I recently learned here that some people believe the leadership of the LDS church exerted enough pressure that it was able to prevent the production/airing of a mini-series, The Mormon Murders, that documented how the LDS church (and others) were duped by a document forger named Mark Hoffman. The history of the LDS church is an ‘albatross around the neck.'
Some might say that the story of Hoffman is hardly “news” — but I'm thinking that the LDS church is hoping that time has softened the effect of this story and its implications: The LDS church bought documents from this forger because they believed them to be BOTH authentic and damaging to the reputation of Mormonism.
That's the way Mormonism is dealing with its own history– by making it go away. Here's an excerpt from my book, The Mormon Mirage:
About two months ago I sat at a restaurant with a college student who had grown up Mormon as she recounted to me her increasing doubts about Mormonism. I shared that when I was an LDS college student, I also had to make some decisions about Mormonism. But things were very different, because the Church’s doctrines had changed so much – what with the ban on black men in the priesthood, the fact that all American Indians were no longer considered Lamanites…
Her face went completely blank. “What do you mean, about blacks and priesthood?” She had no idea about the history of the LDS church.
She had grown up her whole life a Mormon and never knew.
Her skepticism of my account was patent, even when I told her, “I was there. I believed.” But the history reveals the truth, and this is one more reason we will not go back.
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.
