Many middle-aged and younger Mormons express doubt when told about the LDS temple endowment ceremonies of the past. A series of major changes happened about 20 years ago, including the change of women's covenanting obedience to their husbands, the elimination of the depiction of a Protestant minister as “a hireling of Satan,” less emphasis on Masonic rituals in the ceremonies, and the depiction of overt demonstrations of throat slitting and other penalties for revealing temple secrets or disobedience.
After the changes went into effect, the New York Times reported about them, and those which took place in 1927, in an article in May 1990. You can read the article here.
For more information, see The Mormon Mirage 3rd Edition: A Former Member Looks at the Mormon Church Today(Zondervan, 2009). Also available as an audiobook and as an expanded-text E-book for Nook, Kindle and other reading devices.
