheless, the human weaknesses and predispositions that lead to Islamist suicide bombers today have much in common with the human weaknesses and predispositions that precipitated the Mountain Meadows Massacre. Religious leaders who promote a culture of absolute obedience, separation from the “other”, and embrace violence and death as religious doctrines are as dangerous in 2007 as they were in 1857. Those critical of September Dawn would do well to learn this lesson, before dismissing an important film for primarily political reasons.
The storm of animosity faced by this dramatic retelling of one of the most horrific events in the history of the westward expansion of the United States shouldn’t stop anyone from seeing this outstanding film. Directed by Christopher Cain, who has come in for a large dose of media vitriol, and co-written by Cain and Carole Whang Schutter, September Dawn recounts the Mountain Meadows Massacre of September 11, 1857, in which 120 men, women, and children were killed in cold blood by a Mormon Militia, specifically, the Iron County Brigade of the Nauvoo Legion. Starring Jon Voight, as fictional Bishop Jacob Samuelson; and Terence Stamp, as Brigham Young – Governor of Utah, Superintendent of Indian Affairs, Commander in Chief of the Mormon Militia, and President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (hereinafter, the Mormons, or LDS) – September Dawn serves as an allegory for all of the evil done in the name of religion when people subject themselves to a highly controlling and self-proclaimed representative of God on Earth.
So what is it about this film that arouses the anger and derision of movie critics from Michael Medved to Roger Ebert to Doug Ware of Salt Lake City’s KUTV? (Okay, so Ware’s derision is predictable and required of someone in the Salt Lake City media.) One suspects that there is a form of denial going on here. Cain has touched a nerve in the human psyche with his depiction of top Mormon leadership issuing orders to murder in the name of God, and of their followers quite willing to carry out those instructions. When we look at September Dawn, there is a sense in which we are looking into a mirror, and not liking at all what we see. It suggests that deep within many of us there lays a destroying monster waiting to emerge. As Americans, it seems we find this especially unnerving when we are dealing with Mormonism, a homegrown cult that is overrepresented in national politics, and for all intents and purposes, runs the State of Utah.
More about reactions to this movie later – but first, my review: ignore what the negative critics are saying – this movie deserves to be seen. The story line is strong, the characters are depicted with thorough realism, and the pacing of the picture keeps viewers fully engaged. The contrast between people living in freedom, and people living under the iron hand of an all controlling despot comes through in the interaction between Jonathan Samuelson (played by Trent Ford), the son of the Mormon Bishop, and Emily Hope (played by Tamara Hope), the daughter of the Protestant Pastor traveling with the doomed Francher party wagon train, enroute from Arkansas to California. In a private moment, Jonathan can only wonder, and not quite comprehend, that Emily’s father doesn’t use his Office of the Public Ministry to control and punish people, but to proclaim God’s love and forgiveness. Emily, in turn, cannot begin to comprehend the absolute control that the Mormon Bishop exercises over even the most private aspects of Mormon lives.
The outcome is never in doubt: after all, the Mountain Meadows Massacre is a matter of public record. Though so intense as to deserve the R rating, Cain accomplishes a masterful retelling and depiction of the final moments, when the cry, “Mormons, do your duty,” led to the slaughter of 120 human beings. The dehumanizing effect on the murders is portrayed in a strong performance by Jonathan’s half-brother, Micah (acted by Taylor Handley), as he cannot stop himself from obeying the commands of his father to murder, and yet pleads for his own death to make “Blood Atonement” (more about Blood Atonement, later) for what he has done at the direction of those with ecclesiastical authority over him. Even Bishop Samuelson, true believer though he is, is revealed to be likewise held in bondage by his own delusions and by those higher in church polity than he.
Jon Voight’s portrayal of Jacob Samuelson is both compelling and chilling, as the ultimate ending is foreshadowed by his first visit to the emigrant’s wagon train. Likewise, Terence Stamp’s portrayal of Brigham Young captures the essence of Young’s persona. Young’s ruthlessness in first seizing and then consolidating power over the LDS in the wake of the death of Joseph Smith Junior is still present in the now older and even more sinister man who holds the keys to all power – ecclesiastical, political, judicial, and military – in Utah Territory. The adage, “all power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely,” rings true in Stamp’s performance.
Shaun Johnston, (Captain Francher), Lolita Davidovich (Nancy Dunlap), Daniel Libman (Reverend Hudson), Huntley Ritter (Robert Humphries), and Hal Kerbes (Highbee) all turn in good performances. However, Jon Gries, who portrays John D. Lee, deserves special mention. Gries presents Lee as a tortured soul, one who has made a pact with the Devil and sees no way out but to keep his side of the bargain. In reality, Lee had a long history in the Mormon Church, and was the adopted son of Brigham Young – the choice he is faced with at Mountain Meadows is to continue to obey Young and his minions by committing an unspeakable atrocity, or to face certain death at the hands of his fellow Mormons. Sadly, after protesting as much as he dares, Lee chooses to obey. Ultimately, after 20 years of justice delayed, Lee becomes the only man ever tried, convicted, and executed for the mass murder – offered up by the LDS as the scapegoat, to stop the investigation from continuing all the way to Brigham Young.
This movie is not likely to be around long, given the unrelenting media attacks on both the movie and its message. So don’t wait to go see it. While rated R for the violence that is necessary for any retelling of the Mountain Meadows Massacre, this film would be suitable for more mature 13 – 14 year olds, accompanied by their parents, and would provide an opportunity to discuss the evil that lurks within all humans. September Dawn goes a long way toward helping all of us to understand the conditions that lead teenagers and other young people to willingly strap bombs to their bodies and commit suicide in the name of Allah.
**** Four out of Five Stars for “September Dawn”
Background Commentary
I have read and reviewed thousands of pages of trial transcripts, written histories, autobiographies, and other records in preparation for writing this commentary. Let me say at the outset that I agree with the conclusion reached by Christopher Cain - I believe that the record shows that Brigham Young ordered the Mountain Meadows Massacre. The record is unequivocally clear in proving that he committed perjury in his deposition for the trial of John Doyle Lee. While some may arrive at a different conclusion as to whether he issued the actual orders to kill the emigrants, the record is likewise unequivocally clear that he issued orders to incite the Native American tribes to attack the wagon train, and that he created conditions that could only lead to the massacre through his sermons, commands, and official acts. The LDS has at long last conceded that the Mountain Meadows Massacre was perpetrated by Mormons. However, the LDS finds itself unable to implicate Brigham Young in this monstrous crime. To do so would call into question the very truth claims upon which the entire Mormon religion is built. Nevertheless, I believe that this movie accurately places responsibility squarely where it belongs - on Brigham Young.
While the Mountain Meadows Massacre took place 150 year ago, just within the past three decades we have seen similar violence and death among religious cults involving Americans. In November 1978, at least 913 people died when the leader of the People’s Temple cult, Jim Jones, ordered mass suicides and murder at the cult compound known as Jonestown in Northwestern Guyana, South America. In many cases, whole families lined up to drink a lethal mixture of Kool-aid laced with valium and cyanide, at the direction of cult leader, Jim Jones. Most of the dead were Americans.
On February 28, 1993, the United States Treasury Department’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) botched a raid on the Branch Davidian Compound near Waco, Texas. The Branch Davidians are an off-shoot of the Seventh Day Adventist Church. At the time of the ATF raid, they were led by Vernon Wayne Howell, AKA, David Koresh, who claimed he was the second coming of Jesus Christ. What followed was a 51-day siege of the compound, culminating on April 19th with another botched assault by law enforcement, led by the FBI and ATF, acting with the approval of the Clinton Administration. This assault resulted in the deaths of approximately 79 Branch Davidians, 21 of whom were children. Many, including their self-proclaimed messiah leader David Koresh, died of single gunshot wounds to the head – suicide in the case of some adults, and ritual sacrifice in the face of the government assault for the other, apparently following orders of Koresh.
On March 26, 1997, in a rented mansion in the wealthy San Diego suburb of Ranch Santa Fe, authorities found the bodies of 38 members of the Heaven’s Gate cult dead, in addition to their leader, Marshall Applewhite. Applewhite had convinced the cult members that, by committing ritual suicide, they would depart this plane of existence and rendezvous with a spaceship, which was shadowing Comet Hale-Bopp, and join Jesus, who Applewhite claimed was riding in that spaceship.
What all of these groups have in common – especially the Peoples Temple, the Branch Davidians, and the Mormons – is a tightly controlled, highly structured, religious system under the complete domination of one or a small group of leaders that are believed to possess direct access to the thoughts and will of God. In addition, these cults view outsiders as the “other”, and their leaders encourage separation from the rest of humankind by continually whipping up a mass paranoia over perceived persecution by the “other”. By nature secretive, believing themselves or their leaders to be a law unto themselves (since the leaders are believed to be infallibly guided by divine revelation), it proves easy for most who join these cults to be readily seduced by their feelings of being both special and persecuted by the sinful world. They believe that they have a unique place as “the chosen ones of God”. Once indoctrinated, they blindly obey their leaders, even when those orders call for them to commit atrocities, such as The Mountain Meadows Massacre.
One of the criticisms leveled against September Dawn is that Cain chose as his subject an event that happened 150 years ago, among Mormons living in what is now one of the United States. Well known movie critic Michael Medved has faulted Cain for not choosing modern day Islamists, instead. I believe Medved misses the point. What Cain has accomplished in this movie is to provide a cautionary tale that should inform how we look at all religions. While the LDS has tried with varying degrees of success to become mainstream in the 150 years since the Mountain Meadows Massacre, the very nature of Mormonism continues to lead to the spin-off of a multitude of smaller, more secretive Mormon cults, primarily in the Inter-Mountain Region of the United States. The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS), led by Warren Jeffs, is an example of a Mormon denomination that has recently emerged from the shadows, and epitomizes the aspects of Mormonism that resulted in the Massacre in 1857.
Operating in a remote area along the Arizona – Utah border, in and around the community of Short Creek, Arizona, the FLDS has been a highly secretive, tightly controlled Mormon denomination since the beginning of the 20th Century. Even earlier, Brigham Young visited the area and declared that, “This will someday be the head, and not the tail, of the church. These are the granaries of the Saints.” In 1954, the Governor of Arizona, John Howard Pyle, engineered a raid on Short Creek, in the face of widespread publicity over polygamy and other illegal practices by the FLDS. The raid backfired, as images of children being torn from the arms of their mothers filled the newspapers of the day, and Pyle lost his bid for re-election. Law enforcement backed off, and the FLDS operated “below the radar” for most of the next 50 years.
In recent years, however, following in the wake of the Branch Davidian fiasco, concern over religious cults increased, and the FLDS came under greater scrutiny. In his best seller, “Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith,” Jon Krakauer chronicled the story of the FLDS and several other Mormon denominations. Finally, law enforcement intervened, making public the arranged marriages of under-age girls to middle aged men, the continuation of polygamy, and a host of other frightening cult practices by the FLDS. As a result, the FLDS has scattered, with some moving to Texas and others going deeper underground. Their leader, Warren Jeffs, has been arrested and faces prison time for statutory rape and similar charges. However, the FLDS is but the tip of the iceberg. Throughout the American West, and spreading throughout the United States and internationally, Mormon cults at variance with the public face of the LDS continue to practice the kind of religious extremism depicted in “September Dawn”.
Blood Atonement is a doctrine of the Mormon religion that pronounces as follows: “But under certain circumstances there are some serious sins for which the cleansing of Christ does not operate, and the law of God is that men must then have their own blood shed to atone for their sins.” ("Mormon Doctrine", by Elder Bruce R. McConkie, 2nd Edition, published by Bookcraft, Salt Lake City, Utah) Elder McConkie continued his exposition of the Doctrine of Blood Atonement as follows: President Joseph Fielding Smith has written: “Man may commit certain grievous sins – according to his light and knowledge – that will place him beyond the reach of the atoning blood of Christ. If then he would be saved, he must make sacrifice of his own life to atone – so far as in his power lies – for that sin, for the blood of Christ alone under certain circumstances will not avail.
…Joseph Smith taught that there were certain sins so grievous that man may commit, that they will place the transgressors beyond the power of the atonement of Christ. If these offenses are committed, then the blood of Christ will not cleanse them from their sins even though they repent. Therefore their only hope is to have their own blood shed to atone, as far as possible, in their behalf.” (Doctrines of Salvation, vol. 1, pp. 133-138).
McConkie continues, “This doctrine can only be practiced in its fullness in a day when the civil and ecclesiastical laws are administered in the same hands.” In his opening sentences on this doctrine, McConkie takes pains to assert that, since the days of Joseph Smith, the doctrine of Blood Atonement has never been practiced by the Mormon Church. However, there is a contradiction here – in 1857, in Utah Territory, both the civil and ecclesiastical laws were administered in the same hands – namely in the hands of Brigham Young and those he placed in positions as bishops, judges, and other positions of authority over the entire citizenry of Utah, both Mormon and non-Mormon. Despite the secrecy that accompanied the carrying out of Blood Atonement, there are numerous reports of the doctrine being carried out, all the way back to the Mormon sojourn in Missouri, if not earlier during their time in the Kirtland, Ohio, area. The depiction of Blood Atonement being instituted in September Dawn is in keeping with both Mormon doctrine and historical accounts.
Under the doctrine of Blood Atonement, as it was and is understood by many Mormon authorities, killing either a Mormon or a “gentile” (i.e., a non-Mormon) by slitting their throat or other means, so as to spill their blood upon the ground, is an act of love. Their twisted logic is that murder is an act of love because by the spilling of the target’s blood, their sins are atoned for, and they may eventually gain admission to at least the lowest level of heaven, as taught by other Mormon doctrine. Again, it must be pointed out that most LDS officials of recent years disavow any imposition of Blood Atonement. However, the secrecy and oaths of silence that surround this doctrine have not prevented reports of these ritual murders from entering into historical records and the collective consciousness of generations of Mormons. Thus, Blood Atonement acts as one more lever to control the behavior and ensure the obedience of Mormons still today.
So what does this tell us about the world we live in today? All cults deserve continuing public scrutiny. Secretive religious organizations (often based on devotion to a human leader who is proclaimed as being a god, or who claims to be receiving continuing direct revelations from God), religious organizations that advocate violence and oppression in their official doctrines and scriptures, and religious organizations that isolate their adherents from mainstream society all deserve close attention. Freedom of religion must be upheld, but religious leaders that practice mind control techniques, isolate their adherents from the rest of society and control the information and view of reality that these adherents have access to, must be viewed with concern and skepticism by the rest of society. While we hear less about the dangers of cults today than we did during the decade of the 1970s, in fact there are even more cults forming now than at any time in the past. While many at least start out as benign, those that continue evolving have a tendency to become more dangerous over time, as the leader resorts to more and more outrageous claims to maintain control over cult members. Some very large religious groups (e.g., LDS and various other Mormon denominations, Unification Church, Islamists) fit the cult profile, and merit continuing concern and vigilance by all Americans.
Finally, the lesson of September Dawn is the chilling truth that people under the control of cult leaders are capable of the most horrible atrocities imaginable. Eternal vigilance is, indeed, the price we must pay for our freedom and liberty. The Islamist terrorists are not Mormons, and the Mormons are not Islamist terrorists. Nevertheless, the human weaknesses and predispositions that lead to Islamist suicide bombers today have much in common with the human weaknesses and predispositions that precipitated the Mountain Meadows Massacre. Religious leaders who promote a culture of absolute obedience, separation from the “other”, and embrace violence and death as religious doctrines are as dangerous in 2007 as they were in 1857. Those critical of September Dawn would do well to learn this lesson, before dismissing an important film for primarily political reasons.
5 comments:
Excellent review. I've seen the movie and thought it was well presented. In today's world there are many good Mormons as there were in 1857, however, when looking at the organization, it is evident that it is a cult and must be recognized as such.
Well said! Indeed LDS is a cult. The movie is well done. Imagine if those that run the LDS church were in control of these United States, would they go so far as to ban this movie? Would they restrict our freedoms under the constitution? What would a Mormon President do? Obey the constitution or his elders? It does cause one to pause and ponder.
Awesome review. We lived in Salt Lake for several years, and have come to know their society. Before we moved there, we thought it was a nice city full of friendly family-minded people. We left emotionally battered by the discrimination that constatnly goes on. And the discrimination between adults is bad, but what was going on between kids (not allowed to play together, have to be Mormon to be inthe Boy Scouts, do school sports or student government) is repulsive. I am glad to see that we are not the only ones aware of what this smiling, clean-faced, empty-minded cult is up to.
I hope it wasn't a mormom who stomped the pheasant to death in the ball field there in UTAH...very sad
I grew up around Mormans in the 4 corners region of New Mexico. I must say with all honesty, I've never encountered a greater group of self serving, religiously prejudice people. I must restate the word "self serving", because I have observed that they care nothing about anyone else and look down with disgust at those who are not like them.
A Morman as president, I just got the shivers.
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