Hey Mormons: 140 unarmed men , women and kids were massacred at Mountain Meadows. Why only 1 man convicted?

Question

It was September 11, 1857. A wagon train of 160 settlers on their way to California was massacred by a bunch of Mormons dressed in Indian clothes. 17 children under the age of 8 were spared and lived to tell their story.
1st. They dressed as Indians but after five days they changed tactics.
2nd. Then they went a bit away ,dressed back into normal clothes and acted like the Rescue Party who had negotiated a deal with the"Indians".
3rd, Then confiscated all the guns as part of the deal for "saving" the travellers and Mormon dissidents( who were the reason for the attack in the first place).
4th. Took everybody off a mile or so and shot them all. 2 men got away but were eventually tracked down and killed a day or so later.
5th. Took the 17 children they had not killed back with them to Salt Lake City.
6th. Got away with it. After a publicized trial, with the childrens own testimony admitted into the court, only 1 man was convicted and shot, John D. Lee. ( pardoned by Church 1960)

It ended up being called the Mountain Meadows Massacre. The first time in U.S. history that U.S. citizens were massacred on U.S. soil by religious wackos. This event is even more significant because the total U.S. population at the time was much smaller.(I dont know the exact numbers, maybe only 30 million or so) In todays numbers it would be around 1400 dead.

There were over 100 LDS churchmembers involved in this horrible crime, yet the church that teaches against murder did not bring these killers to justice. 20 years later , after being protected by Brigham Young for years, John D. Lee was finally executed. But what about the others? Shurely the church could have made them face justice but they didn't. So, is murder OK if your victims arent in your church?

I feel it is relevant because in light of 9-11 and religious terrorsts running loose all over the world we dont need a president who is a member of a church that has committed a cover-up for mass murderers on American soil. Romney is a hard core Mormon and it looks like a Taliban thing to me!

Answer 1

Whoa, my answer got deleted! This is obviously a really hot issue that Mormons do not want to deal with the reality of.

There is no justification for mass murder.

Answer 2

Actually, you are incorrect. The mountain meadow massacre occured in the territory of Utah which was outside of the United States, nearly 40 years before becoming a state.

I would never excuse the actions of this group of individuals who participated in this massacre. This attack was not sanctioned by the church and all of the individuals should have been held accountable for their actions.

You should also be aware that this massacre occurred after the church was forceably driven from New York, Ohio, Missiouri, and Illinois. Church members were repeatedly persecuted, robbed, mobbed, imprisoned, forced from their homes, having much of their land and property destroyed or stolen. It also occurred after the martyrdom of many early church members including the prophet Joseph Smith and his brother in the state of Missouri. It occurred after the Haun's Mill massacre in Mo. which killed 18 and injured 13 and the Battle of Crooked Creek, also in Mo., which wounded 16 and killed 4. It occurred after the Mormon Pioneers crossed the entire continent which resulted in the death of over 200 church members who had to seek religious freedom outside of the United States which was founded, in part, by people who had also been seeking the same freedom. It also occurred after Gov. Boggs of Missouri issued an extermination order for all Mormons, which was only recently repealed in 1976.

It appears that your concern is not with the tragic death of anyone, but rather with the Mormon church. You would be much better off letting Christ judge those who committed this crime.

Answer 3

Thousands of Mormons were killed, raped, tortured, and had everything but the clothes on their backs stolen from them, not once, but several times, and yet, NO ONE was ever convicted. In fact, when all those unarmed people at Haun's Mill were massacred, including a ten year old boy shot in the head at point-blank range, it was technically LEGAL to do that, to kill Mormons just for being Mormon, therefore, that slaughter was "perfectly legal". No one was ever brought to justice for the assassination of Joseph and Hyrum Smith.

Answer 4

ya know the mormons will always point back to the haun's mill massacre:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=ArvP6vpYDnf3PMpqSINmXb3ty6IX?qid=20070531042102AA5ueeq&show=7#profile-info-ifvHIpZ8aa

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AkI7rki5qYbBhtF5b0okQcPty6IX?qid=20070531083932AAlcpQ2&show=7#profile-info-2LcyVsrlaa

As you can see from above. And the law to kill nay Mormon, and being expelled from two states in the dead of winter.
Power is a bad thing on either side and the west back then was wild.

Answer 5

You can't compare a man to a woman. Each is different. But a man, and a woman, complement each other. In other words, one man and one woman (together) is one unit. They are a complementary pair.

Answer 6

What happened in your chronicle event is over 150 years ago and is recorded in history. I seriously doubt the Mormons of today view this as an accurate account, knowing it makes them look like savages instead of civilized.
.

Answer 7

Tan Man- you know the answer already! It is because Mormons always make excuses and rationalize any act or word said by the LDS if it makes them look bad.

Answer 8

What is the point of that rant? I think that we can go back through time and point out unspeakable acts by any organized religion.

Answer 9

Seriously, what the hell is your point?

Answer 10

What is your point?