FAIR is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing well-documented answers to criticisms of the doctrine, practice, and history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Difference between revisions of "Criticism of Mormonism/Video/The God Makers"
(→Printed material: Additional reading - adding links here until I figure out how to make the template work) |
(→Endnotes: Added note) |
||
| Line 28: | Line 28: | ||
==Endnotes== | ==Endnotes== | ||
*{{note|gm1}}A sequel was produced in 1993 entitled ''The God Makers II''. The temple segment portrayed in ''The God Makers'' was used again in ''The God Makers II'' and yet again in the 2007 ''[[Search for the Truth DVD]]''. | *{{note|gm1}}A sequel was produced in 1993 entitled ''The God Makers II''. The temple segment portrayed in ''The God Makers'' was used again in ''The God Makers II'' and yet again in the 2007 ''[[Search for the Truth DVD]]''. | ||
| + | *{{note|young1}}{{JoD7 |author=Brigham Young|title=Intelligence, Etc.|date=Oct. 9, 1859|start=289|end=289 }} Brigham clearly states that Joseph Smith is responsible for this dispensation only: "Joseph Smith holds the keys of '''this last dispensation''', and is now engaged behind the vail in the great work of the last days...no man or woman '''in this dispensation''' will ever enter into the celestial kingdom of God without the consent of Joseph Smith. '''From the day that the Priesthood was taken from the earth to the winding-up scene of all things''', every man and woman must have the certificate of Joseph Smith, junior, as a passport to their entrance into the mansion where God and Christ are...He holds the keys of that kingdom for '''the last dispensation'''..." (emphasis added) | ||
==Further reading== | ==Further reading== | ||
Revision as of 20:20, 29 April 2008
This article is a draft. FairMormon editors are currently editing it. We welcome your suggestions on improving the content.
This page is based on an answer to a question submitted to the FAIR web site, or a frequently asked question.
Contents
Question
Does the 1982 film The God Makers accurately represent the beliefs of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints?
Answer
The God Makers is an anti-Mormon film that was produced in 1982 by Jeremiah Films. [1] The film represents an appeal to ridicule, by taking beliefs or doctrines of the church and presenting them in a manner which makes them appear so strange and bizarre that nobody could possibly accept them.
The film presents itself as an expose of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The film follows the visit of Ed Decker and Dick Baer to two “attorneys” at a fictitious Los Angeles law firm. The “attorneys” are in fact actors, but they play the part well as they listen and react with increasing amazement and shock to the tale being told by Decker and Baer.
The film includes comments from various people who are claimed to be experts in fields such as “the vast wealth of the Mormon church” and “Mormon archaeology.”
During the course of the film, an animated movie is shown by Decker and Baer to the “lawyers.” They claim that this film represents the true beliefs of the Mormon church. The animated film presents a highly distorted and skewed view of LDS doctrine. This cartoon now makes the rounds on YouTube, often under the heading “Cartoon banned by the Mormon church.”
Specific misrepresentations of the church or its doctrine mentioned in The God Makers include the following:
- The portrayal of the church as a vast corporation whose purpose is to shatter the lives of families.
- The idea that all Mormon men want to become gods and rule over their own planets.
- The promotion of the idea the Mormon temples are only for the “elite few,” and that most members are never granted the opportunity to enter a temple, except during an open house.
- The attribution of science-fiction elements to LDS doctrine, particularly with reference to God the Father as a “highly evolved humanoid” who lives on another planet named Kolob.
- The claim that the church deliberately uses “Christian terminology” in order to fool unsuspecting investigators.
- The introduction of Sandra Tanner as “one of the greatest living authorities on Mormonism.”
- A portrayal of what is claimed to go on in temples. This segment is guaranteed to offend any practicing Latter-day Saint. There is also mocking of what is referred to as “holy Mormon underwear.”
- The representation of temple work for the dead as being something sinister or demonic. Decker claims that demons frequently appear to Mormons and ask to have their temple work performed for them.
- Decker shows a book that he calls a “Satanic Bible,” in which the word “Mormo” is said to be defined as the “King of the Ghouls.”
Endnotes
- [note] A sequel was produced in 1993 entitled The God Makers II. The temple segment portrayed in The God Makers was used again in The God Makers II and yet again in the 2007 Search for the Truth DVD.
- [note] Brigham Young, "Intelligence, Etc.," Journal of Discourses, reported by G.D. Watt, J.V. Long and others, (Oct. 9, 1859), Vol. 7 (London: Latter-day Saint's Book Depot, 1860), 289–289.off-site wiki Brigham clearly states that Joseph Smith is responsible for this dispensation only: "Joseph Smith holds the keys of this last dispensation, and is now engaged behind the vail in the great work of the last days...no man or woman in this dispensation will ever enter into the celestial kingdom of God without the consent of Joseph Smith. From the day that the Priesthood was taken from the earth to the winding-up scene of all things, every man and woman must have the certificate of Joseph Smith, junior, as a passport to their entrance into the mansion where God and Christ are...He holds the keys of that kingdom for the last dispensation..." (emphasis added)
Further reading
FAIR wiki articles
FAIR web site
- Gilbert W. Scharffs, The Truth about ‘The God Makers’ (Salt Lake City, Utah: Publishers Press, 1989; republished by Bookcraft, 1994), Full text FAIR link ISBN 088494963X.
External links
Printed material
- Donald A. Eagle, "One Community’s Reaction to The Godmakers," Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 18 no. 2 (Summer 1985), 34–39.off-site
- Massimo Introvigne, "The Devil Makers: Contemporary Evangelical Fundamentalist Anti-Mormonism," Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 27 no. 1 (Spring 1994). off-site
- Randall Mackey, "The Godmakers Examined," Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 18 no. 2 (Summer 1985), 14–16.off-site
- Allen D. Roberts, "The Godmakers: Shadow or Reality? A Content Analysis," Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 18 no. 2 (Summer 1985), 24–33.off-site
- Sharon Lee Swenson, "Does the Camera Lie? A Structural Analysis of The Godmakers," Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 18 no. 2 (Summer 1985), 16–23.off-site