Customer Reviews

The Mormon Conspiracy

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(19)

 

 

First, the disclaimer: I am neither a Mormon nor a Mormon apologist. I am a historical reader with a background in U.S. Western history and a particular interest in Mormon history.

This book is indefensible on many fronts. As an historian, this book offends me for its complete reliance on secondary sources. Whole passages are paraphrased or outright quotes from better source material. The author then ties the virtual plagarism together with a few disjointed and/or redundant sentences. It does not even masquerade as history but is instead an opinionated, paranoid diatribe, which I suspected to be the case just from the title but hoped for better (anything with "Conspiracy" in the title is hard to take seriously).

Obviously, the Protestant author has an axe to grind, but the book is far from a balanced discussion of doctrinal differences. The book seems to take as its model any number of prejudiced attacks on a "different" culture or religion. It reminds me of the sort of "literature" spawned by anti-semitic fanatics of the early 20th Century who believed in The Protocols of The Elders of Zion. Wood actually had a valid point to make about theocracy, societal control by religion and fundamentalism, but any balanced reader should be turned off by the author's own extremism.

As a book, it is appallingly written -- from syntactical errors in sentences to an overall narrative inconsistency. Wood repeats himself as if the reader suffered from attention deficit disorder, then refers inadequately to people and events not previously introduced. Apparently, there was no editor involved in the process.

I don't demand that the LDS church and culture be treated with kid gloves -- I greatly enjoyed "The Mormon Murders," and "Under The Banner of Heaven," neither of which is kind to the Mormon faith, its underpinnings, leadership or history. But they were excellently researched and brilliantly written works. I would recommend those books to readers wanting an expose without extremism. For more historical background, "No Man Knows My History" and "The Mountain Meadows Massacre" also bring keen analytical insights to the life of Joseph Smith and the most heinous event in LDS history. I was looking for more of the same quality here, but was sadly disappointed.

From a Utah reader: "The Mormon Conspiracy" provides the reader with many cogent facts about the organization and history of the Mormon Church. I was born into a Salt Lake Mormon family in 1924. Prior to volunteering for the Army in 1943, our family lived for the Church and spent many hours listening to speakers' versions of salvation. The Army assigned me to a combat tank battalion, which gave support to an infantry division. This infantry division spearheaded many of the battles in the European Theatre of War. Spiritually. I believed there was a God over us. This gave me comfort even though there were no church meetings, no singing, no praying, no voices of eternal damnation if you did not worship the LDS way, no studying of the hard to understand book of Mormon and no testimony recitations about the Joseph Smith story. In France and on into Germany with combat forces, I experienced a spirituality that trusted in Christ and his teachings. That spirituality is what I cherish today. When I got back to Salt Lake, I found returning to the insipid routine of Mormonism frustrating and confusing, What ever moral guilt or sorrow I felt for having served in WWII was never addressed in the LDS Church. When my wife died in 1969, I got a temple recommend to have her posthumously married to me and my three minor children sealed to us for eternity, as prescribed by Mormonism. The temple ceremony was one of my life's greatest shocks. Not only was it an obvious cult ritual but also was personally abhorrent. Since this ritual, I have not been active in the Church. However, I have struggled emotionally with vague feelings, thoughts and troubled by the incongruities I have experienced in mentally questioning the Church's claim of legitimacy. In my view, "The Mormon Conspiracy" has pulled together historical and other data that reveals the true Mormon Church. Prior to reading this book, I read a few of the books and articles quoted in the endnotes. These did not give me all the information I sought. This book has helped me answer questions "Why is the official Church history told to members different from its historical truth? Why is the Church so overzealous in excommunicating members who research and publish their research about the Church's true history? Why does the hierarchy, "the brethren" continue to hide the true facts from its congregation? I believe the answers to my questions are found in the control of money and the power "the brethren" have in their appointed positions. I believe if the brethren communicated and educated "True Believing Mormons" about its true history, its organization and wealth, there would be a vast defection and flight from Mormonism. The evidence is overwhelming that the Book of Mormon and gospel is a fraud promulgated by Joseph Smith and the hierarchy who followed him. By giving a true history, the brethren, the power seekers, would lose the power and political pursuits for which they lust. They would lose control of people and money. They would fail to gain the imagined afterlife they seek in the "celestial kingdom" as taught by the Church. The control of money, the control of people and the imagined power in the afterlife are impregnable motives to hide the true history, wealth and worldwide aims of the Mormon Church. I recommend this book "The Mormon Conspiracy" to everyone. It is a must reading for all Americans and an exposé for anyone lost in Mormonism. Hopefully, this book, as it becomes well known, will help stop the Mormon Church's insidious growth. I am thankful, that this book has been written since it has given me the perspective I have sought for years.

A friend of mine was approached by Mormon missionaries shortly after experiencing both the sudden death of her husband & being diagnosed with cancer herself and was definitely "ripe for the picking"! Though we live 600 miles apart, we talk on the phone almost daily, so she really caught me off guard when she announced her sudden decision to be baptized a Mormon. As a friend I want to support her in all decisions she makes, but I was very uneasy with her choice. I since have made it a point to do all of the reading I can on LDS, including this book. While I feel that the author made and validated many points, I feel that he took far too many pages to repeat his same claims over and over (and over!) I find it hard to believe his claim that Mormons are trying to take over the government of the United States. Having been raised a Catholic, I am well aware that many people believe that the Catholic church and the pope are hoping to do the same. I have 4 other books that I am planning to read to try to get other viewpoints. I would recommend this book to others trying to get a better understanding of LDS, but I might suggest skimming over the repetitious areas.

It amazes me that a PhD would publish a book that could not get a passing grade in a freshman English class. Page after page is loaded with unsupported opinions and conjectures. The opening sentence in the Preface says "The author first became interested in researching the Mormon Church when...", but there is not even one book or article by a Mormon author cited in the bibliography.

While leading the reader to believe that the author is providing accurate information about Mormon beliefs, the author fails to mention that the official doctrines of the Mormon Church are only found in their cannon of scripture (The Bible (KJV), Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and The Pearl of Great Price). These books alone are the sources of absolute appeal for Church doctrine. And yet the author does not recourse any of his conjectures to these books. In addition, of the 373 endnotes, only 29 refer to works by Mormon authors.

If you like fiction, this is a good read. If you are interested in accurate, scholarly, and critical information about Mormon beliefs I suggest How Wide the Divide?: A Mormon & an Evangelical in Conversation and [...].

The problem with this book is not that nothing bad can be said about the "Mormons" and the Church they espouse, for indeed much can be. The problem is not even the author's myriad misrepresentations of Latter-day Saint doctrine, though one need not even read past the first page to come across several examples of this. The problem is that the entire basis for the author's theories comes back to a single, erroneous statement found on page 2 of the actual text:

"Mormons regard the President (or Prophet) of the church to be infallible, and they believe that... he can do no wrong or make a mistake."

This belief, though perhaps espoused by a small minority of "Mormons," has been repeatedly and emphatically denied by the Church and its president on several occasions. Among the most famous, a 1945 statement from then-Church President George Albert Smith:

"[The claim that the prophet be infallible] does not express the true position of the Church. Even to imply that members of the Church are not to do their own thinking is grossly to misrepresent the true ideal of the Church, which is that every individual must obtain for himself a testimony of the truth of the Gospel, must, through the redemption of Jesus Christ, work out his own salvation, and is personally responsible to His Maker for his individual acts. The Lord Himself does not attempt coercion in His desire and effort to give peace and salvation to His children. He gives the principles of life and true progress, but leaves every person free to choose or to reject His teachings. This plan the Authorities of the Church try to follow.

"The Prophet Joseph Smith once said: `I want liberty of thinking and believing as I please.' This liberty he and his successors in the leadership of the Church have granted to every other member thereof." (George Albert Smith, letter to Dr. J. Raymond Cope, 7 December 1945).

Without this erroneous belief as its basis, the entire premise of the book collapses under its own weight. If you want to learn about the Church from an outsider's point of view, there are much better options than this ridiculous treatment.

When I left the mormon church or "The Church", as its refered to in Utah, I felt free for the first time in my life. But from being raised in it for 18 years and coming from a long line of Mormon descendents (including a great-great-grandfather that was one of Brigham Youngs advisors) I couldn't help but wonder if I was doing the right thing. My original reasons for leaving were simple, I was fed up with being forced to believe in something that I never had a true testimony for in the first place. I felt I was old enought to decide for myself the difference between right and wrong without a bunch of geriatics telling me I was going to hell for drinking coffee. But part of me still wondered if I had made the right decision. After reading this book, along with Fawn Brodies "No Man Knows my History", I feel beyond a doubt that I've made the right choice. Doctor Wood does more than reash the history of the Mormon church with all its many inaccurasies. He looks at the modern role that the church has taken. I found it incredibly interesting to read about the financial and political holdings that the church has. Not to mention the horrible oppresion of women and minorities in its ranks. Every mormon needs to read this book and then (as the Book of Mormon states) pray about it to find that "burning sensation" that tells them if its true or not. Thank you Charles L. Wood for helping this former "Saint" come to terms with a decision that he made more than ten years ago.

This book can be proven wrong in so many ways I don't even know where to begin. The protestant author has an obvious bias against the LDS church. There are many religions with much more power and political pull than mormons. This is just one more conspiracy book not worth reading.

After reading the book and also reading several of the other reviews, I'm almost brought to tears.. with laughter. Maybe I'm just being insensitive, but let's start from the beginning.

There are many claims in the book that are patently false, as well as some accurate descriptions of Mormon culture in Utah and the surrounding areas. It's important to make the distinction between culture and religion, because in any area where there is a high concentration of a single belief, strange legends, myths, behaviors, and stories arise. Take Catholisism for instance, has anyone viewed the movie Stigmata? It's making fun of many of the "urban legends" that have arose around Catholisim, many of which are not endorsed by the official church. The same applies to Utah Mormonism.

Personally, I'm agnostic, but have investigated several religions. I've actually been in contact with Mormon perople in three states(SC, UT, NC) and two countries, (USA, Italy) And can attest to the truth of this last point myself. Next, I find it humourus that the book speaks about "threats" the Mormons have made against their followers. The book desribes the "power" the mormon leaders have over their people, and how dangerous it is.

There are many, many people who hate the Mormons, and if any reports of threats, or other shady activity were true, than there surely would have been a lawsuit brought against the Mormon leaders by now. Again, take the Catholics (Note to Catholic people, I'm in now way trying to bash your Church more than the Mormons, I'm only trying to draw parallels between all organized religon).

The Mormons have no more power over their people than any other religion, and any threats of "going to hell if you are bad" are simply copies of all other modern Christianity. Again, no better or worse than other religions. As far as being "excommunicated" from the religion for betraying it, this is simply a common theme with ALL religions and ALL Governement. In the US, the punishment for treason is death in some cases, much less than simply being expelled from the group. Any religion organized here has no more power than the government, and simply can not do anything that is illegal by US regs. Furthermore, the Mormons have no official presence in countries that do not provide for freedom of religion. China for instance.

Also, the book desribes the history of the church, as dredged up by the author and others. If anybody has watched the History channel, they know that the "history" of things changes all the time. The other day I was watching a special that was claiming that concentration camps in Germany never happened, it was all propoganda by the Allies. The true history of anything will never be known, simply because people are biased, insecure, and power hungry. It is nearly impossible to eliminate these from any understanding of the world. Anybody who says otherwise, has not studied enough psychology. The history of the Mormons, as given by the Mormons, is probably a rose-colored glasses version. History given by any opposed to the Mormons, is the opposite.

Finally I want to address the description of people being troubled by the beliefs and having the book clear them up. What you were suffering from is well known. It's called "Cognetive Dissonance." I suggest you study up on it. Basically, The reason you were troubled by the beliefs is that you had already decided they were false, but you needed to justify your position. The book provided that justification.

In closing, If you want to know about Mormon culture, myth, legend, and supposed conspriracy, read this book. It is actually pretty interesting. If you want to know what the Mormons believe, I suggest you take the time to interview one. I found nothing of value myself, but at least I'm not bigoted against a belief I don't understand.

JP

This book is perfectly accurate. I am an ex-mormon and I can testify that everything in this book is true. Of course the author, Dr. Wood, makes a little mistake when he talks about the fact that students need a temple recommend to go to BYU. In fact, all they need is some sort of letter of recommendation, signed by an LDS authority (bishop, etc). It is not a temple recommend, but the process of getting it is almost exactly the same. I want to say that this corporation (it is hard to call it a church)is very dangerous. They are so rich and powerful.
I remember one of my sons getting out of Sunday school a few months ago and handing me a drawing of the topic they had discussed that day: they had talked about tithing, meaning giving 10% of your total income to the church. My son was only 3 years old. It made me literally sick. I could not believe it. I had never even talked to my son about money. He was still a baby... I believe that the only topic that ought to be tackled in Sunday school with those "babies" is Jesus and the ways he loves us. NOT MONEY! That is just one example of their methods of brainwashing and conditioning.
I would like to say that most mormons are very nice people. They have just been mislead and brainwashed ever since they were born. It is very sad. Most of them cannot even think on their own. Everything that their president says is gospel truth. They don't even know that, most of the time, he does not even write his own talks (general conferences). I know that because I worked for them. They scare me and that is why I wish to remain anonymous. No one can fathom the social and psychological pressure that you have to cope with when you are a non-mormon in Utah. The first amendment of the constitution is flouted every day in this state, yet the federal government never intervenes.

Joseph Smith, Jr was in fact determined to set up a large Mormon ruled city/state extending out from Kansas City and guess who was to be ruler? This has never been hidden, concealed or denied and this fact cannot be relegated to the category of "conspiracy theory." This was a disaster for the good people that followed him there in faith and hope. I have not heard it lately but all through the 20th century I heard Mormons many, many times state that at some point the US government would fall and the "LDS priesthood step in to save the country." Also I often heard that at some point Kansas City would be destroyed by some disaster, natural or nuclear, so the LDS saints could establish the center stake. You can read in Doctrine and Covenants, Mormon canonical scripture, that Albany, Boston and New York City will be destroyed if inhabitants do not accept Smith's version of gospel. Nope, there is no subtle, surreptitious nor hidden conspiracy.