Dear Dr. Peterson:
Both Dennis and Preston are out of the state filling engagements so I will hasten to respond to your "Enough is Enough."
My several "d d's" are only conferred so I won't call attention to my qualifications. I did live in Utah for 17 years - however - and apart from my 10 years of having a booth at the Utah State Fair, participating in the Brigham Young University LDS Study-Tour in 1957 - traveling by bus 23 days, 6,000 miles along with 34 Mormons and the BYU professor - also a Mormon, I have 2,500 books on Mormonism (by far the most pro-Mormon). Oh yes, I spent 45 minutes with Joseph Fielding Smith, Jr. and visited with LeGrand Richards for 30 minutes or so - so I am not a newcomer to the subject. I moved to Utah in 1951.
My collection includes years of LDS Church News, years of the Ensign, and also quite an assortment of the Improvement Era, but it does not go back as far as June 1945 - the issue in which the "When our leaders speak, the thinking has been done, when they propose a plan it is God's plan. When they point the way, there is no other which is safe, when they give direction, it should mark the end of the controversy."
However, that is not the only such statement made by LDS leaders. I could point to Joseph Smith's statement in the History of the Church. Vol. 6, pp 78, 308, 408-409. And there are many more, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 9, pp 289, etc. But surely you are aware of the many claims that Mormon leaders have made boasting of their knowledge and abilities.
I do not know of a Mormon that I would not befriend. I am not mad at Mormons. It is Mormonism with which I disagree.
I am convinced that few of the 300,000 converts a year to Mormonism have the slightest idea, really, what Mormonism teaches. We both use the same words, but we mean different things when we say them. I suggest that you try to find a single verse in the Book of Mormon that plainly teaches the Mormon concept of God. The title page (second paragraph), last sentence of the Testimony of the Three Witnesses, Mosiah 15:2-5, Alma 11:22, 27-29, 38-39, 44 (and many more), plainly teach that God and Christ are One.
If the Book of Mormon does not teach what you believe about God, then either what you teach is wrong or the book is wrong (or they are both wrong). You cannot have your cake and eat it too!
Christians go to those that are lost and try to win them to the Lord. My object is not just to make Baptists, but to win the lost. Proselyting is suspect! (Matt. 23:23). Your 60,000 or so missionaries are not out to win the lost but to convince members of other churches to leave their churches and become Mormon. You used to list "Proselyte baptisms," now you call them "converts."
I do not recall a repudiation of that statement (that you mention). Where is it? Too, did you intend to say "President Smith was the leader of the brain-dead Mormon slaves at the time." Surely not!
I am not as much an "Anti-Mormon" as you are an "Anti-Christian!" I try to reach Mormons and you try to convince Christians to leave their churches and become Mormon.
I will trade my income from UMI for half your salary! Are you game? Many a Mormon stays in the church because he is afraid to leave it. Family problems, employment, political, neighbor relations, etc. keep many Mormons in the church. They are no longer active.
I dare say that not one in a dozen Christian leaders who compliment Hatch have the slightest idea what Mormonism really teaches. Any way they will not hear it from the missionaries. I had lived in Utah 15 years when I talked to a Mormon bishop for five hours. He agreed with everything that I said. We weren't communicating! Communciation is not what I mean when I speak - it is what you thought I meant. Consequently, Mormons and Christians seldom really understand each other. The missionaries probably do not realize that - but you BYU professor's do! When I witness to a person, I want him to understand exactly what I mean. That is not the intent of the Mormon missionary program!
Mormon deviously befriends Baptist churches in Utah in order to obligate them. The missionaries do the same thing. We have a little booklet called "Friendshipping," which reveals the methods used by Mormons. It was used to persuade an acquaintance who succumbed to their program. When he later found the step by step approach in print - he left in anger.
Any day you want to trade salaries, send me your check for one-half your monthly check. After 61 years in the ministry, my salary is $1,000 a month (the highest amount that I have received in my 61 years).
Sincerely for Truth,
John L.