'Distortion' DVDs Anger Mormons
Throughout Utah, the discs are showing up on doorsteps and upsetting Mormons.
PARK CITY, Utah, April 27, 2007 — -- It arrived in everyone's post office box or at their front door along with the latest junk mail.
Many simply tossed it into the garbage bin, but some couldn't resist the free, professional-looking DVD.
On one side, the words "He is Risen!" On the other side, "Jesus Christ" and "Joseph Smith" -- Smith founded the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Was it the latest example of Mormon proselytizing?
Far from it.
It turned out to be what the Latter Day Saints called an anti-Mormon DVD.
Church spokesman Michael Purdy was not amused. He said the chapter by chapter presentation was "full of distortions of its [the Church's] doctrine and history and misrepresentations so stark that they call into question the integrity of the producers."
The slickly produced film is hosted by a clean-cut anchor team on a set with what appears to be Temple Square in Salt Lake City in the background.
"Was Joseph [Smith] a deceiver, a madman or a gifted prophet who was given divine instruction?" the man in the film asks.
The film goes on to contrast the lives of Jesus Christ and Smith, who Mormons believe was visited by God and transcribed the Book of Mormon scriptures from tablets provided by an angel named Moroni.
A little bit of research uncovered the fact that the DVD was produced by La Barge Media near Rochester, N.Y. It was funded by evangelical Christians, though at this writing the exact source of the funding remains a mystery.
Chip Thompson, director of the evangelical Tri-Grace Ministries in Ephraim, Utah, helped distribute the DVD. He said 700,000 discs have been produced, 500,000 sent out so far.
"They have been sent as far away as Chile, Ireland, Brazil, New Zealand and Australia," he told ABCNEWS.com.
Thompson would not say who paid for the DVDs or how much they cost. But he defended the message.
"Nothing was fabricated," he said. "The information in the video is all documented Mormon history. And we provide all the references and resources on the DVD."
