The God Makers/Cartoon

From FAIRMormon

This page is based on an answer to a question submitted to the FAIR web site, or a frequently asked question.

Contents 1 Question 2 Answer 3 Endnotes 4 Further reading 4.1 FAIR wiki articles 4.2 FAIR web site 4.3 External links 4.4 Printed material

Question

I’ve seen a video circulating on the Internet that claims to be a cartoon which was banned by the Mormon church. Does this cartoon accurately represent the beliefs of the church?

Answer

The cartoon is an excerpt from the 1982 anti-Mormon film The God Makers. The cartoon takes elements of certain LDS beliefs and distorts them in an attempt to make them appear ridiculous. In some cases, the cartoon takes statements made by early church leaders and attempts to portray them as official church doctrine. For every point made, the cartoon attempts to convey its points using crude, offensive and mocking terms in order to shock the viewer.

Specific points made in the cartoon include the following claims:

1. Mormons believe that God the Father was born on a distant planet to an “unidentified god and one of his goddess wives.” This claim is designed to shock the viewer through the mention of plural wives in association with the Father.
2. ”Goddess wives” are again mentioned with a reference to “endless celestial sex” producing “billions of spirit children.” This is again intended to shock the viewer by associating crude terminology with an alleged Mormon belief regarding the Father and the manner in which Jesus Christ was conceived.
3. Jesus Christ is always referred to as the “Mormon Jesus,” in order to drive home the idea that Mormons worship a different Jesus than the rest of Christianity.
4. Those who were neutral in the war in heaven were born with black skin. The cartoon illustrates this change in appearance. Church leaders have stated explicitly that there were no “neutrals” in the war in heaven – if we received a body, we made the correct choice.^{[citation needed]}
5. Those who were valiant in the war in heaven were born in the Mormon families with light skin.
6. The film again tries to crudely promote the idea that God the Father came from “Starbase Kolob” to visit the Virgin Mary in order to provide Jesus with a physical body.
7. Joseph Smith is depicted as sitting in judgment between the Father and the “Mormon Jesus," contrary to Latter-day Saint belief that Jesus Christ will be our final judge. The portrayal in the cartoon appears to be based upon statements made by early LDS leaders that have been removed from their context in order to falsely make it appear that a belief in Joseph Smith rather than Jesus Christ is the key to salvation.^[1]
8. The film states that Joseph Smith claimed that he did more for us than any other man, including Jesus Christ, and that Joseph Smith shed his blood for us in order for us to become gods. The implication is that Mormons worship Joseph Smith as their savior rather than Jesus Christ.

Endnotes

1. [back] Brigham Young, "Intelligence, Etc.," Journal of Discourses, reported by G.D. Watt, J.V. Long and others, (Oct. 9, 1859), Vol. 7 (London: Latter-day Saint's Book Depot, 1860), 289–289. off-site wiki Brigham clearly states that Joseph Smith is responsible for this dispensation only: "Joseph Smith holds the keys of this last dispensation, and is now engaged behind the vail in the great work of the last days...no man or woman in this dispensation will ever enter into the celestial kingdom of God without the consent of Joseph Smith. From the day that the Priesthood was taken from the earth to the winding-up scene of all things, every man and woman must have the certificate of Joseph Smith, junior, as a passport to their entrance into the mansion where God and Christ are...He holds the keys of that kingdom for the last dispensation..." (emphasis added)

Further reading

FAIR wiki articles

• The God Makers

1978 Priesthood revelation wiki articles

• Blacks and the priesthood (summary)
  • Blessings denied by race?
  • Origins of the ban
  • The "curse of Cain" and "curse of Ham"
  • Understanding pre-1978 statements
  • LDS scripture and the ban
  • Lifting the ban
  • Social pressure and the ban?
  • Repudiated ideas
• Fallibility of prophets
• Racist statements by Church leaders
  • Do blacks go to heaven as slaves?
  • Death the penalty for race mixing?

FAIR web site

• Gilbert W. Scharffs, The Truth about ‘The God Makers’ (Salt Lake City, Utah: Publishers Press, 1989; republished by Bookcraft, 1994), Full text FAIR link ISBN 088494963X.

External links

Printed material