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Sam Penrod Reporting Many homes in Utah may be finding a DVD on their front door about LDS church founder Joseph Smith. The DVD raises questions about Smith and the LDS Church, but some say it is nothing more than anti-Mormon propaganda. We found out today who is handing it out.
There are a lot of these DVD's out there. Those handing them out claim hundreds of thousands are being distributed, and it all seems to be timed with this weekend's LDS General Conference.
DVD, Search for the Truth: "Joseph Smith was a complete deceiver. He deceived people into believing that he had a revelation from God when he did not. The Book of Abraham has been proven false and Joseph Smith along with it."
The clip is from a DVD called Search for the Truth, directed to members of the LDS Church. The DVD's started showing up on doorsteps in Utah over the weekend. Ron Tabor with the Utah Partnership for Christ said, "It's a multiple number of ministries that have come together who have a passion and a love for the Mormon people who simply want to communicate the Christ of true Christianity for the people who follow the teachings of Joseph Smith."
The DVD was produced by several groups known for either ministering to Mormons or publishing anti-Mormon literature, depending on your point of view. "I cringe at the term anti-Mormon, because we are not anti-Mormon," Tabor said. "It's very thoroughly researched and I challenge them not to throw it in the dumpster, but to examine themselves to pursue the truth."
But a group that fights against anti-Mormon literature has created a website which offers a point by point rebuttal to the DVD. FAIR's website says, "Most Christians would, we are sure, join with the Latter-day Saints in condemning dishonest portrayals of other faiths, smear tactics, and religious bigotry."
An official statement from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints reads, "The accusations, innuendo and mischaracterizations portrayed in the video are divisive and hurtful to open dialogue and conversation. It does not accurately represent the life of Joseph Smith or the doctrine and history of the church."
We have a link to the DVD's website as well as the rebuttal website, by the organization known as FAIR.
