The Mormon Faith & Black Folks
Question #48
Q. I’ve heard that the Mormon Church is a ‘cult’; is
this true?
A. The word ‘cult’ sounds scary to most people, and
conjures up weird images. The term is used by Evangelical Christians for any
group or religion which they believe if false; which would include all churches
and religions which don’t believe exactly like them. This is hypocritical;
since Evangelicals are Protestants, and the Protestants were considered to be
‘cultists’ by the Roman Catholic church up until perhaps the 1960s. Before then
the Roman Catholic church taught that all Protestants were apostates and doomed
to an eternal Hell; because they weren’t Catholic. The first Baptists and
Pentecostals were considered to be “cults” by the larger Protestant churches.
And it is usually the Baptists and the Pentecostals which consider ‘Mormonism’
to be a ‘cult’; meaning a false religion. They consider Joseph Smith to be a
‘false prophet’, and they consider The Book of Mormon to be a ‘extrabiblical
revelation’ and thus false as well. They consider the ‘Mormon Jesus’ to be a
‘false Christ’; a demon or the Devil himself. They believe these things because
this is what the Anti-Mormons tell them.
Brigham Young University religion professor Robert L.
Millet wrote of the use of the word ‘cult’:
“The derisive label of cult frightens people and
basically turns them off. It conjures up images of the bizarre, the unnatural,
and even the demonic. The fact is, the first three definitions of cult in
Webster’s 3rd Internationaal Dictionary made no distinction between
religion and cult. The fourth definition is the one, I suppose, most
anti-Mormons have in mind: an unorthodox or spurious sect. One Evangelical
scholars described cults as follows:
(1) They are started by strong and dynamic leaders;
(2) They believe in additional scripture;
(3) They have rigid standards for membership;
(4)They proselyte new converts;
(5)The leaders or officials of the cult are not
professional clergy;
(6)They believe in ongoing and continual communication
from God; and
(7)They claim some truth no available to other
individuals or groups.
By these standards or measure, the Latter-day Saints
would certainly qualify as a cult. The problem, of course, is that the New
Testament Christian Church would qualify also.” (The Mormon Faith,
p.173)
In the time of Jesus there were the Orthodox Jewish
sects (like the Pharisees, Sadducees, etc.) and there were other Jewish sects
which were considered “heretical” (false). These were the Gerists, Merists,
Hermerobaptists, Essenes, Boethusians, and the Nazarenes. The Nazarenes of
course were the followers of Jesus. All of these were called “Minim”; which in
Hebrew means “Cults”. Nazarenes were called “Minuth”; which in Hebrew means
“Cultists”.
In the days of Jesus the Jews considered the canon of
Scripture to be “closed”. They considered Malachi to be “The End of the
Prophets”. They expected Elijah to return from Heaven to herald the Messiah.
But then John the Baptist appeared, and the Pharisees and Sadducees considered
him to be a “false Prophet”. When Jesus went to him to be baptized they
considered Him to be a “false Christ”. Evangelical Christians today believe
that the canon of Scripture is “closed”. They consider John the Revelator to be
“The End of the Prophets”. They Jesus to return in the clouds. They consider
the Mormons to be just one “Cult” among many: like the Moonies, the Christian
Scientists, Jehovah’s Witnesses, etc. They consider Joseph Smith (the
latter-day “John the Baptist”) to be a “false Prophet” and they consider “The
Mormon Jesus” to be a “false Christ”.
History has truly repeated itself!
*The Nazarenes a ‘Cult’
Do you know why the Jews rejected Jesus? Because that
thought He was a “false messiah”, and they the sect of the Nazarenes (the name
of the followers of Jesus before they were called “Christians”) a “Cult”!
The Gospels say that the ministers and many of the
people in Jesus’ day considered Him to
be a “deceiver”:
“And there was much murmuring among the people
concerning him: for some sai, He is a good man: others said, Nay, but he
deceiveth the people....
Then came the officers to the chief priests and
Pharisees; and they said unto them, Why have ye not brought him?
The officers answered, Never man spake like this man.
Then answered them the Pharisees, Are ye also
deceived?” (John 7:12, 45-7)
When Jesus cast out demons the Pharisees said that He did it through the power of “the chief
of the devils.” (Luke 11:15)
Certain Jewish rabbis were trained on the “cults”, and
the Nazarenes were considered just one “cult” among many. Jesus was considered
to be the bastard child of Mary and a Roman archer from Sidon named Antonius
Panthera. It was said that as a youth Jesus was raised in Egypt and learned
Magick (occultic sciences) there. The Rabbi Solomon ben Isaac wrote:
“Jeshu the Nazarene...a magician and perverter of the
people.” (Insraelis, Jews, and Jesus, p.88)
Nesta H. Webster wrote:
“According to the Talmudic authors of the Sota and the
Sanhedrim, Jeshu [Jesus] was taken during his boyhood to Egypt, where he was
initiated into the Secret doctrines of the [Egyptian] Priests, and on his
return to Palestine gave himself up to the practice of Magick [occultic
sciences]” (Secret Societies and Subversive Movements, p.20)
The ancient Christian writer Justin Martyr, in his
Dialogue With Trypho the Jew, wrote:
“You Jews have sent chosen men into every part of the
empire..proclaiming, ‘A godless and libertine heresy has arisen from a
certain Jesus, a Galilean magician. We had him crucified, but his disciples
came and stole him by night from the tomb where he had been put when taken down
from the cross, and they [Nazarenes] deceive people, saying that
he has risen from the dead and ascended to heaven.’ You [Jews] slander
Jesus, saying that he taught those godless and unholy things that you report to
every race of men in your attacks against those who confess Christ as both
their own Teacher and the Son of God.” (The Ante-Nicene Fathers 1:203ff)
One cult-fighter against the Nazarenes was Saul of
Tarsus. He was given the job of arresting Nazarenes (they were not yet called
“Christians”) and having them stoned to death for blasphemy. But one his way to
Damascus the LORD appeared to Saul in a vision saying “Saul, Saul, why do you
persecute me?” Saul replied, “Who are you Lord that I should persecute?” Jesus
replied, “I am Jesus of Nazareth, who you persecuteth!” Saul was blinded by the
vision; this was symbolic of his spiritual blindness, but the LORD wanted to
use him. He was healed by a Nazarene “prophet” in Damascus, and he became the
Apostle to the Gentiles. He changed his name to Paul, and he preached Jesus in
the Jewish Synagogues which were in Gentile cities. As a cult-fighter the Jews
never questioned Paul, but now as a Nazarene they had questions:
“And they said unto him, We neither received letters
out of Judea concerning theee, neither any of the brethren that came shwed or
spake any harm of thee.
But we desire to hear of thee what thou thinkest: for as
concerning this sect, we know that everywhere it is spoken against.” (Acts
18:21-22)
In every cities where Jews had synagogues the Chief
Priests and Pharisees in Jerusalem sent men warning, “O, beware of the sect of
the Nazarenes! It is a cult! Their missionaries are trying to deceive you! It
is a great deception! It is based upon a false prophet and a false messiah!
They try to add on falsely to the Word
of God! They claim new prophets! They claim new revelations! They claim angels
have appeared to them! It is related to magic and the occult! Beware! Don’t let
them deceive you! Beware of the cult of the Nazarenes!”
And, of course, the vast great majority of the Jews
believed the cult-fighters. They believed their pastors; who invited the
cult-fighters into the synagogues to warn them about the cult of the Nazarenes.
They believed the false rumors and lies and exaggerations and distortions
because they trusted their pastors, and it cost them their eternal
salvation. But their pastors weren’t lying; they simply trusted the
cult-fighters, and the cult-fighters trusted ex-Nazarenes who were in fact
liars and deceivers.
*The Anti-Mormons
The term Anti-Mormon refers to a group of
people who endeavor to convince others that the LDS Church is a false religion;
that Joseph Smith was a false prophet, and that the ‘Mormon Jesus’ is a
‘different Jesus’ from the biblical one. These people almost always fall within
two groups:
Ex-Mormons.
People who have been excommunicated from the Church, or who have resigned from
it. They usually tell people that they left the Church because they began to
read their Bibles and discovered that Mormonism is ‘diametrically opposed’ to
‘Orthodox Christianity’ (i.e. Evangelicalism).
Concerned Christians. People who have never been members of the Church, but who, upon
learning it is a cult, wish to preach the Gospel to Mormons. Although they
claim they wish to ‘preach the Gospel’ to Mormons, they seldom if ever do.
Mainly they preach anti-Mormonism; which includes arguments and accusations
that, if true, would prove Mormonism to be false; based upon a false prophet,
false revelations, and a ‘different Jesus’ from the ‘Real Jesus’. They usually
refer to themselves as ‘Concerned Christians’ because they claim to be
‘concerned’ with the souls of Mormons whom they believe are ‘doomed to an
eternity in Hell’ if they don’t leave Mormonism and accept the ‘real Jesus’
(i.e. become Evangelicals).
Most people who are excommunicated from the Church do
not become Anti-Mormons. Usually these are people who later join an Evangelical
Christian church or group, and then study anti-Mormon literature in order to
‘witness’ to Mormons. This ‘witnessing’ usually never deals with Jesus or the
Bible, but rather deals with alleged inconsistencies, contradictions, and
hypocrisies in Mormon theology, history, and doctrine. The Anti-Mormon does not seek to ‘preach Jesus
and Him crucified’ to the Mormon, but rather strives to convince the Mormon
that his or her religion is false, and thus create a spiritual vacuum. Once
this vacuum has been created, they try to fill it in with Evangelical
Christianity. However, more often than not, when a Mormon becomes convinced that his or her religion is false,
they become atheists or agnostics, or perhaps
New Agers. Only rarely to they become Evangelicals. Mormons do not
differentiate “Christianity” from “Mormonism”. To them, these are two words for
the same thing. Thus, if a Mormon no longer believes in ‘Mormonism’ they are
rarely going to embrace another form of ‘Christianity. For them, ‘Christianity’
itself becomes untrue.
Anti-Mormons fall within the following categories:
Ex-Mormons
Concerned Christians who donate their time and money to such ministries. These are men and
women who have not been Mormons, but who believe what the Ex-Mormons say is
true. They will often donate their funds, and often their time, in these
ministries; which consist of studying anti-Mormon literature and trying to
convince Mormons that their religion is false. They will often appear in front
of Mormon Temples or anywhere Mormons gather in number and hand out anti-Mormon literature or carry signs saying
‘Joseph Smith was a false prophet’ or ‘Only Jesus can save you’ or ‘Mormonism
is a Cult’ or ‘Are you saved?’ etc.
Evangelical Pastors who feel a ‘burden from the Lord’ to ‘bring Mormons to the Cross’.
Occasionally these pastors are also ex-Mormons. They usually write books, or
have classes on the ‘cults’ in their churches; relying on anti-Mormon
literature.
*Anti-Mormon Literature
Anti-Mormon literature (also called anti-Mormon
propaganda or “AMP”) takes the form of books, booklets, pamphlets, films,
or videos. There is quite a lot of it on the Internet as well. All of it is not
equal. Anti-Mormon literature goes from very bad to quite good. It goes from
very dishonest to honest. It goes from quite inaccurate to fairly
accurate. All anti-Mormon literature is
not the same. All anti-Mormons are not the same. Some are very dishonest and
reprobate. Others are sincere. Anti-Mormon literature has been around since
before the Mormon Church was organized in 1830! It began even before that. John Taylor (3rd President of the
Church) ran across anti-Mormonism before he ever became a Mormon. He once said:
“The first thing that I heard from a priest, after
hearing this gospel preached by Parley P. Pratt, some twenty years ago, was the
cry, ‘Delusion!’ I was immediately informed that ‘Joe Smith was a
money-digger,’ that he tried to deceive people by walking on planks laid under
the water, that he was a wicked and corrupt man, a deceiver, and one of the
biggest fools in creation, and so forth. I heard every kind of story; and the
priests have kept up the same things, pretty much, to the present day.” (The
Gospel Kingdom, pp.368-9)
It was because of anti-Mormonism that the Saints in
Missouri were killed or run from their homes and farms. It was because of
anti-Mormonism that the Saints had to flee from Nauvoo the wilds of Utah (then
the wilderness of Norde Nuevo Mexico).
Many false or exaggerated rumors were invented against Joseph Smith and the
Mormons. Protestant ministers were among those who spread these things the
furthest. They believed the false reports of excommunicated Mormons; many of
whom had vendettas against Joseph Smith or the Church. When the Saints were in Utah, many books
were written against them. Conan Doyle’s first Sherlock Holmes novel, A
Study in Scarlet, was an anti-Mormon book which presented Brigham Young as
an evil “godfather” like figure, and Mormons as wicked and murderous.
In the 1882 Phillip Robinson, editor of the Court and
Society Review in London, England, traveled to Utah in order to discover the truth about the Mormons. All of the
reports he had read described them as drunken, immoral, dishonest, idle, and
treacherous. He stayed in Utah for three months, and later wrote:
“Whence have the public derived their opinions about
it? From anti-Mormons only.
There is not, to my knowledge, a single Gentile work
before the public that is not utterly unreliable from its distortion of facts.
How can anyone have respect for literature or the men who, without knowing
anything of the lives of Mormons, stigmatize them as profane, adulterous and
drunken?
These men write of the squalid poverty of the Mormons,
of their obscene brutality, of their unceasing treason towards the United
States, of their blasphemous repudiation of the Bible, without one particular
of information on the subject, except such as they gather from the books and
writings of men who they ought to know are utterly unworthy of credit, or from
the verbal calumnies of apostates whose worth history has long ago told us.
I am now stating facts; and I, who have lived among
the Mormons and with them, can assure my readers that every day of my residence
increased my regret at the misrepresentation those people have suffered.” (Scrapbook
of Mormon Literature, pp.177-8)
One of the first anti-Mormons was a man named Doctor
Philastus Hurlbut (his parents named him “Doctor” but he was never a real
doctor). He was excommunicated from the Methodist Church because of immorality.
He then joined the Mormon Church.
Not long afterwards he was excommunicated by Joseph
Smith when he tried to seduce several young Mormon women. Enraged, he swore
revenge. He was once arrested for threatening the Prophet’s life. He then
decided a new way to get revenge. He began to gather various rumors about the
Prophet and his family from various people; some who knew the Smiths and many
who did not know them. He reworked these rumors and presented them as ‘affidavits’. He also discovered that there was
a man named Solomon Spaulding, a Congregationalist minister, who wrote a novel
decades before The Book of Mormon was released. He was convinced that
this was the true origin of the book; that it was written by Spaulding and
Joseph Smith simply stole the manuscript and reworked it as The Book of
Mormon. He gathered ‘affidavits’ to this effect. This became known as the
“Spaulding Theory”.
But he eventually found the manuscript (called Manuscript
Found) and noticed it was not similar to The Book of Mormon, but was
a romance about a group of Roman soldiers who landed in New England. Instead of
abandoning his theory, he simply decided to hide the discover (the manuscript
was rediscovered in 1901 by the president of Oberlin College, Ohio). Finding
that his reputation would not allow him to publish such a work himself, he sold
his material to a man named Howe; who published the material under his own
named and called it Mormonism Unveiled. Most anti-Mormons today still
use the Hurlbut ‘affidavits’; but most historians reject them as being
unreliable because they were obviously rewritten by Hurlbut and possibly by Howe as well.
The mentality of many Anti-Mormons is that it is ‘no
sin’ to lie about Mormons or Mormonism;
since the end (Mormons saved) justifies the means (lying or exaggerating or
using fabricated ‘evidence’). Indeed, much of anti-Mormonism is based upon
manufactured evidence; many or most of which even the most reliable
anti-Mormons will admit is fabricated or invented.
Until the 1940s or 1950s Anti-Mormons really didn’t
say much about the Curse of Cain doctine. In the 19th century, in North America, almost all Christian
churches had anti-black attitudes. Almost all of them taught that blacks were
Hamites and under the ‘Curse of Canaan’. It wasn’t until the mid-20th
century that anti-Mormons really began to use the Priesthood ban as ‘evidence’
that the Mormon Church was ‘racist’ and thus ‘false’. This became especially
true during the 1960s; with the rice of the civil-rights movement in the United
States. Anti-Mormons pounced upon this opportunity to use blacks against the
Church.
I stress the word ‘use’. While Anti-Mormons present
themselves as pro-black and anti-racist, the very opposite is true. They
present themselves to black folks this way because they wish to use them
in their battle to destroy the Church.
The oldest strategy of war is to get your enemies to destroy each other
by befriending one of them and convincing them (by lies) that you are their
friend, and getting them to destroy your other enemy. That’s the oldest trick
in the book, and, unfortunately, some in the Black Community have fallen for
it.
*Ed Decker and ‘The God Makers’ books and films
One of most prominent anti-Mormons of the 20th
century was J. Edward Decker, Jr. He claimed to have been a good Mormon for 19
years, but, after becoming a ‘Christian’ the Mormon Church told his wife to
divorce him; taking away his children with her. He claims that Joseph Smith was
a fraud, adulterer, murderer, and involved in the occult (Decker often quoted
from the ‘letters’ of Mark Hofmann until Hofmann confessed to forging them and
double-murder in an effort to cover-up his forging and lying). Decker became
the founder of Saint Alive/Ex-Mormons for Jesus. He later wrote a book called The
God Makers, and made two films under that name. The God Makers book is
basically a conspiracy-theory. It presents the Mormon Church as part of an
international conspiracy of Luciferians and Freemasonry to take over the world
via the Mormon Church. The film presents all Mormons are deceived dupes who
store guns and ammunition along with two years of food in preparation to take
over the United States government, and then the world.
If this conspiracy theory sounds familiar, it should.
The Nazis gained power by telling Germans that the Jews were involved in an
international conspiracy with Freemasonry to take over Germany, and then the
world. This is one reason why Jews were soon forbidden to own firearms. Of
course, the opposite was true. The Jews weren’t involved in such a conspiracy;
the Nazis were. The unarmed Jews were later fed to the extermination camps
where perhaps 6 million of them were killed.
Mormons are not told to store arms for an upcoming
overthrow of the United States. They are told to store a year’s supply of food;
in case of natural or social disaster. Many tons of these supplies were used to
help end the famine in Ethiopia in 1990.
Decker told
Evangelical Christian audiences all over the world that the Mormon
Church commanded his Mormon wife to divorce him, and take his children away,
after he became a ‘Christian’. However, his ex-wife says otherwise. Decker’s
first and only Mormon wife, Phillis Ray Decker, said in a notarized affidavit
(published in They Lie In Wait To Deceive volume 4) that she filed for
divorce from Decker on the grounds of multiple adultery and mental cruelty.
Court records show that Decker did not contest her claims. Her divorce was
granted. Phillis Ray Decker wrote:
“In 1963, our daughter, Jennifer L. Decker, was born
in Lompoc, California. On the night she was born, Ed left the hospital after
visiting me and took his girlfriend to the railroad station because she was
leaving her husband. This was the beginning of a series of affairs with women
then eventually caused our divorce six years later.
It was the LDS Church that kept counseling me to
forgive him. They tried to help us stay together and resolve our problems. I
heave heard several times that Ed tells people he has been a Bishop in the LDS
Church. THIS IS NOT TRUE. He was never a bishop.
I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints is the true Church of Jesus Christ, that we have a living prophet on the
earth today, that Jesus lives and loves us, and that all the things we go
through in this life has a purpose. I pray for Ed and for all other enemies of
the Church, that they will examine their motives, soften their hearts, and
realize that what they do is not in keeping with the Lord’s commandments. I
bear this testimony in the name of Jesus Christ, my Savior and Redeemer.” (They
Lie In Wait To Deceive 4:7,10)
The God MakersThe God Makers films
have been seen by millions; mostly in North America but also in South
America, Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand, and the islands of the South
Pacific. In The God Makers book, Ed Decker writes:
“In spite of the name of Jesus Christ on the Church
letterhead, it is to Joseph Smith that the Mormons look for their redemption.”
(The God Makers, pp.40-41)
Every Mormon reading that knows it is a LIE!
The Prophet Joseph Smith said:
“The fundamental principles of our religion are the
testimony of the Apostles and Prophets, concerning Jesus Christ, that He died,
was buried, and rose again the third day, and ascended to heaven; and all other
things which pertain to our religion are only appendages to it.” (Teachings
of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p.121)
*Anti-Mormon Lecturer ‘Prof.’ Dee Jay Nelson
Anti-Mormons will often lie about or exaggerate about
their backgrounds in the Church in order to impress their audiences and to
establish their ‘expertise’ in all things Mormon. One such anti-Mormon was
‘Prof.’ Dee Jay Nelson. He went around to Evangelical Christian churches for
over a decade proclaiming himself a Mormon Egyptologist, and a renowned
professor of Egyptology. He lectured against Joseph Smith’s translation of The
Book of Abraham. Almost all anti-Mormons promoted him; included Walter
Martin of the Christian Research Institute, Ed Decker of Saints Alive, Jerald
and Sandra Tanner of Utah Lighthouse Ministry, and many others. In 1980 several
Mormons in Mesa, Arizona, Robert and Rosemary Brown, decided to attend an
anti-Mormon lecture of his at a local Baptist church. They decided to check his
credentials. A year later they published
They Lie In Wait To Deceive (Volume 1) which showed that Nelson was a
high school drop out with no earned college credits. They found that he
received all his college degrees from “Pacific Northwestern University” in
Seattle, Washington: a diploma mill which sold university degrees through the
mail for a few hundred dollars. It was closed down by the State of Washington
and it’s founder prosecuted for mail fraud. They also discovered that Nelson
had told an average of one lie per minute during his lecture; the Baptists
giving him a standing ovation after it was over. They discovered that Nelson
was never a professor of Egyptology, but had authored a small book on
“Pyramidology”; an occult (Gnostic) pseudo-science whose practitioners real
Egyptologists called “Pyramidiots”.
Robert and Rosemary Brown have written extensively
documented books on other professional anti-Mormons such as Walter Martin,
Wayne Cowdery, Jim Robertson, and Jerald and
Sandra Tanner. All of these books expose the false claims of these
professional anti-Mormons; as well as their extensive use of deception in their
works.
Not all those who write anti-Mormon books are frauds.
Some of them are sincere people who sincerely believe that ‘Mormonism’ is a
false religion, and that Mormons are destined for an eternal Hell if not
‘saved’. However, much that is written by professional Anti-Mormons is false,
distorted, exaggerated, or half-truth. They present themselves as “born-again”
Christians when, in fact, most professional Anti-Mormons are merely in the
“Jesus Business”. They are no different from those televangelists who preach
for money and use fake healings to get gain. These people are like the old
“snake oil” salesmen of the 19th century; when men sold meaningless
concoctions of liquids as “cure alls”. These potions didn’t cure, but sometimes
killed. These men were there to make money. It could be said that most
professional anti-Mormons are the same; they use the Evangelical Christians by
telling them they need their money to save Mormons when in fact they are simply
preaching for the sake of making money. But, again, there are a few
anti-Mormons who appear sincere in their writings and deeds. Unfortunately, the
sincere ones are not the most popular; because Evangelicals will give their
money to whoever can shock them the most and tell the most horrid stories about
Mormons and Mormonism.
*William Schnoebelen
In 1980 a man
named William Schnoebelen contacted the Church and said he wanted to speak with
the missionaries. They were sent to him, and he told him that he was a former
Roman Catholic priest and his wife was a former Roman Catholic nun. He said he
left the Roman Catholic priesthood because he didn’t believe it had any real
power, but he wanted to know about the Mormon Church. Soon he and his wife were
baptized into the Church. Word got around about this “ex-Catholic priest”
joining the Church, and a Member who was writing a book about clergy who had
joined the Church asked William to write a chapter. He did so. Schnoebelen wrote
a chapter about being a Roman Catholic priest (and his wife a nun) and how they
came into the Church. His story was published in From Clergy to Convert.
Shortly after the book was published, William
announced that he and his wife had left
“Mormonism”. Why? Well, he claimed that while a Roman
Catholic priest he was a secret witch, and his wife was secretly a witch as
well, and that they joined the Church only because they were told by their
satanic leaders that the Mormon Church was really just a “cover” for
Lucifer-worship.
He claimed that when he and his wife first went to a
Mormon Temple they saw how it was really a satanic ritual; similar to the ones
they experienced in the occult. They also claim that they spoke to an Apostle
of the Church, and he confirmed for them that Lucifer was the true god.
Schnoebelen soon became Assistant Director of Saints
Alive/Ex-Mormons for Jesus. However, a rival anti-Mormon organization called
Utah Lighthouse Ministry decided to check into Schnoebelen’s past, and they discovered
that he was never a Roman Catholic priest, and his wife was never a nun.
Schnoebelen was ordained a deacon in the Old Catholic Church-Ultrajectine
Tradition; a very small questionable rite with no connections to the Roman
Catholic church. The presiding bishop of the Rite had been arrested for child
molestation; as had other bishops and clergy; although Schnoebelen was never
arrested and he was never charged with any crime. The Old Catholic
Church-Ultrajectine Rite also promoted a woman named Van Hoof who claimed to be
channeling messages from various “Saints”. Some of these messages told of
Jewish plots against the whites race. Catholic reporter Robert J. McClory
wrote:
“Condemned regularly in these messages is the plot to
diminish the white race through the growth of ‘the blacks, the yellows; and the
Yiddish or Yids.’” (National Catholic Reporter, Dec. 21, 1979, p.19)
Further research showed that William Schnoebelen
indeed had been a member of the Church of Satan, as well as several other
occultic groups. He was also a Gnostic Bishop and a member a Palladian Masonic
lodge. Edith Starr Miller writes of the Palladian Rite:
“One will better understand these precautions knowing
that Palladism is essentially a Luciferian rite. Its religion is Manichean
neo-Gnosticism, teaching that divinity is dual and that Lucifer, the God of
Light and Goodness struggling for humanity against Adonay [Jehovah] the God of
Darkness and evil.” (Occult Theocrasy, pp.216-7)
Why would these two Luciferians lie to Mormon missionaries
about being former Roman Catholic clergy, join the Church, and then suddenly
claim to be “born-again Christians” and fight against the Church via a very
popular Anti-Mormon organization?
Those few Mormons who have studied Anti-Mormonism for
years know that behind the veil of being “Evangelical Christian” are groups and
individuals with strong ties to the occult (i.e. Gnosticism). Could it be that
the Luciferians are directing the Anti-Mormon crusade, and using Evangelicals
to do it? Dee Jay Nelson was a “pyramidologist”; an occultic science. One of
the authors of Who Really Wrote The Book of Mormon? claimed to be an Evangelical Christian, but
in fact had no belief in the Bible, but frequently attended seances (Spiritualism). The former Assistant
Director of Saints Alive/Ex-Mormons for Jesus was a Gnostic Bishop and an
Initiate in a Luciferian lodge. All mere coincidence?
Yet, there are some Anti-Mormon writers that strive to
be honest and accurate. In the late 20th and early 21st
century, the writings of Bill McKeever, Ronald Rhodes, and Michael Cares seem
to be honest and fairly reliable. Unfortunately, it is the more
sensationalistic and unreliable Anti-Mormon works that seem to be the
most popular among Evangelical Christians.
Truly did the LORD say unto His servant Joseph the
Seer:
“The ends of the earth shall inquire after thy name,
and fools shall have thee in derision, andhell shall rage against thee;
While the pure in heart, and the wise, and the
noble, and the virtuous, shall seek counsel, and authority, and blessing
constantly from under thy hand.” (D&C 122:1-2)
*Pro-Mormon Literature
In response to Anti-Mormon Propaganda, some Mormons,
on their own initiative, have produced quite a plethora of books and articles
that attempt to refute anti-Mormon claims. The series They Lie In Wait To
Deceive deals with the false personal claims of anti-Mormon
professionals, but doesn’t really deal with actually anti-Mormon claims such as
Mormon doctrines or history. However, the following works have been authored in
recent years to answer most or all anti-Mormon claims against the Church,
Joseph Smith, The Book of Mormon, The Book of Abraham, Church
History, etc.:
*Evenson, Darrick T. The Gainsayers: A Converted
Anti-Mormon Responds to Critics of the Church (Horizon, 1989) The story of
a recent convert who left the Church because of anti-Mormon literature, but
eventually returned to it because he found Anti-Mormons to be less than
trustworthy. Also answers most of the major claims of The God Makers films.
*Scharffs, Gilbert W. The Truth About “The God Makers”
(Publishers Press, 1985) This is a page-by-page, line-by-line, rebuttal to The
God Makers book. Scharffs claims to have found”in all there are well over sic
hundred errors in The God Makers.” (The Truth About “The God Makers”
p.xx)
While these two books are out of print one may still
find older copies at LDS Institutes of Religion, at the Brigham Young
University library and libraries thoughout Utah, or even possibly online.
One excellent Pro-Mormon work online (available free
to all with Internet access) is One-Minute Answers to Anti-Mormon Questions.
This work may also still be available in LDS bookstores (Deseret Books, Beehive
Books, Seagull Books, look in the Yellow Pages under “Books” then anywhere it
says “LDS Books”).
The Internet is also home to various Mormon websites
that seek to counter the hundreds of
false anti-Mormon claims. Among these websites are “Mormon Fortress”,
“LDSFAQ” by Jeff Lindsay and the F.A.I.R. (Foundation for Apologetics
Information and Research) website at www.fair-lds.org.
The vast great majority of Evangelical Christians have
never heard of Pro-Mormon works or
websites; nor would they read them if offered. They believe the reports of the
anti-Mormons. They see their pastors promoting anti-Mormon books or films. They
believe their pastors. Their pastors believe the Anti-Mormons. They believe
Mormonism is a ‘cult’ and Joseph Smith a ‘false prophet’ and the ‘Mormon Jesus’
a false Jesus (or a demon) because this
is what they have been told, and they simply believe it without question.
*Ed Decker and Colonel Gordon ‘Jack’ Mohr
Anti-Mormons like Ed Decker present themselves as the
‘friends’ of black folks; warning them against the evil, ‘racist’, Mormon
Church. Yet, some feel that these are mere attempts to by anti-Mormons to get
their own enemies to destroy each other. Decker once contributed to a book by a
known white supremacist and anti-Semite: Col. ‘Jack’ Mohr (he is a retired U.S.
Army colonel). He often calls himself
“General Jack Mohr C.P.D.L.” (the “Christian Patriot Defense League is a
racist and white supremacist militia organization which Timothy McVey, the man
who killed 130 men, women and children by bombing the Federal Building in
Oklahoma City, was once associated with). Jack Mohr is a well-known white
racist and anti-Semite. He has written that Negroes have no souls, but are the
‘beasts of the field’ that Adam was given dominion over. In his book Race
Mixing: A Social and Spiritual Disaster! Mohr says:
“Any cross over between MAN and this BEAST is
confusion and abomination to God according to Leviticus 18:3.
There is only one being, other than man, who can do
this and this is the BEAST OF THE FIELD, which we today know as the Black
race.” (Race Mixing, p.46)
The works of Jack Mohr are based upon the older works
of Charles Carroll, who wrote The Negro A Beast in the year 1900.
Carroll wrote:
“The Negro a beast, but created with articulate
speech, and hands, that he may be of serve to his master-the White man. The
Negro NOT the Son of Ham, neither can it be proven by the Bible, and the
argument of the theologian who would claim such, melts to mist before the
thunderous and convincing arguments of this masterful book.
When God’s plan of creation, and the drift of Bible
history are properly understood, it will be found that the teachings of
scripture upon this, as upon every other subject, harmonize with those of
science. This being true, it follows that the Negro is the only anthropoid, or
man-like ape; and the gibbon, ourang, chimpanzee and gorilla are merely
Negro-like apes.” (The Negro A Beast pp.i,87)
Carroll was at one time associated with the Knights of
the Golden Circle; an organization formulated by the Gnostic American author
and Confederate general Albert Pike. Much of Pike’s writings were extracted
from the books of the French Gnostic Eliphas Levi (The Occult Theocrasy,
p.450).
*Anti-Mormon
rumors in the African-American Community
Because of the misinformation and exaggerations being spread
by anti-Mormons, the African-American community generally believes that the
Church is ‘racist’, ‘doesn’t like black folks’, etc. Here are a few examples of
black Mormons hearing things from their relatives and neighbors:
Delphine Young said his uncle wanred him when he
joined the Church that “they are the Ku Klux Klan. I was told I was set up to be
killed.” (Black Saints, p.218)
Johnnie McKay was told that the Church was “a cult”
and that it was “full of Klansmen”. (Black Saints, p.218)
Doris Russell said:
“I met so many black people who were anti-Mormon and
some who really just got downright indignant with me about my membership. Some
of my friends just shied away from me.I think my family was really perturbed
with us becoming Members of this Church. It was kind of lonely for awhile.” (Black
Saints, p.218)
Edwin Burwell said that his black friends and
relatives told him that “Mormons are a cult” and that Mormons don’t worship
Jesus, but “They just started [to say they worship Jesus] because they used to
worship this man in Salt Lake City.” (Black Saints, p.217)
Retha Burwell said that she lost many black friends
when she joined the Church, and they asked her:
“What did you join that Church? It is a cult. You know
that, don’t you? They do not worship Christ; they worship Joseph Smith.” (Black
Saints, p.217)
Candance Kennedy was told by friends:
“The Mormons believe the black man is cursed, and the
black man can’t get to heaven.” (Black Saints, p.216)
It is unfortunately true that the anti-Mormons have
been very successful, at least in North America, in convincing blacks they they
are their ‘friends’, and that the Mormon Church is a horrible, violent,
anti-black organization that worships Joseph Smith and uses deliberate
deception to gain members.
The
job for Anti-Mormons is relatively easy. All they must do is to quote all the
negative things that Mormon leaders have ever said about “Negroes”, while at
the same time not quoting any of the many positive things Mormon leaders have said, and then simply
publishing the one-sided result; leaving the reader to judge the Mormon Faith and
Mormons based solely upon the negative quotes. The main reason why The
Mormon Faith & Black Folks was written is to show a more
complete picture of Mormon beliefs and attitudes towards black folks; to offset
the “negative only” distorted picture that Anti-Mormons have painted and
successfully “sold” to the unwary black Christian and white Christian audiences.
Please feel free to e-mail Darrick Evenson
This article is not copyrighted.
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