WHY I LEFT THE MORMON CHURCH
And Became A Daheshist
By a Former Mormon Missionary and Apologist
Darrick T. Evenson
author of "The Gainsayers"
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My name is Darrick Evenson. I am a former Mormon missionary and apologist ("defender of the Faith"). I wrote The Gainsayers (Horizon, 1989), which tens of thousands of Mormon missionaries have read over the last 20 years.
I spent many years of my life doing research to try to find answers to all anti-Mormon claims. In the end, I resigned from the Church. I'll tell you why in this article.
I was born in 1960, in California. I grew up in California (Santa Monica, Palm Springs, Burlingame, Redwood City). Near Santa Monica, where I spent most of my youth, was the Los Angeles Mormon Temple; a magnificent ediface built on a hill that can be seen from many miles away. At night, the L.A. Temple looks like a golden city set upon a hill. It was impressive. When I was in the 4th grade I went to the Visitor's Center there; my first introduction to Mormonism. I didn't understand it, but I was impressed.
I converted to the "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" ("LDS Church" or "Mormon Church") when I was 18, in San Diego, while in the Marine Corps boot camp. I converted because I had read very positive things about Mormons in a series of Reader's Digest; such as how moral and self-less Mormons were, and that they did not smoke or drink. I hated drinking (my parents were alcoholics), and I was allergic to nicotine (my parents smoked constantly). I believed in morality. It seemed that the Mormon Church was just what I was looking for.
I was baptized on December 31, 1978. Soon thereafter, I returned to Tacoma, Washington, where my family was then living. I soon ran across anti-Mormon books at a local Christian bookstore. I was very confused. I asked my bishop about the Anti-Mormon claims. He just shrugged his shoulders (I discovered later the bishop--a good man--had never even read The Book of Mormon--he had married a Mormon girl), and told me to ask Brother Blackner, the local Institute of Religion director (Institutes of Religion are small buildings located next to colleges and universities where Mormon students go for religious classes during the week). Mormon bishops are NOT trained in LDS theology or history, or anything. They don't preach. They are just managers of local congreations called Wards. The only Mormons trained in Mormon history and theology are "Institute Instructors" who teach LDS college students part-time during the week, or "Seminary Teachers" who do the same for Mormon high schoolers.
I went to the local Institute of Religion Director, a Brother Blackner, and started to ask him questions, hoping he would have ready answers to the Anti-Mormon claims I had read in the Anti-Mormon books I found at the local Christian bookstore. Instead of ready answers, his face got cherry read, and he YELLED AT ME, saying, "WE ARE ____NOT___ TO QUESTION THE BRETHREN! HOW....DARE...YOU QUESTION THEM! Just ignore that anti-Mormon junk! JUST IGNORE IT! Now GET OUT...I have work to do!"
I was completely, and absolutely ____DEVASTATED____! I'd gone to him for answers, and he SCREAMED AT ME! I should have dropped Mormonism for good then, but I didn't.
I discovered later, years later, that, even with billions of dollars, the Mormon leaders DO NOT WANT to deal with anti-Mormon claims. They don't teach missionaries how to deal with it. They don't publish books to help members deal with it. They just tell Members "Don't worry about it!" Basically, they tell Mormons who are confused by anti-Mormon claims "Don't worry about it...just pay your tithing, attend your meetings, follow the Brethren [Mormon leaders], and you'll be blessed!" That's it! That is how the Mormon Church "deals" with anti-Mormon claims. That is why the Church loses 40,000 investigators (those studying the Church with the missionaries) and perhaps 10% of all Mormon missionaries; because they "deal" with it by saying, "Don't worry about it!"
Mormon Church leaders don't "deal" with anti-Mormonism because they know they can't. They know they'd lose. They do NOT want the rank-and-file Mormons reading the stuff, because they have no real answer to it. So, they say "Don't worry about it!"
A month after discovering anti-Mormon literature, I moved back down to Santa Monica, California. I rented a room from a friend, and got a job as a security patrolman; making four dollars 15 cents a hour. While there I lived in dire poverty. I worked part time and spent most time in libraries, trying to understand things. I spent a huge amount of time in LDS Institute of Religion libraries, trying to figure out Mormon history and doctrine. I'd then spend huge hours at college and university libraries. I became, over the next 17 months, a lay-expert on Christian history and theology; as well as Mormon history and theology.
I would, in 17 months, meet most major Anti-Mormons at that time. And it did not take me long to figure out....they LIED. Not about everthing, just about some things. The most grevious liar among them was Ed Decker of Ex-Mormons for Jesus (later changed to "Saints Alive in Jesus"). I went to a number of his presentations, and he just LIED. And his lies were obvious to me (i.e. Mormons stored guns and ammunition to take over the U.S., Mormons really worship Joseph Smith as their Savior but just PRETEND to worship Jesus Christ, Mormons have tried to assassinate him many times, but God has spared his life, etc.).
Ed Decker (c. 1990)
I also met Walter Martin, and for a time attending his anti-cult lectures at a large Evangelical church in Anaheim, California. He too lied, not as wildly as Decker, but he lied too.
Walter Martin (c. 1980)
I would discover years later that Ed Decker and Walter Martin were simply "con-men" who pretended to be Evangelical Christians, preached against the "cults" as a way to make money...a LOT of money...from the Evangelicals, who were too eager to give them their money. Neither Decker nor Martin actually "went to church". They'd appear in Evangelical churches only to lecture, and get money. They never "worshipped" Jesus in church. They only went there to give lectures and make money. In their private life, they were adulterers (both their wives divorced on grounds of adultery, mental cruelty, etc.). They were just con-men, and they discovered that Evangelicals were easily conned, and that there was a LOT of money preaching against "Mormonism" and other "cults" in the Evangelical world.
But, I did not know all that at the time. But I DID know that these men LIED about some things they were saying about Mormonism.
One night, in my room, I was in great pain. I did not know who was telling the truth, the Mormons or the Anti-Mormons. I decided that the Anti-Mormons had lied (they had). So, I decided, "The Church must be true, because I KNOW the Anti-Mormons have lied to me!" I saw things in black and white back then. If the Anti-Mormons lied, it must mean the Mormons were true. I remember a feeling of utter peace came to me. That is when I returned to the Church.
I returned to the Church and became active in a Young Adult Ward near Tacoma. In 1982, while at the Tacoma LDS Institute of Religion (I practically lived there...reading every book in the place), I stumbled across a Church News with a photo of a man named Mark Hofmann on it, giving Church leaders something. It was an old Church News about a year old.
Mark Hofmann showing his first forgery to LDS Church leaders (the First Presidency and Boyd K. Parcker) in May of 1980. None of these "prophets/seers/revelators" ever discerned Hofmann, who was selling them and others forgeries he himself created in his basement.
I read the story how this Mark Hofmann, a Church member, had "discovered" a document called "The Anthon Letter" in an old Smith family Bible, and he was giving it to the Church. I remember staring at his photo, and a VOICE said to me: "HE IS A ATHEIST, AND A LIAR!"
I was STARTLED! I'd never heard a voice-out-of-thin-air before! The voice was not male nor female. Can't describe it. But it was clear, and loud. Not "still" nor "soft" but loud.
Anyway. I got the impression that Hofmann was up to no good. I later discovered that Hofmann was selling "more" letters to the Church; a few of which were later "leaked" to the press, and were unfavorable to Joseph Smith. Being young and naive, I wrote a letter to the First Presidency, telling them about the "Voice". At that time I moved to Santa Monica, my old home town, and took a job there.
I continued to keep informed on Mark Hofmann. I wanted to go to Utah to confront him, and to expose him as a liar and forger. But I could not afford to do so. I was very young (about 20-21) and very naive. I thought that if I just tell Church leaders about the Voice, they would immediately stop dealing with Hofmann, or may even investigate him. Boy....WAS I A "FOOL"!!! I kept writing letters, and even called Church Offices. Basically, this is what happened.
*I was told that "Brother Hofmann is an outstanding member of the Church".
*I was told that the Brethren (Church leaders) were "busy men" and that I was wasting my time trying to contact them, that neither my letters nor phone calls would never reach them. They would MAKE SURE of that.
*I was told that the Voice that told me that Hofmann was forging the documents was "a sign of mental illness", and that I should seek professional help.
Several times when I called Church Offices I was told I was a "nut" or "a conspiracy nut" and then hung up on. But I kept trying. I thought if I called enough, or sent enough letters, chances were at least "one" would get though to one of The Brethren (First Presidency or Apostles) and then they'd take care of the problem. BOY....WAS I AN "IDIOT"!
Finally, my bishop, Dennis Smith of the Santa Monica First Ward, called me in and told me that he had gotten a call from "Salt Lake" (LDS Church offices) and they wanted the letters and phone calls to "stop immediately or else". I was threatned with a Church Court if I called or wrote again.
I was DEVASTATED (again). I told him that I knew Hofmann was a liar, and that I feared that if he was not stopped, "Innocent blood will be shed". He said, "Are you making a threat?" I said, "NO! Of course not!" I meant Hofmann killing someone; not ME harming anyone. I was shocked that he thought I was making a threat! He kept saying, "Darrick, ALL IS WELL! The Brethren KNOW what they are doing...ALL IS WELL!" I remembered the verse from The Book of Mormon:
21 And others will he pacify, and lull them away into carnal security, that they will say: All is well in Zion; yea, Zion prospereth, all is welland thus the devil cheateth their souls, and leadeth them away carefully down to hell.
25 Wo be unto him that crieth: All is well! (3 Nephi chapter 28)
I said, "Bishop, are you saying ALL IS WELL IN ZION?" He put his head down and shook it, then looked up and said, "Look, Darrick. I know you MEAN well. But let me ask you a question. Do you believe that that Church is run by LIVING PROPHETS?"
I replied, "Yes."
He replied, "Then how can anything EVER go wrong?!"
I was speechless. He told me not to write or call Church leaders again, and that everything was in control. I said to myself, "Well, he must be right. A con-man can't fool living prophets. I must be wrong. The Voice must have been my own imagination!"
Of course, as I and others would discovers years later, Mark Hofmann WAS an atheist, and a liar. He forged the letters to make Joseph Smith look bad and to make money. Hofmann later MURDERED two innocent people (Steve Christensen and Kathy Sheets) in an attempt to cover up his forgery operation. He later dropped one of his bombs on his way to murder a third innocent person (innocent blood shed), and was injured but survived.
Mark Hofmann's burnt-out car hours after he dropped bomb number 3 (meant for another innocent person) and blew himself up (Oct. 16, 1985). The full story of Hofmann is found in the book The Mormon Murders Gregory White Smith.
After tens of thousands of man-hours of police and forensic investigation, they PROVED that his letters were forgeries, and he later confessed to everying by about February of 1987, it was all over.
When I called the people who said I was a "nut" and "sick in the head" for telling them that Hofmann was a forger, they simply HUNG UP ON ME! Even though the Voice was real, and had TOLD THE TRUTH, I was still a "NUT". For most Mormons 2+2 NEVER equals 4. Why? Because they don't add 2 to 2!
What about the FACT that Gordon B. Hinckley and other Church "prophets" had personally bought letters from Hofmann for five years, then spiriting the letters away into the First Presidency's Vault...never to see the light of day? Where was their "Spirit of Discernment"?
Again....Mormons don't "question" their leaders! They blindly follow them. Most Mormons don't know the Hofmann story. Most who do say, "Well, I have a testimony that Gordon B. Hinckley was a true Prophet of God, and did what the LORD wanted him to do in that situation!" In other words, FACTS MEANS NOTHING! The FACT that Hofmann FOOLED Mormon Church leaders for five years, men who claim to able to READ THE THOUGHTS AND INTENTIONS OF OTHERS, means--to the faithful Mormon--____nothing___.
One Mormon told me several years ago, "Oh, well! The Brethren KNEW ALL ALONG that Hofmann was a forger. But they wanted to all play out so that they could prove to the world that his letters were phoney!"
Yes! He actually said that.
In 1982 I moved from Santa Monica back to Tacoma, Washington, and back to the Young Adult Ward I had belonged to. Back to my drunken father who went into satanic drunken rages each and ever night, for hours. One night, my father and I got into a fight, and I called my bishop, cyring, saying, "Help me! I can't take this anymore!" I did not even have a car, much less the money to move. The bishop, God bless him, let me stay with him and his family for a week. Then, he called me on a mission. He provided me with the escape I needed! My mission would begin in July of 1983.
Before my mission I had to be "Endowed" in the Seattle Temple. My bishop went with me; since I didn't have a car. I had a fever of 102, but went anyway, because I was leaving soon for the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah. I went through the Endowment. I was DEVASTATED, to say the least. The film production was embarassingly amateurish; like a high-school production. The costumes they had us wear were ridiculous to say the least. We were RUSHED through the event, with no explanations of the symbols (words, hand-shakes, jestures). I just remember thinking afterwards, "This is NOT of God! This CANNOT be from God!" The most disturbing part of the Endowment Ceremony was the film where an actor plays Lucifer and another actor plays a Protestant (Calvinist) minister. It was just so gawdy and over-the-top. Another part is where we had to change clothes while standing up in front of our cinema chairs (i.e. the right shash going to the left, etc.). The acting was bad, the production was bad. The film was bad. We were RUSHED through it like there was a fire or something. The symbolic "signs and tokens" were never explained. One of the high priests, and old man, was giving me ENRAGED facial expressions because I wasn't getting the hand-grips right, and kept throwing my hand down in great anger (remember...I had a fever of 102). Silly. Amateurish. Bad acting. Clumsy. STUPID!
I remember the trip home that day, sitting in the back seat of my bishops' car, being driven back home from the Temple (I did not have a car at that time) thinking, "Oh my God! I don't believe in Mormonism anymore! Oh my God! What should I do?" I decided that the Endowment Ceremony HAD TO BE spiritual, and of God (had to be), but that "I" had NOT sufficiently prepared for it spiritually. I told myself that over and over again, but I really didn't believe it even as I was saying it to myself in my head silently.
Later that night, back home, in my room, I could hear what sounded like a fog horn going off (I was nowhere near the ocean). I also heard voices in my room (the second time) talking strange languges; not talking TO me, but among themselves in a language or languages I can't understand. That was the second time I audible heard voices. But now the voices were in some language I have never heard before, nor since.
I now really did NOT want to go on a misson anymore. I just could NOT believe that the Endowment Ceremony was from God. It seemed so UTTERLY ridiculous! So pointless. So......stupid! But, I decided I had to go. I was committed. The bishop was sacrificing his own money. His sons did not go on missions, and he was looking to me to do what his sons did not do.
There was another reason why I still wanted to go on a mission. I was living at home, and my father was a gambler and alcoholic. When he lost money, and he always did, he would take his anger out on myself and my mother, with drunken SCREAMING rages lasting for hours every night wherein he would threaten us with horrible things, with the most foul language and threats immaginable. I wanted, no HAD to get away from that. So, I decided NOT to cancel my mission. I was going to go to the Missionary Training Center, and hopefully, I thought, I would regain my testimony. I absolutely DREADED the thought of attending the Temple again, but, I was going to play this hand out and see what happened.
The MTC experience was mostly negative. Nothing about Jesus Christ (I've heard that has since changed....this was back in 1983). Everything was about "success"; that going on a mission make you a "success in life". Everthing was about achievement and "success". It was not a spiritual experience for me at all. I thought again about leaving, but I would tell myself, "No, just see how it goes in the mission field. Things might change!"
They didn't.
After three weeks in the MTC in Provo, I was sent to the California San Jose Mission, then to Morgan Hill. My trainer (first companion) was a MESS! Had no clue what the Gospel was. Had threatened to beat me up several times because I disagreed with him. He was a bully and a hick from northern Florida; a real stupid "good 'ole boy" who really wasn't "good" at all. I really felt like going home, and was seriously considering it. We didn't baptize a soul, and barely taught anyone. He liked to go visit a couple every day named "Tom and Susan" and just sit in their living room all day. A total and UTTER disaster. He didn't like being on a mission, did not know why he was there, and did not have a CLUE what the Gospel of Jesus Christ was.
My second companion was from Utah, and, again, had no clue why he was on a mission. He just liked to stay in all day and listen to tapes of country-western music. It took alot to get him even to go tracting (knocking on doors). He was extremely ugly; even abit freakish. His eyes were so wide there were practically on either side of his head. He had a very strange mouth. Other missionaries called him "Admiral Ackbar" after that character in Star Wars:
Yes, my second companion looked ALOT like this
And, if his looks were not bad enough, he stuttered horribly, and people would just slam the door on us anyway. We spent the next two weeks knocking on doors; which in our location meant one of two things: either nobody was home, or we woke up a VERY ANGRY person who worked at night and slept during the day! Pacifica (south of San Franciso) was NOT like Utah! The little woman did not stay at home while the man worked. Both couples worked. If a person was home during the day, it was because they were SLEEPING, and we would WAKE THEM UP! No wonder so many were ENRAGED with us! Anyway, after two weeks of slammed doors (I mean EVERY DOOR was either a NOT HOME or a slammed door!) I called it quits and just stayed inside the missionary apartment. The Mission President, of course, blamed me for "being lazy" and, thank God, sent me another companion after one month. I told myself that if this new Elder was anything like the first two, I was on a plane for Tacoma the next day, back to my abusive drunken father's house.
My second companion was just the opposite of the first two. He was funny, and an utter join to be around. He was from Virginia. He read on a 4th grade level, but had a heart of gold. A true Pure-at-Heart person. He talked constantly about "service" and how the Gospel was about being a service to others. HE "GOT" IT! Had him for four months, and had a great time, and made my only true convert (a female) on my mission during that companionship. That convinced me to stay. During my time with him I did hear the Voice again. We were inside the home of an inactive Member, and a knock on the door, and the Member openned the door and a HUGE Indian (native American) was standing there. The Voice said immediately, "HE IS A MURDERER!" I froze. The Indian and the Member talked for a minute or two, introducing us (I think his name was "James"), and having some small talk with the Member, and then the huge Indian said goodbye, hugged the Member, and left. The Member turned to us and said, "You know, James is a great guy! He's going through a hard time right now. He's been falsely accused of murder! He's REALLY going through a tough time!" I swallowed HARD, but didn't say a word.
Unfortunately, my next companion, was WORSE than my first two! He was from Utah, a rich kid, and absolutely totally SPOILED rotten. He was a bully, spoiled, and again, he not the slightest idea what the Gospel of Jesus Christ was. I had him for an absolutely AGONIZING four months. One of the worst times in my life. We taught a few people, but he's screw it up by saying things like, "The Book of Mormon is about a good people that God kept white, and about a bad people that God turned black!" (YES...he actually said that...I'm NOT joking). He was a total ABSOLUTE ASSHOLE! We did have one convert (no thanks to him), the adopted girl of a Member. She eventually married him (yes). I would discover many years later that women LOVE Alpha-males, and Alpha males are always utter selfish-asses! Women LOVE bullies. All of them do.
Most of the investigators in my mission were the husbands and boyfriends of Mormon women. I taught a LOT of "boyfriends" of young Mormon girls. When it came time for the discussion about Morality (i.e. no sex before marriage), the eyes on the guys would get HUGE and they'd say, "Hey! What the F***K is going on here?" Several of the young men would confide in me, "Hey, me and Susie [Mormon girl] have been doing it for 6 months! She never told me that you're not supposed to f***k in this religion! Had she told me that I would have said, HEY NO WAY!" Really. That happened to me several times. I discovered later that whenever a Mormon girl dated a non-mormon guy (and they did more than not) the parents would say, "We'll let you date so-and-so but ONLY if he takes the discussions!" So, the girl did so, against her will, and against the will of her non-mormon boyfriend, to appease the parents. About 85% of my investigators were these young men. Not one was baptized. They didn't even "LISTEN" to the discussions. They just stared at the girl during the whole time.
After awhile, after this was happening over and over again, I simply refused to teach a boyfriend of one of the girls. I was threatened with being sent home. I said, "Send me home. I'm NOT teaching these buys again. They don't care about the Gospel. They care about poontang". I was admonished to "get with the program" but I wasn't sent home.
I'm not sure why I did not leave to go home. I was told that if I went home I would be given a "dishonorable release" from my mission. Also, I did not wish to disappoint my bishop back home (he was a good man) who had sacrificed so much to put me out there. Today, I would have gone home, but back then I thought I OWED it to my bishop to stay on my mission and do my best regardless of all. I didn't want to hurt his feelings, and I did't want to return to my abusive father's house.
I was an idiot.
I had several more companions; a couple I liked, one or two I tolerated. One of my companions was sent home for having sex with a girl. He had sex with her BEFORE we were companions. Again, another "Utah Elder" who did not have a CLUE why he was there. This was during the reign of Spencer W. Kimball, a kindly man who was Church President, who naively thought that all Mormon males (good and bad) should be sent on missions, and that a mission would "straighten out" the bad Mormon males. NOT LIKELY! Junk in---junk out! The Mormon Church has now changed that policy of sending immoral young men on missions. Sending immoral young men on missions does NOT make them moral young men; it makes them IMmoral young missionaries. These immoral young men caused a LOT of trouble in the mission, and had sex with a LOT of young Mormon girls, and young coverts to the Church. A LOT!!!
Anyway, my last four months on my mission, my testimony was pretty much gone. I saw what the missionaries were like. I'd seen what the Members of the Church were like. They were NOT "Christians" in any sense. Everything about them was about money and success; making more money, having more success, acheiving more in life. They were selfish people, very materialistic. All the "talks" in Church was about being "a success in life". It killed the Spirit, absolutely killed it. I remember sitting there in Church, on a bright sunny day, but feeling darkness gathering around me. No Spirit at all. The only time I felt a little Spirit was at a Ward that was not affluent, and had many Tongans and Samoans. I felt some Spirit there. But in the white affluent Wards...nothing. Only darkness and heaviness all around.
The last four months of my mission I decided to go through the motions, but I really didn't believe it anymore. I just stayed so as not to HURT my bishop, who was spending his own money ($250 a month) to keep me on the mission (none of his sons wanted to go on missions). I was "trunky" as missionaries called it. So was my companion. We did very little on the last four months of my mission. Being in San Francisco, and using buses and street-cars, it took us 2 or 3 hours to get across town anyway to teach, so we taught little, and tracted little.
I do not believe the GREAT MAJORITY of the other missionaries knew what the Gospel of Jesus Christ was. To them, being on a mission was about "numbers"; getting the most baptisms, most hours. The missionaries I knew cared about two things: "Numbers" or "Girls". The hard-working Elders cared about "numbers". The "lazy" Elders did not care about anything but flirting with the Mormon girls and talking about home. A mission to them seemed like being drafted; something they HAD to do, but NOT something they wanted to do.
To me, the Gospel of Jesus Christ was about the good news that we could be saved after death; that there was no "eternal hell" where our non-christian loved ones burned for all eternity. Being moral. It was about treating others with kindness and honesty. NONE of the other missionaries "saw" it that way. For them, the Gospel of Jesus Christ was "the Joseph Smith Story" and about doing something for God (going on a mission) so that God would give you something in return (i.e. a beautiful girl to marry and success in career or business after your mission). They could NOT CARE LESS about anything else. I zigged, and everybody else zagged. I felt like a stranger in a strange land.
Anyway, I came home, and immediately went inactive. I had seen too much among Mormons. They were not spiritual at all. They were not honest. They were materiastic and superstitious; not "moral" not "honest" and certainly not Christians.
But I didn't want to be a "Christian" either. The "Christians" had spat on me, assulted me, threatened to kill me, LIED to me, and LIED about me. "Christianity" is the LAST thing I wanted. I could never accept BILLIONS of people burning in Hell for all eternity because they weren't "born again Christians". Just couldn't believe in such as horrible and merciless "God" as the Christian god.
I came home. My father was still drinking and gambling, still screaming for hours in the nightly rages. I decided I had to move. I did. I moved back to Santa Monica, California, my old home town.
In California, I went to Church; not really because I believed it, but because I needed to be around people, and Mormons were the only "group" I felt at all comfortable with. The Ward I was in was very affluent, just like the white affluent Wards of my mission. All about "success". I remember going to a Fireside, where the man spoke only about investing and insurance. Nothing about God or the Gospel. Really! It made me sick. I dated an ugly Mormon girl (none other would go out with me). She, like the other Mormons I knew, had NOT A CLUE of what the Gospel of Jesus Christ was. She told me once, "Darrick, you CAN'T be very spiritual. You don't have any money! She thought she was better than me, and dumped me 6 or 7 times to chase after "a better" LDS male. Of course, they all wanted nothing to do with her, so she'd come back. I'd treat her well, and her ego would grow, then she's dump me and chase a "better" LDS male, then that male would insult her, not even go out with her, then she'd then come back to me. This happened over and over again many times. I let her back because I was lonely.
During this time I almost became a Baha'i. But I decided not to because the Baha'is taught that Jesus never arose from the dead. He died, and everything after that is "mere parable". Baha'is believe that Jesus was a Prophet, and was crucified and died, but after that the Gospel are "Mere parables" and not literal history. Jesus is still buried in His grave somewhere in Jerusalem, they believe. He was never raised from the dead. I could NOT accept that, so I did not become a Baha'i at that time.
I felt very alone. I decided that I HAD to give the Mormon Church another chance. Perhaps the Mormons on my mission were exceptions to the rule. I convinced myself that I had to move to Utah, and that in Utah I would be happy, I would meet Mormons who were truly Christians and not the materialistic immoral types I had met on my mission, and that I would find a good Mormon girl and marry her for time and eternity in the Temple. I decided only then would I find happiness.
My attitude towards Mormonism at that time like perhaps a good woman thinks of a man she's fallen in love with, only to discover he cheats, gambles, drinks, abuses her, and lies. But she is still in love, and wants to "change" the bad man into a good man. She's in love with the "dream" but not with the "reality". For years I naively thought I could CHANGE Mormonism, and Mormons, into what they pretended to be, but really weren't. I thought that I could write BOOKS that could be published and sold in Mormon bookstores, and that these books would teach Mormons what the real Gospel of Jesus Christ was; not about money, not about success, not about "getting stuff" from God, but about honesty, and being moral even when others can't see you, and about how to treat others. I thought that if I get enough books in those bookstores, that, over time, things would change, and Mormons would eventually become honest, and moral, and "Christian"; just like what I head read in the Reader's Digest articles so many years ago. Yep...I WAS A "FOOL". A deep and abiding FOOL! I really thought I could "change" things. I couldn't. Of course. I could no more "change" Mormons than an ant could single-handedly move Mount Everest. Yes, you are quite correct, I WAS A ___FOOL___!
During this time I wrote The Gainsayers. I wanted the world to know that Ed Decker was a LIAR, and that he was inspiring some Evangelicals to violence. We had missionaries threatened and beaten on my mission because of his "God Makers" movie. He was a liar, and I wanted people to know that. So, I took many hours, and wrote "The Gainsayers" in response to him and his film.
Nobody wanted to publish it. Mormons treat all things Anti-Mormon by simply ignoring it completely. Mormons are very ignorant; they ignore anything that they don't like or agree with, the facts be damned. They are simply an "ignorant" people. I knew that then, a little. I know it know...alot.
Finully, in 1989, a Mormon publisher decided to publish it. His son was in love with a beautiful girl at BYU. Her parents (non-mormons) sent her "The God Makers" book, and she read it. She asked her fiancee (the son of the publisher) for answers. He of course had none. The son said, "Ah, just ignore it. It's all lies". She could not, and she left the Church and BYU, and she told him to leave the Church or the wedding was off.
Anyway, they split, and the son was devastated. Then the publisher took my book, which he had rejected three times before, and re-wrote some parts of it he didn't like, and published it. The publisher was not a good man. He was greedy and dishonest. But, the book was published. That was in 1989. The only problem was....by that time I had gone totally inactive.
From 1986 to 1987 I tried to get re-activated in the Church. From 1987 to 1989 I was roommates with a man named "Larry"; a Mormon all his life. He had married a "Miss Utah" back in 1981, and was now divorced. I later came to see why. During this time I "ghostwrote" several books for two Evangelical Christians; one on the New Age, and one on homosexuality in the Nazi Party in Germany.
During the two years I knew him, "Larry" had plowed his way through several Young Adult Wards like a Roto-Till-on-steroids! He had sex (in one form or another) with at least two dozen Mormon women and girls that I personally knew about. They went CRAZY over him; absolutely crazy!!! He was 34-36, but got marriage proposals from Mormon girls as young as 18! Returned missionaries (females) also chased him, and he'd love to tell me how he got them to masturbate in front of him. He thought he was FAR SUPERIOR to any of these women. He referred to them as "toilet paper"; they were only good to use once, then you threw it away.
Bishops had told me a number of times, "Darrick, the reason why Mormon girls don't go out with you is because THEY DON'T GO OUT WITH UNWORHTY MEN! The reason they're going out with Larry is because HE'S WORTHY!" I kid you NOT! I was told that Mormon women had "the Spirit of Discernment" like Church leaders do, and they simply DO NOT DATE "unworthy" men, only worthy ones. At the time, my roommate Larry had a 17 year old live-in Catholic girlfriend. He still did things with Mormon girls, still went out with them. I was told Larry was "WORHTY" and I was "UNWORTHY". Of course....this was PURE BULL-DIP! The girls went out with Larry because he had MONEY, and charisma, and was a tall-blonde Alpha-male, like the UTTER ASSHOLE companion I had on my mission. Mormon women did EXACTLY like all women do everywhere; they want to mate with Alpha Males; the most selfish, ego-centric, dishonest, immoral males around.
At first, I thought, "It is not my business what Larry and these girls do!" Yet, I knew he had seduced a girl who was going on a mission. I saw her later. Her mission was cancelled, and she looked half dead. I knew then, he had gone too far.
Of course, I tried to tell the Bishop of the Ward at that time (Bishop Kunsler) but he basically called me a "LIAR". He said, "Brother Evenson, LDS girls would NEVER do the things YOU are telling me they are doing! I see Larry here every Sunday. I barely see YOU at all! And when I DO see you, you're dressed like a BUM off the street!" He later claimed that I NEVER TOLD HIM about what Larry was doing with the girls (a LIE!). All during this time my experience with LDS women was very negative. Because I was poor, they would lie to me, and talk negative things behind my back ("Darrick is a LOSER!"). I tried dating a few fat girls that the other males did not date. But the other girls in the Ward would confront the fat girl and say, "What do you see in him? Darrick is a LOSER! You can do better than HIM!"" So, even the fat girls would dump me. I did nothing but show UTTER respect for this women. I came to realize that these women were, mostly, DIShonest, IMmoral, very materialistic. They chased wealthy men, and especially Alpha Males with money.
I had a few Mormon roommates, and all of them had full sex lives, and they were single, and went to young adult wards. I would say, "Don't you want to go to the Celestial Kingdom?" They'd say, "Darrick, EVERYBODY does this ok!? YOU would too, but you can't! The women don't want you. If you could, you'd do the SAME THING!"
Many of them thought that "no pre-marital sex" only referred to the girl you were taking to the Temple. Girls who you never planned to take to the Temple "didn't count". You could do anything with them, but had to be "worthy" with your further E.C. ("eternal companion"--the girl you would spend eternity with).
From my experiences, I was LIED TO many times by Mormon girls. They justified these lies, "Hey, I was doing you a FAVOR!" I got sick and tired of all the "favors" these Mormon women were doing me!
I joined the Church thinking Mormons were honest and moral. Many years later, after seeing with my own eyes, I had to come to the opposite conclusion. Yes, there were a few exceptions, what I call "the Ten Percent". But, no, 90% of Mormons I knew were NOT honest, NOT moral, and had NOT A CLUE what the Gospel of Jesus Christ was, and didn't CARE if you told them what it was. The "Gospel" to them was the Church, and how the Church could "bless" them (give them things) in life; like a beautiful woman to marry, success in business. AND IT WORKED! All of these IMmoral young men I knew later got married to beautiful young women, and were successful in career and business. Every single one.
Most Mormons of course think they are the BEST of all people everywhere. They DO NOT LIE, unless they have to. They are MORAL publicly, but in secret they are not. They REALLY think that God can't see them in the dark. They think if their bishop doesn't know, or their Mormon fianceé doesn't KNOW, then they'll go to the Temple, get the blessings therein, and later be exalted with the Gods in yonder heavens! Yes...really! I've discovered, to my regret, that Mormons were simply ignorant materialistic supertitious people. 90% were anyway. Only 10% were God-fearing men and women. Why not STAY in the Church then? Weren't the 10% who were good enough to stay? I CANNOT! Why? Because:
*I had discovered by then too much about Brigham Young. He taught things as Revelations from God that, if taught today, can get one excommunicated; such as Adam-God, Negroes cursed children of Cain, God having sex with Mary (his spirit-daughter) to produce Jesus, blood atonement, etc. For 130 yeras, Mormon leaders taught these as "Eternal Truths". Now, if you teach any of these doctrines, you'll be "counselled" (i.e. ordered) to STOP. If you don't stop, you're excommunicted.
*Brigham Young STOLE from the Tithing Office each year (he died one of the wealthiest men in America at that time). He ordered the murder of a number of people, such as Joseph Morris (peaceful and pacivist leader of the Morrisites) and others. He owned tobacco farms, liquor distilleries, and a beer house and several WHORE HOUSES (Yes!). He was a very...VERY evil man; a Hypocrite of the absolute worst kind. Mormon leaders KNOW that. But they think, "Why tell the Members? It would only cause them to LOSE FAITH, and we can't have that now can we?"
*I did NOT believe, by this time, that the Church leaders were inspired of God. Mark Hofmann had FOOLED THEM FOR YEARS, and they had LIED about it to police (you can read about all this in The Mormon Murders by Gregory White Smith)! They did NOT have any "Spirit of Discernment" as they claimed or was claimed for them.
*I KNEW that Mormon bishops had no divine "Spirit of Discernment" as was claimed for them. Most of them were simply self-righteous ignorant men. There were exceptions, but not many.
*I KNEW that single Mormon women were NOT the sinless innocent "saints" I'd been told they were. They did NOT refuse to date "UNworthy" men. I saw them chase the most IMMORAL men in the Young Adult Ward! They were NOT "honest" as I was told. They lied to me all the time, and told my they were "doing me a favor" by lying to me! They were NOT merely looking for a worthy priesthood holder to marry. Just about all of them chased men who had money. THAT was their main goal. Being a good priesthood holder was secondary to them, and, for some of them, that did not matter at all. They were NOT "sinless" as Mormon bishops had told me. I caught too many single Mormon girls in bed with my roommates (one of whom was not LDS). I knew that they were NOT the innocent, basically sinless beings that Mormon bishops told me they were. I knew they had no "Spirit of Discernment" over what man was "worthy" and what man was "unworthy". It seemed to me, the more IMmoral and wicked the man, the more Mormon women who chased him and proposed marriage to him.
But, still, I still clung on to my testimony of Joseph Smith. I refused to believe the reports that he married his foster daughters (true). I refused to believe reports that he lied to people about seeing buried treasure (true). I refused to believe it, and convinced myself that with a little more research, I would REFUTE these claims (I did the research later, and it proved the claims were TRUE).
By late 1989 it was enough. I had concluded that the Mormon Church was not "false", but in apostasy. I clung on to my belief in Joseph Smith. I refused to believe the reports about him being a money digger, or that he slept with his nanny or his own foster daughters. I simply refused to believe these reports...I IGNORED them. I figured, "Anti-Mormons had LIED to me before... WHY should I believe them now?"
I knew that I could not remain in the Mormon Church. I saw too much hypocrisy among the Mormons. I KNEW they weren't what they claimed to be. I KNEW that bishops did NOT have the "Spirit of Discernment". I KNEW that Mormon women could not DISCERN a "worhty" male from an "unworthy" one as was claimed. I KNEW that Brigham Young taught doctrines as Revelations from God that the Church now declared were FALSE. I knew there were just TOO MANY CONTRADICTIONS, and God was not the Author of Contradiction.
Where to go? If not the Mormon Church, then what? I had had TOO MANY negative experiences with "Evangelical Christians". Too many of them had spit in my face. Too many had called me a "LIAR" when in fact I was sincere. Too many had threated to beat me up or KILL ME because I was a Mormon! And I just could NOT accept their belief about an eternal unending Hell for all non-Believers. Could not.
Something brought me back to the Baha'i Faith. I decided that I could not become a Baha'i, because they believed that Jesus was still in his grave, never resurrected. I decided to see WHERE they got that information from. I discovered they got it from a comment by 'Abdu'l-Baha (ab-dell bah-hah), the son of Baha'u'llah, in a book called Some Answered Questions. I studied his comments, then noticed that he really NEVER SAID that Jesus was not raised from the dead. He NEVER SAID that the Gospels were "mere parables" after Jesus' death. He only said that Jesus was not raised "bodily" from the dead. He said that the disciples "saw Christ living" after His death, but Jesus was never raised "physically".
I concluded that the Baha'is had MIS-interested what 'Abdu'l-Baha had said when he said that Jesus was never "bodily" raised, and that the resurrection of Christ referred to his disciples arising from doubt. I concluded that the Baha'is had MIS-interpreted the words of 'Abdu'l-Baha; that he never denied that Jesus was raised, but he only denied that Jesus was raised in a physical body. I collected evidence showing that 'Abdu'l-Baha believed that Jesus DID arise from the dead, but in an non-physical ethereal body; one that only can bee seen in visions, and the disciples "saw Him" in vision after death.
With that information, I decided to become a Baha'i, and I would convince the other Baha'is (over 5 million of them at that time) of this new interpretation of Jesus' resurrection (i.e. He was raised in an ethereal body only seen in visions).
Yes...I was a FOOL! But there was more!
Joseph Smith prophecied that Christ would return in 1990-91, wearing red garments. Coincidentally, Baha'u'llah ("bah-HAH-ool-LAW"--the founding prophet of the Baha'i Faith) who claimed to be Christ returned, made his great announcement in 1891, on the slopes of Mount Carmel IN RED GARMENTS. Just a coincidence? I concluded that IF Joseph Smith was a true Prophet, then his 1891 prophecies MUST BE TRUE. So, I concluded that Baha'u'llah had to be the return of Christ.
I concluded that Joseph Smith was sent by God to prepare the way for Baha'u'llah, the Return of Christ, and founder of the Baha'i Faith (now with over 6 million members worldwide).
In 1990 I moved to Utah, and found the Baha'is there. I thought they would be thankful that I had information that would help them teach Mormons by using the 1890-91 prophecies of Joseph Smith. Instead, they were furious. They said, "Oh, we've already approached the Mormons. They are NOT interested!" I said, "Of course they are not interested. They're not interested in your religion because they have their own. But use the prophecies of Joseph Smith and they may be interested in what you have to tell them! Shoghi Effendi called Joseph Smith a SEER you know! One of their leaders, a Persian man, said to me, "Oh, he was not a prophet, HE WAS NOT A SEER, we don't believe that! YOU ARE A LIAR! That is a LIE! Shoghi Effendi NEVER said that Joseph Smith with a SEER! HOW DARE YOU tell us how to teach others!" I said, "But Shoghi Effendi [the Guardian of the Baha'i Faith until his death in 1957] called Joseph Smith a SEER! A Seer is like a prophet. Use the prophecies of Joseph Smith, and you may get some Mormons interested in what you have to say!" The Persian man said again, "NO! NO! Shoghi Effendi NEVER SAID THAT! He NEVER SAID THAT! YOU ARE LYING!" Of course, Shoghi Effendi DID say that, and I have the very quotes from the Baha'i book where he said it. But, they didn't WANT to see it. Anyway, here it is:
"The Guardian [Shoghi Effendi] was asked about the Mormons. He said that Joseph Smith was a Seer, not a prophet major or minor, and that he had high standars." (Ruth Moffett, Memories of 'Abdu'l-Baha, Baha'i Publishing Trust, 1980, p.17)
A "Seer" in Baha'i (and Muslim) theology is a non-prophet who nevertheless has been given a vision by an angel.
The Persian men (his name was Talebreza) also said that I was LYING when I told him that I had spoken with Charles Wolcott in 1984, and Wolcott told me that Joseph Smith was a "Seer" (Wolcott was one of 9 international leaders of the Baha'i Faith). Talebraza shouted, "NO! I know YOU NEVER SPOKE TO HIM! YOU ARE LYING! YOU NEVER SPOKE TO HIM!" I had to get a letter from Mr. Wolcott's daughter saying, "Yes, Darrick Evenson spoke with my father, Charles Wolcott, in 1984, when Mr. Evenson visited my home, as a Mormon missionary, in San Jose in 1984. I do remember that occassion." I made copies of her signed letter, and put copies of her letter with copies of my letter which included the quote from Shoghi Effendi (their Infallible Guardian) about Joseph Smith being a "Seer" and mailed nine copies (one for each member of the Baha'i Council of Salt Lake City) and mailed it to them. NOWHERE in my letter did I attack Mr. Talebreza. Nowhere. I simply said, "Here is proof that I was NOT lying about Joseph Smith being a Seer, and about talking with Charles Wolcott in 1984 in San Jose. Please give copies of this to the entire [Council]. There are nine copies enclosed. Thank you. Darrick Evenson".
About two weeks later, they mailed me their reply. Instead of an apology, I got a letter back that said basically, "Don't come to our Baha'i meetings anymore".
I was DEVASTATED! I was STUNNED! I was in SHOCK! Once again....I had met religious IGNORANCE. I discovered later, that, many years ago (in the mid 1960s), Talebreza had fled from Iran and eventually came to Utah. He tried to tell Mormons about "our Prophet Baha'u'llah", and, naturally, several Mormons were very rude and said, "We have a Living Prophet today, this Baha fellow IS A FALSE PROPHET!" So, after that, Talebreza hated anything Mormon, and hated Joseph Smith, and HATED the fact that I suggested they use the prophecies of Joseph Smith to try to teach and attract Mormons. But, thanks to him, the Baha'is concluded that the Mormons were "unreachable". Not only that, but I INSULTED Mr. Talebreza by PROVING he was WRONG to call me a LIAR. Instead of a humbling apology, I got nothing but a shunning. Mr. Talebreza was related, in one way or another, to just about all of the Baha'i leaders in Salt Lake City. He was the most respected man in the Baha'i Community in Utah.
I remained in Utah from 1990 until 1994. During that time I had no religion. The Baha'is were shunning me because I had "offended" one of their beloved local leaders (the one who called me a "LIAR!"). I was too worn-out. I'd go to LDS dances, and I did visit and study the various "Mormon Fundamenalist" (polygamist) groups in Utah; only to discover they were more ignorant and superstitious than the mainline Mormons (which I thought not possible). But at least they were "consistent" in adhering to Brigham Young's doctrines; while the Mormon Church has repudiated just about all of Brigham Young's doctrines.
In 1994 I moved to Riverside, California. I decided that I wanted to try organized religion again. I knew I could not go back to the LDS Church. I didn't believe in it anymore. I discovered too much about Brigham Young. I KNEW that his successors were not prophets/seers/revelators: they did not prophesy/see/revelate. The Mark Hofmann Affair had destroyed all hope I had to accept Mormon leaders as "living prophets" again.
But, I decided that I should not let one man (the Persian Baha'i) get between me and the Baha'i Faith. Yes, the Baha'is of Utah were shunning me, because of this ego-centric asshole. But, there was no reason I could not be a Baha'i somewhere else. So, I moved to Riverside, California; to go to school there.
While in Riverside I met with the Baha'is again. At first, they treated me extremely well. But things changed. The Chair of the Baha'i community there wanted to know what I did for a living. At that time, I was working doing research for a Pro-Life organization. She SCREAMED: "OH MY GOD! You CAN'T DO THAT! YOU CAN'T DO THAT!" She told me that the Baha'i Faith was pro-Choice, and to be pro-Life I was "violating every principle of the Faith". I was in SHOCK. I asked other Baha'is and they said, "Yes, the woman has the right to choose! That is a Fundamental Principle of the Faith! And what you are doing is getting involved into partisan politics, which Baha'is are NOT supposed to do! You are violating the Laws of Baha'u'llah!"
I was STUNNED!
To make a long story short, I discovered later that one of the leaders of the Baha'i Faith, Shoghi Effendi, the great-grandson of Baha'u'llah and a man whom Baha'is considered their INFALLIBLE Guardian, had commanded that "abortion is ABSOLUTE forbidden" among Baha'is, and that they should preach against abortion everywhere (Pro-Life). However, after Shoghi Effendi died, the new leaders of the Baha'i Faith (a group of elected men who govern the Faith worldwide from Haifa, Israel) decided that they would simply "ignore" that. Simple as that. The new leaders of the Baha'i Faith were liberals, and they did NOT care what their Infallible Leader had said, they were going to allow abortions on demand (Pro-Choice). By the time I discovered all this, it was 1996. In other words, the elected leaders of the Faith, who took over after Shoghi Effendi had died, had decided to simply "ignore" what their "Infallible Guardian" had to say about abortion! I KNEW I could not follow such men. They were Hypocrites. So, I resigned from the Baha'i Faith.
In 1996 I moved to Arizona to try to go to school there. I visited a local Ward long enough to get my membership there, then told the bishop to remove my name. I did not think it was proper to continue to have my name on the rolls of the Church when in fact I did not believe in it anymore. The bishop was very self-righteous and mocking (as most of them are), and, naturally, accused me that I was hiding some horrible secret sin, and THAT was why I wanted out. I told him that I wanted out because I did not believe it anymore, and that was the only reason. He finally said ok, and in July, 1996, my resignation from the Church was accepted. Since then, many Mormons have accused me of being "homosexual" or "a child molestor" or "excommunicated for adultery" (which would be hard...since I've never been married) because I have told the TRUTH about Mormonism and Jospeh Smith. NO, I was NOT excommunicated. The only time I was ever threatened with a Church Court is when I was trying to tell Church leaders that Mark Hofmann was a FRAUD. I resigned. Check with Membership Records. Call them, and they will confirm that I resigned, and was never exed.
Although I had had some very negative experiences with organized religion, I still was a Seeker of Truth. I studied all the religions of the world, and compared them. All the years of my searching, I would think and sometimes pray, "God, IF you have a true religion on Earth, and a true Prophet, then PROVE IT! Let that man perform real miracles like Jesus did. THEN I would have the proof I needed that you exist, and that the religion of that Prophet is true!"
I actually said that, and thought it, for many years. I wanted PROOF. Not "faith". Because people can mistake "blind faith" with "faith". The Mormons were utterly blind...utterly! The Evangelicals were fanatics and as blind as the Mormons. Many of them had spit on me or insulted me or threatened me when I was a Mormon missionary. I could NOT believe in their religion: one of talking snakes, Noah's boat on a 15,000 foot mountain, all races from one white couple, and innocent people burning in Hell-fire for all eternity. I could not be a Baha'i, because that would mean accept a group of men (Baha'i leaders) who IGNORED the Law of Baha'u'llah whenever they didn't agree with it! They said, "We MUST obey the Laws of Baha'u'llah--it is the Law of God!" but, at the same time, they IGNORED any Law of Baha'u'llah that went against their Liberal worldview! Absolute HYPOCRITES!
I saw so many NEGATIVE THINGS in organized religion that I did not believe I wanted a part of it anymore! I saw so MUCH UTTER HYPOCRISY among the Mormons. I saw so much IGNORANCE and STUPIDITY and THREATS OF VIOLENCE among the Evangelicals. I saw that the Baha'is, while meaning well, ignored ANYTHING that their Prophet or his successors said that went against their Liberal mindsets.
I wanted NOTHING more to do with organized religion.
But, I continued to study religion. I was facinated by it. I'd study it all the time, every day. All the religions of the world. Every sect of every religion that I could find mentioned in English. This took me many years, and tens of thousands of hours in research.
Finally, in 2005, while reading The Encyclopedia of American Religions at a library, I discovered Doctor Dahesh. I became a Daheshist, and still am one. Dr. Dahesh PROVED he was from God, because of his many supernatural miracles. He was the FULFILLMENT of the prayers I had made to God so many times.
Soon after I discovered Daheshism, I discovered Spiritism, and the two religions seemed to agree on everything. Daheshism is really a "sect" of Spiritism. It seemed that Daheshism "fulfilled" Spiritism, like Christianity fulfilled Judaism.
Spiritism teaches that mankind "evolved" from lower forms of life, and that the Earth is billions of years old. It teaches that Adam and Eve were NOT the first man and woman on earth, but the first of a new race of men and women. It teaches that there was no "talking snake" in the Garden of Eden, but a man, an shaman, who was possessed by an evil spirit. It taught that we all shall see our loved ones again in the Spirit-World, before our next incarnation. It taught that it does not matter what religion or church we belong to; that we are judged by the Laws of Karma (our works or actions) alone, and by nothing else. Spiritism simply MADE SENSE! It agreed with science. It was JUST! It taught that there was no "eternal hell" with billions of screaming souls screaming for all eternity. It MADE SENSE!
I had joined the Mormon Church for two reasons:
#1) Because of the glowing reports on Mormons in Readers' Digest. I discovered later these articles were advertisements, written by employees of the LDS Church Public Affairs Office. THEY PRESENTED A FALSE PICTURE OF HOW MORMONS REALLY ARE! Having lived in Utah for four years, and having known Mormons for the last 25 years, they are NOT more moral/honest than others. Mormons are among the best and WORST people I've ever known. Most Mormons are, like most religious people everywhere, ignorant; they "ignore" anything they don't wish to believe, the facts be damned. But MOST people are like that.
#2) Because I could not accept the doctrine of eternal Hell; that most people were burn in hell forever. Yet, through the years I've discovered that most religions in the world do not teach the "eternal hell" doctrine. I did not have to be a Mormon to believe that God was merciful and kind to His creations. Plenty of religions, such as Buddhism, and Daheshism and Spiritism, teach that God saves all His creation, because He loves us all.
Over the decades, after tens of thousands of hours of research, I had to give up my belief in Joseph Smith.
That was NOT an easy thing to do! It was like loosing a child, or a loved one. Really. It was DEVASTATING. But, once the devastation was over, came ACCEPTANCE, and finally, HAPPINESS!
I am now a Spiritist, and a Daheshist, and I could NOT be happier! Dr. Dahesh was that "prophet with miracles" I had prayed for for so many years.
Now you know why I left the Mormon Church. Below, is PROOF that Joseph Smith, and the Book of Mormon are FRAUDS.
The evidence against Joseph Smith being a true Prophet is MASSIVE.
Absolutely MASSIVE, that would take a series of books that would equal
the Encyclopedia Brittanica to document. And it HAS been documented.
Here is a brief synopsis:
JOSEPH SMITH:
**Lied About Polygamy***
*He lied on many occassions. He denied he was a polygamist. Taught
that polygamy was a "false doctrine" at the same time he was boffing
many different women and girls, including some who were already
married. He slept with his own foster daughters (the Lawrence
sisters). According to Sarah Pratt (wife of Orson Pratt...then on a
mission to England), Joseph Smith tried to sexually seduce her.
According to Nancy Rigdon, 15 year old daughter of Sidney Rigdon,
Joseph Smith tried to seduce her too. When one of the women he was
"married" to got pregnant, he commanded her to marry somebody else
(i.e. thereby avoiding the evitiable question: "Whose the father of this child?")
telling them to keep their "spritiual marriage" a secret or they would
be killed by the Destroying Angel. Yes, Joseph Smith constantly threatened
the young women and young girls that if they did not lay down with him,
or, when they got pregnant, if they refused to marry the man he selected
for them, they WOULD BE KILLED by God's messenger!
***Murdered an Old Woman who tried to expose his exploits with young girls***
*According to one report, an old woman, the grandmother of one
of the girls Joseph was boffing, discovered the "secret" and started
going around Nauvoo telling people what Joseph Smith was up to.
According to this report (true...I cannot say), Joseph Smith
and Porter Rockwell "baptized" the old woman in the Mississippi
over and over again until she drowned. Porter Rockwell later told this to one of his
friends, who later left the Church and wrote of this. This is the ONLY claim
in this post that I do not ABSOLUTELY KNOW is true!!!!
***The Kinderhook Plates***
* In 1843 a group of non-mormons wanted to see if they could fool Joseph Smith
on April fools day (April 1, 1843). So, they had a blacksmith produce a set of 12 small
brass "bell-shaped" plates. Then, using acid and beeswax, they made markings
on the plates to simulate an unknown language. Then they covered the plates
with rust, then buried the plates in a mound in Kinderhook, Illinois. They told a Mormon neighbor that they were digging a well when they came across an ancient skeleton, and around the neck of the skeleton were a set of 12 small brass plates. They asked their Mormon neighbor if he would take them to Joseph Smith to see if they could be translated. The Mormon got very excited, and rode to Nauvoo; handing the plates to Joseph Smith, and telling him they were found with an ancient skeleton in a mound near Kinderhook, Illinois. William Clayton, Joseph Smith's scribe and confidant, later wrote:
Joseph Smith's translation of the Kinderhook Plates were never published, although some claim they are still in The First Presidency's Vault; along with other materials that Church leaders do not want ever seeing the light of day.
In 1982, the Church itself had the Kinderhook Plate go under scanning electron microscope as well as metalugical tests in order to PROVE once and for all that the plates were genuine, and not "bogus" as Fugate had claimed in 1870. Well, the test backfired! It and it was discovered that
THE PLATE WAS BOGUS! It was made out of rolled brass, just like blacksmiths
had in America in the 1840s. The engravings on the plates were put there with
acid, not an engraving tool, just as Fugate had claimed in 1870. Sidney Kimball,
a Mormon "apologist" at that time, then tried to say that Joseph Smith NEVER
really translated a portion of them after all, because it was William Clayton,
not Joseph Smith, who claimed that Joseph had translated a portion or the plates. Kimball
suggested that Clayton was just writing down a "rumor" that Joseph Smith
had translated a protion of the plates; not that he had actually done so. William Clayton was Joseph Smith's
personal secretary, and kept Joseph Smith's daily journal, from which the
phrase came: "Pres J translated a portion of them".
Joseph Smith had Clayton keep his diary (Joseph Smith's diary). What are the odds that Clayton was merely writing down a "rumor" he had heard from somebody else? Clayton was with Joseph Smith almost every waking moment of the day.The Kinderhook Plates are BOGUS. Only a BOGUS prophet
can translate BOGUS plates! April's Fool on you---Joseph Smith.
***The Book of Abraham****
*In 1839 an Englishman named Chandler inherited some Egpytian mummies and papyrus from a distant relative who found them in Egypt. The papyrus was under a mummies head. It was the "Breathing Permit of Horus"; a pagan document, sort of a "passport" for a dead soul into the Afterlife. But Chandler did not know that then, because Egyptology was only in its infancy then. Nothing about Abraham was on this papyrus. Chandler was in New York City when he was told that Joseph Smith, a Prophet, would be able to translate the papyrus into English. Joseph claimed that the Egyptian papyrus he had (including figures one and
two) were "written by the hand of Abraham" and was from the Book of Abraham, which he translated. The translation was published by the Mormons in 1843. The original papyrus was given to Lucy Smith, the mother of Joseph Smith. When she died, the step-son of Emma Smith sold the papyrus to the Chicago Museum, and there it stayed. In 1856, in Utah, Joseph Smith's translation of "The Book of Abraham" it was included as part of the Mormon scripture, in the Pearl of Great Price.
In 1967, in
Chicago, at the University of Chicago, a professor of Middle-Eastern Studies from the University of Utah named Dr. Aziz Atiya (a non-mormon) found the
papyrus (including facsimiles 1 and 2) from which Joseph Smith translated "The Book of Abraham".
Egyptologists immediately knew that the Joseph Smith Papyrus was a first century A.D. "Breathing Permit of
Horus"; a pagan Egyptian document which does not even mention Abraham, and
which was basically the soul's pasport into the Afterlife, where the
soul would meet the god Osiris and be judged. Joseph Smith did correctly
identify some things from Facsimile 3 (the round object in he papyrus), such as the Boat of 1000 Cubits, such as Hathor being identified with the Sun, and
the Four Sons of Horus as being the four cardinal points, but, he
could have gotten that information from the man he bought the papyrus
from, Michael Chandler, who had taken the papyrus to several Egyptologists in London before he went to America and eventually sold it to Joseph
Smith. The main point being, the papyrus was a 1st century pagan
Egyptian document, and had NOTHING to do with Abraham, and was
certainly NOT "written by the hand of Abraham" (who lived about 2000 B.C.) as Joseph Smith
claimed. The claim by some Mormon apologists, that the true Book of
Abraham "has not yet been found" is FALSE, because the papyrus found
in 1967 in Chicago had Facsimile 1 and 2 FROM "The Book of Abraham"; a
scene where Anubis takes the soul of a deceased person, that Joseph
Smith identified as a pagan priest trying (and not suceeding) in
sacrificing Abraham on an altar. The Book of Abraham is a FALSE translation!
Mormon apologists believe that the "original" Book of Abraham was NOT found in 1967, and has not yet been found, and that Joseph Smith's "speculations" on the drawings (facsimiles) were NOT inspired of God, and should be taken out of the Book of Abraham in the Pearl of Great Price. Fat chance! Can you imagine Church leaders removing the facsimiles (drawings) from the Book of Abraham in the Pearl of Great Price? Can you imagine how many "quesions" that would raise (and the Brethren do NOT like questions!).
Egyptologists and non-mormon scholars believe that Joseph Smith's "translation" of the Book of Abraham is simply an amateurish FRAUD. Plain and simple.
***Joseph Smith's Prophecies****
*Joseph Smith's prophecies ALL FAILED!!! He said that a temple would
be build in Jackson County, Missouri, before the generation living in
1832 had all died. Even Joseph Fielding Smith and Bruce R. McConkie,
writing in the early 1950s declared that all living in 1832
had not yet died (Yes...they wrote that), thus the prophecy was true and SOON WOULD BE
FULFILLED. It wasn't. All living in 1832 are long dead, and no temple
on the Temple Lot has been built (even the RLDS "Community of Christ"
Temple was built too late, and not on the Temple Lot, but next to the Temple Lot). His 1832 Temple on Temple Lot prophecy failed.
Joseph Smith's clear "1890-91" prophecies concerning "the second
coming of the Son of Man" failed!!! He clearly prophesied that the
"Son of Man" would return in 1890. D&C 130 does NOT contain the full
prophecy!! To read the full prophecy one must look at the Documentary
History of the Church, where Joseph Smith writes, "I prophesy in the
name of the Lord God, and let it be written, that the Son of Man will
come in the heavens when I am 85 years old, 48 years hence, or about
1980." (History of the Church 5:336).
THAT is the direct prophecy, which was left OUT of D&C 130!!!
Mormon apologists say, "Oh, well, the Lord delayed his coming because
we were not ready!" That is what the Worldwide Church of God says
concerning the false prophecies of Hebert W. Armstrong (whom they believe was God's Apostle and End-times messenger). That is what
the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society said when Jesus "failed" to
appear in 1975 and 1984. That is what the Seventh-day Adventists say when you ask about the failed prophecies of Ellen G. White (whom they call "the Lord's Messenger" and "Prophetess"). Mormon apologists say THE EXACT SAME THING:
"Gee, he WOULD have come then, but we weren't ready!" No! Any
prophecy that fails is a FALSE PROPHECY.
Joseph Smith NEVER made a prohecy about the Saints becoming a mighty
people in the midst of the Rocky Mountains. It has been PROVED that
this "prophecy" never existed and was literally "written into" Church
History in 1863. The interpolation was ordered by Brigham Young at the
time that Joseph Smith III was in Utah trying to make converts to the
Reorganized Church. Brigham Young needed ammunition against Joseph
Smith III. So...he invented it.
Mormon apologists "explain away" these prophecies by saying, "Oh, well...all of these prophecies were CONDITIONAL, and since the conditions were never met, they failed to come to pass. They were TRUE PROPHECIES that simply failed because the conditions of the prophecies were never met!"
The faithful followers of all false prophets "explain away" the failed prophecies of their leaders the same way Mormons do.
Pretty sad!
THE BOOK OF MORMON
****Animals All Wrong****
The following animals mentioned in The Book of Mormon NEVER existed in
ancient America:
*Oxen (the Nephites had to have millions)
****American Indians and DNA****
Scientists studied the DNA from over 10,000 indigenous tribes from the
Eskimo to the natives of Tierra del Fuego. They discovered NO Semitic
DNA. Nothing. Zero! They did discover that native Americans are
Siberian Asians. Native American have "Mongolian" folds in their
eyelids, they have "Mongolian dots" on their tailbones (as all
Asians). Their DNA is closely related to the Tuvan peoples of Siberia.
Their language, culture, and religion is closely related to Tuvan.
The only NON-Asian DNA they found was Haplogroup X; which is TURKISH
and not Semitic. They found Haplogroup X among the Algonquin and the
Na Dene (Navajo and a few others), but that is all.
Mormon apologists LOVE to quote that Haplogroup X exists "among some
Israelis"! That statement leads some UNinformed people to assume that
Haplogroup X is Semitic DNA, or that some Jews have Haplogroup X.
NO!!!! The "some Israelis" are the Druze of Israel, who are Turks by
bloodline. The Turks once ruled Palestine (for hundreds of years).
Many Turks settled in Palestine. During the centuries in Palestine,
several thousand Turkish immigrants converted to the Druze religion.
After World War I, the British through out the Turks from Palestine,
except the Druze, who told the British they would suffer persecution
if they were sent back to Turkey. So, they remained in Palestine, and
later became Israeli citizens.
The Turks were originally a beardless Altaic (and therefore Asian) race in central Asia (many Turks are still Asian, such as the Kazakhs and Mongolians). The Turks invaded and conquered "white" peoples in Central Asia and around the southern Caucasus mountains and intermingled with them. A branch of the Turks conquered Asia Minor, and intermingled with the natives there: Greeks, Galatians, Armenians, Hittites, and Kurds (all Caucasians). Most Turks are now combinations of all these bloodlines.
The Druze religion is an offshoot of Shia Islaam, but teaches reincarnation, see Muhammad as a minor prophet, and that their Lord Jesus reincarnated as al-Hakim (Shi'ite ruler of Egypt in the 12th century A.D.). Muslims consider them a non-muslim heretical sect. Druze only marry other Druze.
DNA studies of Jews from all around the world has been done. Haplogroup X
DOES NOT EXIST among them, nor the Arabs! The American Indians, IF they are the descendants of Lehi, should have Jewish and Arab DNA in them (from Lehi and Ishmael). THEY DO NOT! Their DNA is completely ASIAN. Only two peoples the Algonquin and Na Dene, have a "little" Turkish DNA (Haplogroup X). Haplogroup X exists among the Turks, and is most prevalent among the Turks of Turkmenistan. About 28,000
years ago, a tribe of Turks intermingled with a Tuvan tribe NOT FAR
from Turkmenistan, then thousands of years later, some of these people
migrated to the Americas, intermingled with other Asians, and became the Algonquin and Na Dene peoples.
A few Mormon Apologists are now claiming on the Internet that "indiginous" people in
South America have been tested and found to have Jewish DNA;
specificially "Levite" DNA. THAT IS A LIE!!! A total, absolute,
fabrication! All the the indigenous tribes of South America have been
tested, and their DNA ancestry for the last 70,000 has been mapped.
What DNA scientists HAVE found is among the Spanish (and mixed
Spanish-Indians) of South America one may find a minute amount of
Hebrew Levite ancestry, but NOT among any of the pure indiginous
tribes. This is true because, during the Inquisition, most of the
Spanish Jews "converted" to Roman Catholicism, and later spread their
DNA throughout the Spanyards. The pure-blooded natives have NO
"Jewish" DNA, not a drop, for the last 70,000 years (way before the
time of the first Hebrew).
F.A.R.M.S. (Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies) has
released a statement about American Indians and DNA, saying, "The
research has just begun, alot more needs to be done." BULL!
Pure......LIES!!! And they KNOW they are lying. ALL of the research on
American Indiginous DNA has been done years and years ago! Over 10,000
native American tribes were tested, and their DNA profile for the last
70,000 years has been mapped, and it shows that Native Americas are
ASIANS, with absolute NO Semitic DNA, and that only several tribes
have a minute amount of Haplogroup X; which is Turkish (not Semitic)
DNA (as the Turkish Druze of Israel).
****Quotes from the New Testament in the Book of Mormon****
The BOM includes extensive quotes (word-for-word) from several
epistles of Paul, especially 1st Corinthians. There are side-by-side
parallels one can read on a number of websites. How did the Nephites
get ahold of Paul's epistles?
Mormon apologists dealing with this (few do) such as Hugh Nibley, have
suggested that most of Paul's epistle in 1st Corinthians was a "quote"
from some older document that Lehi took with him, that no historian or
scholar (Jewish or otherwise) has ever heard of!!! Scholars who hear
this claim LAUGH so hard they nearly fall off their chairs! I was
told myself by James Carver (back in the early 1980s Carver was then the
Institute Director in Seattle), who had studied Nibley's writings
extensively (had planned to write his Master's Thesis on the works of Nibley), that "the man is JUST ___NOT___ trustworthy!" Carner spend hundreds of hours checking Nibley's footnotes with the original sources, and discovered that Nibley had "misquoted" and "quoted out of context" hundreds of times. Nibley
lied....alot....when he wasn't banging his daughters of course (as one
of them later claimed). He pulled many things out of the clear blue
sky, and MISquoted many, many honest scholars. Nibley is a "hero" to
FARMS, and many scholars at FARMS do the EXACT same thing as he
did....THEY LIE!
Why did Hugh Nibley lie? There are many reasons. He LOVED to do research. He worked for the Church, at BYU. If he quit the Church, he'd be fired. Could he get another job again, doing research? Doing the things he LOVED! Would his beloved wife remain married to him if he left the Church? Maybe. Maybe ___not___. He couldn't take a chance on the "not". If he wrote books in defense of Mormonism, he'd get more money for research, and many Mormons would look to him as a great "hero" and defender of the Faith. Nibley probably convinced himself that this was PIOUS FRAUD. He probably convinced himself he was doing "good" for people, the poor Mormon simpletons, by helping their "faith" he was a doing them a "good thing".
Such "rationalization" is common in Mormon culture. Its all about "appearing" moral, and honest, and "good". It's all about how others perceive you in public. But, the private life is another thing! Most of my close Mormon friends divided their life into "public" and "private". In "public" they were honest and moral. In "private" it was a different story. They saw no contradiction at all. None.
****Mistranslations by St. Jerome in the Book of Mormon*****
The BOM contains MIS-translations from Isaiah that one finds in the
King James text, but not earlier more reliable texts. Plenty of
websites give detailed overviews of these mistranslations. Whoever
wrote the Book of Mormon (Sidney Rigdon) had only the King James Bible, and
he did not know that other versions of Isaiah were more accurate, such
as that in the Peshitta (Aramaic Bible) or even the Septuagint (Greek
Bible). Why does the King James Bible contain MIStranslations of
Isaiah? Simple. Because the KJV is based upon older English versions,
which are based upon the Latin Vulgate (by St. Jerome), which contained
MIStranslations of Isaiah, and those mistranslations find their way
into the BOM Isaiah passages. St. Jerome MIStranslated those too,
from the Greek! St. Jerome lived in the 4th century A.D. Lehi lived
in the 6th century B.C. HOW DID THE MISTRANSLATIONS OF ST. JEROME GET INTO THE BOOK OR MORMON??????
**Characters from Colonial American History in the Book of Mormon****
The BOM contains some events and characters that are taken bodily from
American history. For example, Alma and Alma the Younger is clearly
based upon the life, teachings, and exploits of ALexande MAck, the
founder of the German Dunkers, and ALexander MAck Jr. (called "The
Younger"), based upon his son and heir. These men were the founder and
main missionary of the Church of the Brethren in America. Peter
Whitmer and his sons (David, James, John, Peter Jr., etc.) were
members of the Church of the Brethren. The BOM of "translated" on the
Whitmer farm in Harmony, Penn. The "Church of Christ" was founded on a
Whitmer farm in New York State. Do the math.
***Mine Only Begotten (another MIStranslation of St. Jerome)****
The BOM, and D&C for that matter, contain the phrase "mine Only
Begotten" many, many times. The term "only begotten" is a MIS-
translation of the Greek word MONO GENES. St. Jerome, when writing the
Latin Vulgate (first Latin language Bible) in the 4th century thought
that MONO GENES in Greek meant "ONLY BEGOTTEN". It does NOT! The Greek
work MONO GENES means "ONLY KIND". The Greek for "only begotten" is
MONO GENAO; which is NOT anywhere in the Greek Bible! In the Aramaic
Bible, the term is EHEDAH; which does NOT mean "only begotten" but
"beloved/unique". The Latin word that Jerome should have used was
UNIQUS (unique...one of a kind). WHAT IS St. JEROME's MIS-translation
doing throughout the BOM and the D&C revelations?
Answer is simple.
Sidney Rigdon wrote the BOM, and he did not know that "only begotten"
was a MIS-translation. Sidney Rigdon is the author of the Revelations
that Joseph Smith received. Word studies on Joseph Smith's The Lectures on Faith (once the "Doctrine" in the "Doctrine & Covenants" but removed in 1904 from the D&C) has shown that the Lectures were NOT written by Joseph Smith, but by Sidney Rigdon!
Around 1900 a publication came out titled A Defense of My Grounds for Separating Myself from the Latter-day Saints, purportedly by Oliver Cowdery; written by him after he left the Church in 1836 (he left the Church had his disfellowshipped because he said he had caught Joseph Smith having sex with his children's nanny--Fanner Alger). Anyway, in Defense the author wrote when John the Baptist gave Joseph and him (Oliver) the Aaronic Priesthood in 1929, the "voice" of John the Baptist "sounded like Sidney Rigdon".
David Whitmer, son of Peter Whitner, and one of the "Three Witnesss" later wrote in An Address to All Believers in the Book of Mormon that Sidney Rigdon was behind all of Joseph Smith's Revelations, basically saying that Joseph was Sidney's puppet and Rigdon was the puppy-master.
The evidence is OVERWHELMING that Sidney Rigdon, a young Baptist preacher, stole a manuscript called "Manuscript Found in the Wilds of Mormon" from the Patterson & Lambsin Print Shop, in 1822, and from that wrote "The Book of Mormon" as a PIOUS FRAUD: as a "way" to end Universalism (Nehor), Atheism (Korihor), and Freemasonry in America, and as a way to end sectarian disagreements (mode of baptism, infant baptism, priesthood, apostolic succession), and as a "way" to convert the Indians.
Mormon apologists say, "No! That manuscript was discovered in Oberlin College in 1901, and it has been compared to the Book of Mormon, and there is NO COMPARISION!"
Wrong! Solomon Spaulding wrote two manuscripts: the first called Manuscript Found at Conneaut Creek which was re-discovered at Oberlin College in 1901 and published. Spaulding tried to publish that book, but nobody wanted it. So, he wrote a second book titled Manuscript Found in the Wilds of Mormon, this time in Biblical style, with many verses beginning "And it came to pass". Spaulding got the nickname "Old Came To Pass" because of this second Manuscript. He gave the manuscript to the Patterson & Lambdin Printing Office of Pittsburg in 1816 to publish. They said, "Give us the money to publish it and we will". But Spaulding soon died. Then, according to numerous witnessed, Sidney Rigdon, a friend of one of the printers, "borrowed" the manuscript without ever returning it, in 1822. Seven years later, The Book of Mormon was published in Palmyra, New York.
Rigdon knew that he could not claim to have found the "gold plates" himself, so he needed a "front man".
Joseph Smith was Rigdon's "front man". That's all.
****Synagogues in the Book of Mormon***
The BOM contains the word "synagogue". But, the Jews had NO synagogues
until several hundred years AFTER the time of Lehi, after Antiochus
Epiphanes declared Greek to be the language of Judea, about 300 B.C.
(Lehi allegedly left Jerusalem about 600 B.C.). Where did the Nephites
get "synagogue" from?
A "synagogue" in the Book of Mormon is as OUT OF PLACE as Jesus using a "speed-boat" to ride on the Sea of Galilee in the Gospels!
***Chiasmus in the Book of Mormon****
One popular claim among Mormon apologists is that the BOM contains
"chiasmus" which is an ancient Hebrew writing system; a kind of non-
rhyming poetry, such as in Kennedy's famous phrase: "Ask not what your
COUNTRY can DO for YOU, ask what YOU can DO for your COUNTRY" (a
simple form of chiasmus: COUNTRY/DO/YOU/YOU/DO/COUNTRY). This is not
true. Studies on the works of Puritan American ministers shows
"chiamus" in their sermons as well. There is "chiasmus" in the
D&C....is that "ancient Hebrew" too???? Indeed, any colonial Amercan
author has chiasmus in his writings, because that is how people spoke
then, because the King James Bible was their main piece of literature,
and what they used in school as their main text book. They spoke as
the Bible spoke, because THAT is how they learned to read and write.
The D&C also contains a LOT of chiasmus. Is it also ancient Hebrew? The sermons of Coton Mathers contains chiamus, was this 18th century Puritan minister also an ancient Hebrew?
***The Book of Mormon and Archaeology***
This is not one SHRED of evidence that the Nephites ever existed. Nothing.
Not one pot-sherd. Nothing. No examples of "Nephite" writing (except the
Padilla Plates...now proven forgeries). Nothing. No Jewish DNA in Semitic
Indians. Nothing. No Nephite cities. Nothing.
ABSOLUTELY.........Nothing!
****Conclusion of the Entire Matter****
I could go on,and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, but that would
take volumes. Enough. The ONLY conclusion there can be with anyone who has done the research I have done, and IS HONEST WITH THEMSELVES, and not in "denial", is that Mormonism is a FRAUD in the name of God. It was a PIOUS FRAUD, invented in the mind of Sidney Rigdon, in the early 1820s, as a "way" to end the "heresies" of Universalism, Atheism, and Freemasonry in America, and as a "way" to convert the natives to Christ.
His intent was good, but his method (deception) was not.
And a FRAUD ___CANNOT___ save you! a LIE CANNOT "exalt" you among the Gods. Because....there is only ONE GOD (as the Book of Mormon itself teaches).
So, Mormon reader...you are NOT going to become a God. Sorry. A false religion simply CAN'T make you one; no matter how much you sincerely believe it, no matter how much tithing you pay to it, no matter how many meetings or temple ceremonies you attend. A ____LIE____ CANNOT SAVE YOU, and a PIOUS FRAUD cannot exalt you!
But...do not be sad. There IS an afterlife. You WILL be with your loved ones again in the Spirit-World! There was a true Living Prophet. One who worked miracles, in the 20th century. And we call him DAHESH.
Please do not be angry with me, and want to kill me, because I have told you THE TRUTH. If anything, be angry at Signey Rigdon, and Joseph Smith, and be angry at current Mormon leaders, who deliberately LIE to you, and HIDE things from you, and others. Do not be angry at me, because all I have done, was to tell you THE TRUTH.
I am not sad that I wrote The Gainsayers; because that book told the TRUTH about Ed Decker and his lies, and the truth is always good. I am not sad that the book may have prevented some Mormons from leaving the Church and becoming "born again" Christians. I don't believe Mormons are going to Hell because they are Mormons. Nor do I believe that Evangelicals are NOT going to Hell simply because they say "We are Christians". I think a Christian is what a Christian does; and some of the MOST UNchristian people I've ever known called themselves "born again Christians".
It was those "born again Christians" who, while I was a Mormon missionary, slammed the door in my face, or called me (not Mormonism, but ME) a "LIAR", or spit in my face and threatened to beat me, or KILL ME...all in Jesus' Name.
I do NOT believe in "Evangelical Christianity". I do NOT believe...
*The Lucifer became and snake or entered into a snake to deceive Eve (snakes don't talk)
Nope...sorry....I CANNOT believe in such things! I CANNOT believe in such ___UTTERLY FOOLISH AND CHILDISH BELIEFS___!
I came to see, after many years, after decades, that Mormons and Evangelicals are really two sides of the same coin. They're both simpletons. They are both very ignorant "childish" thinking people. But you can't tell them that. You can't call them "ignorant" or they'll want to KILL YOU!
You can't tell ignorant people the TRUTH, because they don't want to hear the TRUTH. They will call the turth a lie, and the lie the truth. Both Mormons, and Evangelicals, have believed in A LIE that they call THE TRUTH! Tell them otherwise, and they'll want to MURDER you (for God...of course)!
I say to the Mormons reading this: DO NOT HATE me because I have told you the truth! Hate Sidney Rigdon for inventing Mormonism. Hate Joseph Smith for being his front man. Hate Mormon leaders for LYING to you, deliberately, and keeping the truth from you. But do not hate me. I have merely told you the TRUTH.
Evangelicals will say, "Oh, you're gone from ONE CULT to another!" My reply: "cult" comes from the Latin "cultus" and means "group of worshippers". Evangelicalism is the biggest "cult of simpletons" I know of. At least my new "cult" is a group of worshippers with brains!
Both Mormons, and Evangelicals, are like two retarded twins, both arguing and fighting over if the Moon is made out of cheese, or out of butter-milk! Dumb! Spoiled! Superstitious! In a word: childish.
And yes, I once thought just like them...childishly. But not any longer.
As Paul wrote:
Go in peace!
Darrick Evenson
"Pres J translated a portion of them, and they contain the history of the person with whom they were found. He was a descendants of Ham, through the loins of Pharoah, king of Egypt, and he received his kingdom from the Ruler of heaven and earth." (History of the Church 5:372 in the original)
Joseph Smith told the forgers later that they could sell the plates for "a handsome price" to a museum, which is probably why they decided NOT to expose Joseph Smith at that time (the joke motive turned into a profit motive). In 1870, one of the forgers, named Fugate, went public with the scheme. Since then, Mormon apologists have called Fugate a "LIAR". The plates were lost after the Mormons abandoned Nauvoo, Illinois, in 1847. Then one of them was found at the Chicago Museum in 1920, by a BYU professor; known as "the Chicago Plate".
The Kinderhook Plates (the Chicago Plate rediscovered in 1920
is outlined in red)
Dr. Aziz Atiya (1967)
Facsimile 1 from the Book of Abraham papyrus. This shows the god Anubis receiving the dead man's soul. Joseph Smith said this was a pagan priest trying to sacrifice him on an altar (the pagan Egyptians did NOT practice human sacrifice). This was part of the 1967 re-discovery of the Book of Abraham papyrus. You can see the entire story on the DVD The Lost Book of Abraham (lba) which you can order from Living Hope Ministries at:
www.lhvm.org/lba.htm
Facsimile 2 from the Book of Abraham. This shows the goddess Isis (notice the womanly shape and long eye-lashes) standing behind Osiris (sitting upon the throne). The goddess Nepthys and Anubis (the black one) escort the soul of the dead man (named Horus) before Osiris to be judged. If the man's heart is heavier than a feather, then the crocodile god will devour his soul. Joseph Smith identified the goddess Isis with "Pharoah" (king of Egypt--a male!), and the goddess Nephthys with "the prince of Egypt" and he identified Osiris with Abraham, and identified the Egyptian god Anubis was "a black slave of the king." He got EVERYTHING wrong!
*Asses (ancient America had NONE)
*Domesticated goats (Ancient America only had a few scattered mountain
goats)
*Rideable horses (ancient America had very small unrideable horses
that natives used for food, which went extinct about 8,000 B.C.)
*Sheep (Ancient Ameirca had NONE) 
The group of Israeli Druze. None of them have any Jewish or Arab blood in them.
*That all human beings descend from one white couple: Adam and Eve.
*That the Earth flooded past the top of Mount Everest, and Noah took all animals aboard, and that all humans today descent from Noah and his three sons and their wives.
*That to avoid burning in UNENDING eternal hell all I must do in say "The Sinners' Prayer" and believe in one's heart that Jesus is Lord and Savior as well as dozens of other things (the Trinity, the Bible alone is the Word of God, etc.)
*The the Earth is 6,000 years old, and that dinosaurs existed along side of cows and horses and that the dinosaurs all died because Noah couldn't fit them on his Ark
*That the Sun stood still for an entire day so Joshua could prevail over the Ammonites (or was it the Amelekites?)
*That the Bible alone contains all that God has revealed or will ever reveal to mankind.
*That Heaven consists of a Heavenly Choir of sexless angels singing praises to Jesus for all eternity.
*That Jesus wanted us to praise HIM constantly by singing and giving money to preachers so they can have 8 hour work weeks and live in large beautiful homes, have sexy beautiful wives, and huge beautiful cars, and wonderful TRIPS to Israel and the Bahamas, and give sermons on Sundays while a third of all human beings can barely eat.
*That Jesus wants us to worship God by worshipping HIM by singing and upraising our hands, or rolling on the ground, or being bit by snakes, or saying "Thank you Jesus" when bananas are on sale.... instead of practicing the Pure Religion as does the Salvation Army (I would join them, but I don't believe in their theology).
*That everyone who is not an Evangelical Christian will burn in Hell for all eternity--sreaming and crying for mercy but receiving none.
*That at the Rapture all true Christians will FLY UP into the air to meet Jesus standing on a cloud.
*That in the Resurrection the graves will open, with dirt flying everywhere, and the dead will come out, still dressed in their Sunday finest (i.e. their Sunday clothes being resurrected too...apprently).
"When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things." (1 Corinthians 13:11)
I cannot trade one CHILDISH RELIGION (Mormonism) for another CHILDISH RELIGION (Evangelicalism). I need PROOF! And I have found that proof...in Christian Spiritism, and in my Beloved Guiding Prophet....the miracle-working Prophet of Lebanon....DOCTOR DAHESH.
darrick_evenson@yahoo.comThe Supernatural Miracles of Dr. Dahesh--the Prophet of Lebanon
http://daheshism.angelfire.com