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| “September Dawn” trailer. |
You know Osama bin Laden is really so yesterday’s news isn’t he?
“It’s not worth moving heaven and earth spending billions of
dollars just trying to catch one person. …” – Mitt
Romney
By Mitt’s theory of reality, history is just such a nuisance, isn’t it? So let’s just move on, bury the evidence, forget what’s in the past, shall we? It’s more convenient that way and if Romney is for anything he’s for the convenience of his own opinions. It makes it easier for him to morph his talking points into today’s thinking.
There should be no illusions that catching Osama would stop the unholy violence
that has been unleashed since 9/11 and Bush preemptively invading Iraq (with
help from the Democrats). But you never let a murderer get away;
especially not one who attacked the U.S. on our own soil, killing thousands,
while launching an international jihad against the west. Ask any law
enforcement official; you never let a murderer go no matter how long it takes
you to hunt him or her down and make the thug pay for the crimes committed.
Under Mitt Romney, however, Osama is just not worth the time, money or effort. Romney just can’t be bothered. Imagine if a Democrat said such a thing.
It’s no secret around here that I think Mitt Romney’s politics of convenience is worth covering and mocking, but his unethical silences are too. It infuriated me that when Warren
Jeffs was on trial Romney remained silent. He doesn’t want to talk about
the FLDS.
At least Harry
Reid wrote Gonzales about addressing the issue of child bride rapes and
other horrendous atrocities being perpetrated by the fundamentalist
LDS sects out here in the west. Jeffs’ FLDS cult and others like his are far removed
from Mormons, but it is my opinion that the Church of Latter Day Saints was
lazy and remains far too hands off on their fundamentalist outcasts since LDS separated
itself from the practice of polygamy. The LDS leaders basically cut the polygamists
off, but they also didn’t do anything to rein them in, report or actively help law enforcement with regard to FLDS’ continued
abuse of women from young through middle age. Silence is action by default. Most Mormons
are all too eager to defend their LDS leaders, saying what could we do? It is more convenient to just act like they don’t exist.
The Mormon behavior of secrecy and silence toward FLDS is reminiscent of the Catholic hierarchy hiding their pedophile scandal, isn’t it?
There is something else that troubles me about a Mitt Romney presidency. Now I don’t
care what religion Romney is (I’m a rebel Episcopalian with a penchant for mediation), but I absolutely do care about the secrets that
Mormons protect when one of them is seeking the highest post in the land. I
understand that Mormons have sacred services etc., but I do not understand
and will never accept their dogged efforts to keep some parts of their religion secret. With Romney running for president this is a real issue. My professional experience is now exhibit A, because
I dared to simply link to Jesus’ General who posts on Romney and Mormonism often. As a result of one link, I was censored by my (former) tech team, who happened to also be Mormons and didn’t approve of the content associated with the link. Censoring content is un-American. It also makes me worried about Romney and what his connections to radio giant Clear Channel will mean. Some radio hosts are already concerned that they can’t cover Romney without retaliation. I feel their pain, believe me. So the secrets that swirl around
Mormonism need to be exposed and shown in the light of day, not censored, just like in any
other religion in this country, particularly when one of their most powerful church members is running for president. There are just too many things unknown about Mormonism. Reveal the truth and let the chips fall where they may. That’s fair.
One long held Mormon secret, some would say hidden scandal, is about
to get the big screen treatment.
One hundred fifty years ago, a glorious September morning in the Utah mountains
morphed into Mormonism’s darkest hour when a militia opened fire on a wagon
train, leaving more than 120 men, women and children dead in a flowery field.Now the “Mountain Meadows Massacre” is becoming more than a subject
of somber reflection within tight-knit Mormon circles. Two new films and a
forthcoming book aim to tell the nation what happened, why and — perhaps
most important — whether the revered Mormon prophet Brigham Young ordered
the killing.(snip)
Throwing down the gauntlet June 22 is Christopher
Cain’s movie “September Dawn,” which opens that day in more
than 1,000 theaters nationwide. Although the romantic storyline is fictional,
the film claims to be accurate in tracing the massacre to Young and portraying
19th-century Mormons as obedient, bloodthirsty fundamentalists. In one scene,
for instance, an angry mob ignores a report that the wagon train’s “gentiles”
are friendly and chants for “blood atonement” in the form of death.Other renderings, however, convey a more complex picture. The PBS documentary
“The Mormons,” which airs Monday and Tuesday, explains that Mormons
had suffered bloody persecutions, which prompted their westward trek in the
mid-1840s to settle in the Salt Lake Basin. By 1857, federal troops were marching
on the Utah territory to depose the theocratic governorship of Young, and
his followers were gearing up to defend their turf from yet another assault.
In that touchy environment, bullets flew and travelers died. The ensuing massacre
ensured that no adult witnesses would survive. … ..
“September Dawn” and the PBS special are likely to cause Mitt Romney and his supporters a good deal of discomfort. But the attention also has the potential of engendering a backlash that could manifest in wide pro Romney support. We’ll know soon enough. The point is that shedding light on any subject is a good thing. The American people are more than capable of judging for themselves. Censorship is never the answer, even when religious secrets are supposedly revealed.
If I was still with my former tech team it is doubtful I’d even be able to discuss this movie. They censored me for a simple link, so it’s doubtful they’d allow me to discuss the secret scandal of the Mormon massacre, let alone link to the trailer of the movie.
I understand the sacred nature of religions, but I do not accept
the right of secrecy of a religion when a man (or woman) is seeking higher office
and his religion is the fundamental driving force in his life. After
Bush, especially, I want to know everything there is to know about Mormonism.
But the real issue is Romney’s politics. How a man who is devoutly Mormon can
be adamantly pro choice, then pro life because it’s convenient; then say he’s
had a gun all his life when that’s a lie because he only shoots “varmints”;
with another flip flop around the corner no doubt, raising questions about
the man’s very integrity and truthfulness.
It will be very interesting to see how Romney handles the new movie coming
out in June, “September Dawn,” which dares to rip the well healed scab of secrecy off of the Mormon massacre that took place so long ago. I wonder, will Mitt ignore it just like
he did Warren Jeffs? Or maybe Mitt thinks the history of the Mormon slaughter is as yesterday’s news as Osama. Place your bets.
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