I once again had the
pleasure of being
interviewed by Doris Hanson
on her “Polygamy: What Love
is this?” television
program. A couple of months
ago I was on her show and we
began a list of doctrinal
similarities shared by both
the Mormons and the
polygamist groups. Our point
was to ask why the Mormon
Church wants to be
associated with mainstream
Christianity when they have
much more in common with the
Fundamentalists (whom the
Mormons condemn). You can
view the show online by
going to
http://www.whatloveisthis.tv/schedule.htm#2009
and scrolling down to August
20, 2009.
My friend Andy Bird also has
a television show here in
Salt Lake City called “Heart
for the Lost.” Due to a
scheduling conflict he asked
if I would host his program
for an evening. Quite
honestly, I don’t like being
on television. I’m more of a
radio-type person. But, not
wanting to disappoint a
friend, I agreed and asked
Aaron if he would join me to
talk about verses from the
Book of Mormon Christians
can share with their Mormon
friends. Our point was to
show that the Book of Mormon
asks things of people that
they cannot live up to. It
was only a 30-minute
program, but I think we
crammed a lot of information
into it. The next day I
received an email from a
Mormon woman who happened to
be listening. She admitted
that she was not living up
to the standards set forth
by the Book of Mormon, but
then proceeded to tell me
that I did not properly
understand the LDS concept
of the atonement. I thanked
her for watching and sent
her the quotations I sited
on the program, asking her
how these quotations should
be interpreted. She
responded by accusing me of
twisting LDS doctrine, but
failed to explain what her
leaders meant in the quotes
I sent to her. Today I sent
her another reply. Pray that
she will carefully evaluate
what I wrote.
I recently returned from
Boise, Idaho where I
recorded five one-hour radio
programs with my friend Matt
Slick (carm.org) for his
live call-in apologetic
talk-show called “Faith and
Reason.” We also did three
live shows together. One
evening, on a trip into
Nampa, Matt and I had a
brief but interesting
conversation with a young
woman who had Tarot cards
spread out on the table in
front of her. Matt sat down
and struck up a
conversation. When I came
over to her table he
introduced me and told her
what I do regarding
Mormonism. She responded,
“Oh, I’m Mormon!” She had
joined three years before
merely because of their
family values and admitted
she had no religious
experience prior to becoming
LDS. Though she knew
Mormonism taught that men
could become Gods (a concept
she liked), she was clueless
regarding a lot of other
teachings within Mormonism.
I asked her if she saw a
conflict between Tarot card
reading and her new faith.
She said no. I asked if that
was because Joseph Smith was
infatuated with the occult
(folk magic). She didn't
know that (After saying that
I wondered if I had made the
situation worse). Matt asked
her if she would stop if he
could show her that what she
was doing was dangerous. She
said yes, so Matt pulled out
his phone that has a Bible
program on it and proceeded
to show her some passages
she had never read before.
Although she sounded a
little defensive at times,
she seemed very opened to
what we were saying. The
conversation ended cordially
and I was able to give her
one my business cards. Pray
for her. Her name is
Danielle.
While volunteering at the
Utah Lighthouse Book Store I
met an ex-Mormon who shared
a last name with a very
famous hotel chain that
starts with an “M” (yes, he
was related). I often ask
ex-Mormons what it was that
started their journey out of
the LDS faith. He explained
that it all began with a
book by Charles Larson that
exposed the fraud of the
Book of Abraham. The Book of
Abraham is a part of Mormon
scripture found in the Pearl
of Great Price, and even
though Joseph Smith claimed
it was written by the hand
of the biblical Patriarch
Abraham, experts agree that
it is nothing more than an
Egyptian funerary text that
dates back to around the
time of Christ. I mention
this because just recently a
Mormon
apologist/Egyptologist gave
a talk defending Smith’s
“translation” of the text
while insisting that critics
of the LDS Church “attach
more importance to it than
Church members do
themselves.” Of course this
is not at all true. I often
find that many Mormons leave
the church because they
found out that this portion
of their scripture is
completely bogus. Pray for
this man and his wife.
Leaving the LDS faith has
caused them to be the target
of a lot of wrath by family
members and friends.
As always, Tammy and I
appreciate you taking the
time to remember us and the
work of MRM in your prayers.
