MALIGNING MORMONS
REGARDING FRED BARNES's profile of actor Jon Voight ("Hollywood Witness," September 3), apart from the overwhelming consensus of critics that September Dawn, in which Voight stars, is a pathetic excuse for a movie, there are several other points that should be made about its misrepresentation of history.
The so-called Mountain Meadows Massacre is in no substantial way parallel to the attacks of 9/11. Speaking as a professor of Islamic studies and Arabic at Brigham Young University, there is no real resemblance between Mormons, even in the nineteenth century, and adherents of Wahhabi Islam.
At least one of the pivotal and most damning statements put in the mouth of Brigham Young by the scriptwriter of September Dawn appears to have been entirely invented by an anti-Mormon just a few years ago. It is not only "the church" that denies Brigham Young's alleged role in ordering and masterminding the massacre; no credible professional historian appears to believe it either--for the clear and sufficient reason that there is no evidence to support the charge. In fact, there is considerable reason to reject it. September Dawn is a disgrace, a piece of shameless anti-Mormon propaganda. Fortunately, it appears destined to disappear without leaving much of a trace behind.
DANIEL PETERSON
Provo, Utah
NOT EVERYONE'S A CRITIC
JOHN PODHORETZ is a fine film critic. Therein lies the problem, however, with "Cheap Thrills" (September 3), his review of High School Musical and High School Musical 2. Podhoretz says, "It's not enough to explain away my critical reaction to the two HSMs by saying they were not intended for adult viewing." While correct in saying HSM is for children and young adults (this reader is 15 years old), he fails to register that HSM is also not intended for elite artistic critique. HSM doesn't try to be anything that it isn't. The music doesn't have a "Broadway show tunes" feel by any means, but wouldn't that have turned away its main demographic? Instead, a prudent decision was made to give the musical a modern pop sound. Podhoretz may feel that the music is "wretched" and "feeble," but clearly others disagree: the soundtrack to the original High School Musical has gone quadruple platinum. The franchise also doesn't make any attempt to pass itself off as a sophisticated movie. The film doesn't quite fit the definition of a bona fide comedy. It certainly doesn't try to give an accurate portrayal of high school (to that I can attest). So what is it, exactly? HSM is simply a fun, hopeful (albeit completely unrealistic) movie that fills those who appreciate it (and watch it from start to finish) with happiness. With any movie, what more can one really ask for?
MEAGHAN WILSON
Spring City, Penn.
GODLESS REVOLUTIONS
REGARDING HARVEY MANSFIELD's "Atheist Tracts" (August 13), it seems that while the arguments for and against atheism sometimes get bogged down in rhetoric and complex ideas, I think there is one simple concept that puts the difference between the two systems in stark contrast: the French Revolution versus the American Revolution. The Declaration of Independence presupposes that there is a creator, and that that creator gives man his rights. If the Declaration had been written by a bunch of atheists, it might have read: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are derived from primordial slime, and are endowed . . ."--it is your guess what would come next. How do you get from that to individual rights? The atheist revolutions in France and Russia were both miserable failures, associated with the most horrendous loss of life and suffering in the history of the world. Need we say more?
DAVID A. FARRELL
Picayune, Miss.