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September Dawn Probes Causes of Religious Fundamentalism
By April J. Anderson, Massachusetts
September 11th will forever conjure up images so frightening, tragic, and hateful it's hard to fathom that human beings could be so calculatingly evil. But rewind history 150 years to September 11th, 1857 and remarkably the very same kind of religious fervor terrorized 120 men, women and children who were making their way from Arkansas to California in covered wagons before they were ruthlessly slaughtered in the most brutal ways by Mormon fundamentalists.
"You ask yourself this question – what would make a normal healthy young kid with his life ahead of him strap a bomb on his back and walk into a mosque or church or a bus station or a market and just blow himself and everybody else up around him." -screenwriter and producer Chris Cain
Understanding what gives rise to horrific events like the Mountain Meadows Massacre of 1857 or the terrorist attack against the U.S. in 2001 is what screenwriter and producer Chris Cain hopes viewers will take home after seeing his latest movie, September Dawn, which opens in theaters August 24th.
While the scale and scope of these crimes against humanity are not up for comparison, Cain was interested in probing the causes of religious fanaticism, which he considers the biggest problem globally today.
"You ask yourself this question - what would make a normal healthy young kid with his life ahead of him strap a bomb on his back and walk into a mosque or church or a bus station or a market and just blow himself and everybody else up around him," Cain said. "And it is that religious fanaticism and brainwashing that drives people to do things that otherwise in their normal life they wouldn't do."
Cain makes the distinction that religion in its purest sense is not what drives these kinds of events - it's the people who lead factions of a religion. And when the tenets of any religion are perverted by extremist interpretation, people can be brainwashed and led in a negative direction.
"What would compel a guy to lead a bunch of people down to another country and feed them Kool-aid until they all died as in the Jim Jones situation?" Cain asked. "One of things we try to explore a little bit in this movie is how that happens and how those things can get blown from one incident to multiple incidents that turn them into a very radical group."
The idea that people volunteer to put their lives on the line for any number of beliefs and perceived grievances is something Cain also examines in September Dawn. "People are willing to die for all kinds of beliefs and [they] do in every war that we have," Cain said. "I had somebody look at this movie not too long ago and they said of one of the brothers in the movie - ‘That's your suicide bomber, isn't it?'"
Persecution seems to be a driving factor of religious extremism that supports a willingness to die for a cause. In 1857, the Mormons had been driven from one part of the U.S. to another part of the U.S. where they continued to feel persecuted by people of other religious faiths. "They reached a point where they weren't going to be pushed any further," Cain said.
To be sure, September Dawn is a movie out of the industry's mold. "Most of the time [movie makers] don't do anything but entertain and sell popcorn," Cain said. Making September Dawn gave him an opportunity to do something that had real substance to it.
That substance extends to interesting connections the film suggests between the President Bush's response to the events of Sept. 11th and President Buchanan's response to the Mountain Meadows Massacre.
"There was greed and money involved in both cases," Cain said. "[In 1857] President Buchanan sent the troops out to remove Brigham Young as Governor of the territory, and in some ways I think Bush attempted to do the same kind of thing with Saddam Hussein. The biggest difference is that in 1857 it was a relatively small group of people in a specific area that could be dealt with."
Cain's son Dean - famous for his role as Clark Kent and Superman on the Lois and Clark TV show - plays Joseph Smith in September Dawn. "I've done two movies with him and I killed him in both movies," Cain said. "[Smith] had a pretty interesting presence," Cain said. "When he walked into a room people kind of noticed him so I wanted somebody who could do that."
September Dawn is likely to set off all kinds of reactions not the least of which may be from Governor Mitt Romney, who is a Mormon and is running President. "If he handles this as he is going to have to handle all kinds of questions in a presidential manner and an appropriate manner it could be seen as a positive thing for him."
The film will also ignite an ongoing dispute between the descendants of the pioneers and the Mormon Church. "There's still quite a bit of anger there that has to do partially with the event itself but also with the place where the massacre took place still being in the hands and in the control of the Mormon Church," Cain said. "I would say that time heals, but that would be three or four generations removed and it hasn't healed. So while healing has occurred after other wars, religious wars are much deeper. They go much deeper into a person's soul."
When asked if there is a message in September Dawn, Cain is quick to point out he's just a movie maker. "I just think it's thought provoking. I think it asks people to think a little bit and to wonder how these things happen and to understand how they happen and with any luck be able to recognize these things before they happen in the future."
But Cain is optimistic. The movie closes with a song sung by Lee Ann Womack whose haunting, disembodied voice suggests that despite a past of religious fundamentalism claiming innocent life, there is still opportunity. The song, Love Will Still Be There seems to suggest that perhaps one day the world will recognize itself as a group of people with more similarities than differences.
