FAIR is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing well-documented answers to criticisms of the doctrine, practice, and history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Difference between revisions of "Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Blood of the Prophets: Brigham Young and the Massacre at Mountain Meadows/Use of sources/Double standards of skepticism"
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===Source(s) of the criticism=== | ===Source(s) of the criticism=== | ||
* {{CriticalWork:Bagley:Blood of the Prophets|pages=multiple, see 117}} | * {{CriticalWork:Bagley:Blood of the Prophets|pages=multiple, see 117}} | ||
+ | * {{CriticalWork:Denton:American Massacre|pages=121}} | ||
==Response== | ==Response== |
Revision as of 21:23, 18 June 2009
A work by author: Will Bagley
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Criticism
- The author draws on dreams, anonymous sources, family traditions, folklore and other such speculative or dubious evidence to condemn the Church or its members in the matter of the Mountain Meadows Massacre.
Source(s) of the criticism
- Will Bagley, Blood of the Prophets: Brigham Young and the Massacre at Mountain Meadows (University of Oklahoma Press, 2002), multiple, see 117.
- Sally Denton, American Massacre: The Tragedy at Mountain Meadows, (Secker & Warburg, 2003), 121.
Response
Noted one reviewer:[1]
- Bagley's analysis of the provocation evidence displays the kind of healthy cynicism he should have applied to the rest of his book, but Bagley is cynical where the evidence abounds. He discounts stories of provocation by the Fancher train as having been fabricated long after the fact. We are told that "no two witnesses told the same story" and that the stories were "usually based on hearsay, multiplied over the years." There is "no evidence to determine whether they had a basis in fact or were popular myths created to justify murder." They appeared "years after the events supposedly occurred." Some of the stories "originated with murderers such as Lee and Higbee" (p. 117). Bagley should have applied this same analysis to the frightfully slim and speculative evidence (dreams, anonymous sources, family traditions, folklore) upon which he relies to indict Brigham Young and George A. Smith.
- On the issue of provocation, Bagley tends to agree with Argus's [an anonymous source that was likely not even near the Massacre site—see here] claim that the Fancher train was "one of the . . . most respectable and peaceful that ever crossed the continent." Press accounts in California days after the massacre, however, reported fairly detailed Mormon claims of provocation by the Fancher party, so it is impossible to say that these accounts were made up long after the fact. In contrast, Brooks gives the provocation accounts some credit, noting that they "come to us from many sources."
Conclusion
Critics often apply the necessary historical skepticism only to material which might exonerate the Church or its members; any critical tale is often judged adequate for inclusion or mention.
Endnotes
- [note] Robert D. Crockett, "A Trial Lawyer Reviews Will Bagley's Blood of the Prophets," FARMS Review 15/2 (2003): 199–254. off-site Headings and minor punctuation changes for clarity may have been added; footnotes have been omitted. Readers are advised to consult the original review.
Further reading
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{{To learn more box:responses to: 8: The Mormon Proposition}} | To learn more box:responses to: 8: The Mormon Proposition | edit |
{{To learn more box:''Under the Banner of Heaven''}} | To learn more about responses to: Under the Banner of Heaven | edit |
{{To learn more box:responses to: Robert Price}} | To learn more about responses to: Robert Price | edit |
{{To learn more box:responses to: Ankerberg and Weldon}} | To learn more about responses to: Ankerberg and Weldon | edit |
{{To learn more box:responses to: Ashamed of Joseph}} | To learn more about responses to: Ashamed of Joseph | edit |
{{To learn more box:responses to: Beckwith and Moser}} | To learn more about responses to: Beckwith and Moser | edit |
{{To learn more box:responses to: Beckwith and Parrish}} | To learn more about responses to: Beckwith and Parrish | edit |
{{To learn more box:responses to: Benjamin Park}} | To learn more about responses to: Benjamin Park | edit |
{{To learn more box:responses to: Bible versus Joseph Smith}} | To learn more about responses to: Bible versus Joseph Smith | edit |
{{To learn more box:responses to: Bible versus Book of Mormon}} | To learn more about responses to: Bible versus Book of Mormon | edit |
{{To learn more box:responses to: ''Big Love''}} | To learn more about responses to: Big Love | edit |
{{To learn more box:responses to: Brett Metcalfe}} | To learn more about responses to: Brett Metcalfe | edit |
{{To learn more box:responses to: Bill Maher}} | To learn more about responses to: Bill Maher | edit |
{{To learn more box:responses to: Bruce H. Porter}} | To learn more about responses to: Bruce H. Porter | edit |
{{To learn more box:responses to: Carol Wang Shutter}} | To learn more about responses to: Carol Wang Shutter | edit |
{{To learn more box:responses to: CES Letter}} | To learn more about responses to: CES Letter | edit |
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