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.
Graven images and statues of angel Mormoni
This page is based on an answer to a question submitted to the FAIR web site, or a frequently asked question.
Question
Why does the Church produce some statues, monuments, paintings, etc. depicting Christ, the angel Moroni, and various prophets? Don't the ten commandments forbid the production of "graven images"?
Answer
The prohibition in Exodus 20: (see also Deuteronomy 5:) is not the production of graven images per se but the bowing down and serving of such images. We should remember that God later commanded the construction of the seraphim and cherubim for the ark (Exodus 25:17-22, Exodus 37:8-9) and temple of Solomon (1 Kings 6:23-35, 1 Kings 8:6-7), and the veneration given to the Ark of the Covenant, as well as the brass serpent (Numbers 21:6-9).
In similar fashion, Latter-day Saints do not bow down and serve/worship images of Moroni and images of past and present leaders.