by Charley Carle

Religious 'Bait-and-Switch'!

Are the media campaigns reality or just rhetoric? LDS TV ads appeal to the emotions and portray an appearance of true Christianity. So what are the trophies hidden behind this Mormon showcase? The ads promise better lives, but the statistics are in opposition (primarily 1990 stats).

Mormonism dominates the state of Utah, where around 70% of the population and 95% of the legislature claims to be LDS. (Las Vegas Review Journal, 3/6/88, p. 6c). Yet, Utah's home foreclosure rates are 4 times above the national average. (Deseret News, 3/24; 25/87). Bankruptcy is 3 times above the national average. (Deseret News, 4/3/88, p.A5; The Salt Lake Tribune 7/19/90, Sec. Bp.3).

Suicidal Problems. The suicide rate of the elderly (age 75+) for the nation is 19.2 per 100,000. For Utah it is 57 per 100,000, surpassed only by Nevada. (Deseret News, 12/29-30/86, p.2B). Teen suicide is 3.5% higher than the national average, second to Minnesota. (Vernal Express, Nov. 13, 1991).

Drug Problems. 70% of Salt Lake County's high school seniors and 35% of the 5th and 6th graders used alcohol. 4% of the 5th and 6th graders have used heroin and cocaine. (The Salt Lake Tribune, Jan. 21, 1990, p.B9). A 400% increase in job related accidents are attributed to the use of illegal drugs. (Ibid). According to the chief of police, there are 400 locations in Salt Lake County alone where illegal drugs are sold openly. (Ibid). The American Medical Association reported in 1986 that Utah ranked 3rd in the nation in the use of Amphetamines and jumped to 2nd in 1988. (Salt Lake Tribune, 8/31/89, p.B1). "Utah uses more Ritalin per capita than any place on Earth." (The Denver Post wire service, 8/88; The Spotlight, 3/6/89). "Utahns lead the nation in the use of prescription drugs...," (Salt Lake Tribune April 1, 1989 p. E3). The area south of Salt Lake City is known as Happy Valley as "Mormon women abuse prescription drugs more often than other women.... In contrast to nationwide 'Just say no' campaigns is not working with Mormon teens," (Salt Lake Tribune, Aug. 25, 1989 p. 6B). Child-abuse Problems. The Utah murder rate for children is 5 times higher than the national average. (The Denver Post, Empire Magazine, 11/21/82, p.30). The incidence of sexual child abuse is 33% higher. (National Asso. for the Protection of Children, ibid.). A Salt Lake City attorney reported, "That right now child sexual abuse allegations are rampant. In the past two years, she said she has had only three divorces in which there had not been child sexual abuse allegations," (Ogden Standard-Examiner, Aug. 28, 1989, p. 2B). "While the number of child-abuse investigations have increased 76 percent since 1982, staff increases have only gone up 12 percent," (Salt Lake Tribune, Jan. 24, 1990 p. 1-B). "The State Division of Family Services reported a 343 percent increase in child sexual abuse referrals from 1982 through 1987," (KSL Radio, Salt Lake City, May 18, 1989, p.1 transcript).

Violence Problems. "Sexual harassment in Utah is high for its population when compared to other states." (Vernal Express, Nov. 13, 1991). Rape increased by 50% in Salt Lake City between 1988 and 1989. (The Daily Herald {Provo paper}, April 10, 1990, p. B3). Reported rape increased 30% between 1989 and 1990, the 3rd highest increase in the nation (The Washington Post, March 22, 1991, p. A3). Utah's prisons rank fourth in the nation in prison population increase. (Provo Herald, May 24, 1990).

Immorality Problems. "Statewide, 4,218 children were born out of wedlock for a rate of 117 per thousand live births. 50% of all Utah births are to teenage girls. 7 out of 10 of these are illegitimate." (Dallas Morning News, 7/26/83; Salt Lake Tribune, 11/20/81, p.B9; Ogden Standard Examiner, 12/15/79). The coed pregnancy rate at BYU is among the highest of major Colleges and Universities in the U.S. (ibid). "...the increase in premarital sex has been greater among Mormon women than any other religious group." (Provo Hearld, 8/9/91, p.B3). While LDS boy-priests, gods-in-embryo, may pressure girls, the females carry the blame for any sexual activity. In 1978, 70% of Utah's teenage brides were pregnant at their weddings. (Sonia From Housewife to Heretic, Johnson, Garden City, New York, Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1981).

Divorce Problems. "Salt Lake County's divorce rate is almost 50 percent higher than the national average." (Salt Lake Tribune, Jan. 11, 1990 p. 1-E). The increase in martial instability among Mormons is higher than for most other religious groups. (Dialogue, Fall 1992, p. 26-27, a LDS pub.). "Utah's divorce rate is 5.4 per 1,000 persons, compared to 4.8 nationally." (Latter Day Sentinel, 3/5/88, p.24). The state leads the nation in mothers working outside of the home. (Salt Lake Tribune, 8/13/89, p. B1).

Apostasy Problems. "The Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints" is a misleading name! The Jesus in Mormon commercials is an imposter and a fraud! (2 Cor. 11:4). Just one god among many, nothing special, this Jesus was a polygamist with children. His wives were Mary, Martha, and Mary Magdalene. (The Four Major Cults, Anthony A. Hoekema, Grand Rapids, MI, Eerdmans Pub. Co., 1963). The LDS founder who married sisters was not Jesus Christ! It was Joseph Smith! He "married five pairs of sisters," a mother and daughter. (No Man Knows My History, p. 336; Intimate Disciple, by LDS writer Clair Noall, p. 317).

Joseph Smith Initiated Problems. The most notorious example of Mormon treatment of women is polygamy. In 1843, Joseph Smith told the press that Mormons did not practice polygamy. He LIED! Smith was already married to 12 women, taking a 17 year old orphan as his second wife back in 1835. (The Twenty-seventh Wife, Wallace, Irving, NY, Simon & Schuster, 1961). He married several who were married to other men. "Nancy Marinda Johnson married Joseph Smith while her husband, Orson Hyde, was on a mission to Jerusalem." (Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, George D. Smith, Spring 1994, pp. 10-11). At 37, Smith married 14 year old, Helen Kimball! We would call this child abuse! Is it any wonder that normal people viewed him with disgust and abhorrence? Not all "dirty-old-men" are "old"! From Nauvoo to Waco, sexual perpetrators and false prophets left a legacy of abuse and deceit!

Modern Mormon Problems. A book compiled by the Mormon Alliance about sexual abuse in the Mormon Church called, Case Reports of the Mormon Alliance, Vol. 1, 1995, reports:

An Idaho Statesman article on September 12, 1996 reported an LDS cover-up. A doctor sexually abused his patients from 1965 to 1995. As the case unfolded, over 117 women complained to the Rape Response and Crime Victim Center of his abuse. Two victims were only 14 (p. 8A). What took so long for justice? The doctor was an LDS bishop. An earlier issue described a "a predominantly Mormon community where church values of deference to menmembers of the church's priesthood, agents of God on earth..." (Dec. 10, 1995). A Mormon family therapist in Salt Lake City explained the plight. Women would not be believed, risking chastisement "for not supporting the church, putting church membership in jeopardy and even risking eternal salvation." (Ibid., p. 10A). It's a hostage situation. Another article in the issue said, the women "were met with almost universal denial by doctors, Mormon Church officials, regulators, local law enforcement and the Idaho attorney general's office..." People in the LDS church often say, Once a leader has spoken, the thinking has been done.

Bishops interview children in privacy. Some pedophiles have used this to
prey on children. Since the bishop is supposed to have special authority from God, sexual advances confuse kids. And how could the victims accuse an LDS bishop?

According to one study of 89 married Mormon women from 'very religious' homes, 26% had been sexually abused as children. "But in this group alone, 69 percent of Mormon women sexually abused as children had negative experiences (including disfellowshipping and excommunication) when they disclosed their abuse to their bishops as adults while another 14 percent (a total of 83 percent) feared to do so lest they be punished." (Ibid., pp. 48-49). Of the 80 Mormon perpetrators, only three were disciplined in any way. The victims were punished more than the predators. Some of the men remained priesthood holders in good standing after being legally convicted for molesting children. (Ibid. pp. 107-108) Joseph Smith fabricated a very male-centered, sexist church!

"Within the Salt Lake Valley alone, sex abuse rings have been reported in Midvale, West Valley, Salt Lake, and Bountiful... The patriarchal system where the priesthood holder's authority is not questioned allows pedophiles a unique opportunity. Bishops often support the perpetrator because he is a priesthood holder..." (Sunstone, Dec. 1991, pp. 4-6).

"Officials from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said Friday they are evaluating reports that satanic cults dedicated to sexually abusing children are operating within the church Bishop Pace said satanic abusers in Utah 'represent a cross-section of the Mormon culture.'" (Deseret News, October 25, 1991).

"The perpetrators are also living a dual life. Many are temple recommend holders Among others, there are Young Women leaders, Young Men leaders, bishops, a patriarch, a stake president, temple workers, and members of the Tabernacle Choir." (Memorandum written by Bishop Glenn L. Pace to the Strengthening Church Membership Committee, July 19, 1990, pp. 1-5).

Theological Problems. Joseph Smith sealed J.M. Bernhisel to his own sister, believing they would have sex forever (LDS idea). Brigham Young saw no problem with brothers and sisters marrying on earth. (The Teachings of President Brigham Young, Compiled and Edited by Fred C. Collier, Vol. 3, pp. 362, 368).

Mormon men become their wife's savior as he takes her to his kingdom, so marrying a Mormon brings pressure to join the Church. They think exaltation is possible as couples. This cannot be achieved with non-Mormons, so the LDS church often counsels to leave a non-Mormon spouse for a Latter-day Saint.

Will Mormon families live together in a Celestial Kingdom? LDS teachings fail logically. Their doctrine says, "To enter the celestial and obtain exaltation it is necessary that the whole law be kept" (The Way to Perfection, p. 206). Nobody keeps the whole law! The Mormon hope is, since Jesus died for our sins, now work really hard and try, try and keep trying until you are perfect! Nearly all Mormons feel unforgiven, living with the likelihood of spending eternity apart from the presence of Heavenly Father.

Why seal children to parents? If they make it to the Celestial Kingdom, they supposedly become Gods elsewhere. Do families visit each other? Was the Mormon god sealed to live with his parents? Why won't he visit his children in the Terrestrial Kingdom? Doesn't he love the church goers who missed exaltation? What is your confidence? "We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord." (2 Cor. 5:8). Do LDS families go to the world of their fathers or stay with their grandfather's familes? If a daughter marries a future god, will she live on his world or on her parent's world? If the LDS Jesus became a god in the pre-existence, why does he live at home? (Col. 3:1). Since he never received a world, how can a Mormon man possibly exceed Jesus? What sounds very sentimental is so far from reality!

Depression Problems. More children to propagate a world helps reach godhood more quickly; so the main role of Mormon wives is to stay pregnant! One lady who left Mormonism to receive Jesus Christ said, "As far as my depression goes, it has improved incrediblyI will not be spending eternity with my husbands other wives, being eternally pregnant. Just to think about that concept is depressing! I'm certain that depression among women in the LDS church is rampant I felt for years that I was never good enough in God's eyes, and that I would never be perfect enough to return to him someday. I was constantly afraid of death, and what my fate would be on the other side. I no longer have that fear." HERE'S HELP!

SOURCES FOR THE INFORMATION:
Mormonism Research Ministry
http://www.mrm.org/index.html
Recovery from Mormonism
http://www.exmormon.org
Utah Lighthouse Ministry
http://www.utlm.org/
Watchman Fellowship, Inc.
http://www.watchman.org/lds/index.htm
Word for the Weary
http://www.answeringlds.org