Criticism of Mormonism/Video/Search for the Truth DVD/Call to Leaders

Call to LDS Leaders

This portion of the video calls for LDS leaders to stop the supposed deception of Mormonism. "You’d be the hero of all time to the LDS people if you finally admitted Joseph Smith was a false prophet. Beloved you know that. That Mormonism is not true. The Book of Mormon is not true. Joseph Smith is not true. Joseph Smith deceived you and deceived your people. Don’t go on with this deception. So we pray of you, Mormon leaders, have the courage to admit that you’re wrong." (Floyd McElveen) This implies that leaders actually know that Joseph Smith was a fraud and that the Book of Mormon is false, and that LDS leaders simply need to admit the decption and take the steps necessary to lead Mormons out of the Church and instead to Christ. The implication that LDS leaders actually know that the Mormonism is false has become fashionable in some anti-Mormon circles. This claim is designed to add credibility to the anti-Mormon accusation that the LDS Church is not only wrong, but deceptive. Most critics know that the greatest damage can be done to an LDS testimony if a member comes to believe that the Church (or LDS leaders) is deceitful or hiding something. Many people handle conflicting information without jeopardizing their testimonies, but most people can't handle the feeling of being lied to. Generally, once someone feels that the Church has deceived them, they are no longer willing to examine rebuttals to anti-Mormon accusations. Critics are keenly aware that in many (if not most) instances it is not the anti-LDS information itself that generally makes people leave, but it's the perception that the information was "hidden." It is the feelings of deception and betrayal that ultimately drive people out the Church. The fact is, however, that LDS leaders give of their time (a tremendous amount of time) and talents, because they love Christ, they love God's children, and they believe that the Church is true. Many LDS leaders give up lucrative professions and sacrifice time they could be spending in retirement or with family, to dedicate themselves to the Restored Gospel. They really believe in the the teachings of the Church and they labor continuously leading people to Christ and the fulness of the Gospel as found the latter-day church that Christ restored. See: http://www.lds.org/languages/LivingChrist/LivingChristEnglish.pdf

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