"..the Mountain Meadows massacre of 1857, in which 137 pioneers from Arkansas were killed in Utah by a raiding party whose ties to the LDS Church are still in dispute."
You can't dispute history. It did happen. And the people who did it were connected to the Mormon Church which was at the time quite a militaristic organization. Brigham Young referred to himself as the "Mohammad of the West".
However, modern day Mormons are no more responsible for this than modern day Catholics for the inquisition or modern day Episcopalians for the Star Chamber.
But it happened.
Yes, I remember seeing or reading something about this. This is a touchy subject in Utah, as much of the Mormon church tries to ignore this story, much like Japs ignore Pearl Harbor. I think that a band of militant Mormoms masscred these pioneers as they crossed southern Utah and dressed like Indians.
You are correct, however, in this day when the Pope has apologized for atrocities committed by the early Catholic Church, it would be nice to see the LDS hierarchy come forward, accept the blame, and publicly apologize. I think their continued denial of involvement has only added to the flame.
Good grief. What about the extermination order issued by the Gov of Missouri - to kill Mormons, even their kids.