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Criticism of Mormonism/Books/American Massacre/Chapter 4
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| Chapter 3 | A FAIR Analysis of: American Massacre A work by author: Sally Denton
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Chapter 5 |
Claims made in "Chapter Four: Winter Quarters—Council Bluffs, 1846"
42
Claim
The author blames Col. Thomas Kane for helping to cover up the Massacre.
Author's source(s)
- [ATTENTION!]
Response
47
Claim
The author claims that in 1846, the U.S. military planned to "seize New Mexico, California, and much of Utah."
Author's source(s)
- No source provided.
Response
- That members of the Church volunteered for U.S. military service as part of the "Mormon Batallion" is a strange act for people who were "sworn enemies" of the U.S.A. (as she claims above).
53
Claim
The author claims that John D. Lee was sent by Brigham to intercept the payroll from the Mormon battalion in order to consecrate it to the Church.
Author's source(s)
- Brooks, John Doyle Lee, 95.
Response
- Prejudicial or loaded language: This puts an ominous spin on something benign. Members joined the Mormon battalion in part to provide needed funds for the Church and their families (most of whom remained with the church) to help with the migration west.
- According to the cited source:
On August 28, about dark, President Young visited John D. Lee in his tent. "I have a very dangerous but responsible mission for you to perform," he said. "I want you to to follow up the Mormon Batallion and be at Santa Fe when they receive their payment. Can you go?" "I am willing to do whatever I can to further the cause," Lee answered without hesitation. . . . "Go, and God will protect you," Brother Brigham said, laying a firm hand on his shoulder. "I shall see that your families do not want. It is most important that we have what money we can get if we are to have food to survive this winter. Even then I have a heavy heart when I think of what is ahead.."
Then Lee accepted one of the most important assignments of his career.
- Misrepresentation of source: It should be noted that there is no use of the words "intercept" or "consecrate it" anywhere in the chapter.
53
Author's source(s)
- No source provided. Possibly Lee in Henrie, 183.
FAIR WIKI EDITORS: Check sources
54
Claim
The author claims that Brigham declared "his own death and resurrection."
Author's source(s)
- DeVoto, 454
- Kelly, 90.
Response
- Misrepresentation of source: On page 454 of Year of Decision: 1846, DeVoto writes that Brigham Young fell into a trance, which took him to where Joseph and Hyrum were. "It is hard," he told the Saints next Sunday, "it is hard coming to life again. But I know that I went to the world of spirits but what I saw I know not, for the vision went away from me, as a dream which you lose when you awake."
- There is no mention of a declaration of "his own death and resurrection" anywhere in the chapter. Brigham is reporting a vision or spiritual experience with the deceased Joseph and Hyrum. At most, one might call it an "out of body experience"—Brigham is not claiming to have been "resurrected" in any sense used by Latter-day Saints.
55
Claim
The author claims that Brigham "overcame resistance" from the Council of the Twelve and "finalized his own ascendancy" in order to be "elevated to a deity."
Author's source(s)
- No source provided.
Response
- Prejudicial or loaded language
- Absurd claim: no LDS leader is thought of as "a deity."
- See: Brigham Young on his own fallibility
54
Claim
Author's quote: Young broke the tedium by courting Indian women along the way. Having been "sealed" to two Sioux squaws before leaving winter Quarters, he attempted to persuade others he met to unite with him on the spiritual journey.
Author's source(s)
- No source provided. Possibly Werner, 220?
Response
FAIR WIKI EDITORS: Check sources
59
Claim
The author claims that in Brigham's very first address to the Saints after arriving in the Salt Lake valley that he "gave an ominous warning to all who had come. From this point forward, anyone who refused to live the laws about to be set forth was free to leave."
Author's source(s)
- No source provided.
Response
- Internal contradiction: This contradicts what the author states on page 106, where she says that anyone that wanted to leave was "hunted down and killed"
59
Claim
The author claims that Brigham used a divining rod that once belonged to Oliver Cowdery to select the site for the Salt Lake Temple.
Author's source(s)
- No source provided. Likely Quinn.
Response
- This claim is also made in One Nation Under Gods: p. 89, 518n49
- For a detailed response, see: Divining rods to Kimball and Young?