Posted on 06/12/2012 9:45:20 PM PDT by WilliamIII
The Washington Post published a story last night examining a massacre carried out by Mormons nearly 200 years ago, and examines whether or not it will affect Mitt Romney's support in the deep South.
"On Sept. 11, 1857, a wagon train from this part of Arkansas met with a gruesome fate in Utah, where most of the travelers were slaughtered by a Mormon militia in an episode known as the Mountain Meadows Massacre. Hundreds of the victims’ descendants still populate these hills and commemorate the killings, which they have come to call “the first 9/11.” "
So why is the Post examining old Mormon history?
... After reporting the details of the massacre, writer Sandhya Somashekhar concludes that "none of that history, including the massacre, may make much of a difference in the polls."
(Excerpt) Read more at campaign2012.washingtonexaminer.com ...
Remember when Jeremiah Wright, Barack’s “spiritual advisor” for over twenty years, told his congregation to “God Damn America!!”?
“Will it work?”
I’m thinking they just can’t do too much with this because of Harry Reid. And Mitt should remind them all the time that Reid has always been a Mormon - the double standard should be glaring.
I challenge anybody to show me a spotless family tree. No doubt most of us have the blood of murderers, rapists, & thieves running in our veins.
IIRC, Kenya was a major slave trading area. Perhaps we should talk about that. Or, we could talk about Africa's long history of bloody tribal wars, cannibalism, polygamy, & brutal dictatorships/monarchies, most of which continues today.
I also remember the 9/11 Massacre. As of this writing, our tax dollars are now being used to provide aid and comfort the muslim terrorist organizations that carried it out, while our own Freedoms have been curtailed and the Constitution shredded.
Maybe the WaPo will actually report on current news, or do we have to wait a century and a half for that?
That was a bloody era. There were attacks by all faiths on other faiths. In the late 1700s, some Baptists burned an convent in New England, killing several nuns and children. The Catholic versus Protestant violence erupted all throughout the New York area. And let’s not even go into how Jewish or Chinese Buddhist immigrants were treated by some groups in the early 1800s.
It was a violent time, but if we hold someone of today responsible for what happened then, we will be holding a big weight of responsibility on our own shoulders as well if we set that standard.
..don’t forget to mention the Haun’s Mill massacre of 1838, the the Missouri militia 147 Mormon settlers including children.
Like I said before, it was violent times.
Do not be surprised when the move “September Dawn” gets theatrical re-release this Fall. It’s Hollywood’s take on the Mountain Meadows Massacre and it is very harsh on Mormons.
I wouldn't be surprised if next October Obama comes to the site of the Mountain Meadows Massacre and makes a speech about the massacre, to make sure everyone in America has heard of it.
If Romney wins, this event will suddenly get a lot more play in US history textbooks. Clearly it deserves more attention than any of the other events of the 1850s (Compromise of 1850, Gadsden Purchase, publication of Uncle Tom's Cabin, the creation of the Republican Party, Bleeding Kansas, the Dred Scott decision, the Lincoln-Douglas debates, John Brown's raid).
My great-grandmother’s future brother-in-law went on a wagon train to Salt Lake City in 1865 and as an old man many years later wrote or dictated his recollections of the trip and of Salt Lake City. He was not a Mormon but seemed to have a generally favorable attitude towards what he witnessed. He went to some of their meetings but didn’t tell anyone that he was from Missouri—”if I had told them I was from Missouri, my hide wouldn’t have been worth shucks.”
Is that an Amish name? Baptist? Methodist? Catholic? Quaker?
I'm guessing Presbyterian. Name was originally McSomashekhar but they dropped the "Mc" because the name was too long.
Remember the Watts Riots, where blacks killed people and burned down a city?
Remember the Rodney King riots, where blacks killed people, looted, and burned things down?
Will either of those incidents hurt Obama?
Remember the Darfur massacre? The Kenyan slaughter? Can we ask if Obama will be linked to anything any black person or group has ever done that was evil?
Of course not — that is racist stereotyping. But that’s what they do here, only with religious stereotyping.
I wonder why, when Ellison was up for election in Minnesota, nobody was allowed to ask if the muslim terrorists who took down the towers would hurt him?
So we can’t blame muslims for what other muslims do today, but we can blame all mormons for what some mormons did long ago?
You might think so, but I think the Obama will throw Harry Reid under the bus without the slightest qualm and the MSM itself will not quibble because attacks against Mormonism are unlikely to hurt politicians at the state level. They figure, probably correctly, that local issues (i.e. pork and patronage) will always be more important to Congressmen and Senators than religion.
These anti-Mormon attacks are aimed at the national audience, especially the deeply religious Southerners, evangelicals, and the secular Independents. They are working to build up an “ick” factor by focusing on controversial aspects of LDS history, doctrine and faith — and then (never directly) imply that anyone who is associated with such a screwball religion has no business in the White House.
The message will be subtle, but unmistakeable in the overall context.
But, I really don’t give this plan much of a chance of success. And there are a number of reasons why.
First, speaking as a God-fearing agnostic (yes, I know that is a contradiction in terms, but leave it alone for now) I don’t find the Mormon beliefs to be any more or less odd than various other “standard” Christian doctrines and beliefs. My feeling is that on the secular side, people will just shrug it off along the lines of “every religion has its own particularities”, while on the religious side, Christians of all denominations have learned along time ago not to let differences in doctrine to become sticking points in the political arena. Overall, he’s a lot closer to their side of the pitch than Obama is.
Second, any focus on Mormonism will inevitably touch on some extremely positive aspects. They don’t drink, they don’t smoke, they are staunch defenders of the family, etc. Mormons in general are though of as frugal, shrewd, honest, patriotic, and for the most part - virtually incorruptible. Those are values that are going to resonate strongly with the secular and the religious.
In the final analysis, I think that Mitt’s Mormonism is going to be a net plus, and that MSM attempts to use it as a wedge issue against him are likely to irritate people more against the media itself than it is to hurt Romney.
The nation desperately needs a grown up at the helm. A grown up with a good solid (shall I say sterling?) career in business, a wealth of executive experience, and a strong sense of being in tune with traditional American values is going to be hard to resist come November.
But I could be wrong. We’ll just have to wait and see.
“But, I really don’t give this plan much of a chance of success.”
I agree with your reasons, but I still think Harry Reid will be a factor. How can they denigrate Romney without denigrating Reid? But again, it’s Romney’s job to call them on this.
They've had a lot of time to game this out. Their intention is to create an overall negative background buzz against Mormonism as a whole, so that any time Romney's Mormon beliefs are mentioned in any other context, the audience will immediately reflect back on the last thing they saw or heard about Mormonism -- which will be negative.
It's a subtle game they are playing, and it will work in some cases.
My personal belief is that Americans are smart enough to see through their game and are not going to be sufficiently swayed by the hit pieces to allow it to influence their vote. But then, I also remember the immortal words of H. L. Mencken:
Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public.
So I could be wrong.
Last winter I predicted that this would be a subject of “special” attention in the media as the campaign progressed. I expected maybe September or October. That the ComPost is hauling it out this early says, Obama is in deep trouble, and the media whores are pulling out all the stops ASAP.
That may be one of the very few good things to come out of this awful Republican nomination choice. The more people learn about Mormonism the worse it looks.
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