Ed Decker is revered by millions of Evangelicals the world over as a brave and courageous "Christian brother" and "Man of God" whom Jesus rose-up to warn the Christian world of the evils of "Mormonism" and "Freemasonry"; to warn them against the worldwide International Luciferian/Masonic/Mormon Conspiracy to take-over the U.S, then the World, and introduce the End-Times ANTI-CHRIST!

This article will reveal the TRUTH about Ed Decker, and his closest friends and associates.

Ed Decker has been preaching against the LDS Church since about 1976. He started "Ex-Mormons for Jesus" (now Saints Alive in Jesus) in 1978.

Ed has traveled to Chile, Brasil, Tonga, Hawaii, Samoa, England, Ireland, Scotland, Israel, Canada, Australia, and various other places to promote his films and anti-Mormon publications as well as to preach against the Church in lectures. He is the most successful anti-Mormon there has ever been; by far! He is a personal friend of the King of Tonga, and has shown Temple of The God Makers before the Israeli Knesset. He is viewed by TENS OF MILLIONS of Evangelical Christians around the world as a "true Christian brother" raised-up to warn them about the evils of Mormonism and Freemasonry; a truly "Christ-like" and honorable "Man of God".

Who is Ed Decker? Is he a "Man of God"?

I'll give you my own opinion; from what I know of him, and from what others have told me over the past 23 years. This article will reveal the TRUTH about J. Edward Decker Jr.

Decker's Claims of Why He Left the LDS Church

Decker's "story" of why and how he left the Church has changed over the years, and even changes with audiences. Here are some stories he gives:

Decker first claimed that he was "a card-carrying [Temple-recommend] Temple-Mormon for over 19 years." [FALSE: He had a temple-recommend for only a few years during the 19 he was on the rolls of the Church].

He first claimed that he became a Christian because, after 19 years as an active "card-carrying" Temple-Mormon, he knew he could not keep all the hundreds of Mormon commandments, and each Mormon MUST keep each and every one "perfectly" in order to become a god. Decker says that at a Sacrament meeting one day, he held the sacrament WATER in his hand, and began to wonder why the Church used water and not wine or grapejuice. He was told that it was because Mormons "despise the blood of Jesus". Also, he had a son (Jason) born without normal outer ears or earcanals, and he realized that the "Mormon god" was a "judgmental god" and was punishing Ed for not keeping the hundreds of Mormon laws perfectly; as every Mormon is commanded to do. Finally, realizing his own sinfulness and imperfection, and realizing he could not keep all the hundreds of Mormon commandments perfectly, he realized he could never become a "god". He told his Mormon wife this, and his Mormon wife told her bishop. Her bishop then commanded his Mormon wife to "divorce" Ed and marry a good Mormon. She did. Although not believing he could become a "god" he still remained an active Mormon, but he met a Christian woman. He tried to convert her, and she tried to convert him. They fell in love and married. They went to his Ward one Sunday, and to her Pentecostal church the next Sunday; alternating each Sunday.

One Sunday, at the Pentecostal church, Ed was passed the communion which consisted of red grape-juice. Ed said, "If I partake of this Gentile Sacrament, the Mormon god will KILL ME ON THE SPOT!!!" Decker used to tell Evangelical audiences that Mormons are taught "to despise the blood of Jesus" and that "the Mormon god" would "kill them on the spot" if they "partook of an ACCURSED Gentile sacrament of wine or red grapejuice". Yet, the redness of the grapejuice caused him to think about the Blood of Jesus. Mormons, said Ed, were taught to "despise the Blood of Jesus", and this is why clear water, and not wine or grapejuice, is used in Mormon sacraments. Yet, the grapejuice got Ed to think more and more about the Blood of Jesus; something he "utterly despised" as a Mormon.

Decker's son Jason was born deformed, and the Bishop couldn't heal him with his Melchizedek Priesthood. Ed couldn't heal him. Ed's new Christian wife suggested that the Pastor and Elders at her Pentecostal church try to help Jason. Still being Mormon, Ed refused; knowing that such a thing was "blasphemous" to Mormons, and would cause the "Mormon god" to send down more curses upon Ed. However, he finally relented, and the Pastor and the Elders at the Pentecostal church layed their hands upon Jason and HEALED HIM. Jason was no longer deaf!!! Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!

After Jason's miraculous healing by the Pastor and Elders at his wife's Pentecostal church, Ed finally realized that his Melchizedek Priesthood had no power, and that the "Mormon Jesus" was not the "Jesus of the Bible", etc. Soon afterwards Ed claimed to have a "born again" experience. He became a born-again Christian! Ed soon told other Mormons what had happened. Enraged, his Mormon bishop told his Mormon Stake President and they quickly had him excommunicated. Soon afterwards Ed started giving classes on "Mormonism", and soon after that formed Ex-Mormons for Jesus: to "reach out to those lost in Mormonism with the precious blood of Jesus Christ"!

This was Decker's FIRST story. I know because I was in Tacoma Washington when I first heard it; in 1979. This story changed somewhat over the next few years, because more and more people began to know Ed. They also began to realize a few things about Ed:

*Jason is the son of Ed's SECOND wife; not his first Mormon wife.

*Ed Decker was divorced for YEARS before he was remarried.

STORY #2

Decker started changing his story. In the second story Decker's Mormon wife divorces him because he becomes a Christian. Decker says whenever a spouse becomes a Christian, the Mormon leaders command the remaining Mormon spouse to divorce. Decker becomes a Chrisitan (in Story #2) while still married to his Mormon wife. The miraculous healing of Jason is still included.

STORY #3

In the last version, Decker no longer says that his wife divorced him because he became a "Christian". He goes back to the first story; that she divorces him because he comes to the conclusion he can not attain Godhood; like every Mormon male is supposed to aspire to. However, in Story #3, the miraculous healing of Jason is gone. The grape-juice story is still there, but gone is Decker telling himself, "If I partake of this accursed Gentile sacrament, the Mormon god will KILL ME ON THE SPOT!!!"

Why did the stories change?

Because people started finding-out facts about Decker and "calling him" on those facts; often at public meetings where Decker is speaking.

Here are some FACTS:

1) Decker's first wife divorced him on ground of MULTIPLE ADULTERY and mental and emotional cruelty. This is in the public divorce records of the Court. Decker DID NOT CHALLENGE her claims. The divorce was granted on those grounds. Copies of the Court records and an affidavit from Phillis Decker (his first and only Mormon wife) are reprinted in They Lie In Wait To Deceive volume 4. Her affidavit is also online at:
www.angelfire.com/mo3/pma/Edswife.html

2) Mormon bishops are NOT instructed to tell Mormon spouces to divorce if their spouse joins another church or religion. Simply doesn't happen. In the case of Ed Decker and his Mormon wife, Mormon bishops told her repeatedly to "forgive" Ed's adulteries. Mormon bishops are told to try to keep the family together in all cases except for ongoing and unrepented physical and/or sexual abuse of the wife or children. Since there was none in Decker's case, they told his wife to forgive him and try to make the marriage work. This is in Phyllis Decker's affidavit in They Lie In Wait To Deceive volume 4.

3) Mormons are NOT told to "despise the Blood of Jesus"! This is a LIE! Mormons drink water instead of wine or grapejuice because, in Missouri in the 1830s, it was in many cases impossible to get wine or grapejuice to most Mormon congregations. Imported wine was scarce on the frontier and extremely expensive. Grapejuice simply wasn't available at that time (no refrigeration). So, water was used. At the Mormon Sacrament prayer, a priest says, "We partake of this water in remembrance of the blood of Thy Son, which was shed for them,....." Ed is simply lying.

4) Jason Decker was NOT miraculously healed by the pastor and elders at the Pentecostal church he and his second wife used to belong to. Jason Decker was NOT "healed" by anyone but specialists at the University of Washington Medical Center. Jason Decker has had MANY surgeries which have corrected much (but not all) of his deformities regarding his ears.

5) Mormons are NOT expected to "live all of the hundreds of Mormon laws and commandments perfectly" in order to become a god! They are expected to "keep the commandments" to the best of their ability; to "endure to the end" in moral cleanliness and faithfulness. Mormons believe that only Jesus Christ could live all the laws perfectly. Mormons are expected to live them the best they can, but perfection for mortals is absolutely impossible.

In 1979 I first heard Decker's story at the Fern Hill Branch Library in Tacoma, Washington. I decided to check-out his claims. So, I went up afterwards and asked him: "You say that your son Jason was healed by the pastor and elders at a Pentecostal church. Which one was that?" Ed replied, "It was the Angle Lake Assemblies of God, next to the airport." I asked Decker some other questions, to which he responded by showing me various "penalties" in the Temple endowment ceremony (i.e. in an effort to "offend" me and stop me from asking him further questions). He also told me that night that they were making a film called "To Kolob And Back" which would appear on NBC or perhaps PBS. He also told me that he had letters from "thousands of Mormons" who had "come out of Mormonism" because of his ministry. I asked him where the letters were. He said they were kept at his ministry offices. I later visited "Saints Alive HQ"; which was at that time a mobile home on Decker's May Valley, Washington, property; next to his huge home. The secretary working that day was a 16-year old girl; the daughter of Dean and Linda Roberts. She looked confused when I asked to see some of the "thounsands" of letters. She pulled out about two dozen, and said, "That's all we have. That's all there is!"

I also asked him about the assassination attempt. At the meeting he said "Mormon Danites" had tried to kill him, and that he still had the bullet-hole in his window at his home. During his lecture at the Fern Hill Library he told the audience that "the bullet missed my head by inches". I asked him if I could see the bullet hole. He said I could. I will tell you later what I saw.

The Mormon Oval Office

During the lecture Ed also said that inside the Washington D.C. Temple was "an exact replica" of the White Houses' Oval Office, and that when the Mormon Prophet said "Go!" Mormons in the military, and Mormons in government, and Mormons in general would take their 2-years supplies of guns and ammunition and try to take over the Unites States government, and when that happened the Mormon Prophe would take a plane from Salt Lake City to the Washington D.C. Temple, and "reign" as a dictator over the U.S. from the exact replica of the Oval Office inside the Washington D.C. Temple, but that the exact replica was "now just used for storage".

I asked Decker about the Oval Office, and he again went into the Signs, Tokens, and Penalties, of the old Endowment Ceremony.

Several weeks later I decided to contact the Pastor of the Angle Lake Assembles of God; where Decker said his son Jason was miraculously healed by the pastor and elders. I discovered that it was called the Angle Lake Neighborhood Church, and that they were affiliated (somehow) with the Assemblies of God. I met the Pastor, who told me he did not know Ed or his wife, but he told me to contact the retired Pastor of the church; who knew Ed and his wife very well. He gave me his telephone number.

I called up the retired pastor (he was in his mid-70s and ailing) and asked to speak with him. He said I could. I went over to his home, and he sat on a piano bench; shaking but with a very smug and defiant expression. I told him I was Mormon, and I wanted to confirm a story Ed Decker had told me at a lecture several weeks before. I told him exactly what Ed had told me and dozens of others at the lecture. During this time the pastor would give me facial expressions as if I was lying to him. He would sniker and shake his head. After I told him he looked at me and said, "Like all Mormons, YOU'RE A LIAR! Ed Decker NEVER told you ANY of that!!!"

To say the least, I was SHOCKED! I had told the pastor exactly what Ed had told me and all others at the lecture in Tacoma (Ed also said this in numerous lectures he gave around the country for years). I said, "I can give you a cassette tape that PROVES Ed said this!" He laughed sarcasticly and said, "Oh, GET OUT OF MY HOUSE! I'm not gonna let a Mormon STINK UP my house!" He then threw me out; telling me just before slamming the door that I was going to "burn in Hell" for all eternity!

Decker Goes to Chile

Ed and his first Mormon wife had two sons: Jeff and John. Both of them served LDS missions; John to Italy and Jeff to Chile. When Jeff was send on a mission to Chile in 1980, Decker traveled to Chile and spoke at numerous Assemblies of God churches. He told everyone who would listen that Mormon missionaries "were really CIA agents"; working for the Central Intelligence Agency. At this time, in 1980, there was great anti-American and especially anti-CIA feelings in Chile. A popular Chilean president (a Socialist) was assassinated in 1973; with the help of the CIA. The Chilean military government was supported by the CIA; even when the military government had killed thousands of young university students who supported Communism or Socialism (or even social causes) in Chile. Now, Decker was telling everyone that Mormon missionaries were "really CIA agents".

Not long after Decker was in Chile, there began bombings of LDS chapels in Chile. Over the next two decades there would be hundreds of bombings of Mormon chapels, and the killing of at least 6 Mormon missionaries in Chile, Bolivia, and Peru, by Communist forces. After 1980, Communist and Socialist organizations in Chile, and neighboring Peru and Bolivia, began to suspect that Mormon missionaries were CIA agents, and the Mormon Church simply a "front" for American imperialism.

There was an American Protestant missionary in Chile who refused to have anything to do with Decker after he began telling everyone that Mormon missionaries were really only "CIA agents".

The Saints Alive newsletter reported the murder of two Mormon missionaries in Bolivia in 1989 this way:

"LDS MISSIONARIES SHOT: A tragic shooting in La Paz, Bolivia, claimed the lives of two young Mormon missionaries, both 20 years of age, as they were returning to their apartment. A terrorist group 'Zarate Willka Armed Liberation Front' claimed responsibility,...this is the same group which claimed to have bombed a Mormon meetinghouse last year in Boliva.
Sadly, this sort of thing happens because the missionaries are identified with the CIA and other US interests...There are reasons for this perception. It is no secret that the CIA does heavy recruiting among returned LDS missionaries....It is heartbreaking that these innocent young men paid with their lives for the Church's dabling in political intrigue." (Saints Alive newsletter, June/July, 1989, p.4)

Dean Helland, an Evangelical Christian who wrote his doctrinal dissertation (Meeting The Book of Mormon Challenge in Chile) at Oral Roberts University in 1990, wrote that Decker's wellknown "Mormon missionary/CIA agent" rhetoric "may have been partially responsible for the continual bombings of Mormon churches by political extremists in Chile." (quoted in Offenders for a Word, pp.180-1).

The FACTS are:

*Mormon missionaries are NOT CIA agents. Decker of course knows this.

*To equate Mormon missionaries with CIA agents would threaten their vary lives in many South American countries. Decker knew this.

*The CIA does recruit out of Brigham Young University, which has a LOT of returned missionaries. But the CIA recruits out of just about all major universities in the U.S.! Returned missionaries who are recruited out of BYU are not called on missions again and pretend to be Mormon missionaries. Far, FAR, more CIA agents come from Yale or other Ivy League schools than from BYU.

Decker knew that telling people in Chile that Mormon missionaries were "really CIA agents" would put those young innocent missionaries lives in danger. He did it anyway. To date, 6 missionaries have been killed by Communist forces in South America because they were considered "CIA agents". Mormon chapels have been bombed hundreds of times for the same reason; this is no exaggeration.

Decker lied, and innocent people died.

Decker Attempts Suicide?

In The God Makers film a blonde overweight actor plays the part of Decker in the first few scenes. The actor says that when he became a Christian his wife's Mormon bishop told her to divorce him, and that "they took my own children away from me". When "they" did that, "I tried to commit suicide" (the actor then choke's up as if to breakdown in tears).

The LDS Church has no legal authority to take anyone's children away from anyone. Decker's only Mormon wife divorced him on grounds of multiple adulteries and emotional cruelty; grounds not contested by Decker. Ed always had liberal visitation rights which were never revoked or overturned. According to Phyllis Decker (Ed's only Mormon wife), her Mormon bishops told her to forgive Ed of his adulteries and try to keep the family together. AT NO TIME did one of them tell her to divorce or even suggest divorce.

When Mormons bring up the court records and Phyllis' affidavits to Ed, he responds by the following:

*Telling them that his Mormon wife committed adultery against her third husband.

*Telling them that she is a liar and her claims were false but he did not contest it at the time because he was on the East Coast and could not get to Seattle where the procedings were.

When the subject is brought up by a non-Mormon, Ed tells them:

*The court records are FAKES; produced by the Mormon Church and secreted into official court records by undercover Mormon agents.

*The judge in the case was a Mormon; so "what do you expect?" His wife committed adultery against HIM!

Notice that Decker's story changes with time, location, and who his audience is.

Decker in the Holy Land

Since the mid-1970s Brigham Young University (owned and operated by the LDS Church) has had a Department of Middle-East Studies. In about 1981 the Church decided to build a BYU-Jerusalem Center on Mount Scopus, in Jerusalem. Why? For the same reason other American universities build study-centers in Israel; to study Arabic language and culture, to study Hebrew, and archaeology of the Bible. Construction would begin in 1983.

Ed Decker read about the BYU-Jerusalem Center plans. So, Ed went to Israel! He donned a skull-cap and prayed at the Wailing Wall. He told everyone his mother was a Jew (?); which would, in the eyes of Jews, make him a brother Jew! He played down considerably that his religion was "Christianity". He showed Temple of The God Makers before a special session of the Knesset (Israeli Parliament). He told Israeli journalists that he was in Israel to "warn" the people about the Mormon Church plan to open a "Missionary Training Center" on Mount Scopus. He told everyone that the Mormon Church was "LYING". They weren't building a study center, but constructing a Missionary Training Center; so that Mormon missionaries would convert Jews to Mormonism.

The Ultraorthodox Jews believed what their "Brother Ed" was telling them. They decided that the building of the BYU-Jerusalem Center had to be stopped; at all costs. Proselyting was illegal in Israel, and the Mormon church was trying to "deceive" the Israeli government! The Ultraorthodox Jews began to riot to prevent construction. Israeli mounted police broke up many of these riots. Many people were hurt in these riots; some seriously.

The Church was sued by many Israeli citizens; who believed Decker. The Church hired an Israeli attorney to defend them. He did a good job, but he was killed in a car-bomb. Somebody assassinated him. The attorney's son later attended BYU-Provo.

About every ten years or so there is more than usually snow on the Wasatch mountains; which causes the Great Salt Lake to rise and flood surrounding areas. This is expected. This happened in 1983; during the BYU-Jerusalem Center controversy.

During the controversy, the Ultraorthodox Rabbi of Jerusalem heard that the Great Salt Lake was flooding, and he uttered a "prophecy" that the floods would continue until and unless "the Mormons vacated Mount Scopus" (i.e. abandoned construction of BYU-Jerusalem Center). He also promised that if the Mormons did not abandone the cite hundreds of Jews blowing shofars would converge on the Center and blow it down as was the walls of Jericho blown down by the blowing of shofars in the Book of Joshua.

The Saints Alive newsletter at this time reported the 'Word of Prophecy' of the Chief Rabbi as genuine, even showing on the cover of the newsletter a drawing (by Dean Roberts) of the Salt Lake Temple submerged in water, with a Mormon temple-goer in scuba-gear swimming around with a stupid surprised look on his face (see appendix). The newsletter said:

"As the Jews continue to gather and blow Ram's horns in a declaration of Spiritual war against the powers of Mormonism, a word of prophecy given to us, at the start of the Feast of Tabernacles in late September, is being fulfilled before our eyes.
We were told by Rabbi Elliot Sherman of old Jerusalem, that the Great Salt Lake would begin to rise at the end of the Feast of Tabernacles, and wold not stop until the LDS leaders repented and vacted Mount Scopus...
Utah is already sandbagging its East-West highways and planning a gigantic pumping project to pump the water into its western desert. This is okay for the floods, but what are they going to do about the earthquakes? I would get off Mount Scopus! The last time the Jews blew multiple shophars was at the battle of Jericho...and there, they only used seven!***
The pumping of the great Salt Lake will be a waste of time and cost us [taxpayers] all lots of money because of the Mormon Church and its leaders." (Saints Alive in Jesus newsletter, July -August 1983)

"The reader will remember that it was prophesied that the lake would not stop rising 'until the LDS leaders repented and vacated Mount Scopus'. Mr. Decker labored very hard to get the Jews to remove the Mormons from Mount Scopus, but his efforts were in vain. Although the Mormons remained, the level of the lake continued to drop. We. therefore, can only conclude that the 'word of prophecy' was not from God." (Problems in The God Makers II., p.51)

It is still incredible that Decker would claim to believe in a "word of prophecy" by the Chief Rabbi; a man who believes Jesus as a "FALSE messiah".

Joseph Smith once said: "The false prophets shall always oppose the true ones".

Decker lied, and an innocent man died. Many others were hurt.

Decker At Temple Open-Houses

One thing that Decker and his followers at Saints Alive used to do a LOT was to go to LDS Temple Open Houses; where the public is invited to tour the inside of a Temple before it is closed to the public. During these times Decker would dress in full Temple-patron regalia (temple robes, hat, sash, apron, etc.), and walk around carrying a huge sign which read: "Welcome to America's Newest PAGAN Temple!"

But that's not all he would do!

Parked not far from Decker would be a van with tinted windows, and inside the van would be a Saints Alive member (often two) with a video camera. Why, you ask, with a video camera?

Well...

Decker would wear his temple-robes (which Mormons consider to be very sacred and NOT to be worn outside of Temples, and carry this sign which read "Welcome to America's Newest PAGAN Temple!". He would also re-enact various Temple Signs and Tokens (which Mormons also consider VERY sacred and not to be shown or seen outside Mormon Temples). What Ed was doing was deliberately profaning Mormon Temple rites.

Why?

Ed claims he was merely showing people what goes on inside Mormon Temples; what Mormons are trying to "hide" from others.

But, the real reason is this:

Decker was hoping that he would piss-off a Mormon; especially a Mormon security guard (who works for the Church). He was hoping to make some Mormon SO ANGRY at him that he would come and PUNCH ED IN THE FACE!

Now, why would Ed Decker want a Mormon to punch him in the face?

Easy one! So Ed could SUE THE CHURCH FOR MILLIONS OF DOLLARS! That's what the van with the tinted windows with the video recordres inside were for; to show the "proof" of persecution, and the "proof" needed so Ed would win a case against the Church for many MILLIONS of dollars.

This is why Ed could often step on the toes of Mormon security guards, he would often deliberate "pop" his "ps" (i.e. spray spittle in the face) of Mormon men and security guards at this Temple Open-Houses; in the hopes that one would punch him. This attack or punch would be on video, and used for two purposes:

1) in litigation against the Mormon Church for millions of dollars; Ed being the recipient.

2) in later films/videos to show his fellow Christians how Mormons are "persecuting" him.

So, here is Ed, wearing Temple Robes, openly displaing Signs and Tokens, spraying Mormons in the face with his spittle, walking on Mormons security guards' feet, occassionally insulting the wives of Mormon officials, all while being video-taped secretly from a nearby van.

The MOST Ed ever got was a Mormon official holding his arm (which he later displayed proudly). Decker had walked on the Mormon official's feet twice and was attempting to walk on them again. The Mormon official gently but firmly grabbed Decker's arm and prevented him from doing this a third time. The scene of the Mormon official holding Decker's arm, while Decker was in full Temple-Robes, made the FRONT PAGE of a local newspaper. That's it. No punches. No lawsuit this time! Poor Ed!

Decker DID sue the LDS Church many, MANY times; one time for 11 million dollars. All suits were thrown out of court. Decker tells his followers that the lawsuits were thrown out because "the Mormon Church has alot of money" (i.e. they bribed all the judges).

Decker, Danites, and BAD Scottish Pizza

Anti-Mormons love to talk about the "Danites"; the Mormon Church assassins who are constantly trying to kill them, but never can seem to get it right! They are the "gang-that-couldn't-shoot-straight". They've been trying to kill Decker (and all other Anti-Mormons) for the past 170 years, but can't seem to get their act together! I like to call the Danites "The Absent-Minded Assassins".

During lectures I attended where Ed Decker was speaking, and on old Ex-Mormons for Jesus cassette tapes, I have heard Decker say the following:

*Fanatical Mormons have tried to kill him and his wife.

*Danites have tried to kill him by bullet and arsenic poisoning.

*Mormon leaders have hired men to kill him.

As "evidence" for these assassination attempts, Ed loved to show people the bullet hole in his bedroom window at his old house in May Valley, Washington.

During a lecture he gave at the Fern Hill Public Library in 1979, I still remember Ed saying that Mormon leaders sent "an assassination squad" to kill him in his home, and that they fired a bullet into his bedroom window and "the bullet whizzed by my head and only missed my head by a few inches."

Several months after I heard this I discovered where Ed lived, and I drove up to his home in May Valley, Washington; about 15 miles southeast of Seattle and about 5 miles southwest of Issaquah, Washington. Ed lived on about 10 acres in a HUGE two-story modern home; with a guesthouse in the back, a classic MG in the driveway, and a large mobilehome which (at that time) served as Saints Alive H.Q. I would think the complex today would cost at least 1.5 million; perhaps more.

I knocked on the front door, and both Ed and his wife Carol answered. I held a camera, and I asked if I could take a photo of the bullet hole. They let me in and led me upstairs to their bedroom; which was HUGE, and had a HUGE vaulted ceiling. The window itself was huge, and was about 6 feet off the floor and continued for another three feet. The ceiling on the window side of the room was about 12 feet off the floor. In the exact center of the window was a bullet-hole; covered with clear Scotch tape. I took several photos.

Ed pointed to the bullet hole in the ceiling of their bedroom; which was about 3 1/2 feet inside from the window. For the bullet to have missed Ed's head "by inches" Ed MUST have been jumping on his bed, with him up at least 4 to 5 feet in the air off his bed, for the bullet to have missed his head by "inches". However, there was no furniture on the window side of the room. The bed was on the other side.

I asked ask why they didn't replace the window. He replied, "Those windows are very expensive you know!" Standing in that LAVISHLY furnished million-dollar home, I thought his reply rather odd.

I couldn't find any record of a 911 call or any police report regarding this assassination attempt. One would think that he would have called the police (the King Co. Sheriff's Office which patrols May Valley) after somebody tried to shoot him in his house. But this did not happen. After all, Ed must have been home at the time because he claimed for years that "the bullet missed my head by inches." When Mormons ask Decker why he didn't call the police, they are told, "I'm not gonna do you research for you! You figure it out!"

. For more than a decade, whenever anyone went to his home in May Valley, he proudly showed them the bullet hole in his bedroom window. Jerald Tanner, a prominent ANTI-Mormon researcher in Salt Lake City, wrote Decker a letter in 1990 regarding his assassination-attempt claims. Here are excerpts:

"Now that you have indicated you are willing to provide information concerning the poisoning, I am making a request directly to you...I also have questions concerning relating matters...
To begin with, there is more involved here than the arsenic poisoning story. In a tape...dated July 15, 1988, you claimed that the year 1986 was a very ad year for you. You stated, '...God showed me that I was in for a time of attack, and the next year I suffered three coronaries, I was poisoned twice, and at least one gunman that they caught was dressed in battle fatigues...I'm not going to hide. I'm not going to stop what I'm doing...I you want to try to kill me then try it, because I'm not going to go inside some place and hide from you.'
In addition to all these troubles, you reported...'The day after Capstone [anti-Mormon conference in Utah], I came down with Legionnaires' Disease....'
In addition to all this, I understand that you have stated that the Mormons have tried to kill you THREE TIMES before you were poisoned in 1986." (Jerald Tanner to Ed Decker, dated August 11, 1990, quoted in Problems in The God Makers II, p.81)

"...it is the instruction of the Board of Directors that you refrain from any further discussion with the Tanners and their organization...and any affiliated persons associated with that organization." (letter from Saints Alive in Jesus Board of Directors to Ed Decker, August 31, 1990, quoted in Problems in The God Makers II, p.81)

Decker presents himself as a "brave Christian soldier" in battle with the "Great Red Dragon" (i.e. the Luciferian/Masonic/Mormon Worldwide Conspiracy). He's been shot at three times, poisoned twice, came down with Legionaire's Disease (i.e. the Mormon Church had biological warfare scientists), etc. But, instead of going into hiding, he comes out and says, "HERE I AM! Come get me!" What a BRAVE Christian soldier isn't he?

But, anti-Mormon researchers Jerald and Sandra Tanner asked him for any corroborating evidence about the man "dressed in battle fatigues" who was "caught". Who caught him? What police department caught him? Where is the arrest report? Where is the police report if there was no arrest? Who was the officer? Decker replies to the Tanners by having his Board of Directors command him not to reply to them! Mind you, Ed wants to reply, but, after all, he MUST OBEY his Board of Directors!

I suppose it doensn't matter that Ed is President of the Ex-Mormons for Jesus Evangelical Association. He controls it. "Saints Alive in Jesus" is just the dba (doing-business-as) name for the EMFJ Evangelical Association. Ed has full legal and financial control of Saints Alive.

What about the poisoning in Scotland? Was Ed Decker really poisoned by Masons (or Mormons) who dropped "7 times the lethal dose of arsenic" in his coca-cola at a pizza restaurant?

Decker had claimed for years that while lecturing against Mormonism and Freemasonry in Scotland he was invited to lunch by a pastor, but at this lunch table was a suspecious man he didn't know. The "man" asked Decker if he could get him a refill on his Coke. Decker agreed. The man got up, took his Coke, and came back several minutes later with the refill. Decker thought that was odd that he would disappear and take so long, but he didn't think much of it and finished his Coke. Then, only 20 minutes later, Decker began to vomit and had horrible stomach pains. He was immediately rushed to the emergency room of the local hospital where they pumped his stomach. Blood tests there found "7 times the lethal dose" of arsenic in his system. The doctors couldn't understand why he was still alive. But, praise the Lord, his life was spared yet again!

When Decker is preaching against the Mormons he says it was the Mormons who tried to kill him with arsenic poisoning. When he is preaching against the Masons he suggests it was the Masons. He strongly insinuates that the unitentified "man" was a secret agent for the Mormons (or Masons) sent there to kill him.

Several ANTI-Mormon researchers, Wally Tope and Jerald Tanner, looked into Ed Scotland-pizza-parlor-arsenic-poisoning claims.

They found those claims groundless and fraudulent.

Wally Tope (a well-known and quite likeable anti-Mormon who handed out his own homemade tracts) did an intense amount of research into his poisoning claims; so much so that Tope wrote a book on the matter titled Poisoning in Pizzaland: The REAL Story of Decker's Arsenic Poisoning. The book is well over 100 pages long, and fully documented with photocopies of letters from physicians and others in Scotland and the U.S. who knew the Decker during his time in Scotland and treated him. The book contains copies of Decker's blood and urine tests. The book shows clearly that Decker had invented the arsenic-poisoning story only after coming back to the U.S.

Tope acutally spoke to the people Decker stayed with in Scotland, and to a veterinarian doctor in Ireland who treated Decker for stomach pains after eating a pizza in Scotland several nights before as well as Decker's own physician in Auburn, Washington. None of the people remember Decker vomitting or in convulsions. There was NO hospital stay (much less an emergency room) for Decker either in Scotland or Ireland as he had later claimed. There was NO pumping of the stomach at the hospital as Decker claimed. The very night Decker claimed he was in an emergency room having his stomach pumped, he was actually at a local Evangelical church preaching against Freemasonry. Tope got a taped copy of the actual lecture that night; Decker spoke clearly and strongly without any indictation he was sick at all. He got letters from the vary pastor who took Decker to the Pizzaland pizza parlour. Tope found that Decker complained of stomach pains after the lecture, but slept well that night. The next day Decker flew to Ireland, where the stomach pains increased. He was seen by a friend of the people he was staying with, a veterinarian physician, and given something for the stomach pain. That was it.

Tope even got a letter from Decker's physician after he came back to the U.S. The blood and urine tests showed Decker had an arsenic of 27 micrograms; well within normal parameters.

Pastor Sam Burton, the Evangelical pastor who asked Decker to come to Scotland, and who took Decker to Pizzaland, later wrote Tope, saying:

"When I first heard that Mr. Decker was implying that either I or my dear friend, Leslie Jappy, had poisoned him, I thought it was a joke. The passing of time has shown that I thought wrong.
***
For 10 years of so, I have lectured to churches and young groups on the subject of Mormonism. I have travelled a great deal, and have had a couple of articles published....when I heard of Mr. Decker's insinuations of attempted murder, I was shocked and even hurt. I had bought several copies of his book to distribute, payed good money to rent halls to show his film in, and Leslie and I had bought his lunch. Why would one Christian make that kind of accusation, who was like a kid at Christmas, being suspected of trying to take a brother's life...I'm terrible disillusioned by the whole affair. I can assure the reader of this. Leslie did not get a refill of diet coke (the poison was said to have been in a diet coke refill). I remember, not so much of my great powers of recall, but because I've eaten at Pizzaland many times and they have waitress service and the waitresses bring you your refill should you request one. Even refill is a poor word. Another drink would be a better expression. My sincere prayer is that all this childishness goes away before the Mormons are able to capitalize upon it....Let the truth of this 'poisoning' affair be known, and let it die, that we might be about the Father's business." (Serious Charges Against the Tanners, 1991, p.43)

Pastor Burton, a man who lectured against the Mormon Church in Scotland for 10 years, who rented halls to show The God Makers film, said that he and Decker spoke for several hours after the lunch at Pizzaland, and that Decker showed "no signs of being ill." (ibid.). Pastor Burton was upset that Decker would insinuate that the "man" who they had lunch with put arsenic in his Coke; the man (whom Decker never names) was Leslie Jappy, a man Pastor Burton knew for many years as a Christian brother; a man who had never been a Mason nor a Mormon.

Dr. Charles B. Sweigard of Auburn, Washington, Decker's physician at that time, took blood and urine test of Decker as soon as he arrived home, and he found that Decker had, among other things, a arsenic level of 27ug (micrograms). A normal person at any given moment has an arsenic level of anywhere from 0ug to 30ug. Decker reported that his doctor told him that he had "7 times the lethal dosage" of arsenic in his system. In fact, he had a "normal" amount as any person on earth. A person eating a seafood dinner would have at least 170ug (micrograms) of asenic in their system; many times the amount Decker had. The minimal amount of arsenic that would cause somebody to die would be about 120,000 ug. Decker had 27ug.

In a lecture, taped February 1987, Decker says:

"I'm still fighting the problems of having what the doctor's estimated as seven times the amount of arsenic in my body that would kill a man." (Serious Charges, p.36)

The Tanners conclude that Decker probably got sick on the prescription medication he was taking for arthritis which contained indomethacin; which causes weakness in the mustles and upset stomach (the only symptoms reported by the Irish veterinarian and Decker's own physician in Auburn, Washington).

Tope was working on a larger book which was a purported "expose'" of Ed Decker and Jeremiah Films. Tope was claiming that after he wrote Poisoning in Pizzaland he began to research more into Decker's claims, and had found enough for a large book, and was working on it. Tope confronted Decker at an anti-Mormon conference in Utah; pointing his finger at Ed and calling him a "fraud" and "liar". Ed grabbed Tope's finger (the one he was pointing at Ed with) and SNAPPED IT! Ed Decker broke Wally Tope's finger!

Decker presents himself as a spiritual-giant, a "Man of God". Yet Mormons who know him KNOW he is a coniving, vile, vengeful, UTTERLY ruthless and VICIOUS man who uses ANY lie, and anyTHING, to get back on anyone who criticizes him in the least. Decker does NOT turn-the-other-cheek! Not once.

Wally Tope did not get a chance to finish his expose of Ed Decker. During the L.A. riots in 1991, Wally Tope had driven from his home in La Canada-Flintridge (just above Pasadena) to the riot areas; for the purpose of "witnessing for Jesus" to the people rioting. A black man and a Chicano man were coming out of a supermarket. They had stolen goods in their arms. Wally confronted them and tried to "witness" to them. They dropped the goods and commenced to beat Wally; eventually kicking him while he was on the ground and unconscious. They continued to kick Tope in the head after he was on the ground and obviously unconscious. Wally died later in a hospital of head injuries.

The Tanners later reproduced much of Tope's evidence against Decker's poisoning claims in a book they published titled Problems in The God Makers II; which is available via Utah Lighthouse Ministries online.

What happened is typical "Decker". He goes to Scotland to show The God Makers and preach against Masons and Mormons. He is invited for lunch by a pastor and another man who helped pass-out leaflets for The God Makers showing. Decker takes his arthritis medication. He later gets and upset stomach and becomes very weak, but continues to lecture. The next day he is flown to Ireland where his stomach becomes more upset, and considers going to a hospital. The people he is staying with ask a veterinarian to look at him. He returns back to the U.S. and still is very weak and has a very upset stomach. At no time does he enter a hospital. He goes to his own physician who runs blood and urine tests. He is tested for arsenic, and it proves negative (he has a normal level). Later, Decker invents a story where he insinuates he is poisoned by a man who accompanies him and the pastor; a man who did not know who got a refill for him on his Coke. Twenty minutes later he is rushed to the emergency room and his stomach is pumped. He is told that there was "7 times the lethal dose" of arsenic in his stomach, and doctors can't understand why he is still alive! He tells these stories, and many similar false and fabricated stories, to large audiences of Evangelicals around the county who, upon hearing it, shout "Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!"

Decker et al vs. the Tanners et al

If you are wondering why the Tanners, two of the most prominent anti-Mormon researchers and publishers, are publishing things which expose Ed Decker as a LIAR, then I'll tell you.

Today (2002 A.D.), anti-Mormons and their followers fall into two opposing "camps": the Deckerites and the Tannerites. The Deckerites are the followers of Ed Decker and his "camp". The Tannerites are the followers of Jerald and Sandra Tanner and their "camp". The Deckerites believe Decker and read "The God Makers" books and other Decker books and tracts. The Tannerites read "Mormonism: Shadow or Reality?" and other Tanner books and publications.

The Deckerites are, how do I say this, rather "simplistic" in their view of Mormonism. They think it is part of a worldwide Luciferian/Masonic/Mormon conspiracy; to take over the world and prepare it for the End-Times Anti-christ. They believe Mormon leaders are Mafia-like murderers who openly worship Lucifer while rank-and-file Mormons are liars and hypocrites and dupes, that Lucifer is the god of Mormonism, etc.

The Tannerites, on the other hand, are abit more sophisticated. Tannerites include more intellectual Evangelicals, as well as quite a few Agnostics and Atheists. There are also quite a few "Liberal" Mormons in the Tannerite camp; who see all religion as more or less "man-made" The Liberal Mormons (often called "Sunstone Mormons") don't want the Church destroyed; just "changed" from within. They seen themselves as "agents of change". Quite a few of them actually work for the Church as lower-level managers; as a means to "change-from-within". The Evangelicals among the Tannerites see Mormonism as just a false religion; founded by a charlatan. They see Mormons as sincere, but deceived. They don't see Mormon leaders are "evil" men, but not that good either.

The Deckerites and Tannerites used to basically co-operate with each other; at least yearly during a yearly anti-Mormon conference called "Capstone"; held in Salt Lake City or sometimes Park City, Utah. Each year anti-Mormons would give lectures, and new publications or films would be promoted.

However, the Tannerites also thought of the Deckerites as "boobs" and "conspiracy-nuts" and "simpletons". On the other hand, the Deckerites have always considered the Tannerites to be "deceived" because they did not see the worldwide Luciferian/Satanic conspiracy like the Deckerites did.

In the mid-1980s, James Spencer (an ex-Mormon) and William Schnoebelen (an ex-Mormon and Associate Director of Saints Alive in Jesus) wrote a book titled Mormonism's Temple of Doom. In the book they claimed to show how the Mormon Endowment Ceremony was taken "bodily" from occultic Witchcraft rituals. They also claimed to show that the very architecture of the Salt Lake Temple was occultic and Satanic.

Spencer and Schnoebelen began to promote their new book, and lectured and appeared on various Evangelical radio talkshows. Schnoebelen began claiming that when he and his wife first went to the Temple they were taught three Hebrew words, and they later discovered, to their horror, that those three Hebrew words meant in Hebrew: "O WONDERFUL LUCIFER!" Later, in a meeting with Mormon Apostle James Faust, Bill's wife said, "Lucifer is the god of the Mormon Temple isn't he?" Elder Faust is supposed to have said in reply, "Flesh and blood hath not revealed this to you! You are correct!" Realizing they had joined a Lucifer-worshipping cult, they left Mormonism and became born-again Christians....Praise the Lord!

Many Tannerites began to hear about the claims of Schnoebelen and Spencer. Many of the Tannerites were quite intellectual and sophisticated people; many of them did their own research. Many were quite well-read and highly educated. They KNEW that the Mormon Endowment Ceremony had many close parallels to Freemasonic rites, but NOT to witchcraft rituals as Spencer and Schnoebelen were saying. Many Tannerites (some of these Liberal Mormons) KNEW that the three Hebrew words Mormons chanted in the old Endowment ceremony DID NOT MEAN "O Wonderful Lucifer!" They started writing and calling the Tanners, saying: "What are you gonna do about this?"

The Tanners decided to write a reply to the claims of Spencer and Schnoebelen. They basically wrote:

*The Three Hebrew Words in the Endowment ceremony DO NOT mean "O Wonderful Lucifer!" but "Hear [my]Mouth [O] God" in Sephardic Hebrew.

*Claims that the Signs and Tokens in the Mormon Endowment Ceremony came from Witchcraft are FALSE.

*There is no evidence that the architecture of Mormon Temples are based upon anything known as "Satanic architecture". This is an invention by William Schnoebelen.Mormonism's Temple of Doom are often contradictory, misleading, or false.

Instead of James Spencer and Bill Schnoebelen withdrawing their claims, they made new claims! They began claiming that Jerald and Sandra Tanner, authors of scores of anti-Mormon books, and whose research MOST of The God Makers book is based upon, were "secret agents working for the Mormon Church".

Ed Decker stood by his associates! He came out squarely on the side of Spencer and Schnoebelen. After all, Bill Schnoebelen was the Associate Director of Saints Alive in Jesus.

Decker accepted the claim that the three Hebrew words Mormons chant (before 1990) in the Mormon Endowment Ceremony meant "O Wonderful Lucifer!'; thereby proof that Mormons was unknowingly worshipping Lucifer in Mormon Temples. To substantiate this claim Decker asked the Rev. Wesley P. Walters, and anti-Mormon researcher who had studied Hebrew for 3 years in seminary. Jerald Tanner writes what happened next:

"Unfortunately, Decker could not get over the sensationalistic claim that the words 'pay lay ale' actually meant 'Wonderful Lucifer'. He called Wesley P. Walters, who was one of the most knowledgeable critics of the LDS Church, and asked his opinion on the matter. Walters, who had also studied the Hebrew language, examined the claim and responded by frankly telling Mr. Decker that the idea could not be supported from the Hebrew language. According to Walters, Decker then stated that he did not care and was going to use the arguement anyway." (Problems in The God Makers II, p.49)

Soon, James Spencer was claiming that Jerald and Sandra Tanner weren't Christian researchers on Mormonism after all, but "secret agents" hired and directed by Mormon Church leaders as way of "controlling" (watering-down) anti-Mormon claims. This was why the Tanners rejected the worldwide Luciferian/Masonic/Mormon conspiracy; because they were part of it!

Other Deckerites, such as Loftes Tryk (an ex-Mormon and anti-Mormon writer) began saying that the Tanners were "demonized secret agents" working for the Mormon Church.

Jerald and Sandra Tanner produced several publications which not only refuted the absurd claims Decker/Spencer/Schnoebelen, but exposed Bill Schnoebelen as an ABSOLUTE PATHOLICAL-LIAR AND FRAUD. These publications are:

*The Lucifer-God Doctrine (90 pages)

*Covering-up Syn (one of their Salt Lake Messenger newsletters)

*Serious Charges Against the Tanners (44 pages)

Covering-up Syn can be read online. The other two publications can be purchased online from Utah Lighthouse Ministries for $4 and $1 (plus shipping and handling) respectively.

Decker stood squarely behind Spencer and Schnoebelen, and against the Tanners. After all, at that time Bill Schnoebelen was the Associate Director of Saints Alive in Jesus. This was a rather contradictory things to do; since 75% of The God Makers book was based upon research by the Tanners. Indeed, The God Makers book plagarized much of the Tanners' book Mormonism: Shadow or Reality?.

Decker featured Sandra Tanner in The God Makers film as a "renowned researcher" on Mormonism. Much of The God Makers was based upon Tanner research. Now, Ed Decker, and Pat Matrisciana (president of Jeremiah Films who produced The God Makers and other anti-Mormon films by Decker) were calling the Tanners "liars".

During this time, Decker wrote:

"They [the Tanners] want to put the Matricianas and me out of business. Well, it isn't going to happen, Jerald and Sandra. Not by your kind of cheap journalistic claptrap. If this is the way the Tanners go about all their research, I've got a lot of Mormons to apologize to and so does Pat [Matrisciana]."
"Either the Tanners are the greatest dupes in the business, or bald-faced liars." (Saints Alive in Jesus newsletter, March-April 1993)

"I have to apologize to every Mormon I have ever shared Tanner materials with. I have even used it heavily in my own research and publications, writings, films. I had always thought the Tanners to be exacting researchers and without a real ax to grind. No more. What has happened is that they have manipulated data to make it say what they want it to say in order to defame someone they want to destroy. If they would do it to Ed Decker, or Jim Spencer, or Bill Schnoebelen and we are others can see it, then what does it say about their reporting on Mormonism? Therefore, I have to apologize and will have to re-evaluate a whole lot of what we did with their material." (letter quoted in Problems in The God Makers II,, pp.52-3)

The Tanners DID prove that much of the materials in The God Makers book was taken bodily from Mormonism: Shadow or Reality?; as if someone cut-up the Tanner's book, pasted the pages on cardboard, then mixed the cardboards up (to try to hide the plagarism), and then wrote The God Makers from the cardboards; only adding comments and additional materials (like a Luciferian/Masonic/Mormon conspiracy-theory) here and there.

In other words, whoever wrote The God Makers book plagarized heavily from the Tanner's book (Mormonism: Shadow or Reality?), tried to hide it, then included comments and additional information here and there from Decker and co-author Dave Hunt. Later, Decker claimed that the Tanners were either dupes, secret agents hired by the Mormon Church to "control" anti-Mormon research, or "bald-faced liars". Decker wrote that the Tanner materials could not be trusted, yet, he continutes to produce hundreds of thousands of copies of The God Makers.

Decker claimed that while he was in Scotland, preaching against the Masons (or Morons...the story changes with the audience) the Masons (or Mormons) had tried to poison him (kill him) with arsenic in a glass a coca-cola. According to his own claims, a man he did not know gave him a glass of coka-cola at a Pizza parlor. He drank it, but soon afterwards he became quite ill; vomiting, in violent convulsions, so much so that he was taken to an emergency room THAT NIGHT and it was discovered that he had been given "7 times the lethal dose of arsenic". Although given seven times the lethal dose, he survived (Praise the Lord!).

Decker was on the Phil Donahue television show in 1991, and Donahue said:

Donahue: "Ed Decker was a Mormon for 19 years. After speaking out against the Mormon Church, he claims, Mr. Decker does, that he was shot at and even poisoned. He believes Mormon followers are responsible for the actions against him. Now, Ed, I mentioned a few times that the fact that you had been shot at twice. Has anyone been arrested in those cases?"
Decker: "No, my wife and I were shot at in our bedroom in the middle of the night."
Donahue: "It is an established fact that indeed a shooting did take place?"
Decker: "OH YEAH! I was poisoned with arsenic! I have the doctor's reports, the urine tests, the blood test." (Problems in The God Makers II, Appendix B)

"It wasn't the LDS Church that I was dealing with at the time. It wasn't even the Mormons that were involved in the poisoning." (Martin Tanner Radio Show, July 19, 1992, quoted in Problems in The God Makers II, Appendix B)

However, on the Phil Donahue show, and in other places, when Ed is preaching against the LDS Church, he blames the poisoning on "Mormons".

The "truth" is that there was no poisoning nor a poisoning attempt. The "man" whom Decker insinuated put poison in his Coke refill did not get Ed's refill; the waitress did. There was no rush to the Emergency Room! There was no stomach pumping. There was no "7 times" the lethal dose of arsenic in his blood! Decker's symtoms was consistent with the side-effects of the medication he was then taking for arthritis. His arsenic level was normal. He simply "invented" this story as a way to present himself as a "brave Christian soldier" whom the Lord miraculously saves. Why? In order to get more money from Evangelicals; who believe every word of what Decker tells them!

Who shot Decker's bedroom window? I don't know. But I don't believe it was a "Mormon". At about the same time Decker's window was shot by a high-velocity bullet, the same kind of bullet hit the statue of Moroni, on the top of the Seattle Temple, several times. Why would a Mormon wish to shot a statue of Moroni on the Seattle Temple? Of course, an anti-Mormon would have good reason to shoot a bullet through Ed's bedroom window; without Ed being there or anyone hurt; so as to get MILLIONS OF DOLLARS OF FREE ADVERTISING for Ed and Saints Alive via local secular press and national "Christian" press!

And IT WORKED!

In 1990 Jerald Tanner, the most prominent anti-Mormon researcher in the world, wrote a letter to Ed Decker. Here are excerpts:

"Now that you have indicated you are willing to provide information concerning the poisoning, I am making the request directly to you...I also have questions concerning related matters...To being with, there is more involved here than the arsenic poisoning story. In a tape...dated July 25, 1988, you claimed that the year 1986 was a very bad year for you. You stated, '...God showed me that I was in for a time of attack, and the next year I suffered three coronaries, I was poisoned twice, and at least one gunman that they caught was dressed in battle fatigues...I'm not going to hide. I'm not going to stop what what I'm doing...if you want to try to kill me, then try it, because I'm not going to go inside some place and hide from you.' In additional to all these troubles...you reported..'The day after Capstone [the anti-Mormon conference in Utah] I came down with Legionnaries' Disease.' In addition to all this, I understand that you have stated taht the Mormons have tried to killed you THREE TIMES before you were poisoned in 1986." (Jerald Tanner to Ed Decker, August 11, 1990, quoted in Problems in The God Makers III,, p.81)

Ed Decker never responded to Jerald Tanner's request for references. Instead, Jerald Tanner received a copy of a letter from the Board of Dirctors of Saints Alive in Jesus to Ed Decker, which read in part:

"...it is the instruction of the Board of Directors that you refrain from any further discussion with the Tanners and their organization...and any affiliated persons associated with that organization." (ibid.)

Decker presents himself as a brave and heroic Christian soldier in battle with the "Great Red Dragon" (the Luciferian/Masonic/Mormon worldwide conspiracy). He's been shot at three times, poisoned twice, came down with Legionnarie's Disease (hint: the Mormon Church has biological warfare specialists), but, instead of going into hiding, he comes out boldly saying, "Here I am, come get me!" WOW! What a brave and heroic Christian soldier isn't he? The all-powerful Mormon Church has tried to kill him in umpteen ways for DECADES and they can't seem to succeed. Surely, the Lord is protecting this "Man of God"! He wants Evangelicals to believe this, and MILLIONS do!

Can you spell d-u-p-e-s?

Decker and the Mark Hofmann Affair

On October 15th, 1985, two pipebombs exploded in Salt Lake City. One of them killed a Mormon bishop named Steve Christensen; the son of Mac Christensen; the owner of "Mr. Mac's" clothing stores (quite famous in Salt Lake City for giving missionaries discounts and for TV ads). The other person killed was Kathy Sheets; a housewife, mother of four. She was the wife of Gary Sheets; a Mormon, former bishop, who owned CFS (Consolidated Financial Services); an investment company that had recently lost most of it's investor's money due to bad investments and a downturn in the economy. Police initially believed the bombings were done by professional hitmen hired by disguntled investors. Christensen had once worked for Gary Sheets at CFS. Now, Christensen and Kathy Sheets were dead from pipebombs.

The very next day another pipebomb exploded. This time the victim was Mark Hofmann; a well-known "documents" dealer. He became famous for "discovering" hundreds of early Mormon and American documents. Some of his finds were quite controversial. He found old Mormon documents which said:

*The Angel Moroni turned into a white salamander and bit Joseph Smith three times on the hand (Salamander Letter).

*The Angel Moroni commanded Joseph Smith to dig up his dead brother Alvin and bring a hand to the Hill Cumorah so he could get the gold plates (Martin Harris Letter)

*Joseph Smith ordained his son to succeed him, and not Brigham Young (Joseph Smith III Letter).

*Brigham Young tried to destroy the Joseph Smith III letter to hide the fact he was not the true successor (Thomas Bullock Letter).

*etc.

Nobody praised and supported Mark Hofmann more than Ed Decker and Saints Alive. Everytime Mark Hofmann made another "find" the member of Saints Alive were literally dancing in the aisles at their meetings; shouting at the tops of their lungs: "HALLELUYAH! PRAISE THE LORD! WE KNOW HAVE PROOF MORMONISM IS A FRAUD!!! PRAISE THE LORD!!!!"

Hofmann was seriously injured in the bombing; which happened in his car. He told TIME magazine that a "fanatical Mormon" did it (i.e. Darrick Evenson did it, because I was telling everyone that Hofmann was an "atheist" and a "liar" and "forged" the documents---I was not believed by anyone--Mormons and anti-Mormons laughed at me both and called me a "nut"). I had tried to warn the Church about Hofmann as far back as 1981. I wrote leaders to Church leaders and contacted Church Security. I was immediately dismissed as a "nut" and Church Security would intercept my letters to Church leaders and make sure I "didn't waste the Brethren's precious time". When I tried to tell my bishop and Institute directors they would all tell me that Hofmann was "a good Member of the Church" and that "all is well" and that the Brethren had everything in control. Liberal "Sunstone" Mormons would tell me that Hofmann was "coming out with truth" and I "just had to accept it".

After Hofmann discovered the Salamander Letter, Saints Alive did another newsletter; this time with a salamander blowing a trumpet on the top of the Salt Lake Temple.

After Hofmann was carbombed Decker immediately starting telling everyone (including journalists) that "Mormon leaders" had ordered the bombing because they wanted to silence Mark Hofmann because "he's coming out with too much truth about Mormon origins". The New York Times Magazine came out with a huge 4-page front-page article that basically said the same thing! The bombings were part of a "Mormon conspiracy" to silence Hofmann. But then why were Christensen and Sheets killed? Decker responded, "That's all part of the conspiracy!"

ATF (Alcohol Tobacco and Firearm) agents knew day 1 that Hofmann had dropped his own bomb; because the bomb-blast pattern didn't "fit" with what Hofmann said happened. The police then launched a massive investigator of Hofmann that would take many months and tens of thousands of man-hours. They discovered:

1) Hofmann was an atheist; although he served a mission and was an active Mormon.

2) Most of Hofmann's friends in Utah were bi-sexual and homosexual Mormons who were active in the Church, but secretly were very angry at Mormon leaders for being "anti-Gay". Police suspected Hofmann of being "a switch bater" (i.e. bisexual).

3) Hofmann had spent hundreds of hours with Michael Marquardt; an anti-Mormon researcher who specialized in Mormon history.

4) Hofmann had visited Jerald and Sandra Tanner many times, and offerred them information on numerous occassions.

5) Hofmann had purchased the materials to make the pipebombs under the pseudonym of "Mike Hansen".

6) Hofmann had FORGED just about all of his "finds"; including ALL of the documents that made Joseph Smith and Brigham Young look bad and involved in Black Magick.

It was George Throckmorton who "broke" the forgery case; proving that Hofmann had ingeniously forged the documents by stealing old paper from old books, then making ink to appear old, and adding charcoal to try to fool Carbon 14 dating.

Devastating evidence was presented at the Preliminary Hearing; afterwhich Hofmann confessed to forging the documents, making the pipebombs, and killing Christensen and Sheets. He killed Christensen because Christensen was beginning to suspect Hofmann of being a fraud. He killed Kathy Sheets merely to throw off police suspecting him; hoping they would think the bombings were a disgruntled CFS investor (they did at first).

When asked why he forged the documents, Hofmann replied that he had been an atheist since age 14. He went on a mission for the Church to please his parents. On his mission he decided he wanted to someday "discover" the evidence to prove Joseph Smith a fraud. He tried for years, but he couldn't find any "smoking gun". So, he decided the next best thing was to "create" the "evidence".

When Hofmann was asked why he killed Christensen, he replied that Christensen was beginning to suspect him, and he couldn't afford to be suspected; because he was forging the ultimate "smoking gun" against Joseph Smith.

When Hofmann was asked why he killed Kathy Sheets, he replied that he needed to throw police off of suspecting him. He knew that Christensen once worked for CFS (owned by Gary Sheets), and that CFS had lost tens of millions of investor dollars. He hoped that by killying Sheets and/or his wife, police would suspect it was a disguntled investor (they did at first).

After Hofmann confessed, Decker said that Hofmann was "framed" and that the documents were "real". Was not the judge in the Pre-Lim a Mormon? Was not the forensic scientist who discovered the forgery Mormon? Was not the chief prosecutor Mormon? Was not half of the police investigator's Mormon?

There ya go!

It was just another Mormon Church conspiracy!

Why did Hofmann confess? Well, easy! The Mormons wanted to kill him; put him against a wall in a fireing squad! The only way Hofmann could save his life was to "confess".

And, YES, Evangelicals believed Decker...every word...yet again!

I don't know if Hofmann and Decker every communicated. I DO know that they had a mutual friend; Michael Marquardt. Decker and Marquardt both attended the yearly "Capstone" anti-Mormon conferences in Utah, and had many one-to-one conversations together.

In "The God Makers II" (produced in 1991-1992) Decker claims that the Angel Moroni ordered Joseph Smith to dig up his dead brother Alvin and cut off his hand and bring it to the Hill Cumorah in exchange for the gold plates (the film shows a scene of a skeleton--then Joseph Smith receiving the gold plates from Moroni). This was based upon one of Hofmann's forgeries; the "Martin Harris" letter. Hofmann confessed to forging it in 1986. "The God Makers II" was produced in 1991-2.

After Hofmann confessed and was convicted I called the Mormons who had laughed at me and called me a "nut". All of them but one hung up the phone on me. One of them said, "But Mark Hofmann was a FAITHFUL member of the Church!!!"

I kid you not!

After Hofmann confessed many of the Liberal "Sunstone" Mormons went into what I could only call a "state of mourning". Hofmann was their hero. They saw this as a terrible set-back to their cause. One of them, a Mormon historian named D. Michael Quinn, wrote Mormonism and the Magic World View; which was based on many of Hofmann's forged documents. The book was published before the bombings. After Hofmann confessed, Quinn (who left the Church and now lives with his gay lover) said that the documents are "real" but refuses to defend them beyond that. Anti-Mormons still use Quinn's book as "proof" that Joseph Smith was heavily involved in the occult/Black Magick. Mark Hofmann and Quinn knew each other; both attended the yearly Sunstone Symposiums in Salt Lake City. Quinn was a closet "Gay" Mormon. Most of Hofmann's friends were Mormon closet homosexuals who were active in the Church, but secretly engaged in gay liaisons and ranted against Church leaders for being "homophobes" and for contibuting Church funds to Anti-Gay political campaigns.

Jerald Tanner was wise enough to distance himself from Hofmann right at the beginning. However, Deckerites still believe that Hofmann is "innocent" and was "framed" by the Mormon Church; who murdered two people and framed Hofmann. The judge, police, forensic examiners, etc. are all part of a Mormon Church's frame-up that would make O.J.'s defense team "white police conspiracy" look amateurish!

Hofmann has been in the Utah State Prison since 1986. He is not expected to every be paroled; although this is possible.

Decker and the Van Damme Episode

Back about 1985 there was a man named Charles Van Damme who was dying of AIDS. He claimed that Gordon B. Hinckley (now President of the Mormon Church) had been his bisexual lover in the late '60s/early '70s, and even had bought a home in Salt Lake City specifically for bisexual orgies that included black prostitues and underage young men. Jeremiah Films did a video regarding this titled The Truth About Mormon President Gordon B. Hinckley. The video showed a black man and a woman (identified as a former prostitute) claiming that "Mr. Hinckley" or "Gordon B. Hinckley" had engaged in sex with black prostitutes at the sex-house he had bought. Van Damme is shown in his death-bed claiming that "Gordon B. Hinckley" had sex with "boys as young as 15" at this house. The black man (a former pimp) claimed that "Gordon really liked black girls".

Gordon B. Hinckley was the Acting President of the Church from about 1984 to 1985, and again from 1987 to 1988. He became the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1990, and remains the President today (2003 A.D.)

Jerald and Sandra Tanner, long-time anti-Mormon publishers and researchers in Salt Lake City, decided to check-out these claims. They found them abit too fantastic. They got from a friend (Wally Tope) an UNedited copy of the death-bed interview of Charles Van Damme; where Van Damme claims (among other things):

*He first met Gordon B. Hinckley when he was ordained a Priest in 1963. Apostles had to ordain men priests, so Hinckley was sent from Salt Lake to California to ordain Van Damme. (NOTE: This is ABSURD! Priests in the Mormon Church are 14 and 15 year old boys, NEVER ordained by apostles but by their own local ward bishops or sometimes their own fathers).

*The house Van Damme said was bought by Gordon Hinckley for the sole purpose of staging sex-parties was in fact NEVER bought, sold, or owned by Gordon B. Hinckley, but by another "Hinckley" who was a relative of Gordon B. Hinckley, but never an apostle in the LDS Church.

*The man who actually WAS associated with Van Damme in the late 60s was a "Hinckley" who was a close relative of Gordon B. Hinckley. This "Hinckley" owned a car dealership that Van Damme worked at. This "Hinckley" did own the house in question during the time in question. The Tanners do not reveal the name of the "Hinckley" (perhaps for fear of legal action), but assure it was not "Gordon B. Hinckley"; current President of the LDS Church.

*The Tanners discover that Charles Van Damme had married a Mormon woman, then was baptized into the Mormon Church soon afterwards. He was excommunicated from the LDS Church in 1970. Soon afterwards his wife divorced him, and he lost his part-ownership in a car dealership in Salt Lake City. He then moved to Denver and openned two gay bars; later involved in several FBI investigations into organized crime in Denver.

*The Tanners found a man who knew Van Damme while he lived in Salt Lake City. Van Damme had pretended to be a "good Mormon" but at the same time used drugs, held sex-parties (in the house in question), sometimes had sex with very young homosexual men, and would steal money from his partners in the car dealership. All this changed when Gordon B. Hinckley, then an apostle, discovered that Van Damme was having a homosexual affair with one of Hinckley's close relatives. The close relative had confessed and apparently repented, and named Van Damme as his former lover. Perhaps to protect his close relative, Gordon B. Hinckley decided to "take care of the problem" himself rather than let local bishops do it (apparently to protect his close relative's marriage). Gordon B. Hinckley called Van Damme into a meeting at the Church Administrative Offices. Van Damme came, and a confrontation occurred. Van Damme apparently DID NOT REPENT or show sorrow for his actions. He was soon excommunicated from the Church. Back in 1970 excommunications were "publicized" by the Church in Church publications (not so today because of libel suits against the Church that have proved very successful and lucreative). Van Damme lost his wife, his children, his business...EVERTHING! Mormons no longer bought cars from him. His wife divorced him. His life in Utah WAS RUINED! Instead of blamming this on his own deviant behaviors and hypocrisy, he blamed Gordon B. Hinckley for his misfortunes (this is typical of many ex-Mormons who blame the Church instead of themselves).

Charles Van Damme's death-bed confessions were simply one final "pay-back" upon the man (Gordon B. Hinckley) whom Van Damme blamed for ruining the "good life" he had had in Salt Lake City.

Gordon B. Hinckley sued Jeremiah Films, and an out-of-court settlement was reached. Jeremiah Films stopped distributing The Truth About Mormon President Gordon B. Hinckley. Then, years later, Jeremiah Films began to quietly redistribute it; only to be "caught" and then again stop distribution.

Decker and the FEN Episode ("Put-em On The Payroll")

In the late 1980s two Mormon businessmen from Ogden, Utah, Jared Brown and Sheldon Young, decided to create Bible Story and Book of Mormon Story animated videos. They both owned a company called "Living Scriptures" which had, since the early 70s, produced dramatized Bible and Book of Mormon cassette tapes which were sold to Mormons throughout the U.S. Brown and Young wanted to produce animated videos on the same subjects. So, they hired Mormon writers and producers who, along with Korean animators, produced a series of Bible and Book of Mormon animated cartoons of a very high quality. Mormons bought them up like hot cakes!

Just then, Brown and Young decided to expand their market. It was decided that the "Christian" market was 20 times larger than the Mormon market; so they decided to distribute their Bible Story videos to the Christian market. However, they soon discovered that "Christian" bookstores and distributors would UTTERLY REFUSE to buy or even stock "Mormon" videos or any sort. What to do? They decided to use a little strategem!

Brown and Young formed a subsidiary of Living Scriptures called "Family Entertainment Network ("FEN"), and they recruited several prominent Evangelical Christians to become "partners". One was Jerry Falwell. The "partners" would basically be "partners" in name only. In return for the use of their "names" they would receive a portion of the profits from the sale of every video.

Brown and Young then placed an "Evangelical Christian" as President of FEN, and openned an office in Dallas, Texas. No mention was made that FEN was wholly owned by Living Scriptures; a company owned by two Mormons in Ogden Utah.

It worked!

FEN began to distribute the Bible Story videos all across the country! Evangelicals began to buy them as soon as they hit the shelves. They went like hot-cakes! Soon FEN was taking in millions of dollars.

But, all was not well in Paradise!

A man who worked for an anti-Mormon "ministry" in Oklahoma purchased several of the tapes, and noticed in the "credits" that "Orson Scott Card" was the "scriptwriter". He KNEW that Orson Scott Card was a famous MORMON writer! He then began to check things out. He called FEN in Dallas, and they DENIED that they were associated with the Mormon Church in any way. He did more research and discovered that FEN was owned by "Living Scriptures" of Ogden, Utah. He called FEN and "Living Scriptures". Both denied they had anything to do with the other. But, he had the information and began sharing it with other anti-Mormon "ministries"; including Saints Alive in Jesus.

As soon as Decker learned that FEN was "Mormon owned" he began his anti-FEN crusade. Decker went on a Christian radio campaign, saying:

*FEN is owned by the Mormon CHURCH.

*FEN was created by the Mormon CHURCH as a way to get Mormon teachings into Christian homes.

*The money Christians pay to FEN for the videos goes straight into "Mormon Church coffers".

*FEN videos were full of Satanic "subliminal messages" that try to hypnotise young Christians into Mormonism.

*Buying FEN videos was "letting Satan into your homes" and "just like letting Mormon missionaries into your homes".

NOTE: The LDS Church does not own FEN nor Living Scriptures. The LDS Church has no stock in either company (which are privately owned and do not issue stock). The ONLY connection the LDS Church has with FEN or Living Scriptures is that the two owners of both are Mormons. There is no "business tithe" in the Mormon Church. Neither FEN nor Living Scriptures pays a dime to the Mormon Church.

Sales of the Bible Story videos began to decline rapidly. What to do?

Brown and Young had a stroke of genius!

They decide the best way to shut Decker up is to put 'em on the payroll!

They put ED DECKER on the payroll of FEN!

They asked Decker to become a member of the "Board of Advisors" of FEN, and to "review" each Bible video FEN produced; for an "advisor's fee" of $1000 per video. There were 28 Bible videos.

Decker accepted!

Apparently no longer concerned with filling "Mormon Church coffers" Decker "reviewed" the 25 FEN Bible story videos, andthen came out with this written statement:

"I am pleased to report that FEN has enthusiatically implemented my recommendations and the products now stand clean of any Mormon or other not-orthodox influence. As such, I endorce them as products of the highest quality and I confidently recommend them to Christian families and churches." (The Christian Research Journal, Summer 1992, p.34)

*The two Mormons (Brown and Young) remained the controlling-owners of FEN.

*Mormon writers and producers continued to produce animated Bible videos for FEN.

*Not ONE of the 25 Bible Story videos produced by FEN that Decker allegedly "reviewed" was edited or changed in any way.

Does that sound "clean" to you?

Nothing changed except the weight of Decker's wallet!

Decker presented FEN as a "Mormon Church conspiracy" to get Mormon doctrines into Christian homes to try to convert Christian children and, at the same time, fill "Mormon Church coffers" with Evangelical money. But, after they put Decker on the payroll, and he "cleaned" the videos (?), he couldn't endorce FEN highly enough!

Decker's Disappearing Radio Station

For years Decker claimed that after appearing on a Christian radio station and playing a secret cassette tape recording of the Mormon Endowment Ceremony (considered vary sacred to Mormons) the Christian radio station he was at soon afterwards burned to the ground! Decker hints that Mormons did it, or the Mormon leaders sent "Danites" (Mormon hit-men) to burn it to the ground in retaliation for his playing the Mormon Endowment ceremony cassette.

At the Capstone Conference for 1998, held in Park City, Utah, Decker repeats the claim that he once played an audio tape of the Mormon Endowment ceremony, and soon afterwards "the Mormons" had the radio station burned to the ground [audience moans]. At this particular anti-Mormon conference was Wade Wenglund; a Mormon Apologist ('defender of the faith'). Mormon Apologists are NOT "sent" or "controlled" by Mormon leaders. They are simply individual Members of the Church who research anti-Mormon claims, and try to refute as many as they can. Many are just armchair intellectuals who enjoy the intellectual challege of refuting anti-Mormon claims. Others are abit more active. Wade was one of the more active ones.

Wade was at the 1998 Capstone Conference and heard Decker speak. He later sent an email to Decker asking for dates/times/names to confirm that the radio station was indeed burned to the ground. Here is Wade's email plus Decker's email in reply:

WADE: "Mr. Decker, I took the opportunity to sit in on the [Capstone] conference sesson in which you spoke...

DECKER: "Too bad you didn't take the time to introduce yourself, I would have enjoyed talking to you."

WADE: "...and I was wondering if you could give me a few more details on some of the items you made mention of:
1. What is the name of the radio station that burnt down after you spoke about the temple ceremony? What was the name of your show? What was the date that the station burnt down? Where was the station located? Was there an investigation made into the causes of the fire? If so, what were the findings of the investigation? And, was there any evidence that members of the LDS faith may have been involved, as you intimated?"
DECKER: "Wade, I don't think I owe you any of the details when I know you approach me in a very strong and adversarial position. Be kind enough to do your own research. We wrote about it at the time and it was in the news."
[NOTE: What newsletter? When? What news? Where? Decker refused to say]
WADE: "2. In which Ward did you teach the Gospel Doctrine class for years?"
DECKER: "I taught GD a number of times in a number of Wards. Ask the Church, they have the records. Do your own research, OK?"
WADE: "3. You spoke of many false claims that the LDS have leveled against you, and you even listed several of them--including the assertion that you committed adultery. Are the claims attributed to your former wife, that you had several affairs during the course of yours and hers marriage, false in every way?"
DECKER: "I have an idea. DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH, Ok?" [NOTE: Decker then goes on to tell Wade that his Mormon wife committed adultery against her third husband, but never answers his question]
(My Correspondance With Ed, p.1-2 online)

The only two Christian radio stations in Utah (KANN and KBBX) were never burned to the ground. They were never burned period. What radio station is Decker referring to? Decker doesn't seem to want to say. One time he told me, "Darrick, if I tell you which one then the station may be burned down again!" But I replied, "Ed, don't you THINK the Mormon Church KNOWS which one it burnt down the first time? How is telling me jepardizing anything?" He quickly changed the subject.

Decker and 'Prof. Dee Jay Nelson'

For decades Decker and Saints Alive promoted "Prof. Dee Jay Nelson"; the world's "greatest Egyptologist". Nelson had claimed that as a "Mormon Egyptologist" he was comissioned by the Mormon Church to "translate" the Joseph Smith Papyri; recently rediscovered in 1968 at the Metropolitan Museum in New York City. The Prophet Joseph Smith claimed to have "translated" The Book of Abraham from such papyri. Nelson claimed he translated the papyri and discovered, to his horror, that it was NOT the ancient "Book of Abraham" but rather a common first-century A.D. pagan "Book of Breathings"; a document which the "soul" of the dead took with them into the Afterlife. Nelson claimed when he told Mormon leaders they told him to "keep quiet" about it, but Nelson couldn't so he published his translation and then was excommunicated. Dee Jay Nelson's claims were published both by Saints Alive in Jesus and by Jerald and Sandra Tanner in pre-1981 editions of Mormonism: Shadow or Reality? and The Changing World of Mormonism. Nelson's claims were also put-forth in many other anti-Mormon works; including The Maze of Mormonism by "Dr." Walter R. Martin.

In 1980 Robert and Rosemary Brown, two Mormons living in Mesa, Arizona, attended an anti-Mormon lecture given by "Prof. Nelson" at a local Baptist church. The Browns decided to check-out his claims. After 9 months of research they discovered:

*Nelson was a high-school and community college drop-out with no earned degrees of any kind.

*Nelson was not a "professor" of any sort, but gave non-credit lectures on tourism to Egypt at a small Community College in Billings, Montana; not as a professor or teacher but as a tour-guide to Egypt.

*Nelson's "degrees" came from a diploma mill in Seattle, Washington, called "Pacific Northwestern University"; closed down as illegal by the State of Washington not long after openning.

*Nelson had been a "Deacon" (12 year old boy) in the Mormon church, but was not active in the Mormon church since the age of 12 or 13.

*Nelson had published two self-published books on "Pyramidology"; an occultic psedo-science having to do with healing via pyramid shapes. True Egyptologists refer to "Pyramidologists" as "Pyram-idiots".

*Nelson had been a tour-guide in Egypt on at least two occassions.

*Nelson was NEVER commissioned by the Mormon church to do anything; much less translate the Joseph Smith Papyri. In 1981 Robert and Rosemary Brown published an expose' of Dee Jay Nelson; titled They Lie In Wait To Deceive volume one. Soon afterwards Moody Press told the Tanners to do a new edition of Changing World that would remove all references to Nelson. They did. They also removed most references to Nelson from further editions of Mormonism--Shadow or Reality?. Other anti-Mormon books removed all references to "Dr. Dee Jay Nelson" from all post-1981 editions of their books; usually without explanation.

Saints Alive, however, continued to promote Dee Jay Nelson as "Dr." and "Prof." Nelson, and his bogus story, for YEARS after he was exposed as a fraud. Then, in about 1984, Decker began to say at his lectures (after Mormons began to ask questions about Nelson and tell the audience Nelson was a "fraud") that Nelson was a "secret agent" for the Mormon Church! He said Nelson was a "Mormon" who was sent by Mormon leaders to "infiltrate" Christian ministries to Mormons and try to discredit them. I was all just another a Mormon Church conspiracy! It was the Mormons who promoted Nelson, got his phoney degrees, had Christian "ministries" use him ONLY to "expose" him in the end!

And if you believe THAT, I've got a bridge in Brooklyn I'd like to sell you----TWICE!

The Deckerites, of course, believed every word!

The Browns continued to research anti-Mormons and their claims, and published the following exposes:

*They Lie In Wait To Deceive Vol.1 (an expose'of Dee Jay Nelson)

*They Lie In Wait To Deceive Vol.2 (an expose' of Who Really Wrote the Book of Mormon?)

*They Lie In Wait To Deceive Vol.3 (an expose' of "Dr." Walter R. Martin, founder of the "Christian Research Institute")

*They Lie In Wait To Deceive Vol.4 (an expose' of Ed Decker, Dick Bear, et al)

*The Lie In Wait To Deceive Vol.5 (an expose' of Jerald and Sandra Tanner)

The series does not 'deal' with most major anti-Mormon issues (Adam-God, plural marriage, etc.), but merely "exposes" the deceptive techniques, personal claims, and practices that anti-Mormons use. Each volume is from 320 to 550 pages; with photocopied documentation included.

They Lie In Wait To Deceive (the series) is available for sale (ON SALE) online via the FAIR website:

http://www.fairlds.org/pubs/liw/

The God Makers

Decker's film (video) "The God Makers" (originally titled "To Kolob and Back") was produced around 1980-82 by Jeremiah Films of Hemet, California. The film declares it is a "fair and accurate" presentation of "What Mormons REALLY Believe!" It is just the opposite! While the film contains many truths, it ALSO contains many half-truths, fabrications, distortions, misleading innuendos, generalizations, and outright lies. One Mormon who reviewed it, James Carver (author of A Reply To "Moroni With Love) described the film as "Mormonism in a circus funhouse mirror".

The premise of the film is that it is a "re-inactment" of a real situation:

1) Ed Decker and Richard Bear are ex-Mormons. The Church took their families away from them because they became Christians. The Church is "breaking up families" in this way every day. Can't they do something "legally" to stop this.

2) They meet with lawyers who are experts in the First Amendment (Freedom of Speech). Ed and Dick explain to them what Mormons believe. The lawyers can't believe what they are hearing!

3) A cartoon is made so Ed and Dick and can what Mormons believe. They show the cartoon to the lawyers.

4) Ed and Dick tell the lawyers that the Mormon Church is "breaking up families" and Mormons are commanded to "store two years" of supplies (guns and ammunition are shown) so that they can take over the United States when the Mormon Prophet says "Go!" The film says that there are Mormons in government (Congress, Senate) in the military, law enforcement, because they are there to help take over the U.S. when the Mormon Prophet says "Go!"

5) At the end of the film one of the lawyer's says, "You've taken us to Kolob and back, but WE CAN'T HELP YOU! The Mormon Church HAS BILLIONS!!!!"

6) The narrator finishes the film by saying that the Church is a threat to families, and to freedom, as long as it "is allowed to continue" its diabolic quest for world domination.

7) The "message" of the film is that the Mormon Church is part of an internationally Luciferian/Masonic/Mormon conspiracy to take over the U.S., and then the World, and install the end-times Anti-Christ. As long as Mormons have freedom to live and practice their religion, they are a satanic threat to the rest of us; including our families. What are YOU going to do about this horrible conspiracy against YOUR FAMILY????

If this reminds you of pre-WWII Nazi propaganda films against the Jews, it should! The Nazis got into power saying the exact same things about the Jews!

The major claims of "The God Makers" film and video are:

*The Mormon Church "breaks up families". If a spouce becomes a Christian Mormon bishops tells the Mormon spouce to divorce the Christian and marry a faithful Mormon. [FALSE! The very opposite is true. Many pastors of Evangelical churches have told their members to divorce their Mormon spouces so "as not to unequally yoked". Mormon bishops counsel forgiveness and to try to keep the family together in ALL cases except in cases of physical/sexual abuse]

*The Mormon Church prevents Christian spouces from seeing their Mormon children.[FALSE! The Mormon Church has no power to do this, and it simply does not happen.]

*The Church trains it's missionaries to "use Christian terminology" so as to "deliberately deceive" Christians into thinking that the Mormon Church "is just another Christian church". [FALSE! There are no "two sets" of terminology. Mormon missionaries are sincere, and try to deceive nobody.]

*Mormons practice satanic "occultic rituals" in Mormon Temples which include "blood oaths".[DISTORTION! The rituals are Masonic-like in nature. A "blood-oath" means a pact using blood. This was never done in Mormon temples]

*The Mormon Endowment mocks all Christians pastors and calls them "hirelings of Satan".[DISTORTION! No indication the "sectarian priest" represented all Christian ministers.]

*Mormons promise to have their throats cut if they review temple secrets.[FALSE! Patrons promise to keep "signs and tokens" sacred even if it means they are tortured by enemies in order to reveal them.]

*Only a small number of the "Mormon Elite" may go to the Temple.[FALSE! One must only be of age and be active and worthy Member]

*The Church tells Mormons to store "two years" of food, water, guns and ammunition, in order to take over the U.S. Government when the Mormon Prophet says "Go!"[FALSE! Mormons commanded to store one-year of food in case of national disasters. No command to store ammunication. Mormons know of no plot to take-over U.S.]

*Mormons believe that Joseph Smith, and not Jesus, is their true Savior, and that his blood, and not Jesus' blood, saves them.[FALSE! A BIG LIE! Mormons see Joseph Smith as a martyr, nothing more.]

*Mormons believe that God the Father and Mary had sex to produce Jesus.[Some do, but not official Church doctrine! Official Church doctrine in the Bible, Book of Mormon, and Jesus the Christ by James Talmage, says Jesus' conception a miracle.]

*Joseph Smith claimed he had done more than any other man, including Jesus Christ.[DISTORTION! He claimed he had done a "greater work" in that he kept the Church together. Jesus said His true disciples would do "greater works" see: John 14:12]

*Mormons believe that they may become gods; this was Lucifer's "Big Lie" in the Garden of Eden.[Mormons believe this, but this was NOT Lucifer's lie! The Lord confirms in Genesis 3:22. Lucifer's lie was "Ye shall not surely die." They surely did.]

*The Church forces young Mormons to commit suicide by having an unrealistic moral code and a too-judgemental god. Kip Elias, a young Mormon in Idaho, committed suicide because he could not keep Mormon standards. The film shows his father crying at the end. [DUMB! A few Mormon youth 'may' commit suicide every year because they feel unworthy, and have mental problems. However, do not Evangelicals have the SAME moral code? Are they not ALSO expected to remain cellibate before marriage and chaste in marriage? Is not masturbation and petting also forbidden or considered "sinful"? Kip Eliason's father, Gary Elias, was an alcoholic and an abusive husband, according to court records. Kip's mother, Gary's wife, ALSO committed suicide. Gary Elias sued the Church for MILLIONS of dollars, but lost his case]

The film contains a cartoon which is about 12 minutes long and which is rather ridiculous. It portryas Elohim as being married to thousands of young blonde women wearing almost see-thru lingere. It portays white blonde-haired spirits in heaven turning into Negroes. It has Joseph Smith in the central role at the final Judgement; flanked by Elohim and "the Mormon Jesus". It has interviews of "Mormons" looking and sounding like robots or people hypnotized, along with attractive ex-Mormons with smiles and easy-going demeanors.

Robert Bowman, an Evangelical and a researcher at the Christian Research Institute (CRI) wrote an email reply in 1998, which reads:

"The video [The God Makers] is edited in such a way that Mormon authorities are cut-off in mid-sentence, in some cases thereby made to appear to be saying something very different from what they meant. The cartoon presents a caricature of Mormon beliefs so distorted that hardly any Mormon will recognize their own beliefs in it. Decker and Hunt [in The God Makers book] did not present an accurate description of what Mormons believe or have ever believed." (The Modern Christian Counter-Cult Movement, p.4 online)

Not long after "The God Makers" was released, Jeremiah Films released "Temple of The God Makers" which, I think, are the edited-out portions of the original "God Makers" film (which was first supposed to be two-hours but was edited down. In "Temple of The God Makers" we have former "Temple Workers" (Chuck and Dolly Sackett) going through portions of the Endowment Ceremony (one of the three rites of Mormon Temples).

The film is supposed to show "exactly" what happens in "secret Mormon temple rituals". One segment is supposed to show the "washings and anointings", but the film shows a man, and then a woman, standing in temple garments with a pitch black background; with screeching violins being played. Chuck Sackett plays the part of the male Washer, and Dolly the female Washer. The film does not show Chuck or Dolly touching the private parts of the man and woman, but it heavily IMPLIES that they are foldling the private parts of the man and woman. It shows the Washers reaching under the garments of the man and woman and the man and woman having horrified looks on their faces. [FALSE! No touching of private parts are done in Mormon Temples]

The film shows the "Signs and Tokens" of the Priesthoods; the most sacred parts of the Endowment Ceremony.

The Endowment room in the film resembles the Endowment rooms of LDS temples, but the veils in the film are BLACK instead of white! Very evil and eery music is played in the background. There are no black veils in Mormon Temples, and there is no music of any kind.

The "film" portion of the Mormon Endowment Ceremony (in a few of the older temples the film is not used, but actors play the various roles) is surprisingly NOT shown or used in this expose' of what the Mormon Endowment is supposed to be. [NOTE: The makers of "Temples of The God Makers" probably did not wish to show that the Endowment is based upon the Bible, especially Genesis chapter 2 and 3. This would make the Endowment seem to the unwary Evangelical too "biblical" and not "satanic" enough, so they left it out, although it is the MAJOR theme of the true Endowment Ceremony.]

The temple patrons (Mormon temple-goers) in the film are dressed correctly, but look and move about like Zombies or "possessed" by evil spirits. The 1950s horror-movie soundtract, plus the dark backgrounds and black veils, adds to the general mood of evil and darkness. In reality, the inside of Mormon Temples are not dark but very light.

"Temple of The God Makers" gives the inference of the following:

*The Endowment Ceremony is very evil and satanic.[False, it's based upon Genesis 2 and 3]

*Mormons promise to be killed if they reveal the "Signs and Tokens".[False! They promise to keep them sacred even if threatened with death by their enemies. This has actually happened in the past.]

*Mormons are possessed by evil spirits when they enter Mormon temples. [False! I never saw any Zombie-like patrons during the Mormon Endowment ceremony, although I DID see a few of them asleep during the film portion of it! ;-) ]

*Mormon men who go to the Temple have their private parts washed and anointed with oil by the hands of male Washers, and Mormon women who go to the Temple have their private parts washed and anointed with oil by female Washers. [FALSE! The private parts are not touched at all by the Washers!]

The "Temple of The God Makers" repeats the 12-minutes cartoon as was shown in "The God Makers".

The God Makers II

About 7 years after "The God Makers" Decker and Jeremiah Films produced "The God Makers II". While "The God Makers" was simple distortion and mockery, "The God Makers II" pulled out all the stops and portrays Mormon leaders as mass-murdering/bi-sexual/Lucifer-worshipping hypocrites. It portrays Mormons are ignorant self-righteous lying dupes who have blind-faith in Mormon leaders.

The film includes:

*An interview with a woman who says that "Church leaders" killed 27 members of her own family, and they are after her to kill her because she tried to "escape Mormonism".

COMMENT: The woman in the film is NOT talking about the LDS Church, but about the Church of the Lamb of God; an offshoot of an offshoot of an offshoot of an offshoot of an offshoot of the LDS Church. The woman, Lillian LeBaron Chynoweth, was never a Member of the Mormon Church, but was a member of The Church of the Lamb of God; founded by her father, Ervil LeBaron. And it was on the orders of Ervil LeBaron that 27 members of her extended polygamist and in-law family were killed; because they opposed Ervil in one way or another. Ervil LeBaron had plans to kill the entire First Presidency and Quorum of Twelve Apostles of the LDS Church, but could not carry that out because he was imprisoned for murder, and died in prison. Ervil LaBaron killed his own brother (Joel), and one of his own daughters along with many others. The Church of the Lamb of God was an offshoot of The Church of the Firstborn which was an offshoot of The Apostolic United Brethren which was an offshoot of The United Order Effort which was an offshoot of The Council of Friends which was formed by a small group of men who opposed Mormon leaders over the subject of polygamy, and other subjects, in the early 1920s.

The makers of "The God Makers II" wants people to believe that Lillian LeBaron Chynoweth was a Mormon who tried to leave the Mormon Church, but was killed (along with 27 others) BY MORMON LEADERS! But that is NOT what Lillian was saying. By "Church leaders" she meant leaders of the only "Church" she ever belonged to: The Church of the Lamb of God. By "Mormonism" she meant The Church of the Lamb of God; the only "Mormonism" she ever knew!

*The film shows excerpts from a death-bed interview of Charles Van Damme; a man dying of AIDS who claimed that Mormon Church President Gordon B. Hinckley had been his bisexual lover in the late 1960s, had bought a house specifically for bisexual sex-parties, and who had had sex with black prostitutes and 15-year old boys.

COMMENT: The Tanners, anti-Mormon publishers and researchers, showed that the "Hinckley" that Van Damme was involved with was not Gordon B. Hinckley; currently President of the LDS Church, but a close relative of Hinckley's. It was Gordon B. Hinckley who had Van Damme excommunicated; hardly a way to "hide" one's own scandalous affairs! Van Damme blamed Hinckley on the loss of his family and financial disaster in Utah (Mormons would no longer buy cars from him after he was excommunicated for homosexuality). This was Van Damme's final "pay-back" to Gordon B. Hinckley.

*The film claims that a "spirit" appeared to Joseph Smith and told him to bring a piece of his dead brother Alvin's body, like a hand, to the Hill Cumorah so he could obtain the Gold Plates. The video shows pictures of Joseph Smith and the Angel Moroni, a picture of a replica of the Gold Plates (from which The Book of Mormon was translated), and a photo of a skeleton (I suppose to represent Alvin's dead body).

COMMENT: Decker got the story about Alvin Smith's dead hand being dug up on Moroni's instruction from "The Salamander Letter"; a letter forged and fabricated by Mark Hofmann; a man later convicted of hundreds of forgeries and double-homicide! Decker actually used a KNOWN fabricated letter as evidence for this claim! AMAZING! Mark Hofmann CONFESSED to fabricating the letter only months after forensic experts discovered it was a forgery! This was in 1986! "The God Makers II" was produced in 1989-1991 (final editing in 1992) and released in 1992; MANY years after "The Salamander Letter" was PROVED to be a FAKE! How in the world did Decker think he could get by with this? Easy! Decker knew that not 1 in 10,000 Evangelicals KNOW the Mark Hofmann story. They simply DO NOT KNOW that Decker is using evidence from a known and confessed forgery! Amazing, isn't it?

Several Evangelicals in Utah, who KNEW that the Salamander Letter was a fake, later wrote to Decker and asked him why "The God Makers II" used a forgery as "evidence" against Mormonism. Decker replied that there was "other evidence" outside of the Salamander Letter which said that Joseph Smith dug-up Alvin's body and cut off his hand and took it to the Hill Cumorah. When they asked where this was Ed Decker said it would be "published soon". In 1994 Decker published a small article by an anti-Mormon who offered as "evidence" the Salamander Letter!

Yes! Believe it or not. But believe it, because it's TRUE!

And he gets away with it!

And HOW!

The God Makers books

The God Makers book is basically a "cut-and-paste" collage of anti-Mormon literature often taken "bodily" from anti-Mormon books; especially Jerald and Sandra Tanner's Mormonism~Shadow or Reality? The Tanners have basically proved that whoever wrote The God Makers took a copy of their Mormonism~Shadow or Reality?, cut it up into sections, pasted these cut-ups on cut-up boards, mixed the boards around (to try to hide the plagarism), and then wrote directly from the boards; adding comments here and there plus a Luciferian/Masonic/Mormon/End-times-Anti-christ world-take-over conspiracy-theory.

The only unique item in The God Makers book is the CONSPIRACY THEORY!

In The God Makers book 'Mormonism' is presented as part of an International Luciferian/Masonic Conspiracy to take over the United States, then the World, and then install the end-times Anti-christ as the World Leader. How does "Mormonism" fit into this worldwide conspiracy? Well, are there not Mormons in politics and law enforcement? Are there not Mormon judges and congressmen and senators? Don't Mormons want to convert the world to Mormonism?

There ya go!

The conspiracy-theory of The God Makers book goes like this:

*Lucifer is the Devil (Satan). He told Eve "Ye shall be as gods". This was the BIG LIE. Mormons believe they can become "gods". They believe Lucifer's Big Lie; the "Grand Lie of Lucifer".

*When Adam and Eve accepted the Grand Lie, Lucifer became the god of this world. He started the pagan Mystery Religions of antiquity in order to perpetuate his "Grand Lie". These Mystery Schools were set-up in opposition to God's Prophets; Abraham, Moses, etc., who taught people "You are not gods nor shall never be gods!"

*In the 18th century (1700s) Lucifer started Freemasony; which is just a "modern" version of his Mystery Schools; couched deceptively in biblical language and symbols, but still teaching the "Grand Lie" of Lucifer. Anyone who becomes a Mason is helping Lucifer establish his New World Order and ultimately helping usher in the End-Times Anti-christ.

*Joseph Smith was a fraud and charlatan who pretended to see treasures under the earth in stones as a way to scam people out of their money, but at the same time he was used by Lucifer, posing as an angel of light, to start Mormonism. Why start Mormonism? Lucifer wanted a Church to try to deceive Christians into helping him and his cause. So, he created "Mormonism" out of Freemasonry; in order to get gullible Christians to leave Christianity and join his legions.

*Mormons are in fact NOT Christians, and they are well-aware they are not Christians but just "pretend" to be Christians in order to convert real Christians.

*Mormons store a TWO-YEAR SUPPLY of food, guns, and ammunition, hoping and waiting for the day when they will take over, by force, the United States. Then they will take over the world, and usher in the End-Times Anti-christ. Mormons work with other cult organizations, like the Moonies, for the same goal.

*Luciferians are in the background of the wouldwide "Luciferian" conspiracy. In the foreground are Freemasons who recruit politicians and men in government and business and education. Then there is Mormonism which tries to recruit unsuspecting Christians; all for the same evil satanic Luciferian goals of final world domination and introduction of the end-times Anti-christ.

That is the conspiracy-theory of The God Makers book! It is the central thread that runs throughout the book.

Comments

Here are my comments on The God Makers conspiracy-theory:

1) The Serpent in the Garden did not lie when he said "Ye shall be AS gods, knowing good and evil." The LORD Himself said:

"Behold, the man has become as one of us, knowing good and evil." (Gen. 3:22)

All of the Early Church Fathers (the ancient Christian writers such as St. Irenaeus, St. Augustine, Clement of Rome, Clement of Alexandria, etc.) taught that the very purpose of Christianity was to turn men and women "into gods". All Eastern Orthodox Churches still teach this! C.S. Lewis, the most popular Christian writer in English ever, taught this. Some modern Evangelical preachers teach this.

2) The conspiracy-theory part of The God Makers book is very similar to the Nazi and White-supremacist "conspiracy-theory". In the Nazi/White-suprematic conspiracy-theory we have Lucifer establishing the mystery schools, and then Freemasonry; which is used by secret Zionist Jews as a way to control nations and then eventually the world! This conspiracy-theory actually was believed by a large number of Germans during the Depression, and helped get the Nazis into power. Today, this conspiracy-theory is believed by a large number of Muslims around the world, and inspired the 9-11 attacks and other terrorist attacks.

Ed Decker once contributed to a book by "Col. Jack Mohr"; a well-known anti-Semite and white-supremacist. Mohr is a Brig.General in the "Christian Defense League"; a group that Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh once belonged to. The book Decker contributed to was The Hidden Power of Freemasonry by Jack Mohr, and published by Mohr. In Mohr's writings he equates "Negroes" with sub-human souless "beasts of the field" created solely to serve whites.

"The God Makers" films (videos) were produced by Jeremiah Films of Hemet, California. Jeremiah Films produces a number of videos on conspiracy theories, and has close ties to the "Christian Patriot Movement"; an organization with ties to White-supremacist groups that teach a Luciferian/Masonic/Zionist worldwide conspiracy.

All this is rather ironic since Decker LOVES to portray the Mormon Church as "racist" and "anti-black".

3) Evidence for the conspiracy-theory rests upon the writings of Manly Hall; a Freemason who is also a Gnostic. The Gnostics believe that Jehovah is the evil creator-god, but that Jesus was sent by the "Unknown Father" to free humanity from the evil Jehovah; who created matter in order to "trap" spirits (i.e.humans) to make them his slaves. Decker and Hunt quote Manly Hall numerous times in The God Makers book to "prove" that Freemasonry came from the Mystery Schools, and ultimately from Lucifer.

But....

They DO NOT quote Manly Hall when Hall writes that "Christianity" also came from the Mystery Schools, and Jesus was initiated into a Mystery School in Egypt. This would, of course, BLOW their entire theory! So, they quote Hall when it suites them, and they ignore Hall (certainly NOT letter the unwary Reader know) when he contradicts their own beliefs!

The Freemasonry that Joseph Smith belonged to was York Rite (Royal Arch) Freemasonry. There "is" a Gnostic type of "Freemasonry" in Europe (called "Continental" Masonry) which is considered "false" Masonry by York (Royal Arch) and Scottish Rite Masons. York and Scottish Rite Masons refuse to fellowship with "Continental" Masons (otherwise known as "Grand Orient" Masons). In fact, there is no evidence (other than the writings of Manly Hall) that Freemasonry came from the Mystery Schools. There is not one shred of evidence that "Lucifer" started the Mystery Schools. The Mystery Schools of the ancient world encouraged initiates to be honest and moral. Why would Lucifer (the Devil) want this?

The Mystery Schools of the ancient Greek and Roman world came from similar schools in Persia; which were founded by the Magi; the "wise men" of Persia who were followers of the Persian prophet Zoroaster. It was a prophecy of Zoroaster that sent some wise men to worship Jesus as is recorded in the Gospels. Why would "Luciferians" wish to worship Jesus and offer Him gifts?

Freemasonry came NOT from the Mystery Schools, but from the Order of the Temple of Solomon; which was originally the Order of the Poor Soldiers of Christ. It was originally an order of warrior-monks who defended Christian pilgrims to the Holy Land during the Dark Ages. It was an order of Christian warrior-monks, but included cooks, servants, scribes, priests, and stonemasons who built castles and other works for the Order.

After the Order was persecuted in the 13th century some Knight Templars fled to Scotland. The stonemasons of the Order (stonemasons were needed to build the knights castles) later formed a brotherhood of their own which eventually became open to non-stonemasons. This became Free Masonry.

What Ed Decker and Dave Hunt did in The God Makers was to take an old anti-Semitic conspiracy-theory and cross out "Zionist" and "Jewish" and write in "Mormon" and "Mormonism".

4) Mormons store food in case of local or national emergency. This is known as "food storage". They are NOT commanded or asked to store guns and ammunition! Mormons know of no plan to take over the United States. Mormons DO wish to convert the World, but not take it over by force or deception.

5) Anti-Mormons are (or at least claim to be) Evangelical Christians, and they do not believe it is possible to lose their salvation once they have been saved ("once-saved-always-saved"). So, by their own belief, Mormons cannot deceive them into becoming Mormons! Why then anti-Mormon literature? [Ans. to make $$$ for professional anti-Mormons! ;~) ]

6) Anti-Mormons are or at least claim to be Evangelical Christians who believe in one God (Jehovah), and deny the existence of all other gods. The name "Lucifer" in many English Bibles is simply a translation of the Hebrew/Canaanite name "HEYLEYL" ("Shining One"); a pagan Canaanite "god" who, in Canaanite myth, tries to ascend above all other stars (the Canaanites believed the stars were gods) and sit upon the Throne of El; the chief father-god of the Canaanites. Instead of sitting upon El's throne, Heyleyl is cast out of Heaven. According to Evangelical Christian belief LUCIFER (Heyleyl) CANNOT EXIST! Since there is no God but Jehovah, the Canaanite god Heyleyl cannot have any existence of any kind. In other words, in Evangelical theology, Lucifer does not exist! If Lucifer does not exist, then there can be NO "Luciferian" conspiracy! If Lucifer does not exist, then he could NOT have been the Serpent in the Garden of Eden! In Mormon theology, El is the Father, and Heyleyl is one of His sons, and the Canaanite myth of Heyleyl is basically a true story (although somewhat corrupted) that was told by Adam to his children and handed down from one generation to another.

7) For the conspiracy-theory of The God Makers book to be true...

*Lucifer MUST exist, but he can't in Evangelical theology which teaches that none of the Canaanite gods (except perhaps for El=Jehovah) exist.

*Lucifer MUST have established the Mystery Schools. Not likely since the prophet Daniel was once a "Rab Mag" (see Daniel chapter 5); a chief of one school in Babylon, and the three Wise Men were also members. That's right, the Prophet Daniel was the HEAD of the Mystery School of Babylon! He did not refuse this appointment; although he refused to eat unkosher food even when threatened with death.

*Lucifer's "Grand Lie" MUST have been "Ye shall be as gods". This was NOT his lie, for the LORD Himself says, "Behold, the man has become as one of us, knowing good and evil." (Gen. 3:22)

*Freemasonry MUST have been established by the Mystery Schools. The only one who even claims this is Manly Hall, who also claims that "Christianity" was established by the Mystery Schools, and Jesus was a member of one in Egypt (which Decker and Hunt NEVER let the Reader know).

The Conspiracy-Theory portion of The God Makers book simply DOES NOT WORK! It is a pious fraud created to scare and dupe Evangelicals and make them contribute financially to Decker and Saints Alive. It is based upon old anti-Semitic conspiracy-theory used by the Nazis and still used by White-supremacists and extremist Muslim fanatics.

Has it worked?

Yes! Hundreds of thousands, if not MILLIONS of Evangelical Christians truly believe in the International Luciferian/Masonic/Mormon conspiracy; thanks to "The God Makers" book and films.

General Claims in The God Makers Book

Besides the conspiracy-theory The God Makers book simply follows general anti-Mormon claims. In fact, Jerald and Sandra Tanner, two professonal anti-Mormon researchers and publishers in Salt Lake City, have PROVED that whoever wrote The God Makers book plagarized directly from their magnus opus Mormonism~Shadow or Reality? They simply cut-up the Tanner's book into sections, pasted the sections on storyboards, rearranged the boards to try to hide the plagarism, then wrote directly from the storyboads; adding comments here and there. The Tanners show irrefutable evidence of this in their publication Serious Charges Against the Tanners. A new expanded edition of The God Makers book was released by Harvest House Publishers which had additional information, but also covered-up the plagarism evidence.

The book's basic claims (outside of the conspiracy-theory) are:

*Joseph Smith was teller of tall tales, and pretended to look through a stone to find buried treasure.

*Joseph Smith lied about a religious revival in 1820 in Palmyra.

*Joseph Smith started polygamy to gratify his lusts and later lied about practicing it.

*Joseph Smith claimed to be greater than Jesus Christ.

*Mormons pretend to worship Jesus to outsiders but they really worship Joseph Smith as their Lord and Savior.

*Joseph Smith and Brigham Young had "Danites" kill anyone who criticized them.

*Mormon assassins (Danites) kill anti-Mormon critics if they can.

*Mormonism comes from Freemasonry, and this is why the rites are so similar.

Freemasonry comes from the occult, which come from the ancient Mystery Schools; which were founded by Lucifer at Babylon.

*Joseph Smith was a hypocrite who stole people's money and violated the Word of Wisdom (i.e. he drank wine and beer and smoked cigars)

*The Mormon Church has billions of dollars and controls many companies and corporations.

*Utah is mosly Mormon but higher in divorce, alcoholism, teen-age pregnancy, suicide, drug-use, etc.

*The Book of Abraham is a fraud.

*The Kinderhook Plates were a fraud and fooled Joseph Smith into translating them.

*The Book of Mormon is a fraud and archaeological evidence is against it but the Mormon Church tries to use archaeology to promote it.

*Mormon missionaries are trained to deliberately deceive Christians; to deliberate lie and deceptively use "Christian" terminology which speaking with Christians.

*etc. Here are answers I gave while I was a Mormon Apologist (defender of the faith):

1) While rumors had Joseph Smith "peeping" for buried treasure, reliable reports said that Joseph Smith and his father and brothers were merely laborers (diggers) in money-digging (hired by others), and that Sally Chase was the "peeper" on the treasure-seeking digs; NOT Joseph Smith Jr. Joseph used the seerstone to find lost and stoken objects, and was quite successful at this; his enemies claiming he "stole" items just to "find" them with his "peepstone" (seerstone). Is this unbiblical? The Prophet Samuel, in the Old Testament, was also a "seer" and had the ability to find lost sheep. This is how he met Saul; later king of Israel. Saul went to Samuel to help him find his lost sheep.

2) There WAS a religious revival in Manchester and around the area where the Smith's lived in 1820, but not in the village of Palmyra (for that year). Evidence shows that Joseph Smith's family had a "beer and sweetcake" concenssion at many of these 1819-1820 revivals; with Joseph Smith Jr. working at as a cashier. This explains why he, as a 14 year old boy, would have been at so many religious camp-meetings; some 30 miles from his home. Joseph Smith Jr. NEVER CLAIMED the 1819-1820 revivals were in the village of Palmyra! At that time the village had only one church (Congregationalist). Yet, Mormon scholars have PROVED that there were at least a dozen religious revival camp-meetings (held in forest clearings) within 30 miles of the Smith farm in 1819-1820; the time Joseph Smith claimed.

3) Joseph Smith denied the Church practiced "a community of wives". In his day "polygamy" was a term for "free love" or what is now referred to as "polyamory". Today, "polygamy" means having more than one wife, and does NOT refer to "free love". So, YES...Joseph Smith DID deny the Church, or he, practiced "polygamy". Joseph Smith did keep the practice of plural marriage (a plurality of wives) a secret; in fear of persecution. For fear of persecution Martin Luther LIED about telling Phillip of Hesse (his mentor) to take an additional wife and then denying it. For fear of persecution Peter LIED by denying Jesus three times. For fear of persecution Abraham LIED (or rather told a "half-truth") by saying of his wife, "She is my sister" both while he was in Egypt and again while in Canaan. Paul, when brought before the Sanhedrin, feared being stoned to death for being a "Nazarene", so he said, "I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharises". That was a LIE! Even prophets are still just sinful, fearful, men.

4) Joseph Smith NEVER claimed to be greater than Jesus, but claimed to have done "a greater work" by keeping the Church together. Jesus said that His disciples would do "greater works" than Him! (John 14:12). Joseph Smith considered himself a sinner and FAR INFERIOR to Jesus, as is expressed in his comments about Jesus in comparison to himself (see THE MORMON FAITH UN-DECKER-ATED: Is Ed Decker Telling the TRUTH About Mormonism?)

5) Mormons DO NOT see Joseph Smith as their true Lord and Savior. Another BIG LIE by Decker.

6) Mormons DO NOT pretend to be Christians only to attract "Christians" to the Church! Another absurd BIG LIE by Decker.

7) The "Danites" existed as a defence force in Missouri in the 1830s against Anti-Mormon mobs, but were disbanded after Sampson Avard, a Mormon convert, used the group for personal gain and personal glory. The Danites 'may' have continued as a secret combination within the Church, but there is no evidence that Church leaders approved or directed them after Avard was excommunicated. It is possible that the "Danites" were behind horse-thievery (against other Mormons) in early Utah, and tried to assassinate Brigham Young after he advocated "killing thieves" (i.e. killing "Danites"). The only "witnesses" that the Danites were Church-directed was The Confessions of John D. Lee (an OBVIOUS fake written by Lee's lawyer after he died), and Brigham's Destroying Angel; whose author Bill Hickman, a convicted murderer, later admitted was "fiction"; written to make money.

8) Mormon and Freemasonic temple rites are very similar (in certain respects) because, according to Joseph Smith, Freemasonry was a "corruption" of the Higher Priesthood; just as Catholicism was a "corruption" of the Lesser Priesthood. Catholicism is a corruption of the Aaronic Priesthood and Freemasonry was a corruption of the Melchizedek Priesthood. In other words, Freemasonic rites were ancient Christian rituals "corrupted" over millenia, but restored to purity as part of the "Restoration of all things".

9) The Mormon Church does have "billions" of dollars, and owns a lot, but so what? Is one man or set-of-men benefiting? Mormon apostles make decent salaries, but no set-of-men or families have become wealthy because the Mormon Church has billions. Most of the "billions" are locked up in real-estate and in churches, temples, and schools.

10) Utah has about the national average in divorce and suicide. Utah is 70% "Mormon", but half of the "Mormons" in Utah don't go to Church; nor follow Mormon laws. In actuality, active Mormons are a minority (about 30%) of Utahns. Utah has lower rates of alcoholism than all other states. In Utah, people would report a child of 12 alone at home unattended for a few hours each day as "child abuse" while in New York or Chicago this would not at all be reported as "abuse"; so a slightly higher number of "child abuse" reports are not indicative of greater abuse. Teen-pregnancy is higher in Utah than most other states because of a very low abortion rate in Utah, and a very high rate of teen-age marriage. Illegal drug-use is low in Utah. Prescription drug-use is higher than average perhaps because alcohol and illegal drug use is much lower and people with depression in Utah turn to prescription drugs rather than alcohol or illegal drugs for self-medication.

11) The Book of Abraham is a revelation to Joseph Smith. It is not a "translation" of the Joseph Smith Papyrus; which is a pagan Book of Breathings document. Joseph Smith's interpretations of the symbols in Hypocephalus are mostly correct. Joseph Smith identified the pagan god Osiris with Abraham. However, some scholars now believe that the Egyptian god O-SHAR (Greek: "Osiris")--the "Eastern Prince"--is in fact based upon Abraham; who, according to Josephus, taught the ancient Egyptians astronomy (something Osiris supposedly did).

12) The "Chicago Plate" ("discovered" in 1920) is a fake; admittedly. It was NOT part of the original Kinderhook Plates; of which Joseph Smith "translated a portion". The Chicago Plate is a different size, has different symbols, and was not one of the original Kinderhook Plates. The symbols on the Kinderhook Plates are very similar to the Byblos Script. The provinance (line-of-ownship) of the "Chicago Plate" and the original Kinderhook Plates also strongly suggests the "Chicago Plate" is a FAKE alone and not the original Kinderhook Plates.

13) The Mormon Church DOES NOT try to use archaeology to "prove" the Book of Mormon is true! Just the opposite. Another BIG LIE by Decker. There is no evidence of the Nephites in America. True. There is also NO EVIDENCE that the Isrealites were ever in Egypt; much less lived there (by the millions) for 450 years! Does that mean the Bible isn't true? I think not. While archaeological evidence is lacking, the ancient American native histories of Ixtilxoquitl ("Ishtil-show-kee-til") and other native writers, DO have parallels in the Book of Mormon.

14) Mormons missionaries are NOT "deliberately trained to deceive Christians into thinking they are Christians by using Christian terminology". Mormon missionaries sincerely believe they ARE Christians. There are no "two sets" of terminology. Yet another BIG LIE by Decker; one that has angered some Evangelicals so much they have threatened and in some cases physically assaulted Mormon missionaries.

You can read a 35-page 13-point detailed response to Decker's major anti-Mormon claims I wrote a number of years ago in:

THE MORMON FAITH UN-"DECKER"-ATED: Is Decker Telling the TRUTH About Mormonism?

It is estimated that over 12 million people saw viewings of The God Makers film, and tens of thousands of more have rented the videos. Perhaps up to 750,000 or more have read The God Makers books (I and II).

Gilbert Scharffs, a Mormon Institute teacher, wrote a reply to The God Makers book titled The TRUTH About 'The God Makers' in which he found:

Repetition of charges from once to several times...169
Statements that are not true...141
Unwarranted conclusions based upon facts...131
Misinterpreted statements...123
Exaggerated statements...119
Broad generalizations...48
Significant quotes or charges without documentation...47
Historical material quoted out of context which altered the meaning...39
Scriptures quoted out of context or paraphrased which altered the meaning...18
Footnotes references that were not where they were indicated...7
Wrong footnote because the source copied by the authors had the wrong footnote also...5

Scharffs found over "600" major errors in The God Makers book.

The God Makers II book was later published which closely followed the "The God Makers II" film. It was so bad and so inaccurate that other anti-Mormons like Jerald and Sandra Tanner wrote expose's of it in a publication called Problems in The God Makers II. Decker's associate in "The God Makers" film, Richard Bear, disassociated himself from Decker and the second film and book. Bear was later interviewed by the Sacramento Union, and is quoted as saying:

"Ed has a penchant to sensationalize, embellish the facts, and center on bizaar issues to shock people." (The Sacremento Union, Dec. 26, 1992)

What I have written above I KNOW to be true! What I write here under "Rumors" I have every reason to believe to be true, and I don't KNOW they are true.

Anti-Mormons use rumors, even those they KNOW to be false, against Joseph Smith, the Church, and their Mormon adversaries. Rumors are "true" if they "work" for them. Anything negative against Joseph Smith, or Brigham Young, or any modern Mormon apostle, or any Mormon apologist THEY PRESENT AS ABSOLUTE "FACT"; regardless of it is true or not.

Mormon apologists, on the other hand, simply don't publish rumors. They may share them with other Mormon apologists, but they don't "publish" them. Why? Because Mormon apologists don't wish to publish anything they don't absolutely KNOW to be true as "truth". But I will brake the mold here. I will publish the following rumors about Ed Decker as rumors. These are things I believe to be true, but don't know absolutely that they are true.

Sexual Liaisons

Robert and Rosemary Brown, the Mormon authors of They Lie In Wait To Deceive series told me several times that they had heard of quite a few women Decker had had affairs with both before and AFTER his 'conversion' to Evangelical Christianity. They contacted as many as they could find. Not all wanted to speak. Some were quite afraid of Decker. Months afterward Decker discovered this was happening, and apparently he contacted these women and threatened them. Several had dead cats placed on their doorsteps; one with a noose around it's neck. The Browns wanted to get affidavits from several women he had had affairs with after he married his "Christian" wife, but after telephone calls and dead cats they were no longer interested in helping. The Browns never mentioned these women in their expose' of Decker: volume 4 of They Lie In Wait To Deceive. They don't mention anything they can't thoroughly document.

When Decker knew I had information about his adulterous affairs AFTER becoming a "Christian" and staring Saints Alive, and I was threatening to send such information to the Tanners (who were having a 'war' with him at the time) Decker sent a man to my home to see me. He knocked on my door and asked to speak with me, because he had a "message" for me. I openned some slats on a window next to the door and asked him what the message was and who it was from. He said, "Come out and I'll tell you!" He wasn't standing on my porch, but on the lawn about 5 feet away. Immediately I called 911 (because I was getting late-night death-threat phonecalls at that time). Police came in about 3 minutes, and one spoke to the man and the other talked with me. The man had on him a .38 revolver; loaded. They discovered he was a private investigator. They asked him who he worked for and he refused to say. Then they threatened to arrest him for harassment unless he told them. He said Ed Decker had hired him to deliver a message in person (i.e. for me to "leave Ed alone and stop harrassing him"). Police gave me the man's card. I discovered later he was the only P.I. listed in the Christian Business Pages for Puget Sound for that year (1991).

Why did Decker send an armed man to my door with a "message". Ed had my address and telephone number. Why not a letter? Why did I have to "come out" to "get the message"? This is PURE DECKER! This is the way he operates.

*When I visited the Browns in Arizona for one week in 1985 they showed me many letters they had received from all over the U.S. The letters all had clippings from various newspapers; articles about entire families or children being murdered; with red ink underlining "children" and "murdered". These letters all had no return address, and the postmarks came drom different parts of the U.S. They received these letters after they announced they were working on a book exposing Decker as a fraud.

*After "The God Makers" film was released a Mormon living in Los Angeles named Robert Starling wrote up a 13 page typed response called Errors in The God Makers Film. His paper was not copyrighted, and Mormon Apologists began making photocopies of it and sharing it with each other (this was before the Internet). Decker got a copy of it and became ENRAGED. Nowhere did the paper mention Decker's adulteries nor anything personally against Decker. It didn't even call Decker a "liar". It simply made a number of points in the film which were "inaccurate". Decker sued Robert Starling, his wife, his bishop, his bishops wife, his Stake President, his Stake President's wife, and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for defamation of character; asking for 11 million dollars in damages.

Starling hired an attorney and went to court, and it was immediately dismissed. Decker then told his followers that the judge was a Mormon (a lie), and then said the judge had been "paid off" by the Mormon Church (VERY unlikely!). Then he sued Starling AGAIN! Again, the case was summarily dismissed.

Then a paper appeared, typed on a new typewriter, with Robert Starling's name (not signature) on the bottom of the last sheet. It was exactly the same before, but this one called Decker a "liar" and said Decker had been "excommunicated for adultery". Decker sued a THIRD time! Robert Starling testified that he never saw this new edition of his paper until the third lawsuit, and he did not write those things against Decker. No Mormon apologist ever had a copy of the "2nd edition". Where did it come from? Starling said he didn't, and wouldn't have, written it. The third suit again was dismissed, but only after Starling had spent tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees to defend himself. Decker came away a winner; because Evangelicals were sending him tens of thousands of dollars a month in this "legal battle against he Mormon Church".

Every Mormon apologist KNOWS that Decker uses threats (often via go-betweens), vexious lawsuits, vicious false rumors, and like means to silence his critics; whether they be Mormons OR Evangelicals! He presents himself as a "Man of God", but he is IN FACT a vicious, ruthless, violent, spiteful, and vengeful individual who BLOWS UP in the face of the least amount of criticism!

I heard from James Carver, author of The Mormon Faith Un-Decker-Ated, first published as a booklet in 1983, that a woman who had worked for him, an ex-Mormon nurse who worked at Overlake Hospital, had once worked as Decker' secretary but left because of Decker's extramarital affairs and "strange voices" that sometimes came out of him. The Mormon Faith Un-Decker-Ated contains none of this.

Scam-Artist?

I was told both by the Browns and by Carver (who do not know each other) that Ed Decker has lived all over the U.S., and for most of the 19 years he claimed to be a 'Temple Mormon' he was in fact inactive except to come out to church briefly and meet Mormons and get them interested in get-rich-quick schemes, then take-the-money-and-run. Carver told me that a year after he published The Mormon Faith Un-Decker-Ated a bishop in the Chicago area contacted him and told him he "should have exed him [Decker]" when Decker was a member of his ward years and years back because of adultery (his Mormon wife was active) and his embezzlement of funds he collected from some Members in the ward.

Decker has claimed that he was very wealthy as a Mormon, but after becoming a "Christian" he gave up his "jet-set and country-club" life to be in "poverty for Jesus" because he had a "burden for the Mormon people". Rumor has it that Decker was a scam-artist who would con Mormons in get-rich-quick scemes then move to another state with the funds; only to show up in another city and another ward with the same pyramid sceme. This was in the late 50s and 60s when such schemes were not generally known. Decker seems to have been some sort of pioneer of them.

Prophet of God?

James Carver told me that the woman, the nurse, who had once been Ed's secretary at--then--Ex-Mormons for Jesus--told him that when he first started Ex-Mormons for Jesus Ed would have prayer meetings where they would meet on their knees in a circle in his home and Ed would speak in the name of the Lord, or speak as if the Lord Himself was speaking! I heard the very same thing from Steve Mayfield; an independent Mormon apologist who once "infiltrated" EMFJ back in the late '70s to spy upon them. Steve was a former clerk with the FBI, a staunch Mormon, and wanted to "spy" on anti-Mormon groups to see what they were up to. He told me that Decker would speak as if he was a Prophet. He would speak as the Lord. It was Steve who eventually convinced Decker to drop Tom Kellie because of Kellie's bizaar behavior; a decision he now regrets because Decker may not have been as popular as he became if he would have kept promoting Kellie.

NOTE: Steve Mayfield took the pseudonym "Stan Fields" to spy upon various anti-Mormon groups during the mid and late 70s. He even passed out anti-Mormon tracts at Temple Square as a way to win the trust of anti-Mormons. His cover was later blown when Jerald and Sandra Tanner found him working at the Church history dept. Steve was never asked to spy by the Church, but did this on his own. The Tanners later exposed his spying activities and wrote a booklet called Unmasking a Mormon Spy.

Co-conspirator?

Rosemary Brown had a rich ailing mother named Barbara. Back about 1986 Barbara (then 96) was literally kidnapped from the Brown's home in Mesa, Arizona. The Browns would later learn that a man came to the home when the Browns were not there and told Barbara that her grandaughter was in an accident, and to come with him. She did. Barbara was held for 4 months against her will; until rescued by police.

While Barbara was still captive the Browns received letters typed and signed by Barbara saying she did not want them looking for her and that they should cease looking for her and that she wanted nothing further to do with them. At the anti-Mormon "Capstone Conference" in 1986, in Park City, Utah, an anti-Mormon from Arizona read a "statement" from Barbara which stated:

*Robert and Rosemary Browns were liars and thieves and tried to steal her money.

*The Browns kept her against her will at their home and forced drugs into her which made her unable to leave.

*She was now "free" and did not wish any further contact with the Browns.

This was read at the Capstone Conference, and the anti-Mormon who read it keep saying (this was taped and I later listened to this Saints Alive tape) "Ed, do you want me to read more?" and "Ed, is that enough?"

About a month after the Capstone Conference Rosemary Brown got a call from Barbara, who was crying and saying, "Please come get me!" The Browns called the police, and the operator had the called traced to an apartment outside of Phoenix. Police rushed to the apartment and found Barbara in a small apartment, dirty and disheveled. A young woman was with her. They arrested the young woman, who confessed to helping a man named Ray Samora kidnap Barbara. Ray Samora was a man with a long criminal record in the Phoenix area. Ray Samora was not there, and fled, they believe, to Mexico. The young woman had left Barbara to go to the store to get some cigarettes, and this was Barbara's chance to call her daughter Rosemary.

Barbara told police that she was taken by deception because she was told her granddaughter was in the hospital. She was kept at the apartment against her will, and forced to sign documents put in front of her or else not get food or water.

The Browns knew that anti-Mormons would use the forged documents against them forever, so they had the entire police interview with Barbara videotaped.

Police got the telephone records for the apartment, which were in Ray Samora's name. They found many telephone calls on them. The Browns got copies of these records, and found telephone calls from the kidnap apartment to the unlisted telephone numbers of Walter R. Martin (anti-Mormon and founder of the Christian Research Institute) and Ed Decker; founder of Saints Alive in Jesus.

The Browns had published an expose' of Walter Martin, and they were then working on an expose' of Ed Decker; which they later published.

Neither Walter Martin nor Ed Decker was charged with any crime in this matter. Ray Samora is still at-large.

Months later a man with a mask and knife tried to kidnap one of the Brown's daughters while she was in her car in the Brown family carport, but she punched the accelerator in reverse, turned the wheel, and the man flew out the door, rolled on the pavement for awhile, got up and ran away.

How did Ed Decker get a copy of a forged document written by the kidnapper Ray Samora? Ed Decker used these documents--purportedly from Rosemary's Brown's mother--in an effort to smear and discredit them.

Why was the UNlisted and Unpublished private telephone number of Ed Decker's home near Issaquah, Washington, on Ray Samora's kidnap apartment telephone bill?

It was clear to police that Samora had plans to get rid of Babara and bury her body in the desert. Her disappearance would then be blamed on the Browns!!!

The Browns did eventually publish They Lie In Wait To Deceive Volume 4; which only a few thousand Mormons bought, and anti-Mormons dismissed without comment or consideration.

Decker on Mormon Miscellaneous

Two Utah Mormons, Van Hale and Bill Forrest, had for years hosted a weekly radio program in Salt Lake City called "Mormon Miscellaneous". It started simply as a discussion of anything "Mormon" but developed into a radio show that answered anti-Mormon claims; since most of their non-mormon callers would try to "stump" them with anti-Mormon questions. Kevin Graham, a Mormon Apologist, writes of one particular incident when they had Ed Decker on as a guest:

"A number of years ago I appeared on the KBBX (Bountiful, Utah) religious radio talkshow Mormon Miscellaneous, which was hosted by Bill Forrest and Van Hale. This was before that station was bought by a devout Baptist, who instructed the station manager to CAN that "evil, non-Christian pro-Mormon show." The show's airtime was mid-morning, ending just before lunch. Consequently, Bill and Van had a long-standing practice of taking the guest to lunch after the show. When they took me to lunch, the conversation turned to Ed Decker, who had also been a past guest on Mormon Miscellaneous. Bill and Van told me a remarkable story about their conversation with Ed when they took him to lunch. A major thrust of Ed's anti-Mormon campaign had been to portray the LDS priesthood as a tool of Satan, and to misrepresent the meaning and practice of both the priesthood and the temple. While they were at lunch, Bill asked Ed why he misrepresented these aspects of the LDS faith. They pointed out to him that he had been a Member [Mormon], had held the priesthood, and had been though the Temple [i.e. gone through the Temple Endowment Ceremony], so he KNEW for a fact taht the things he was saying [about the priesthood and temple ceremony] wasn't so. His response to Bill and Van was, "When you are fighting the Devil's church, anything goes!" (Who is Ed Decker?, p.1 online)

Decker's only active Mormon son, Jeff, told me in 1981 that he (Jeff) believed his father was working with Lucifer. He told me that his father would tell him that he had almost nightly discussions with "the Master" and they would discuss "how to destroy Mormonism". Jeff said he was very skeptical until one day he was in the hall of his father's house and heard Ed talking with another man. When he openned the door Ed was alone. Jeff asked, "Who was that man you were talking with?" Ed replied, "That was the Master!"

Johnny Todd (Where Decker Got His Conspiracy-Theory)

I have often wondered where Decker got his conspiracy-theory. Then I discovered that at about the time Decker started EMFJ (now Saints Alive in Jesus) there was a man named John Todd who was quite popular among Evangelical Christians all over America. He arose in 1973 claiming to be a new Christian who had once been a "Grand Druid" of the Illuminati; a member of the "Council of 13" Grand Druids which controlled all other druids/witches/warlocks in North America. John Todd presented a vary elaborate conspiracy-theory which went something like this:

*The Rothschilds (European Jewish bankers)control as vast network of secret and semi-secret organizations which include the Illuminati, the Council of 13, the Committee of 300, the CFR, the Trilateral Commission, international banks, the UN, Wicca, Freemasonry, the "cults", etc. All are working for the Rothschilds.

*The Rothschilds will create a fuel shortage, confescate all firearms in America, and then try to kill all Bible-believing Christians.

*Todd knows all this because he, a man in his mid-20s, was a Grand Druid, a member of the Illuminati, and a member of the Council of 13; the presiding witch council in North America.

*Todd was with Presidential candidate George McGovern when McGovern (a secret Druid himself) sacrificed a child to Satan.

*Todd claimed that before becoming a Druid he was a decorated Green Beret in Vietnam, and graduated from Duke University. Todd claims that when his commanding officer discovered he (Todd) was dambling in the occult he killed him in Germany!

*Todd claimed that while he was a Witch and Druid he was the sole owner of Zodiac Records, which had "95%" (included the Beatles, etc.) of all rock and country-music acts under contract. He inducted most rock and country-western bands into Witchcraft.

*Todd urges Christians to arm themselves, store 2 to 5 years supply of food, water, and ammunition, and prepare wilderness fortifications. [NOTE: This is probably where Ed got his idea--a LIE--to claim that Mormons are commanded to store TWO-YEARS of food, water, guns, and ammunition, in order to take over the U.S. Government when the Mormon Prophet says, "GO!"]

*President Jimmy Carter is the Anti-christ, and will push-through legislation to ban firearms and remove tax-exemption for all Bible-believing churches.

*Todd later said that Henry Kissenger was the Anti-Christ.

Todd first appeared at pentecostal churches in Texas, and then in Phoenix, Arizona. He would give talks about the worldwide "Luciferian/Masonic/Illuminati" conspiracy, and people would tape the talk, and then other people would make copies of the tape. Within only a few years there were tens of thousands of Todd casette tapes being passed around, and hundreds of Evangelical pastors asking Todd to come to their own church to speak! Todd was given a fee to speak at every church.

In the late 70s however, Todd's speeches became even more bizaar. He started to say that the Charismatic movement was "part" of the overall conspiracy; specifically naming Chuck Smith of Calvary Chapel, Melodyland Christian Center in Anaheim, California, and others. Finally, in 1978, Todd said that he'd been shot at many times, and poisoned. The Illuminati was after to kill him. He didn't care about himself, he was ready to die for the Lord. However, he had a wife and a child. He would go into hiding for them.

Soon afterwards several expose's came out about Johnny Todd. They were:

*John Todd: Severely Disturbed Individual (Last Times newspaper, March, 1979)

*The Legend(s) of John Todd (CHRISTIANITY TODAY, Feb. 2, 1979)

After Todd began to call prominent some Evangelicals ministers "secret witches" and part of the Luciferian/Illuminati conspiracy, there were Evangelical journalists who began to look into Todd's background. Here is what they found:

*Todd was a dropout who was never in Vietnam. He did live briefly in Germany, but killed nobody. He was discharged for a mental condition. He was a clerk-typist in the Army. He was never in the Green Berets.

*Todd began as a storefront preacher in Texas in 1972, but failed at it. He then openned an occult bookstore. During this time he did start a small "witches coven" where he recruited young girls. He could have nude ceremonies which included having sex with the young girls. He left Texas because parents were complaining to police about him. He served 6 months in jail for statutory rape of a minor female.

*In 1973 he claimed to have his first converstion to Christianity in Phoenix, Arizona. At first he claimed to be a "former witch" who had his own coven in Texas (true). His story began to grow with the retelling, until by 1975/76 he was claiming to have been a "Grand Druid"; one of the members of the Council of 13.

*Todd was arrested for passing a bad check in New Mexico in 1968. He was treated for drug overdose in Maryland in 1969. He did threaten to kill an officer while in the Army in Germany.

*After Phoenix Todd and his wife (a Christian woman he met in Arizona) moved to Orange County, California. Todd became a very popular speaker at the Melodyland Christian Center (at that time Walter R. Martin gave weekly seminars on the "cults" as well). While in Santa Ana Todd gave "bible studies" for young Christians, but was later of trying to seduce the young girls into nude witchcraft rituals. At Melodyland he was accused of having sex with several young girls and trying to seduce others. He was asked to leave. Chuck Smith, leader of Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa, also in Orange County California, head of Todd's seducing young girls, and warned his congregation against Todd. This is when Todd began to claim that the leaders of Melodyland, Calvary Chapel, etc., were "secret witches" funded by the Illuminati.

*After Todd became popular at anti-Charismatic (mostly Baptist) churches. He told them that Charismatic leaders (Melodyland/Calvary Chapel, etc.) were funded by the Illuminati, and secret warlocks. THEY BELIEVED HIM! He joined the huge Faith Baptist Church of Canoga Park, California, in 1978. Todd was disfellowshipped from that church when they found that Todd was still secretly conducting nude pagan rituals with young girls.

*Todd had seduced several young female teenages at a Christian coffeehouse in San Antonio before moving to Phoenix.

*Todd had gotten his wife's young teenage sister pregnant.

*Todd served two months of a 6 month sentence in jail for having oral sex with a 16 year old girl in Texas after his second "conversion" to Evangelical Christianity.

Later a book was published by New Leaf Press titled The Todd Phenomenon; which was a devastating expose' of the man. It's author wrote why he believed so many Christians around the country believed Todd's stories:

"Certainly, Todd is giving many opportunities for Christians to live fantasies, for the same reasons that people go to see shock or thriller movies--'Finally it's happening! Finally Satan is taking over so we can get it all over with!'--Just as millions stand in line to go to absurd movies to live their fantasies, Christians have longed to be scared, waiting to see the Revelation [woes] dangled in their faces." (The Todd Phenomenon, p.138)

"In the late 1970s John Todd deceived some fundamentalists and evangelicals with his sensational claims of being a former witch, Illuminati members, etc." (Calvary Contender, Oct. 15, 1994, p.1 online)

Tens of thousands of Evangelical Christians believed the wild WHOPPERS of Johnny Todd. Why? How could they believe such ridiculous things?

Answer: Because they wanted to!

Most Mormons I know don't believe that ANYONE could believe "The God Makers" movies. I assure them MILLIONS DO! They just shake their heads and say, "I CAN'T BELIEVE ANYONE WOULD!" I say, "They DO! They believe it because they WANT to believe it!"

An Evangelical journalist, writing for Last Times newspaper, wrote:

"Todd claims to have been an important figure in international witchcraft before his salvation, and has traveled to churches all over America preaching imminent attack upon believers by a looney conspiracy of European bankers ("Jews"), Spirit-filled Christian leaders, American politicians,...to name a few. What is now coming to light, however, is the picture of a severly disturbed individual whose Army records show possible brain damage as a result of childhood beatings. They also tell of homicidal threats, false suicide reports, and a severe personality disturbance leading up to a recommendation for discharge.***a patter developes of an armed and dangerous 'evangelist' who uses his SENSATIONAL testimony as a cover while seducing young girls and involving them in witchcraft for sexual purposes." (Last Times, March 1979, p.1)

In 1973-1975, at the time Ed Decker joined an Assembly of God church, and when he first began considering started his own "ministry to Mormons" John Todd's tapes was extremely popular around Assembly of God churches (and Todd made a LOT of money speaking at them)! This is why Ed incorporated much of Todd's lies and conspiracy-theorites into his own anti-Mormon conspiracy-theory which went into "The God Makers" books and films; because they were "sensational" and Evangelicals LOVE sensationalism.

Birds-of-a-Feather (Decker's friends and associates in the "Jesus Business")

As the saying goes, "Birds of a feather flock together". Here are some truths about Ed Decker's closest friends and associates:

Pastor Bob Moorehead

For many years Decker claimed Pastor Bob Moorehead ("Pastor Bob") as his "mentor". And why not? Pastor Bob was the most popular Evangelical pastor in Washington State, and perhaps the West Coast! He had the largest Evangelical church in Washington State; the 6,000 member Overlake Christian Church, in Kirkland, Washington. About 3,000 Evangelicals worshipped there Sunday mornings, and a different 3,000 Sunday afternoons. Many of these Evangelicals worked for Microsoft and Boeing. It was the wealthiest Evangelical church in the Pacific Northwest.

After Decker joined the Angle Lake Neighborhood Church in 1973, he was asked by a few other Assemblies of God churches in the area to share his story of how he left 'Mormonism'. He would give a talk here, or a talk there, and perhaps make $50 to $100 per diem per talk. Small potatoes. Then Pastor Bob heard of Decker, and invited him to speak before the morning and afternoon congregations of Overlake. Then things REALLY started going. The affluent members of the Overlake Christian Church dug deep into their pockets, and literally put Ed Decker in "business". It was "Pastor Bob" who first suggested to Decker that he start his own "ministry". With financial and legal help from Overlake, under Pastor Bob's direction, Decker started the Ex-Mormon for Jesus Evangelical Association; otherwise known as "Ex-Mormons for Jesus" (now Saints Alive in Jesus). Decker soon went from speaking to a dozen people at small churches and livingrooms to speaking before 3,000 people at a time to speaking before MILLIONS of Evangelicals via his films and videos.

But all did not go well for Pastor Bob!

Pastor Bob had a 'secret'. Pastor Bob liked men as well as women.

Here is a chronology of what is now known as "The Moorehead Scandal":

*July 26, 1996, 2:38pm: Moorehead is arrested for lewd conduct and lascivious behavior in the presence of a child at a public restroom in Daytona Beach, Florida.

*Aug. 2, 1996: Moorehead informs his church's Board of Elders of his arrest; that it was a "case of mistaken identity". The elders vote to wait until there is "closure" in the case before taking it to the congregation of Overlake.

*Dec. 6, 1996: Assistant Florida State attorney Stephen Stanfield write an open letter stating that Moorehead was "exonerated". Pastor Bob makes copies of the letter and sends them to the elders. The letter is in fact not accurate.

*April 15, 1997: Overlake members Dennis Sullivan and Mark Wilson meet with the Board of Elders to discuss their concerns about the Florida case, and additional allegations that Moorehead sexually groped young men since the early 1970s.

*April 23, 1997: Sullivan tells the Board of Elders he will take his story of Moorehead's arrest to local press if they do not act immediately.

*May 29, 1997: Sullivan, who claims Moorehead sexually molested him as a young teen in 1970 (when Moorehead first became Senior Pastor at Overlake) gives KING television reporter Duane Pohlman information about the Florida arrest and about allegations that Moorehead sexually accosted three young men in the early 1970s.

*Jan 16, 1998: The first of Pohlman's articles about Moorehead is finally broadcast on KING's 11pm news.

*Jan. 18, 1998: Daytona Beach Police chief Ken Small announces that after an internal investigation, he is convinced that his police officers arrested the right man when they arrested Moorehead.

*Feb. 10, 1998: Moorehead holds a press conference. Says he was in the restroom but police arrested the wrong man, and he was innocent "of all charges and allegations".

*Feb. 17, 1998: KING broadcasts interviews with three men who claim Moorehead sexually groped them in the early 1970s when they were young teens.

*Feb. 18, 1998: The Board of Elders hires private investigator John Hansen, a retired Bellevue Washington police detective, to investigate all allegations again Moorehead.

*Feb. 22, 1998: Moorehead tells the Overlake congregations he will remain at Overlake as Senior Pastor "until God calls me away."

*Feb. 24, 1998: Redmond Washington police confirm to local press that they are investigating telephone death-threats against Dennis and Michelle Sullivan. Dennis Sullivan was the first to report that Moorehead had molested him back in 1970.

*April 20, 1998: Moorehead tenders his resignation to the Board of Elders. They accept his resignation.

*May 13, 1998: Derald Cruse of the Board of Elders announces to the Overlake congregations that the private investigator's report would be make public on May 27th [it isn't].

*May 17, 1998: Moorehead publicly announces his resignation by publicly reading a letter, which says in part:

"It is not because I am guilty of the accusations made against me; I am NOT guilty of any of those accusations and allegations!***
It is my conviction by remaining on as Pastor I would greatly hinder rather than help Overake Christian Church fulfill her mission to win the Eastside to Christ." (Statement by Pastor bob Moorehead to the Church Family at Overlake, May 17, 1998, p.2 online)

"Bob Moorehead, the conservative, influential head of Washington State's largest church, Overlake Christian Church, has resigned his senior pastorship amid one of the largest sexual scandals in the state's history.
According to sources close to the church, Moorehead lost heart in his battle with numerous charges of sexual abuse and lewd behavior when The Seattle Times recently reported yet another alleged affair between Moorehead and another man a few years ago.
The man, who spoke freely to the Times, said that Moorehead, who has authored several Christian books, initiated the relationship when he invited the man to lunch, suggested they pray, then placed the man's hand on his crotch and began to rub. According to the Times, that was the beginning of a long, illicit liaison between the two.
Virtually the same day the Times ran the stroy (May 17, 1998), Moorehead announced to his church that he was resigning, effective in mid-June.
The story came to light after a private investigator, hired by the church, discovered that man and his story, which was corroborated by the man's ex-wife and several other relatives.

Moorehead, who is married and has several children, said that the mushrooming scandal had nothing to do with his decision to leave the church." (Popular Pastor Bob Moorehead Leaves In Disgrace, p.1 online)

"Glory be! Nearly one full year after their leaders's shameful resignation, Overlake Christian Church elders have finally admitted that former Pastor Bob Moorehead is a lying, parishioner-groping freak. In a letter to church members (dated May 18, 1999 and made public today), the elders confessed that they had erred in their support of Moorhead, who last year faced accusations of sexual molestion of at least 17 male parishioners. The elders begged the congregation's forgiveness, calling themselves 'ordinary, fallible men,' and cited 'new evidence'--as yet undisclosed--that forced the reversal of their position of support. While it is nice to know that sometimes even Christians can come to their senses, one thing is conspiciously absent from the elder's statement: an apology. Moorehead's victims--shunned by church for their accusations--received not a word of apology from the supposedly repentant elders. 'They accused us of lying when all we've done is tell the truth.' said former Overlake member/Moorehead accuser Gary McLean to The Seattle Times, adding that he doesn't expect he'll ever get an apology from Moorehead himself." (The Stranger, May 20, 1999, p.3 online)

For a few years afterwards "Pastor Bob" went into retirement; on a full pension from Overlake. Then he founded another "ministry" called "Fellowship of the Unashamed". Later, he joined, and became a leader of the largest Evangelical fellowship of MEN in the world: PROMISE KEEPERS! ["It's raining men..halleluyah it's raining men!... ;~) ]

Moorehead recently wrote:

"I no longer need pre-eminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I don't have to be right, first, tops, recognized, praised, regarded, or rewarded. I now live by presence, lean by faith, love by patience, lift by prayer, and labor by power. My pace is set, my gait is fast, my goal is heaven, my road is narrow, my ways are rough, my companions few, my guide reliable, my mission clear. I cannot be bought, compromised, deterred, lured away, turned back, diluted, or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of adversity, negotiate at the table of my enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity. I won't give up, back up, let up, or shut up until I've preached up, prayed up, stored up, stayed up the cause of Christ. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I must go until Heaven returns, give til I drop, preach until all know, and work until He comes. And when He comes to get his own, He will have no problem recognizing me. My colors are clear." (Manifesto by Bob Moorehead, p.1 online)

Tom Kellie

Tom Kellie was one of the first "Ex-Mormons for Jesus"; the original name of Saints Alive in Jesus (still the legal name). Tom was a man of about twenty when he first joined EMFJ. He claimed:

*He had been a "Secret Apostle" ordained in a secret ceremony underneath the Salt Lake Temple.

*Underneath the Salt Lake Temple there is another temple lined with skulls, and upon the altars are placed "diamond-back raddlers". 99.99% of "rank-and-file" Mormons never see this or know of it.

*During the Second Anointing Ceremony Mormon Apostles take their wives who "have to slit their own wrists and write '666' on their foreheads with their own blood". The wives of Mormon apostles have to get special surgeries that deform their private parts. Other rituals take place which are so fowl and evil they can't be mentioned.

Decker and EMFJ promoted Kellie, selling tapes of his 'revelations' of secret Mormon rites, for over two years until Decker concluded that Kellie was "mentally unstable" and they asked Kellie to leave. After that Kellie's tapes were no longer produced or sold.

It was Steve Mayfield, as "Stan Fields", who convinced Decker to drop Kellie. Steve now regrets that; because Decker would have NEVER become so popular as he had if he had kept promoting a man obviously very mentally ill.

William Schnoebelen

Bill Schnoebelen was for years in the 1980s the Associate Director of Saints Alive in Jesus. Bill is referred to by Mormon apologists (and some anti-Mormons) as "the Baron Munchausen" of Ex-Mormons! His claims have changed over the years:

*He told Mormons in 1981 that he had been a former Roman Catholic priest, and his wife Sharon a fomer nun, and they joined the Church because of the liberalism of the Roman Catholic priesthood.

*In 1984 he left the LDS Church and joined Saints Alive in Jesus. He told people then that he had been a Roman Catholic priest and joined the Church but, after going to the Temple for the first time in early 1984, saw that LUCIFER, and not Jesus, is "the god of the Mormon Temple". He claimed that he and his wife had an interview with Mormon Apostle Faust, and Sharon said, "Lucifer is the god of the temple isn't he?" Faust replied, "Yes! Flesh and blood hath not revealed this to you!" When they discovered this they were horrified, and left Mormonism and become born-again Christians.

*About 1986 the new story was this: Bill was a former High Satanist, High Wiccan, Gnostic Bishop, who engaged in Luciferian rites. He was told by other Luciferians that the Mormon Church was Satan's "highest order" and that he needed to become a Mormon and go through the Mormon Endowment Ceremony; the highest Satanic rite anywhere. Bill and Sharon, a witch, obeyed. They went through the Endowment Ceremony, which was the epitome of Satanic rites, and discovered their satanic brothers had told them the truth. However, about 1984 Bill had a born-again experience after reading The God Makers book. He and his wife were saved, and they become born-again Christians.

Jerald and Sandra Tanner did several expose's of Bill Schnoebelen:

*Covering-up Syn (Salt Lake Messenger #69)

*The Lucifer-god Doctrine (0ver 90 pages)

The Lucifer-god Doctrine is a combination expose' of both Schnoebelen and Decker. It is 90 pages in double-column, and sells for $4 (plus shipping and handling) from Utah Lighthouse Ministry (to order a copy see link below).

They discovered:

*Bill had NEVER been a Roman Catholic priest, but a deacon in a tiny church called "The American Old Catholic Church-Ultrajectine Tradition". This small church was founded by a small group of men led by Edward M. Stehlik; a group heavily involved in the occult, child-porn, and a scam with a woman named Mary Van Hoof who claimed to be a channel for the Virgin Mary in Necedah, Wisconsin; asking Catholics to send in money to build a special shrine. Van Hoof was actually a "medium" and her "messages" were filled with anti-black and anti-Semitic diatribes.

*All of Bill's claims, except for his claims regarding occultic/satanic groups, were totally fraudulent.

Bill later left Saints Alive in Jesus and wrote books for Jack Chick Publications. His latest story was that he was a High Mason until reading a Jack Chick comic in 1985; then he was converted to Christianity. In his book WICCA: Satan's Little White Lie Bill claims that he was a "High Wicca" who engaged in "infant sacrifice" (p.123), drug use (p.167), as well as orgies and child-pornography (p.195-96).

Bill now has his own ministry called "Of One Accord" where he lectures against Satanism, Freemasonry, Wicca, and, of course, Mormonism. Bill has published at least 4 books with Chick Publications; the same 'ministry' that published John Todd's conspiracy stories.

Chick Publications has come under Evangelical criticism for promoting religious frauds such as Alberto Rivera (who claimed the Vatican was behind the Mafia/Communism/Islam/Illuminati,etc.), Rebecca Brown, Johnny Todd, and others.

Bill Schnoebelen first claimed that he and his wife left Mormonism when they "discovered that Lucifer was the god of the Mormon Temple." Then the story changed. The second story was that they were "High Wiccans" (very much higher than regular run-of-the-mill Wiccans) and Satanists who were told by other Satanists that the Mormon Church was a "safe house" and "front" for Satanists, and that all Mormon leaders KNOW they worship Lucifer!

But....

If they knew that Lucifer was "the Mormon god" before becoming Mormons, why were they "shocked" when they discovered that "Lucifer is the god of Mormon temples?" Such contradictions are never explained.

Schnoebelen never was a Roman Catholic priest as he claimed. He lied to Mormons. Wiccans (Druid nature-worshippers) say Schnoebelen is "lying" about Wicca, and there is no such thing as a "High Wiccan", and Wiccans worship nature and not the devil. He was a member of the Church of Satan. Schnoebelen was also a member of other occultic/anti-christian groups.

Lucifer in fact is NOT the "god" of the Mormon temple! Paul calls him "the god of this aeon [age]". In Mormon Temples he is presented as a deceiver, evil, and anti-Mormon; indeed, as the secret "inspirer" of anti-Mormon preachers.

Schnobelen was for years the Associate Director of Saints Alive in Jesus. He worked with Decker on a daily basis.

You can read an expose' of Bill Schnobelen titled Covering-up Syn at the link below.

Richard Bear

Dick Bear is a "BEAR" of a man who is an ex-Mormon and Decker's side-kick in "The God Makers" film. In the beginning of the film an actor plays Bear (why I don't know) who says that when he became a Christian his wife was told by her bishop to divorce him, and "They [Mormon leaders] turned my own beautiful children against me."

Bear had briefly been chapter-head of Ex-Mormons for Jesus in Orangevale, California. But soon after "The God Makers" was released Bear decided to form his own ministry: Ex-Mormon and Christian Alliance. Bear lectured at Evangelical churches, mostly in California, from 1983 to present.

Bear's anti-Mormon lectures are somewhat accurate; besides exaggerations and generalizations. He does not come-out with bold "Big Lies" (also called "WHOPPERS") like Decker does. However, Bear DOES LIE as to why he was excommunicated!

Dick Bear has claimed many times that he was excommunicated from the Mormon Faith "for becoming a Christian". A few independent Mormon apologists (NOT acting on Mormon Church orders, but acting independently) have appeared occassionally at his seminars and asked why he was excommunicated. He replies that it was for "apostasy" (becoming an Evangelical), but a few Mormon apologists have declared it was for "adultery". One Mormon who appeared at one of his seminars told the crowd that Dick was excommunicated for "adultery and child abuse". That Mormon was Sterling Bear; son of Dick Bear.

Bear then began each of his lectures saying, "The Mormon Church goes around spreading LIES, saying I was excommunicated for adultery. But that is a LIE! I was excommunicated for APOSTASY--for becoming a Christian--and I HAVE A COPIES OF MY EXCOMMUNICATION LETTER RIGHT HERE FOR ALL TO SEE!" He then invites all in the audience, including Mormons, to come up and get a photocopy of his excommunication letter; which says he was excommunicated for apostasy; for joining another (Evangelical) church. Decker does the same thing at many of his own anti-Mormon lectures; offering his excommunication letter as "proof" his wasn't exed for "adultery" as "Mormons claim" [NOTE: Ed was NOT excommunicated for adultery, but Ed was IN FACT a multiple adulterer].

Of course, what the audience doesn't know, and what I and some other Mormon apologists knew, was that Richard Bear was excommunicated TWICE from the LDS Church; the first time for ADULTERY, and years later (after he had been rebaptized) for apostasy.

Bear has ALSO claimed that he was a "Mormon Mission President" and a "bishop"; both not true (see They Lie In Wait To Deceive Volume 4, p.36, for documentation of Bear's claims and documentation that such claims are false).

At one of his lectures, at the Salt Lake Christian and Missionary Alliance church, in 1989 (I think), I was there with another Mormon apologist (Darell Thorpe). Dick Bear recognized me and Thorpe, and knew we were Mormon apologists, and may bring up his past. He began his lecture by saying:

"I would just like to say right now that Mormons claim that I was excommunicated for adultery, and that IS A LIE! I have copies of my excommunication letter RIGHT HERE, and you can all come up afterwards and get a copy, which says I was excommunicated for APOSTASY. I was excommunicated BECAUSE I BECAME A CHRISTIAN!!! But the Mormon Church and Mormons LOVE to LIE about me and tell people I was exed because I committed adultery!!!" [Audience gasps and says, "Oooooo! Oooo NO!" Ed Decker does the same thing at many of his lectures!]

At that point many Evangelicals in the audience began to boo and say, "You're a LIAR!" (referring to me not Bear) and "That's a LIE!" etc. I though Bear would simply ignore me, or simply deny it, but to my surprise he said:

"Well, haha! My wife and I, well she was my girlfriend at the time, we weren't married at the time, we...we were young folks with BLAZING hormones like many young folks in love have, you know, and we DID in fact have sexual relations before we got married! And we spoke to our bishop about it, and he though it would be best for a rebaptism, and before we could get rebaptized we had to be excommunicated, but this was just a formality! It was just a formality!"

At that point the "Christians" in the audience were getting quite upset, shouting "GET HIM OUT OF HERE!" and "SHUT UP!" and "YOU'RE THE LIAR!!!" and "YOU'RE THE ADULTERER!" etc. The pastor came over, grabbed my elbow, and dragged me away. As I was going out the front door he shoved me quite hard, and I turned around and said, "If you shove me again YOU'RE coming out here with me!" The pastor went back inside and said (I know this because Darell Thorpe taped the entire meeting):

"I want everyone here to know that that young Mormon I just escorted out LIED about Dick here. He LIED, and when I caught him lying he threatened my life, and the lives of my family!" [Audience gasping, "Oh my God! Oh my God!"]

Bear has recently joined forces with The Watchmen Fellowship; another anti-cult (and anti-Mormon) Evangelical organization.

Chuck and Dolly Sackett

Chuck and Dolly Sackett are two ex-Mormons, former "Temple Workers". Any Member-in-good-standing over a certain age can become a Temple-Worker. All they must do is live near a Mormon temple, and have some free time to work in the temple. Chuck and Dolly were apparently "Washers" at one time. A "Washer" is a man (in the case of men) or a woman (in the case of women) who sprinkle patrons (Members of the Church who visit the temple are called "patrons") with water with an olive branch and then anoint them with oil by placing oil with their thumbs on different parts of the body, but NEVER THE PRIVATE PARTS! This ordinance in the temple is called "Washings and Anointings". It is symbolic of the Levites who had to be washed and anointed with oil before they could minister in the Temple of the LORD in Jerusalem. The Washings and Anointings are the very first part of the Temple Endowment Ceremony. The patrons are not nude, but wear a "shield" (a large white poncho which covers them completely exist for head, arms, and sides).

In Temple of The God Makers Church plays the part of the male Washer, and Dolly plays the part of the female Washer. Chuck then appears to reach under the "garments" of a man to wash and anoint him. The words used are identicle to the real Washing and Anointing, but in the film the man starts to look wierd and the viewer of the film is given the impression that Chuck is folding or touching the man's private areas. The same is true when Dolly is shown anointing the woman; who is wearing garments and not a shield. Almost everyone I have talked to who saw Temple of The God Makers who is not a Mormon or ex-Mormon believes that the private parts of Mormon men and women are touched and fondled in the temple! This is the "impression" the film gives them!

Four or five years after seeing Temple of the God Makers I was listening to The Bible Answer Man program with Hank Hanegraaff. He had as guests that day Church and Dolly Sackett, and they again talked about their days as Mormon Temple Workers, and Chuck said, as he said in the film, that Washers "wash and anoint all the orifices of the Mormon temple patrons". The word "orifice" means "openning". He was saying, basically, that along with men's ears and noses and mouths, men's penuses and anuses were washed and anointed, and along with their ears and noses and mouths, women's nipples and vaginas and anuses were washed and anointed by the Washers. This is what is meant by "ALL their bodily orifices are washed and anointed by the Mormon Temple workers" (Chuck emphasises the word "ALL" in the film). He didn't say some, he said "all".

THAT WAS A ___LIE___!

I knew it was a lie, and Chuck and Dolly knew it was a lie. They could claim (but NEVER have), 'Oh, Well, we NEVER said their private parts were washed an anointed!' True, they never said that directly, but they IMPLIED it over and over to make the unwary viewer (i.e. Evangelicals) believe that private parts were washed and anointed with oil in Mormon Temples. This is a very subtle, and very effective, way of deception.

But, NO private parts are touched, much less washed and anointed, by anyone in Mormon Temples! The Sacketts KNOW that! They LIE! They LIE in the name of Jesus Christ"!

Why?

Answer: $$$$$$

Anyway, I called up the 800 number and asked if I could ask Chuck and Dolly a question; if there was any touching or folding of private parts in Mormon temples. I was put through. Here is that conversation:

EVENSON: "Yes, hi, I would like to ask Chuck and Dolly a question. Is there ANY touching of private parts or any sexual touching or immorality at all in Mormon temples? In any of the rites of Mormon temples?"

SACKETTS: "Ah....ah...wha....well....ah..."

DOLLY: "Well, we didn't know anything about that before we were Mormons you see!"

EVENSON: "So, are you saying 'YES' there IS touching or private parts or some sort of sexual contact as part of the Mormon temple rites?"

SACKETTS: "Ah...eh...ahhhh..."

DOLLY: "Chuck?"

CHUCK: "Ah...we never knew anything about that before we became Mormons."

EVENSON: "Ok, one LAST time. PLEASE! Was there ANY touching of private parts, any overt nudity or anything immoral in the Mormon Temple rituals, yes or no?"

SACKETTS: "Ah...ummmm..we...,ah.....ah...."

HANK: "[Angrily]Is this a Mormon?"

EVENSON: "Yes, I am a Mormon."

HANK: "Well, then you should know that Mormonism is diametically opposed to Historic Orthodox Christianity [etc. Hank cuts me off the air and continues talking against Mormonism].

Chuck and Dolly Sackett have deceived millions of Evangelicals into believing that Mormon men allow other Mormon men to foldle their penuses in Mormon temples, and Mormon women allow other Mormon women to foldle their breasts and vaginas in Mormon temples. THAT IS A LIE, and an INSULT to every heterosexual Mormon who has been to the temple who would never in ANY circumstances stand for that or allow it to happen!

After being excommunicated (I assume for apostasy but I don't know) Chuck Sackett took his Temple Recommend (which he was supposed to give back to his Stake President once he left the Church), his temple robes (also should have been turned-in), and entered a Mormon Temple pretending to be a patron. He placed a small cassette-tape inside his temple robes and recorded the audio portion of the Mormon Temple Endowment. In any words, Chuck Sackett LIED to temple guards and to everyone there in order to secretly record the Temple Endowment. The cassette tape later went on sale as part of the Saints Alive in Jesus cassette catalogue. Tens of thousands were sold.

Why? Why make a secret recording and sell it? There was NO reason to. The complete Endowment Ceremony had been published by the Tanners years before and sold by them for a few dollars. Why did Chuck need to deceive people and go into the Mormon Temple under false pretenses in order to record the audio portion of the Endowment Ceremony; when the Tanners had published a complete and realiable text already?

Decker claims it was because, "Mormons were claiming we were lying about the Temple ceremony, so we had to prove we weren't lying!" In fact, Decker and Sackett WERE LYING! What about?

*Temple of The God Makers presents the veils in the temple as BLACK. FACT: they are WHITE.

*Temple of the God Makers strongly "implies" that private parts are touched and fondled during the Washing and Anointing. In the film Chuck says that patrons "have all of their bodily orifices washed with water and anointed with oil by the Mormon Temple workers". FACT: there is NO touching or fondling of private parts during the Washing and Anointing nor at any time.

*Temple of the God Makers says that Lucifer has Adam and Eve put on "Lucifer's apron" and Mormons wear this apron throughout the temple experience. FACT: The apron Mormons wear is not the same color nor the same design as Lucifer's, but represents something entirely different.

*Temple of the God Makers says that Mormons "swear blood oaths to Lucifer" in the Mormon Temple and "promise to be killed if they reveal temple secrets". FACT: both are simply LIES! There is no use or blood in the temple at all. There were "oaths" in the Temple similar to Masonic oaths, but they did NOT say or imply that patrons "would be killed if they reveal temple secrets". Simply not true. The oaths are considered symbolic, just as when Jesus said, "If they right eye offend thee, PLUCK IT OUT. If thy right hand offend thee, CUT IF OFF." Was Jesus being literal here? Most Christians don't think so. I don't know ANY Mormon who takes the temple oaths (or the above words of Jesus) literally.

Chuck and Dolly Sackett are typical of professional Anti-Mormons who were once Mormons. For them to use lies, false innuendo, and deception is justified in order to "fight Mormonism" (and make a lot of money).

"Dr." Walter R. Martin

Walter R. Martin was the founder of CRI (Christian Research Institute); which is the premiere "Christian anti-cult ministry" in North America, and perhaps the world. Walter Martin was also the founder of "The Bible Answer Man" program; originating in 1961 in New Jersey, and moving several years later to Orange County, California. Martin literally "wrote the book" on the cults! His magnus opus was Kingdom of the Cults; first published in 1962. Martin was one of the first to describe the "cults" as "cults". Before that they were simply known as "heretical sects".

I knew Walter Martin. For 4 months during 1979 I attended his Sunday morning lectures at the Melodyland Christian Center in Anaheim, California. I was considering becoming a professional anti-Mormon myself. Martin was an absolute MASTERFUL orator and storyteller! He truly had the 'gift of gab'. He would have been a very successful attorney or politician, or stand-up comedian, had he chosen not to be a "Christian apologist" and "cult-fighter". Before becoming a "cult-fighter" Martin actually considered becoming a lawyer; specifically a "criminal defense" lawyer. Instead of defending criminals he decided to defend Evangelicalism from the "cults" (which should give you an idea of what he really thought of Evangelicals). Martin authored The Maze of Mormonism; a very popular anti-Mormon book. On his "Bible Answer Man" program, which was national, he would preach against the "cults" and "Mormonism" was just about his favorite subject. He also lectured at Evangelical churches across the U.S. quite extensively since about 1962 until his death in 1989.

Literally MILLIONS of Evangelicals in North America and around the world believe "Dr. Walter R. Martin" to be a "Man of God" and "a good soldier of Christ"; fighting the evil cults until his final days. Few people know what Mormon apologists know; the Walter R. Martin was a FRAUD.

Like so many professional anti-Mormons, Walter R. Martin was a phoney. Most of his degrees were phoney. Most of his anti-Mormon stories he loved to tell were phoney. Most of his personal claims were phoney. Even his hair was phoney!

Among his personal claims:

*He had four earned degrees; including a Ph.D. in Comparative Religion.

*He was a descendant of Brigham Young.

*He was an ordained minister with the Southern Baptist Convention.

Here is the truth:

*His bachelor's degree was phoney. He claimed degrees from Biblical Seminary and Adelphi University. He took at few classes at each, but had no degrees from either; not even close. He claimed a B.A. from Sheldon College in Florida. This was a diploma mill. I still remember seeing an ad for Sheldon College in an old (1960) American Opinion magazine. It showed two young women carrying books in front of a small office in what looked like an office park, with "Sheldon College" written on a large piece of paper that was taped above the door in masking tape! Martin's Masters Degree from New York University is actually the only earned degree his has. They accepted his B.A. from Sheldon thinking it was accredited (it wasn't).

Since about 1962 Walter Martin has gone by "Rev. Walter R. Martin" and "Dr. Walter R. Martin". Since 1964 his books have said "Dr. Walter R. Martin". Since I started listening to his radio program (1979) he was always presented as "Dr. Walter R. Martin. In fact Walter Martin has no earned doctorate in anything.

Back in 1975 a Mormon from Pomona, California, named Bruce Johnson attended one of his anti-Mormon lectures, and heard Martin make many mistakes regarding Mormon doctrine and history. He publicly challenged Martin on it, and Martin responded by threatening to sue Johnson for libel. Johnson knew that Martin was always presented as "Dr. Walter R. Martin"; so he checked and discovered that Martin had no doctorate of any kind; not even an "honorary" doctorate. He attended another lecture and rose and accused Martin of being a "fraud". Martin responded by suing Johnson; who won his case but lost his house because of attorney costs. Johnson's wife divorced him.

While the case was in litigation Martin found a correspondance school in Orange, California, called "California Western University"; an unaccredited school which consisted of 4 employees and about 8 part-time "mentors". The school granted UNaccredited "Class C" degrees for "life's work and experience". Students attended no classes, but completed a short correspondance exam, visited a mentor for several hours, paid several thousand dollars, and were granted an UNaccredited degree. California Western School of Law in San Diego SUED California Western University in 1978 because they didn't want their name associated, so California Western University changed it's name to California Coast University.

What Martin did to get his "Ph.D. in Comparative Religions" was to offer his Kingdom of the Cults (published many years ealier) as the Doctrinal Dissertation. He was granted a "Ph.D. in Comparative Religion" from the "university". The only problem was California Western/Coast University only offerred Non-accredited degrees in Business Administration and Organizational Management. Martin served as his own "mentor". He took no classes nor any exam. He simply paid several thousand dollars, offered Kingdom of the Cults as his dissertation, and was granted a "Ph.D. in Comparative Religion".

But how did he get a Ph.D. in Comparative Religion from a "university" that never offered a Ph.D. in Comparative Religion?

We don't know, and California Coast "U" has refused for decades to answer us.

How can you offer a book you wrote almost 14 years before as a doctrinal dissertation?

How can a university offer a Ph.D. in Comparative Religion when it has no "religion" department and offers no degrees in religion?

California Coast "U" refused to answer (with only 4 employees behaps they are too busy? ;~) ]

It seems that when Johnson called Martin a "liar" and said that he had no doctorate, Martin rushed out to quickly get a "doctorate" from California Western University (now California Coast University); an unrecognized and unaccredited correspondance school who never offerred any degree in religion. He then sued Johnson for libel. Johnson won his case but he was left financially ruined. Marin lost, but Evangelicals from all over the country sent him hundreds of thousands of dollars to "fight" Mormonism in the courts. He came out way ahead financially.

Robert and Rosemary Brown exposed Martin as a total fraud in They Lie In Wait To Deceive Vol.III published a year before Martin died. Martin called the Browns "liars" and said he would sue them for libel. Martin never sued the Browns. The Browns tried to get Christianity Today and secular newspapers to investigate Martin, but none ever did. Several years after Martin had died Christianity Today DID get around to asking Martin's daughter why he went by "Dr. Walter R. Martin" for many years before his "Ph.D.". His daughter told them that in junior high school Martin's friends gave him the nickname "Doctor" so after that he always went by "Dr. Walter R. Martin" (Christianity Today, 1 Oct., 1991, p.21)

*Walter Martin's mother's maiden name was Young, but no relation to Brigham Young. He is not a descendant of Brigham Young as he claimed for decades.

*For decades Walter Martin claimed to "be an ordained Southern Baptist minister". This was not true. Martin was ordained in in 1950 by the General Association of Regular Baptists (GARB) in New Jersey. Also in 1950, Walter Martin was divorced from his first wife on the grounds of and mental and physical cruelty. Martin did not contest this. In 1953 the Ordination Board of the General Association of Regular Baptists discovered that Martin had been divorced. They contacted Martin about this, and Martin told them that his wife had committed adultery and he had to divorce her on biblical grounds. That was a LIE! The GARB did not accept ministers who were remarried, so they told Martin that he would have to stay single and celebate to remain ordained. Martin agreed. Then THEN discovered that Martin was already remarried! They officially defrocked Walter R. Martin because he remarried and lied to them about it--telling them he was single when in fact he had remarried!

These are NOT "rumors". The Browns have documented all of this from the sources! Photocoies of the documents are in They Lie In Wait To Deceive Volume 3.

Martin has claimed since about 1960 that he was "an ordained Southern Baptist minister". Robert and Rosemary Brown got letters from the SBC in various states and discovered that Martin was NEVER a minister with the SBC, but joined them as a regular member and attended a few times and was never seen again. Martin really didn't "go" to Church! On Sundays he did what he did every other day of the week; he preached against the "cults" at various churches all over the country. He did not have a "home church" other than the Melodyland Christian Center in Anaheim (just across from Disneyland). Every Sunday he'd come in at about 10 a.m., preach against the "cults" for 45 minutes, answer questions for another 15 minutes, then one of his "helpers" would lift up a glass boot filled with water and he's say, "Oh, looks like I've been given the boot" and then he'd leave! Buckets as large as the old KFC buckets were passed around during this time; collecting money. Martin and a small group of 3 to 5 helpers would then leave; taking the buckets of cash with them.

"Uncle Wally" (as Mormon apologists liked to call him) was as phoney as his hairpiece!

The Browns discovered that Walter Martin had only one "ordination"; from the General Association of Regular Baptists of New Jersey, in 1950. The Board of Ordination discovered about 18 months afterwards that Martin was divorced! They asked him why, and Martin said that his wife had committed adultery and he was forced to divorce her on "biblical grounds" (this is all documented in They Lie In Wait To Deceive Volume III), but the Browns did their research and got copies of the divorce proceedings! Martin DID NOT divorce his wife as he told the GARB Board of Ordination! Martin's wife filed for divorce against HIM on the grounds of mental and physical cruelty. Martin was a wife-beater! Martin DID NOT contest it, and did not countersue for "adultery" or any other reason, and a divorce was granted for the plaintiff (Elain Martin) on those grounds. Here is a small except from the Brown's book (Vol.3):

After Martin LIED to the GARB Board of Ordination, they told him that he could not remarry and stay ordained by them; because they did not accept re-married ministers. Martin AGREED! They later discovered that Martin had already married and was in fact already RE-married when he promised them he would NEVER remarry!

Some reading this will say, "Well, he had some problem, but what he said about Mormonism is still true!"

NAY!!!!

Walter Martin was a LIAR and an ABSOLUTE FRAUD! MASSIVE VOLUMES--whole libraries of books--could be written just just documenting his OUTRIGHT LIES about the Mormon Faith! He LIED in Jesus' name every single day of his life!

Many of his anti-Mormon claims in The Maze of Mormonism are distorted or simply false. For example, he claims in that book that the Mormon Church in Utah doesn't help the poor or the homeless because "they don't tithe" (i.e. they don't give money to the Mormon Church). The Brown got letters from various non-mormon charities, including for the homeless, in Utah which told them that the Church was their biggest contributor, and always had been.

Martin loved to tell stories during his lectures; what I call WHOPPERS! He had quite a few, and they were almost always invented. I remember one story where he told the audience that "a Mormon women who was in charge of all Church records" had attended one of his lectures thinking she would refute Martin, but after she heard Martin's anti-Mormon lecture she stood up and "testified that everything I had said was true"; then she "accepted Jesus" that night (thanks to Martin). PURE MYTH! I tried to ask Martin the name of the woman, but he'd change the subject and never allowed me to speak to him again. I asked some of his associates, and they would just shrug their sholders; a few would smile, shake their heads, and walk away.

Walter Martin and Ed Decker were good friends and associates; often lecturing against Mormonism together. When he died in 1989 Decker wrote:

"Walter Martin was one of those rare men who was greater than life. His domain streched from the opening of God's Word, 'In the beginning' right through to that day of Christ's soon return. He strode up and down that great corridor of time defending the faith of our fathers in every attack.
I had the great privilege of traveling with Walter and becoming a close friend. Walter and I prayed together for our families, our friends, our ministries and the welfare of the [Evangelical] Church and we even labored before God for the lost. When attacks came against this ministry [i.e. from the Tanners] it was Walter who stood with us and for us.***
His enemies cursed and reviled him. They dug up every blemish in his life and invented ones they couldn't find.***
I know that the world is going to miss this great soldier of the Cross, but to be truthful, this is one frontline soldier who will model his own life after a man whom God surely loved and whom I will surely miss seeing standing in the forefront of the massive battle against the powers of darkness." (Saints Alive in Jesus newsletter, June/July 1989, p.1)

Hank Hanegraaff ("Hanky-Panky")

After Martin died Hank Hanegraaff took over as President of CRI and as host of "The Bible Answer Man" program. Although he is anti-Mormon, Hank seems to spend a good majority of his time, on air and off, deciding what is "Christian" and what is not among Evangelicals. He puts himself up as an expert in what the Bible teaches, and if you agree with him you are "biblical" and if you disagree with him you are "unbiblical". A few Evangelical critics have referred to him as "a self-appointed Evangelical Pope".

Hank has had his share of troubles too. Over 30 former CRI employees signed an affidavit that accused him of graft, misuse of funds, lying to employees and CRI supporters, fraud, embezzlement, and "other criminal acts"; loads of "hanky-panky". Walter Martin's widow accused Hank of forging a letter (handed to her at Martin's funeral) appointing Hanegraaff as Martin's successor ("Walter Martin's Widow Calls for Hanegraaff Resignation" Los Angeles Times, April 15, 2000). Others have accused and PROVED that Hank plagarized heavily in several of his published works; including his private Memory Dynamics business that he runs out of CRI; using CRI employees, equipment, and funds to do so.

Hanegraaff has turned The Bible Answerman radio program from one that dealt mainly with cults into one that deals little with "cults", but mainly with Hank pontifficating about other Evangelicals, and running 30-minute infomercials offering products for sale (such as Bible audio tapes, etc.) that Hank (and NOT CRI) receives a "cut"!

Hanegraaf has had Decker on several times, and has promoted the anti-Mormon works of Richard Abanes; a man not much better in personal character than Ed Decker.

Although Martin was a total fraud, and Hanegraaff isn't much better, CRI has and does contain many honest Christian writers and researchers. They work for about $13,000 a year while Hank's CRI salary (according to 2001 tax filing) was $251,886 plus bonuses, plus a separate salary for his wife as a "consultant" (she made $87,600 that year from CRI), plus the royalties from books written by researchers but published in his name, plus funds from Memory Dynamics (a private business) that he promotes on air, plus a "cut" of other "Christian products" from others he "interviews" on air which are sold via toll-free telephone orders to CRI. All of this is paid for by CRI financial supporters who think they are saving people from the "cults".

UPDATE: Recently (January/February 2005) Hanegraaf has been accused by former CRI contract-employee Bill Alnor of "mail fraud". Hanegraaf sent out a mass-letter to CRI financial supporters (i.e. listeners who have sent money to CRI) saying that the U.S. Post Office in Rancho Santa Margarita California had sent three months of letters addressed to CRI mistakenly to On-Target Margeting; also of Rancho Santa Margarita. In the letter Hanegraaf asks for special "gift offerings" (i.e. donations) because CRI had lost "hundreds of thousands of dollars" because of the lost letters (three month's worth) which Hanegraaff claimed On-Target Marketing had "thrown away" and were never recovered.

Bill Alnor, an Evangelical who once worked for CRI as a writer for the Christian Research Journal, did some research and discovered:

1) On-Target Margeting had received only one "tray" (one day of letters) marked for CRI. They informed CRI the day they received the letters, and CRI came over and picked up the letters the very day On-Target received them and called CRI. No letters were trashed as Hanegraaff claimed (he claimed "three months" worth of letters were trashed and never recovered).

2) The U.S Post Office in Rancho Santa Margarita admits that 1 day of letters were mistakenly sent to On-Target Marketing; not three months worth as Hanegraaff claimed in his fund-raising letter to supporters.

3) Bill Alnor filed a complaint with the U.S. Postal Service, claiming that Hanegraaff was guilty of "mail fraud" by lying to CRI financial supporters.

The Post Office has not yet made a decision to investigate Hanegraaf for mail fraud. But what is clear is that Hanegraaff lied in order to boost revenues to CRI.

Just today (March 25th) Hanegraaff announced that CRI was moving it's headquarters from Orange County California (CRI has been in OC since 1962) to Charlotte, North Carolina. The reason given by Hanegraaff was that Southern Calfornia was "too expensive" to keep offices at, and Charlotte would be less expensive "so as to better use your donations to CRI for research and not building costs".

In actuality the "move" itself will cost several hundreds of thousands of dollars! But, the move will put Hanegraaf "far" from local lawsuits by former CRI employees, and make it more difficult for them and for local postal investigators.

I compared office-space prices of Charlotte North Carolina with locations close to Orange County; where CRI is now located and found the following cities have less expensive office space and housing costs that Charlotte:

1) Pomona (15 miles north of Orange County)
2) Perris (12 miles east of Orange County)
3) Hemit/San Jacinto (20 miles east of Orange County)
4) San Bernardino (20 miles northeast of Orange County)

He also could have moved CRI to other cities in California which are less expensive (in all ways) than Charlotte like:

*Bakersfield
*Fresno
*Visalia
*Hisperia
*Barstow
*Porterville
*etc.,etc.,etc.

Hanegraaff's "reason" for moving CRI from southern Orange County California to Charlotte North Carolina is "we want to make your donations count and go for more research instead of housing costs". True, Rancho Santa Margarita is very expensive; one of the most expensive communities in the United States. But why Charlotte? Hank could have moved CRI offices from very expensive southern Orange County to any of these cities for under $10,000. Yet, Hank chose Charlotte North Carolina; on the exact opposite side of the U.S.; with a move that will cost over $100,000. Why?

You know the answer! He's trying to put "distance" between himself and all the lawsuits from ex-employees (almost 100 lawsuits to date). Most of these ex-employees make near minimum wage, and cannot afford to move their lawsuits to North Carolina. Hank could have moved CRI offices to places near Orange County and kept his current employees. But he chose to move to the exact opposite side of the U.S.

For more info about Hanegraaff's "hanky panky" read:

www.christiancourier.com/penpoints/hankHanegraaff.htm

www.religionnewsblog.com/10004

Bob Larson ("Bee-el-zee-Bob")

Bob Larson is a great friend of Ed Decker; who has called Larson his "confidant" and "long-time friend". Larson is the host of the "Talk Back with Bob Larson" radio program; which begin in 1985 and has appeared on (at one time) hundreds of Christian radio stations. Larson has authored 22 books; including Larson's Book of Cults and a bestseller novel (in the Christian market) titled Dead Air.

Larson has had Ed Decker and Bill Schnoebelen on his program many many times, and has aired excerpts of the Mormon Temple Endowment ceremony; something Mormons consider very VERY sacred! When speaking of Mormonism Larson loves to talk about "all the women Joseph Smith and Brigham Young had sex with"; suggesting they were great hypocrites and adulterers. But Larson talks mostly (when he is not soliciting funds) about Satanism.

If one believes Larson, then "Satanism" is one of the largest religions in the United States! He claims that government, schools, churches (Evangelical churches too), are just jam-packed with Satanists. During almost every program a young "Satanist" on drugs calls in, and Larson brings them to Christ right over the air! He then asks his audience for funds to send the new young convert to a drug-rehabilitation center he has built to get them off drugs. Larson has amased many MILLIONS of dollars from Evangelical listeners by this method.

I knew that Bob Larson was a sleeze-ball 15 minutes after I first listened to him in 1985! It was beyond obvious to me, and to every other Mormon I knew that listened to him. However, Larson had hundreds of thousands of Evangelical listeners who believed and financially supported him for many years. He still has many.

In 1990 a man named Ken Smith, an avowed atheist, began to listen to Larson and question many of his claims. Larson was converting one Satanist youth per broadcast over the air per day. Didn't sound right. Larson was claiming that most of the money coming into Bob Larson Ministries was going to a drug-treatment center for ex-Satanists. Didn't sound right. Ken Smith decided to dig.

Ken Smith discovered the following:

*Larson's personal income in 1990 was $403,000; only $1000 went to charity.

*Larson didn't write Dead Air, and the author of that book sued him for royalties.

*Ex-employees of Bob Larson Ministries claimed that Larson had sexual affairs, while married, with Lori Boespflug, a personal assistant, and Margo Hamilton; another employee.

*Several ex-employees of Bob Larson Ministries claimed the "Satanist street youth" conversions were pre-recorded and staged; meant to bring in donations which went directly to Bob and not to any drug-rehab center.

*A former personal secretary of Bob's, Pam Roczman, sued him for sexual harassment.

*Bob's ex-bookkeeper at Bob Larson Ministries claimed that Larson would keep pornography in his desk and even view it during his radio show. Bob claimed it was for "research". The bookkeeper left claiming Larson "had become like Jim Bakker".

*Larson once claimed that Satanists, upset with his converting their youth, burned down his house. Smith found the claim to be false.

*Larson claimed that as a young man in the mid-60s he had a rock-group and he recorded an album, and was a "famous" musician who appeared on radio and television, and had published numerous songs for various rock groups. He claimed his rock group was into drugs, Satan worship, orgies, drinking alcohol, etc. Sharla Turman, who was the keyboardist of Larson's group at that time, said they were never on radio or television, they were not a 'rock' band but performed mostly Christian and Country-Western music at the Lion's Club, rodeos, and pizza parlours, and churches. The only album they made was in a "vanity" (pay-for-it-yourself) studio. Turman denied there was any drug use, drinking, or orgies of any kind. She said "We were a Church band!" (Bob Larson: Grilled Preacher on Wry?, pp.1-3 online)

*Larson claims that before starting his ministry he was wealthy, but gave it up to be in poverty to help ex-Satanists find Jesus and get them off drugs, etc. Larson's wife claims they WERE in poverty before he started his radio ministry. Smith found that Larson owned a $440,000 home in Denver as well as a $242,000 "vacation house" in Vail, Colorado, that Larson uses just for ski vacations. Divorce records from his ex-wife Kathy revealed that they also owned $4,000 worth of porcelain, $13,000 worth of ivory, $8,000 worth of crystal, $8,000 worth of carvings, $3000 worth of paintings, and about $8,000 worth of stuffed animal heads. (Bob Larson's Public Image Doesn't Square, p.1 online)

*A man named Fred Wheeler (an Evangelist) claimed in a court case under oath that Bill Abbott, Larson's lawyer, told him that another Evangelical named Gayril Gibson, an associate of Larson's, told him that Larson had "a problem with pornography" and that "the word on the street" was that Bob was "a child-molester".

*Lori Boespflug, his ex-personal assistant, admitted having an affair with Larson while both of them were married to other people. She also claimed that Larson had inappropriate relations with her teen daughter Brenna. When Larson's second wife, Laura, had a daughter Lori told Ken Smith "If it's a boy he'll be screwed, but if it's a girl HEAVEN HELP HER!" Lori's young teen daughter Brenna told Smith, "Now he'll have a girl of his own to molest." (Beware of False Bobs, p.6 online)

Are these things true? I personally don't know, but I would suspect there is much truth in them.

Ken Smith has written:

"Radio talk-show host Bob Larson has developed a reputation as a teller of tales that would make even Pinnocchio blush." (Bobby L's Bogus Journey, p.1 online)

"Bob Larson should be ashamed of himself for deceiving and exploiting his listeners." (Bob Larson's Ministry Under Scrutiny, p.4 online)

"Well, I can tell you right now that it is not real, because he is into selling and sensationalism. Number two, I don't think he would know a demon if it bit him in the rear." (CRI President Hanegraaff Denounces Larson as Fraud, p.1 online)

What has been Larsons' response to all this bad press?

"Satanists!"

Larson claims that the disgruntled ex-employees at Bob Larson Ministries were really secret-agent Satanists; sent to try to discredit him. And the Evangelical critics? Satanists only pretending to be Christians! It's ALL A SATANIC CONSPIRACY against Bob Larson! And, yes, tens of thousand of his Evangelical supporters believe every word!

What about those people who have seen Bob at strip clubs, or out with women not his wife? Bob has an answer for THAT too! On his 3/26/96 Talk Back program he said:

"You know, one of the most amazing things that I've seen the Devil do is imitate me. Now, I'm not talking about [voice impersonator] Rich Little, I'm not talking about an impersonator, like a comedian--I'm talking about actually duplicating my voice, my body, my face, EVERYTHING ABOUT ME! I've had this happen on several occassions...." (ibid.)

This is Decker's "confidant" and "long-time friend".

Jerald and Sandra Tanner

The Tanners are well-known anti-Mormon researchers and publishers in Salt Lake City. They began their anti-Mormon research and publishing campaign in 1960; first calling themselves "Modern Microfilm" and finally "Utah Lighthouse Ministry". The Tanners have published many dozens of anti-Mormon books; most of them self-published. Their greatest work, Mormonism: Shadow or Reality? is universally recognized among anti-Mormons and Mormon apologists alike as the "Magnus Opus" of anti-Mormon books; from which almost all other anti-Mormons "get" their information for their own books, films, videos, pamphlets, etc.

The Tanners used to be good friends with Ed Decker, but all that changed when Bill Schnoebelen (then Associate Director of Saints Alive in Jesus) published, with James Spencer, published Mormonism's Temple of Doom in about 1985. The book purported to show how the Mormon Temple and the Mormon Endowment Ceremony was taken directly from Freemasonry, which itself came directly from Witchcraft. Bill Schnoebelen was also claiming that Mormon apostle, Elder Faust, of the First Presidency of the LDS Church had met with Bill and his wife Sharon soon after they first went to the Temple, and Sharon said, "Lucifer is the god of the Mormon Temple isn't he?" and Faust was purported to say, "Yes! Flesh and blood hath not revealed this to you!"

The Tanners had, at that time, about 30,000 names on their mailing list; many of them financial supporters of their "ministry". Among them were Evangelicals, Humanists, and even "Mormons" who were closet-disbelievers, but remained in the Church because of marriage, or family, or business, or because they wished to change the Church from within (into a Liberal church which accepts homoesexuals, abortion, etc). Many hundreds of them were in UPROAR with Bill Schnoebelen and his wild falacious claims, and many demanded that the Tanners expose him. The Tanners finally did expose Schnoebelen as a total fraud in their Salt Lake City Messenger newsletter #69. They called their expose' "Covering-up Syn" (Schnoebelen had once been a Warlock and changed his name legally to "Christopher Pendragon Syn" before later changing it back to "William Schnoebelen").

The Tanners did an expanded version of their expose' of Schnoebelen in a book (90 pages in double-columns) titled The Lucifer-god Doctrine; a book still available from Utah Lighthouse Ministries.

Of course, Ed Decker and James Spencer (another ex-Mormon who has a "ministry" in Idaho) were ENRAGED with what the Tanners had done! Ed knew he had to tred lightly, because The God Makers book relied heavily upon the research of the Tanners; about 75% of The God Makers had been lifted bodily from Mormonism: Shadow or Reality?. In The God Makers book Decker wrote:

"Jerald and Sandra Tanner are former Mormons who have established an international reputation for their impeccably accurate and thorough research." (The God Makers, p.49, line 12)

"Either the Tanners are the greatest dupes in the business or bald-faced liars."

"They [Tanners] want to put the Matriscianas [Jeremiah Films] and me out of business. Well, it isn't going to happen, Jerald and Sandra. Not by your kind of cheap journalistic claptrap. If this is the way the Tanners go about their research, I've got a lot of Mormons to apologize to and so does Pat [Matriscians]." Saints Alive newsletter, March-April 1993)

"I have to apologize to every Mormon I have ever shared Tanner materials with. I have even used it heavily in myown research and publications, writings, films. I had always thought the Tanners to be exacting researchers and without a real ax to grind. No more. What has happened is that they have manipulated data to make it say what they want it to say in order to defame someone they want to destroy. If they would do it to Ed Decker, or Jim Spencer, or Bill Schnoebelen and we and other can see it, then what does it say about their reporting on Mormonism? Therefore, I have to apologize and will have to re-evaluate a whole lot of what we did with their material. What a shame!" (Problems in The God Makers II, pp.52-3)

Notwithstanding Decker's promise to "re-evaluate" The God Makers book was republished in a new edition with additional materials and the Tanner materials still intact. Indeed, it would be impossible to separate the book from the Tanner material since 75% of the book was lifted bodily from Mormonism: Shadow or Reality?. As always, Decker "had his cake and eaten it too" when he told his followers "don't trust the Tanners" and at the same time continued to sell hundreds of thousands of copies of The God Makers which is basically a rewrite of Mormonism: Shadow or Reality? with a conspiracy-theory thrown in.

The only way for Decker to have separated his work from that of the Tanners would be to recall The God Makers book. Instead, a new edition, with even MORE materials taken from recent Tanner newsletters (although this is not mentioned in the book) was published and offered for sale at Evangelical bookstores all over the country. The second edition too sold like hotcakes.

This was typical Decker!

The Tanners present themselves as painstakingly thorough and fair researchers who only want the truth and who are high above other anti-Mormons who use deception in their writings and films. But, is this true? Is Mormonism: Shadow or Reality? trustworthy research?

The answer is: in some cases yes, and in other cases "NO!"

If the Tanners feel that they can "prove a point" without using deception, they won't use deception. They proved that Brigham Young taught that Adam was our "God" and was the father of our spirits, and that Young considered this "revelation" and official Church doctrine. The Tanners prove this in Mormonism: Shadow or Reality? and other publications, and did not use exaggeration nor lies nor any amount of deception to prove it (they didn't need to). However, when they feel they MUST use deception to prove an argument, they have NO hesitation about using deception!

Massive amounts of subtle deception. The Tanners do not tell direct "lies" and "whoppers" (false stories) as do Decker, Martin, and other professonal anti-Mormons. However, they DO use massive amounts of subtle deception called "strawman technique".

For example:

*The Tanners say that Joseph Smith LIED about the 1820 revival (which inspired his prayer which led to the First Vision) because records show there was NO REVIVAL in Palmyra in 1820, but in 1823.

COMMENT: This is true. But Joseph Smith nowhere claimed that the 1820 revival was in the village of Palmyra! He wrote there was "a religious excitement" in "the place where we lived" and indeed "the entire region of country" in 1820. The Smith's lived in Manchester, not Palmyra, in 1820. In 1820 there was a revival at the Baptist Stone Church of Manchester. There was many camp-meetings and revivals in Upstate New York in the years 1820; although none occured in the village of Palmyra that year. The Smiths lived in Manchester, not Palmyra, in 1820. Also, Mormon scholars have found at least 12 revivals (camp-meetings) in locations within 30 miles of the Smith farm in 1820, and they found references that the Smith family would visit these camp-meetings to sell cake and rootbeer, and that Joseph Smith Jr. worked at his family's concession booth as "cashier".

*The Tanners say that Brigham Young ordered the murder of apostates and others he disliked. They quote as evidence of this Mormonism Unveiled: The Confessions of John D. Lee. John D. Lee was the adopted son of Brigham Young. He was involed in the Mountain Meadows Massacre in which over 100 white men and women, and children above the age of 8, were murdered by Ute Indians and white Mormon militiamen. In the book Lee writes that he was a chief "Danite" and that Brigham Young ordered the massacre as well as the deaths of many people in Utah.

COMMENT: The Confessions of John D. Lee was NOT written by John D. Lee, but by Lee's anti-Mormon lawyer (William Bishop) after Lee was executed for murder! The book is NOT written by a Mormon or former Mormon; because "Lee" in the book calls Mormon apostle Parley P. Pratt "Reverend Pratt" and refers to Mormon bishops as "old Mormon priests"; something a Mormon or ex-Mormon or really anyone knowledgeable about Mormons simply would never do! The errors are beyond obvious. Brigham Young DID recommend killing thieves if caught (still legal in every state in the U.S. to kill a thief in your home). He also said that the punishment for adultery (if caught in the act) should be death, but, as Governor of the Provisional State of "Deseret" (later changed to "Utah") nobody was ever executed for thievery or adultery. Rather, they were publicly flogged. There is NO EVIDENCE whatever that Brigham Young ordered the death of anyone anywhere for anything.

*The Tanners write in Mormonism: Shadow or Reality? that Mormons claim that an "angel" supervised the editing of the first edition of The Book of Mormon, but nevertheless there have been over 4,000 changes in the book. Why the editorial changes?

COMMENT: The Tanners quote a book by a Mormon named Authur Richardson who relates a story how the Angel Moroni "checks" the editing process to make sure there are no mistakes in the first edition of The Book of Mormon. Who is Authur Richardson? We don't know. Where is the claim by Joseph Smith or Martin Harris or ANYBODY related to the first printing of the book that Moroni supervised it's editing? We don't know! Richardson seems to have gotten that out of the clear blue sky! This is NOT a claim of the Mormon Church or Mormon historians! Richardson (not a Mormon leader nor Mormon historian) seems to have either invented it or heard it from another Mormon as a rumor then presented it in his book (which very few Mormons ever read) as fact. The first draft of The Book of Mormon had no punctuation marks, because it consisted of scribes writing down what Joseph Smith was saying. All but 6 of the 4,000 changes are simply adding punctuation, or changes in spelling or grammer. The Mormon Church has never claimed that the Angel Moroni supervised the editing of the book. This is something invented by a Mormon (perhaps Richardson) and later published in a privately-published small book that 99.99% of Mormons have never read.

The Tanners use this "strawman technique" (to build a false argument just to knock it down) all throughout Mormonism: Shadow or Reality? and indeed in everything they have published. Besides the "strawman technique" the Tanners use lots of "omission of evidence" to build their "case against Mormonism". In other words, if they find evidence that is negative they use it, but if there is other evidence that could refute their evidence or greatly modify it they simply don't include it; leaving the unwary reader to assume there is no evidence other than that the Tanners have presented them.

Robert and Rosemary Brown, the Mormon authors of the They Lie In Wait To Deceive series are publishing a large book which exposes how the Tanners use MASSIVE DECEPTION in their works. This will be Volume 5 of They Lie In Wait To Deceive. At the time of this writing (May 2003) the book is not yet in print. Click on the link below to order previous volumes, or to see if Volume 5 in ready to be sold.

http://www.fairlds.org/pubs/liw/

The Tanners have a "double standard" in their critique of 'Mormonism'. If they used the same rules and standards against the Bible as they used against Mormonism, then it too would be dismissed as "fraudulent". All Mormon apologists know about the infamous "Tanner Double-Standard". Lawrence Foster, a non-mormon professor of American History at the Georgia Institute of Technology, is one of only a few non-mormons who have studied the Tanner's materials critically. Foster had written:

"The Tanners seem to be playing a skillful shell game in which the premises for judgement are conveniently shifted so that the conclusion is always the same--negative.***Although the most conscientious and honest researcher can overlook pertinent sources of information, the repeated omission of evidence by the Tanners suggest an intentional avoidance of sources that modify or refute their caustic interpretation of Mormon history." ("Career Apostates" Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, Summer 1984, pp.35,60)

In a nutshell: They are NOT trustworthy!

Ironicly, Decker is right about the Tanners! And the Tanners are right about Decker! They both cancel each other out!

Rev. Jimmy Swaggart

One televangelist that Decker had publicly praised many times was Jimmy Swaggart; a popular televangelist. This is because Swaggart Ministries supported Decker while others, such as Pat Robertson's Christian Broadcasting Network, refused to support Decker or Saints Alive.

Jimmy Swaggart was later involved in his own sex scandal in which he was photographed coming out of a cheap motel room with a known prostitute. The prostitute later sold her story to Penthouse magazine, where she said that Swaggard would masturbate while she posed nude, and had repeatedly asked her to bring her 9 year old daughter into the motel room while he did so. She refused to include her daughter. After the photos were produced Swaggart got on television, cried, and said (to God), "I have sinned against you!" His television ministry continued; abit smaller than it had been before.

Rev. Jim Bakker

Yet another televangelist, Jimmy Bakker, was another Decker friend and supporter, and Decker frequently praised him, along with Swaggart, in early EMFJ and Saints Alive newsletters. However, Bakker too was later involved in a sex scandal with a "Christian secretary" named Jessica Hahn. Bakker and his brother (both married men) had sex with Hahn in a motel room, and the very next day, on Bakker's Praise the Lord! ("PTL") television program, Jimmy said to his brother, "The Lord really ministered to us last night!"

Rumors leaked that Bakker and his brother had an "orgy" with Hahn the night before. Bakker then paid Hahn over $350,000 in "hush-money" to keep quiet and not to speak to reporters, nor indeed to anyone, about the sexual encounter. Hahn agreed, but the scandal broke anyway and Hahn finally had to admit it under oath; because prosecutors were prosecuting Bakker for embezzlement and the misuse of church funds; among other things.

Bakker was eventually convicted and sent to prison for 15 years; about 5 of which he served. His wife, Tammy Faye, known for her extravagant make-up, divorced him. Bakker later wrote a book titled, I Was Wrong.

He sold tens of thousands of copies.

Back when Bakker was still popular he had shown excerpts of "The God Makers" film on PTL, and promoted Decker and Saints Alive.

On the other hand, Pat Robertson's CBN refused to air portions of "The God Makers" and refused to interview Decker on air.

Wonder why?

Loftes Tryk

Loftes Tryk (pronounced "Lofty Trick") is an anti-Mormon who wrote The Best Kept Secrets of The Book of Mormon; which was promoted for years by Saints Alive in Jesus. The book basically uses numbers in the Book of Mormon to try to prove it has "Satanic messages". For example, Tryk adds up all the numbers found in one chapter of the Book of Ether, in the Book of Mormon, and the numbers add up to 333. Loftes then "doubles" that (for reasons not clear) and somes up with "666". He thus concludes that The Book of Mormon is in fact the "number of the Beast" spoken about in the Book of Revelations (actually, the "666" refers to NRN KSR="Nero Ceasar").

During the Decker vs. Tanner feud during the late '80s and early 90s Loftes defended Decker, and he was the first, apparently, to suggest that the Tanners were really "demonized secret agents working for the Mormon Church"; a claim repeated by Saints Alive and other Deckerites for years.

Tryk used to be a Mormon. In fact, he is one of those rare "Ex-Mormons for Jesus" who were actually at one time "Mormon". He was an Elder's Quorum President in a Ward (congregation) in Santa Paula, California. His personal story goes like this:

*He was a staunch Mormon who raised his family in the Mormon Church.

*He began several years of intensive Bible study, at the conclusion of which he decided 'Mormonism' was not Christian. He became a born-again Christian.

*His bishop told his wife to divorce him; because he became a born-again Christian. She did so.

*The Mormon Church told his wife not to contact him, and to keep his children away from him.

Sounds bad against the Church doesn't it? He studies the Bible (a "no-no" for Mormons according to him) then leaves the Church, then the Church forces his wife to leave him and prevent him from seeing his kids. This is the same claim as Bear and Decker made in "The God Makers" film!

Like all anti-Mormons, there are elements of truth in Tryk's story:

*He WAS at one time an Elder's Quorum President (like a chairman of a Board of Elders in a small congregation).

*His wife DID divorce him, and her bishop probably DID recommend this.

*The Church DID recommend that his children be kept away from him.

*He DID spend many years in INTENSIVE Bible study!

Here is the WHOLE story:

Loftes Tryk was a Mormon who was married to a Mormon woman and they had 7 children; all in a Ward in Santa Paula. He was a shop teacher at the local high school. He was an Elder's Quorum President during some of this time. He did do some local missionary work for the Church. However, in the early 1980s, it was discovered that Loftes was having sex with his own daughters. He was arrested, and later went to prison for about 8 years. He was excommunicated from the Mormon Church. His wife divorced him, and the Church recommended this; as well as keeping his children from seeing him in prison or afterwards. While in prison he had 23 hours per day to study the Bible; which he did. He came to the conclusion 'Mormonism' was not Christian. He re-read The Book of Mormon and found "satanic messages" in it that nobody else seems to have "seen". He joined a prison Christian fellowship; which helped him get early parole.

After coming out of prison Loftes became an anti-Mormon. He moved to Newhall, California, about 30 miles east of Santa Paula (and a place less expensive than Santa Paula). There he would contact the Church pretending to be a person interested in knowing more about the Church. Missionaries would be sent to see him. When they got to his small one-room apartment in Newhall they would notice he would have stacks of Mormon and anti-Mormon publications. Loftes would pretend to be a sincere seeker of Truth, but actually he would ask anti-Mormon questions and show the missionaries various documents to try to get them to lose their testimonies of the Church.

In Mormon apologetics this is known as a "Set-Up"; when an anti-Mormon pretends to be a sincere investigator for the purpose of trying to destroy the testimonies of young missionaries who aren't familiar with anti-Mormon tactics.

As fate (or God?) would have it, a man named Scott Spendlove, who had known Loftes and his family, and was raised in the same Ward in Santa Paula that Loftes had been a Member, graduated from BYU and moved to Newhall. While in Newhall Scott worked as a Stake Missionary; meaning a part-time local missionary who would sometimes assist the full-time missionaries (the ones with the black name-tags). The full-time missionaries told Scott that they had had problems with "an investigator with a wierd name". They told Scott that the investigator was asking them things they couldn't answer, and had a lot of "anti" (anti-Mormon literature) around his house. Scott asked the elders what the name of the man was. They said, "Loftes Tryk".

Scott immediately recognized the name. He knew Loftes had been excommunicated for incest, and had gone to prison. Scott was surprised Loftes only served 8 years. Scott was angered that Loftes would pretend to be a sincere investigator while at the same time try to destroy the testimonies of missionaries. Scott decided to confront Loftes.

Scott accompanied the missionaries to Loftes apartment. Loftes had told the missionaries, "Come back any time!" They knocked, and Loftes invited the men in. He then looked SHOCKED when he recognized Scott; who asked Loftes why he was pretending not to know much about Mormonism when in fact he had been a Member for many years. Loftes got LIVID and claimed that he had been "set up" and deceived! He very angrily threw the missionaries, and Scott, out of his apartment, saying, "You set me up! You set me up! HOW DARE YOU set me up!"

Loften Tryk tried to play a "lofty trick" upon the missionaries; something that many anti-Mormons do all over the country each year. Missionaries are very familiar with it. Anti-Mormons know that missionaries won't read anti-Mormon propaganda, so they become "tricksters" and pretend to be sincere investigators who say, "Gee, I really don't know anything about Mormonism, but, please, help me out! I read here in this book that Joseph Smith used a crystal ball to find buried treasure, is this true? And what about Brigham Young saying Adam was our God? Do YOU believe that?"

Of course, the missionaries are not trained on how to answer anti-Mormon questions. They have a burning desire to help sincere seekers of truth; so they often don't leave when confronted by "set-ups".

Loftes thought he was going to "trick" the missionaries, but his "trick" turned on him and bit him in the ass!

I remember being at a HUGE Baptist Church in Pomona, California, in the early 1990s. Dick Bear was giving an anti-Mormon lecture. He spent most of his time talking about his new computer equipment. In any case, after the lecture, Bear had three large tables all covered with anti-Mormon books, tapes, and pamphlets; all for sale. I remember one old Baptist woman looking through Loftes book: The Best Kept Secrets of The Book of Mormon. I shook my head and said to the woman, "Ma'am! I wouldn't trust that book, the guy is so far out you can't get a radar fix on him!" She looked at me, and with great conviction in her voice, said: "Young man, I KNOW that the man who wrote this book IS A MAN OF GOD!"

Gag!

Later, Decker and Loftes had their own "falling out". Don't know why, but afterwards they stopped promoting Best Kept Secrets and Loftes began to suggest that "maybe" Decker too was a "secret Mormon agent" planted by the Mormon Chuch "to control criticism" against it.

Really! I'm not kidding!

Doug Wallace

While Bear, the Tanners, Tope, and Tryk all deserted Decker--their one-time friend and associate--Doug Wallace never did! Doug Wallace always stood-by and supported Decker. Who is Doug Wallace?

We first hear of Doug Wallace in the mid-1970s. At that time he claimed to be a devout Mormon who disagreed with the (pre-1978) Church policy of not giving black men (or white men with Negro ancestry) the Priesthood. This is based upon a verse in The Book of Abraham where it said that those of the blood of Canaan were "blessed with wisdom" but "cursed as pertaining to the Priesthood" (Abr. 1:26). Although at least three black men were ordained to the Priesthood in the days of Joseph Smith (Elijah Abel, Walker Lewis, William McCary), Brigham Young and later Church presidents interpreted Abraham 1:26 to refer to all Negroes and even whites with a Negro ancestor. Such men could not be ordained to the Priesthood because they were the descendants of Cain, and Cain killed Abel. Not until Abel was resurrected, had children, and his children received the Priesthood first, then the "curse of Cain" would be removed and his descendants (Negros and Mulattos and even whites with one Negro ancestor) would be allowed the Priesthood. That was the official policy of the Church from the days of Brigham Young (1845-1869) until LDS President Spencer W. Kimball lifted the priesthood-ban in June of 1978.

Doug Wallace, like most liberal Mormons, did not agree with the priesthood-ban. However, unlike other liberal Mormons, Doug Wallace claimed that the Lord had chosen him to "change" the policy.

In 1975 Wallace baptized and "ordained" a black man to the Aaronic Priesthood, in Vancouver, Washington. Of course, Wallace had no authority from his bishop or the Church to do so. He was excommunicated. This incident made national news in the U.S., and even made newspapers in Great Britain and a few other countries.

Wallace began writing a periodical called The Millennial Messenger in which he would speak in the name of the Lord like a "prophet" would. In January 1978 Wallace wrote:

"Listen to the words of Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, for they are sharp as a two-edged sword, to dividing asunder the marrow of the bone...Behold I say unto you, ye have hardened your hearts and deafened your ears. Have I not revealed that all men are alike unto me, black and white, bond and free, male and female, Jews and Gentile? Why then do you not obey my voice? Why do you discriminate against your black brethren? Ye are the sons of the Pharisees, saying one thing and doing another...." (Millennial Messenger, March-April 1978)

In other words, if Wallace gets arrested soliciting prostitutes in Boise, it is just part of a "Mormon Church" plot to frame him!

Why do the Mormons want to kill or frame Wallace? Because, according to Doug, they want to "eliminate all opposition to his [Ezra Taft Benson's] maddened dream of world conquest and control." (Problem in The God Makers II, p.15)

Apparently, Wallace believed he was a "prophet" and could speak in the name of the Lord.

During the LDS Church's General Conference in 1976, in Salt Lake City, Doug Wallace appeared with two other men, all wearing white, inside the Mormon Tabernacle. The Salt Lake Tribune reported April 7, 1976:

"The trio appeared at the south entrance and Mr. Wallace asked to see President Kimball to talk about the church ban against blacks in the priesthood. [Church spokesman[ Mr. Cahill quoted Mr. Wallace saying, 'Don't touch the Lord! Make way for the Lord' when an usher attempted to prevent them from going further to the podium [where Kimball sat]. The men--Mr. Wallace and Mr. Wright in white suits, vest, shirts, and ties, and Mr. Lee in a white cartegan sweater over a white turtleneck sweater and wearing white trousers--were escorted outside. Later after questioning by security personnel and press relations officials, they were released. Mr. Wallace, born in Ogden, told Cahill he had a vision concerning the incident in which he saw himself entering the Tabernacle wearing white." (Problems in The God Makers II, p.14)

But...apparently...he still wasn't happy!

Wallace tried for many years to get Mormon leaders to end the priesthood-ban (preventing black men from the LDS Priesthood). Then, after the ban was lifted in 1978, Wallace apparently concluded that the Mormon priesthood wasn't any good after all! He then began telling everyone that Mormonism was a "lie".

Twenty years later Jeremiah Films produces "The God Makers II" and "The Truth About Mormon Church President Gordon B. Hinckley". Both videos present Hinckley as a bisexual hypocrite. Gordon B. Hinckley then SUES Jeremiah Films. Who was the lawyer in this case for Jeremiah Films? Doug Wallace! He has acted as Decker's attorney on several cases as well.

In fact, it was Doug Wallace who "found" Charles Van Damme; the man-dying-of-AIDS who claimed to be Gordon B. Hinckley's bisexual "lover" in the late 1960s.

An out-of-court agreement was made between Hinckley's lawyers and Jeremiah Films. Pat Matrisciana and Jeremiah Films promised to stop selling "The Truth About Mormon Church President Gordon B. Hinckley" in exchange for Hinckley dropping the defamation lawsuit.

Just 8 months ago I checked the website of Jeremiah Films and they were AGAIN selling The Truth About Mormon Church President Gordon B. Hinckley; in violation of the out-of-court agreement. I contacted Church Offices, and a few days later Jeremiah Films again stopped selling the video. Recently I discovered that two other "Christian website ministries" are selling "The Truth About Gordon B. Hinkley". Why the misspell? At first I thought it was just a type-o, but later I discovered that they are deliberately MISspelling Hinckley's name so that the Mormon Church's law-office won't "find" the video being sold on the Internet (i.e. won't 'find' it because they will search the Internet by spelling "Hinckley" as "Hinckley" and not as "Hinkly"). The deception continues! Jeremiah Films has gotten around the court-order by "farming out" the video!

Here is a list of Decker's closest friends and associates in the "Jesus Business":

*Pastor Bob Moorehead
*Tom Kellie
*Walter R. Martin (deceased)
*Bill Schnoebelen
*Richard Bear (estranged)
*Bob "Bee-el-zee-Bob" Larson
*Hank "Hanky-Panky" Hanegraaff
*Jerald and Sandra Tanner (estranged)
*Chuck and Dolly Sackett
*Jimmy Swaggart
*Jimmy Bakker
*Loftes Tryk (estranged)
*Doug Wallace

Are you beginning to see a "pattern" here?

Birds-of-a-feather "truly" flock together!

Deckerites (Decker's supporters)

What sort of person believes Decker, and supports him?

I would guess that 93% of Evangelicals who see "The God Makers" or read "The God Makers" books believe every single word they are reading. I'd guess that about 5% of Evangelicals think Decker "may be exaggerating" hear and there, and perhaps another 2% believe Decker is lying.

The vast great majority of Evangelicals believe whatever Decker tells them, but they are not "Deckerites"; his financial supporters.

I would guess that no more than 3% to 5% of Evangelicals who see "The God Makers" film or read the book are financial supporters. I would guess Decker has had no more than 20,000 people on his newsletter mailing list. These are the "Deckerites".

I've met "Deckerites" since early 1979. What are they like?

I would compare Deckerites to people who support al-Qaeda; people who aren't too bright, who are gullible, and tend to believe in a "conspiratorial" outlook on the world. Most of them have a true contempt (sometimes "hatred") for Mormons; thinking of Mormons as "hypocrites" and "fools" and even "blasphemers" deserving of death by stoning.

In a "nutshell"; Deckerites are simply "religious fanatics". Had they been born Muslims, they would be al-Qaeda supporters. Many of them have problems distinguishing reality from fantasy, and many of the men (especially larger men) are what you would call "bullies" and enjoy physically intimidating Mormons and other "cultists". When I weighed 150 pounds, they did this to me quite often. I would say a good 20% of Deckerites suffer from mental illness.

Probably the most "infamous" Deckerite was Dr. John Huntington Story of Lovell, Wyoming. He was one of two physicians in the town of Lovell; which was 50% Mormon. "Doc" (as he was called) was a "pillar of the Baptist church". He was an Anti-Mormon and Decker supporter. He promoted "The God Makers" film when it came to town; almost fanatically. He used to say "Mormons are blasphemers; thinking they become 'gods'".

In 1985, "Doc" was sentened to 15 years in prison for raping "from 45 to 100 of his female patients"; ranging from age "10 to 68". Almost all of the rape victims were Mormon women and girls. He got away with it for so long because he would give these women "pelvic exams" that would last 60 to 90 minutes; every time they saw him for any ailment. He heavily sedated the women and young girls during the "exams" and always used a "tubular" examination tool. These Mormon women, who never had been to a OBY-GYN, assumed it was "normal" procedure. Eventually, they wised up. "Doc" pleaded guilty to get a lesser sentence.

The Baptist Church of Lovell said the accusers were "all liars" and that "Doc" was "framed" by Mormons because "Doc" was a Christian and "wanted Mormons to know the truth about Mormonism" (i.e. because he was anti-Mormon).

I'm NOT trying to say "Doc" was a typical Deckerite! Just pointing out how many Deckerites "think". To them, lying to, or abusing a Mormon was no "sin" at all! I experienced such verbal abuse and physical threats from them many, many times.

"Doc" did not consider he was "raping" the Mormon women and girls! They were blasphemers! Where they not? He thought these women were getting their "just rewards" for blaspheming Jesus!

The story of Dr. John H. Story was told in a bestselling book titled DOC: The Rape of the Town of Lovell (Atheneun, 1989) by Jack Olsen.

This reminds me of the Dark Ages when good "Catholics" raped and murdered Protestants (whom they considered to be "heretics"), and good "Protestants" raped and killed Anabaptists (whom they considered "heretics" or what we would now call "cultists"). All in the Name of "JESUS" and for His glory!

The Baptists of Lovell still think "Doc" was framed; just another "Mormon Church conspiracy".

Remember, I am NOT referring to all Evangelicals here; just "Deckerites". Most Evangelicals are not religious fanatics. However, most of them will believe ANYTHING any anti-Mormon tells them no matter how outrageous it is, and without questioning him. And most of them will NOT believe anything a Mormon tells them. If an Anti-Mormon tells them a lie, they will call it "truth". If a Mormon tells them the truth, they will call it a "lie". The prophet Isaiah once wrote:

"Woe unto them that call evil good and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness;...." (Isaiah 5:20)

I was LIVID...to say the least! My eyes bulged out so much I thought they were going to POP!!! I could not BELIEVE it! I had EXPERIENCED those things from so-called "Christians" many times; perhaps hundreds of times in the last 25 years. But, this just goes to show the almost unbelievable ignorance manifested by many Evangelicals! Sorry...but if the shoe fits _____ ___ (fill-in the blanks). The comments from my Evangelical friend is simply more "proof" that con-men and hypocrites will continue to FOOL Evangelicals, in the name of Jesus, for many years to come. It reminds me of the case where Susan Smith, a Christian woman in South Carolina, drowns her two sons in a lake because her boyfriend she was having an affair with didn't like children. After she was convicted, in order to try to save her from being put to death, her step-father, Beverly Russell, admitted under oath that he had molested Susan as a child, and had an ongoing sexual relationship with her all during her adulthood; when she was single and married!

This is what Susan Smith's husband (the father of the murdered children) later wrote of Mr. Russell:

"Bev was a church man, active in the Christian Coalition, and he was big on prayer. My father sometimes called Bev 'Thank you, Jesus' instead of his name. I usually went along with Bev's prayer circles, but I couldn't help being a little repelled by what I felt was the hypocrisy of the man. A couple of years earlier, Susan had confessed to me that her stepdad had molested her." -- David Smith in Beyond All Reason: My Life With Susan Smith

The mentality of many Evangelicals, especially those that support Decker, reminds me of the Muslims that support Osama bin Ladin, thinking him a great hero, and thinking that 9-1-1 was a ploy by the Jews! These are people who are SPIRITUALLY BLIND, ignorant; only believing what they want to believe, and calling any TRUTH they don't wish to believe a "LIE".

Honest Anti-Mormons?

The works of Ed Decker are undoubtedly the WORST! They are filled with outright lies, distortions, false innuendos, rumor presented as fact, etc. Then why is Ed Decker the most popular anti-Mormon of all time? Perhaps because of the same reason Johnny Todd was so popular! Evangelicals LOVE sensationalism! They love conspiracy-theories! They love a GOOD STORY! Ed gives them that. Walter Martin gave them that too. Johnny Todd gave them that. They love it! Most of them don't WANT to "love" Mormons. They want to think of Mormons as blashemers, dupes, idiots, retards, liars, hypocrites, and wolves-in-sheeps-clothing. Many Evangelicals I've met over the years, influenced by Ed Decker's writings and speeches, would LOVE to beat and KILL Mormons! They have TOLD ME SO many, many times.

Nevertheless, there ARE some honest anti-Mormons out there! Here is a list of anti-Mormons that do not appear to use deception (although they are not always accurate or thorough):

*Mark Cares
*Ron Rhodes
*John Farkas
*Bill McKeever
*Rob Bowman
*Elliot Miller
*Craig Hawkins
*Watchmen Fellowship
*Institute for Religious Research
*Utah Ministries Inc.
*Probe Ministries

None of these men or ministries are 100% accurate! However, there is no indication that they deliberate try to deceive as do Ed Decker, Bill Schnoebelen, James Spencer, Hank Hanegraaff, Walter R. Martin, Chuck and Dolly Sackett, Jim and Judy Robertson, D.J. Nelson, Richard Abanes, and Jerald and Sandra Tanner. Unfortunately, the honest anti-Mormons are the least popular, and the DIShonest anti-Mormons are by far the most popular among Evangelicals.

The dishonest anti-Mormons "portray" themselves as "Christians". But they are not! They are simply con-men and con-women in the "Jesus Business".

And business is GOOD!

Why Decker Is So Popular (Sensationalism)

The reason why Decker and his anti-Mormon works, all filled with lies, half-truths, gross exaggerations, and distortions, is so popular among Evangelicals is because they are sensationalistic. The most popular Evangelical churches are those that have pastors who deliver sermons which are the most entertaining. Some of the larger Evangelical churches have their pastors or preachers singing; with bands. Others are just marvelous and emotional speakers. The most popular Evangelical books are those which entertain the most, and sensationalize.

A good example of why Decker is so popular can be found in the case of "Dr." Carl Sanders; a man who proclaims he worked on "the Mark of the Beast". Sanders appeared in Evangelical churches in the early 1990s proclaiming:

*He had worked for 20 years on a biometric implant: a machine which implants biochips under the skin.

*He had attended "17 New World Order" meetings, along with Henry Kissenger, Bill Gates, and others, to discuss how technology would help create the "New World Order".

*He was one of the "top engineers" of the world, had received the President's Award of Merit and Design Excellence.

*He designed secret surveillance equipment for the FBI, CIA, U.S. Customs, and the IRS.

*He had a Ph.D. in Engineering from the University of Hong Kong.

*He headed up a research group of more than 100 engineers, scientists, and medical doctors, for the purpose of designing the "666" bio-chip.

Evangelicals LOVED what he had to say! They believed it confirmed their belief that the Anti-christ would arise in the last days and mark everyone with a "666". Modern "end-times preachers" said that this "666" may be a microchip installed in the forehead or right-hand, under the skin. Nobody would be allowed to buy or sell without it. Revelations chapter 13 seemed about to be fulfilled. All true born-again Christians would be "raptured" away and meet Jesus in the clouds of the sky; while lukewarm Christians would be "left behind" to face the wrath of the False Prophet and the Anti-christ; who would reign for 7 years.

Evangelical pastors heard of Dr. Carl Sanders, and wanted him to come speak at their church! Why? Evangelical pastors love sensationalism too! Also, they know that Sanders would draw in many people not in their churches, and some of their people would join the their churches as a result of him speaking.

However, some Evangelicals who followed Carl's speaking engagements and listened to the tapes noticed that his story was changing and getting BIGGER as time went on. Finally, John Torell, an Evangelical pastor, decided to investigate Sander's claim. He found:

*Sanders had no Ph.D., nor any degree in Engineering of any kind. He spent 12 years in the U.S. Airforce working on aircraft avionics. He was a Staff Sergeant at the time he left the Airforce.

*He once worked at the Polaris Computer company in Hong Kong as a technician who made a relatively low salary.

*He NEVER worked on anything that implanted microchips under the skin.

*The story about heading a group of 100 engineers, scientists, and medical doctors was a lie. Never happened. He never worked on such a group nor did he ever "head" it.

John Torell wrote in The Dove, January, 1994, the following about Carl Sanders:

"As he was operated on for terminal cancer in June, 1990, at the VA hospital in Spokane, Washington, he felt that God had spoken to him and was calling him into full-time ministry. When I pressed Carl on the issue, he told me in the beginning of his meetings, he tried to preach Christ, holiness, and call people to repentance. But the response was not there, and when he began talking about the end times and the development of the microchip people responded in mass, and sudddenly he was drawn into this message. Carl told me that with each meeting the old LIE WOULD GET BIGGER AND BIGGER. Suddenly he found himself back with the old lie, and he did not know how to get out of it. Carl then told me that the message was so important, he began to invent his degrees in order to get more credibility with people. The lie was getting bigger and bigger as Carl became known nationally and internationally. Then followed the TV interviews, the radio programs, meetings in large churches and prophecy conferences." (The Mark of the Beast - DEBUNKED, p.8 online)

Carl Sanders began his speaking about the 'Mark of the Beast' at, you guessed it, the Overlake Christian Church; under Pastor Bob Moorehead!

Most Bible scholars know that the "mark" of the "Beast" was a stamp on business documents and the "engraven image" of the Emperor upon Roman coins. In order to "sell" one must have an Imperial document with the Imperial seal "stamped" on it. In order to "buy" one had to have Roman coin with the Emperor's image "engraved" upon it. The Greek word translated "mark" in Revelations chapter 13 is charagma and means "stamp" or "etching" or "engraving". The "mark" on the right-hand or forehead referred to the "head tax" and the "right-hand" tax; paid for in Roman coin that had the image of Ceasar "stamped" upon it. Bible scholars also know that the number "666" stood for NRN KSR: Neron Kesar (Nero Ceasar), the "Beast" who horribly persecuted Christians. The Beast was Nero. The Beast that arose from the sea was Rome: the monster with 7 heads (Rome was built upon 7 hills) and ten horns (representing the 10 Ceasars from Julius until Nero). The second beast, the "False Prophet", was Simon Magus; the Samaritan who hypnotized people and made busts of Ceasar appear to speak and move.

But...that's boring! Evangelicals don't want to hear that Revelations 13 was referring to things in John the Revelator's day! That isn't sensational. It doesn't bring in crowds, and money, to Evangelical churches.

Carl Sanders LIED! He invented the story about the "666" microchip. He invented his "degrees". He invented the committee of 100 he was "heading". All pure LIES! And Evangelicals LOVED it! They couldn't get enough of it!

Mormon apologists who have followed the Anti-Mormon Movement closely have seen the very same thing regarding professional anti-Mormons over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again....ad infinitum, ad absurdum, ad nauseum!

Professional Anti-Mormons feel they must LIE about their own backgrounds and creditials in an attempt to give themselves more credibility. AND IT WORKS! When they are exposed as frauds, their followers believe the evidence was fabricated by the Mormon Church; all part of the huge Luciferian/Masonic/Mormon worldwide conspiracy!

I am NOT kidding!

I still remember back in 1992-93 when I lived in Vancouver, Washington. I remember that an ex-Mormon named "Sundholm" from Portland, Oregon (just across the Columbia river) was becoming very popular speaking at Evangelical churches in Portland and over "Christian" radio in that city. I listened to him during several radio interviews in 1992, and I could not find one lie or exaggeration in his speech! He seemed very humble. He was very accurate. I was impressed. However, one year later, I heard him give an interview over the same radio station. He was arrogant and cocky. He told one lie after another, and occassionally laughed as he spoke. AMAZING! Why the change from honesty to dishonesty? The answer is easy: because he found he became more popular IF HE LIED!

Many professional anti-Mormons (i.e. those with 'ministries') find that if they simply tell the truth Evangelicals get bored with them, and fewer and fewer come hear them speak. So, they begin to lie, and they begin to say things that will SHOCK Evangelicals. And they LOVE it! Then they discover they are invited to more and more churches and get offers to write books and tapes and get large amounts of money and praise, etc.!The very WORST case of this among anti-Mormons is Ed Decker; who is, by far, the most successful anti-Mormon ever!

Decker Inspires Hate and Violence

There are about 40 million Evangelicals in the United States, and more in Latin America, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Polynesia, and Europe. Many of them are very intelligent, even intellectual, people. These would not be impressed with Ed Decker and his materials. However, among Evangelicals are people who are given to believe "conspiracy-theories". These people are usually very gullible. They love sensationalism. Some among this group can even be said to be "fanatical". Some of the fanatics are easily angered and can be prone to violence. While a Mormon missionary in San Jose, California, in 1983-84 we met quite a few Evangelicals. This was during a time "The God Makers" film was being shown to various Evangelical churches around the U.S. Most of these Evangelicals would simply say, "You're DECEIVED!" and slam their doors on us. However, some would:

*Curse us.
*Spit upon us.
*Threaten to beat or kill us.
*Slap us in the face.
*Punch us in the gut.
*Ridicule and mock us.
*Cast "demons" out of us.
*Laught at us with contemptuous amuzement.
etc.

I still remember while on my mission a number of Evangelicals saying, "In the NAME OF JEEEEEE-ZUS I COMMAND YOU TO BE SILENT!" We would say, "Hello? Can you hear us? I don't think that worked!" They would get REAL upset when that happened.

This is true! I remember several times asking directions from Evangelicals, and they LIED to us; deliberately. A group of "Christians" took two missionaries off of their bikes, roughed them up, and sent them away saying if they came back they would be killed. When our mission president (President Moyes) called the pastor of the young men who threatened our missionaries, the "pastor" started to CURSE him! Really!

Again, perhaps 1% of Evangelicals are VIOLENT after being exposed to Decker's anti-Mormon propaganda, but, 1% of the MILLIONS who have seen "The God Makers" or read the book is still quite a few individuals! About 1% are violent, about 20% are threatening, just about all are very VERY rude! All of them "Christians".

Decker presents 'Mormonism' as a Satanic imitation of Christianity where it's leaders knowingly worship Lucifer, and Mormon missionaries are "wolves in sheep's clothing" who knowingly to try DECEIVE "Christians" that they are Christians too! I still remember Evangelicals looking at me with SEETHING HATRED as I told that that Mormons believed in Jesus Christ too! THEY THOUGHT I WAS LYING TO THEM! I wasn't. Decker was!.

I still remember one door was knocked on in which a woman came out smiling, and said, "Oh, I know ALL ABOUT Mormonism!" Of course, this meant she knew what anti-Mormons wanted her to know. I said, "Well, tell us what you know and I'll tell you if it's true!" Her 8 year old son came out smiling, and she said, "These ARE MORMONS!" His little face turned red, and he got very angry, and came toward me and began to try to punch me in the crotch with his little fist; as hard has he could!

I was IN SHOCK! I couldn't believe it! I expected the woman to grab the boy and spank him. She just stood there saying, "Show the Mormons want we think of them!" The little boy contined to draw his arm back as far as he could and try to punch me in the crotch. I though of grabbing the kids arms, but I didn't (thank goodness, because I would have been arrested for assaulting a child). Instead, I turned around and my companion and I began to walk away. A man came out (her husband?) and I thought he would say, "What's going on here?" and grab the kid and spank him. He just stood there next to his wife, watching the kid drive his fist into my backside over and over again as we walked away. The man and woman WERE LAUGHING!

As we got onto the sidewalk the little boy was red with anger; still punching me in the butt. I turned around and said, "Would Jesus want you to hurt me? Does Jesus want you to hurt other people?" The little boy stopped, looked at me, thought for a second, and looked as if he was going to cry. I said, "Does Jesus want you hurting other people?" He started to cry. I and he started back toward the couple, who told him, "That's OK, you didn't do anything wrong!" "Christians"?

If THA T is what "Christianity" is....YOU CAN KEEP IT!

To tell you all the times "Christians" have called me a liar, spit at me, assaulted me, mocked me, and insulted me, just because I was a Mormon, would take a thick book! Many other Mormons who have served missions in "Christian" areas will tell you the same thing.

This is what Ed Decker and his LIES (in the name of "Jesus") have inspired!

Mormon missionaries have been "invited" into the homes of Evangelicals just to be insulted and thrown out, or to be scalded with boiling water, or have piss thrown in their faces, or be "exorcised" by Evangelicals who think the Mormons were possessed by demons, etc. One Evangelical "Christian" in Texas Bible-bashed with two Mormon missionaries, and when he saw he wasn't winning he killed them both, dismembered their bodies, and through the remains in a river.

He served 11 years in prison.

Over the last 23 years at least two dozen Evangelicals have told me, "If I wasn't a Christian I WOULD KILL YOU!"

SEETHING hatred!

Decker deliberately lies, distorts, shocks, mocks, and stirs up the less intelligent/more fantatical Evangelicals to anger, and sometimes violence, while himself laughing all the way to the bank.

Decker's lies have killed 6 young innocent Mormon missionaries in Latin America; when he went down there calling them "CIA" agents. His lies in Israel--saying that BYU Jerusalem Center was just a front for a new MTC to convert Jews--inspired some of them to kill the Church's attorney in Israel. Decker's lies have stirred many Evangelicals to anger and violence. Those who are not stirred to violence are stirred to treat Mormons with contempt, disrespect, and mockery; all in the name of Jesus!

When Evangelical men, always large ones, used to assault and threaten me I used to say, "Didn't Jesus say do under others as ye would have them do unto you?" They would usually just get angrier and shout "DON'T QUOTE THE BIBLE TO ME!!!" Others would say, "That applies only to other Christians. AND YOU ARE NOT A CHRISTIAN!"

I know for a fact that many Mormons would today to murdered by some of the more fanatical Evangelicals; if they were not affraid of the secular authorities and prison. That is the ONLY reason!

Why did Jews want to kill Jews who were Nazarenes (followers of Jesus)? Because they believed the LIES of the anti-Nazarenes; such lies which drove them to SEETHING HATRED! The anti-Nazarenes LIED to Roman authorities, which drove the Roman authorities to kill Christian men, women, and children.

Will Decker Ever Be Exposed?

For years I have sent information about Ed Decker to various Evangelical publications such as Christianity Today and Cornerstone magazine. I sent evidence that Decker was lying on a major scale to Harvest House; the publisher of The God Makers books. I have sent evidence that Decker was a dangerous fraud to Utah Missions Inc., The Watchmen Fellowship, and numerous other "anti-cult" ministries. I personally spoke with Pat Matrisciana of Jeremiah Films about Decker and his lies and exaggerations. I have emailed information about Decker to various Evangelical pastors and others. What happened?

Basically:

a) Some would say, "You're a Mormon who is working under the direction of Mormon leaders. You're a LIAR, and everything you have said about Brother Ed is a LIE!"

or...

b) Others would say, "Yes, Ed has some major problems, but he is doing too much good for the Body of Christ! His personal problems is between him and the Lord, but his message is vital!"

or...

c) No answer. No action. Business-as-usual.

Are LIES vital? How can LIES help the "Body of Christ"?

I still remember about 1986 hearing that Walter R. Martin was giving a lecture at the Central Lutheran Church in Tacoma, Washington (my home town). I went to the senior pastor there and asked, "If I could prove that Martin is lying about his background, his degrees and ordination, would you still have him as a guest speaker?" The pastor said, "Why NO! We would cancel it immediately!" I then handed him a copy of They Lie In Wait To Deceive Volume 3; which is an expose' of Walter Martin and PROVES (with documentation photocopied inside) that he was a FRAUD.

About 4 days later I again met with the senior pastor of the Central Lutheran Church. I asked, "Did you read the book as you said you would?" He said, "Yes, most of it." I said, "What do you think of Walter Martin now?" He said, "Well, he's said a few things that weren't true, about his background, but he still preaches truth about Mormonism!" I said, "What about his false degrees, and his other lies?" The pastor said, "Well, that's between him and the Lord, but he's doing too much good for the Body of Christ!" I said, "But he's a LIAR!" At that point the minister's face turned red, and I'm not exaggerating, he looked possessed by a demon and he started SCREAMING: "MORMONISM IS A LIE!!! MORMONISM IS A LIE!!! IT'S OFF THE DEVIL!!! ___YOU___ ARE OF THE DEVIL!!!"

He was jumping up and down, flailing his arms, and SCREAMING like a banshee! His secretary came charging in with a look of horror on her face, and she said to me, "You get out of here! You get out of here now!"

That man was one of the most respected conservative Lutheran pastors in America!

A few days later I attended the anti-Mormon lecture Martin was giving at that church, and the senior pastor came out and introduced Walter Martin, saying, "I would like to introduce a good friend of mine, a brother in Christ, the DOCTOR Walter R. Martin!" He deliberately emphasized "doctor" as he laughed as he turned around and Martin approached the pulpit.

I couldn't believe it! The senior pastor KNEW by then that Martin LIED about his "Ph.D." During the lecture (I recorded it) Martin told an average of 1 lie per minute; for 90 minutes.

Who is the "father of lies"? Who are his childen? How can "lies" be of God? How can "lies" help the "Body of Christ"?

Of course, in truth, Evangelical theology says that if you are saved once you are always salved (the "eternal security of the Believer"). If that is true, then why are anti-Mormons trying to "protect" Christians from becoming Mormons? If they are "saved" they won't become Mormons anyway and anti-Mormon literature is not needed. If they are "saved" then, even if they become Mormons, they are still saved because they can't lose their salvation!

The reason why anti-Mormons use lies, and Evangelicals excuse lies (in this case), is because ANTI-Mormonism is from the Devil; the father of lies.

Why won't secular newspapers expose Decker? Two reasons:

1) Religion editors are often Evangelicals themselves, and will not publish anything that is critical of anything anti-Mormon.

I remember while a Mormon missionary in San Jose, California, in 1984 I heard an ex-Mormon woman who appeared in "The God Makers" film (Jolene Coe) had rejoined the Church; with her "Christian" husband (Greg Coe). In "The God Makers" Jolene was an "ex-Mormon" who said as a Mormon she "wanted to be eternally pregnant". But when she married Greg her bishop "told me I had to divorce him and marry a good Mormon". She became a Christian and now both she and Greg were happy. However, about a year after "The God Makers" came out both Jolene and Greg joined the Mormon Church. An article appeared in a Mormon newspaper out of Mesa, Arizona, (The Latter-day Sentinel) where Jolene said that her comments about wanting to be "eternally pregnant" were not hers, but something the film makers told her to say.

When I read the article about the Coes I called up the religion editor of the San Jose Mercury-News. The paper had done a two-full-page article on "The God Makers" film when it came out. I asked the religion editor, "If two anti-Mormons from the film joined the LDS Church would that be news? Would you do an article about that?" He laughed and said, "Haha, SURE! We sure would!" I said, "Well, two have! Greg and Jolene Coe!" He said, "Wha...what....what?" I told him the details, and said, "When are you doing an article?" He said, "I'll check it out and get back to you!"

He never got back to me. I called him several weeks later and asked, "Did the story check out?" He said, "Yes". I said, "Will you do an article?" He said, "I'm not gonna proselyte for you people!" and hung-up the phone on me.

NOTE: Greg and Jolene soon afterwards left the Mormon Church, and again became Evangelicals. They wrote a book called The Mormon Experience; an anti-Mormon book sold in "Christian" bookstores. Greg said he "never believed it" but joined because Jolene wanted him too. Jolene later divorced Greg and tried to join the Mormon Church yet again. At about this time Mike Mistretta, the head of Saints Alive in Jesus for Arizona, and host of an anti-Mormon talkshow for years in Phoenix, rejoined the Mormon Church, but again, secular and "Christian" newspapers refused to publish the story.

2) Religion editors who are not Evangelicals are usually Liberals, and dislike the Church because they consider it anti-Feminist, anti-black, anti-gay, etc. They don't want to publish anything positive about the church.

You may think all journalists are fair and up-and-up. They aren't. If they are Liberal they are almost very biased against any institution they consider their enemy. Most liberal journalists think the LDS Church is an "enemy" and won't publish things positive about it if they can help it.

Sadly true!

Will Decker ever be exposed by Evangelicals? I am sure there are Evangelicals who want to expose him, but are SCARED of him! They are scared of being sued. Others just say, "Well, he's doing too much good for the Body of Christ!"

In fact, Decker has done very little for Evangelicals; except deceive them and inspire others to hate while making for himself a fortune.

Ex-Mormons for Jesus?

Most (2/3rds) of "Ex-Mormons for Jesus" have never been Mormons! I got to know many of these people back when I associated with them during the years 1979 to 1981. I discovered:

*When asked whey they left the Church they would all say, "Well, I started reading the Bible, and I found it diametrically opposed (their "favorite" words) to Mormonism. So then I knew it wasn't true. I left the Church and became a Christian."

*After I got to know these people I discovered the REAL reason why they left the Church! It was because they had some negative event: such as their business going under, a child dying, discovering a son was gay, having their bishop try to heal a loved one and that loved one then dying, getting into a car accident after saying a prayer for safety, going bankrupt after paying full tithing for that year, etc. Most (if not all) ex-Mormons who support 'ministries' such as Decker believed as Mormons they were VERY righteous folk, and that their activity in the Church, their tithe-paying, their temple-attendance, was supposed to bring them--if not riches--then material success, health, and protection for them and their loved ones. If this did not happen, if something negative happened, then they began to doubt the Church, and these doubts usually grow until they conclude 'Mormonism' doesn't 'work'. Only AFTER they leave the Church do they begin to study the Bible and "conclude" Mormonism isn't "Christian"; only AFTER losing faith in it and leaving it.

I know many Mormons who believe that paying tithing is meant to get more money back. They believe that wearing their garments is meant to protect them from physical ailments and accidents. They believe that they are very "righteous" people, and that material wealth and blessings is the result of their own righteousness. However, when there comes a traumatic accident, or their garments don't protect them physically, or they have a child born deformed, or their business fails, or their career goes down hill, or their marriage fails, they blame the Church on it! They think their good works should protect them and their loved ones and give them wealth and material success, but when this doesn't happen they often conclude the Church isn't true. I recently read an online article from one such "Ex-Mormon for Jesus". He titled his article "I Thought I Was Righteous!". He writes how Mormons "think they are righteous [worthy] and think their own righteousness saves and exalts them!" I would have to say that indeed "some" Mormons think precisely that!

Way back in 1979 to 1983 when I spoke to anti-Mormons almost daily, they would say, "You Mormons think you ARE righteous, and that your righteousness SAVES you! But the Lord says 'There are none righteous not one!' and Paul wrote, 'We are saved by grace, not by our works, lest any man should boast!'" I'd just shake my head and say, "Mormonism doesn't teach that!" That was true, official LDS doctrine does NOT teach that. But the Anti-Mormons knew something I did not know. THEY KNEW MORMONS far better than I! 23 years later, I would say anti-Mormons are correct in believing that Mormons think they are "righteous" (Mormons call it "worthiness") and that their righteousness "saves" (exalts) them. But, I would qualify that. MANY Mormons believe that. Certainly not all. Perhaps not even "most".

Those kinds of Mormons, and there are MANY of them, are the same kind of "reprobate" Christians that Paul warns Timothy about "Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness, from such withdraw thyself." (1 Timothy 6:5). A better translation is: "constant friction between men of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain." (1 Tim. 6:5 NIV)

Many Mormons believe that godliness (to be "worthy" and active in the Church) is a "means to financial gain". They believe that if they pay 10% or more to the Church that means they should get even more money back. If they go to the Temple that means they should get in return "blessings" which include:

*Protection from disease and accident.

*Healthy well-behaved children.

*Promotions at work.

*Safety in travel.

*Material wealth.

If these "blessings" don't materialize, then the Mormon who believes he/she is "worthy" (i.e. "righteous") and deserving of these "blessings" often concludes they have been deceived, that the Church is powerless, and thus false. Some of these become atheists, others agnostics, other New Agers, and some others join an Evangelical church. It is only then that they discover organizations like Saints Alive. It is only then that they begin to study anti-Mormon materials and conclude they left the Church because it didn't "square" with the Bible!

Yet, many Evangelicals also believe in what some call "the Prosperity Message" or "the Health and Wealth Gospel". Some Evangelical preachers preach it because it brings them more money and more converts. Others preach against it as a "false doctrine".

Among Mormons born in afluent circumstances the "health and wealth gospel" is extremely popular. I saw it preached many times in affluent wards on my mission and elsewhere. It killed the Spirit! Instead of light it only brought a darkness that seemed to oppress everyone and everything.

The essence of ALL pagan religions, Hinduism, Witchcraft, Satanism, the worship of spirits, the worship of ancestors, is "blessings"; meaning material gain here and now. All of the temples in Japan, India, Africa, China, Brasil, dedicated to sacred rats, monkeys, ancestors, nature-spirits, ALL have to do with getting material gain in response to sacrifices. All pagans believe that if they sacrifice to these pagan gods and nature spirits they will get "blessings". Many Mormons believe if they pay tithe or go to the temple they will receive, in return, material "blessings" in the form of financial gain/health/wealth/divine-protection.

On the other hand, Jesus said, "In the world ye shall have tribulation" (John 16:33) Jesus NOWHERE promised His disciples they would receive wealth, financial gain, divine protection, or health by obeying Him. Simply does not exist! He warned them against accumulating wealth, and promised them only treasures in heaven:

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal.
But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal." (Matt. 6:19-20)

In Hebrew word translated "prosperity" means the opposite of "adversity"; NOT the opposite of "poverty".

The word "prosperity" in Joseph Smith's day meant the opposite of "adversity"; NOT the opposite of "poverty".

Yet, today, many Mormons think "to prosper in the land" means "to become rich".

I have known many Mormons who judge other Mormons by how materially wealthy/successful they are! If one does not have material wealth/success they are often judged as "unworthy" by Mormons who think that material wealth/success is the result of being "worthy". I have had experiences where I attended affluent Mormon wards, but many "Saints" refused to speak with me or have anything to do with me; because I was poor. They truly "despised" the poor!

But this false teaching among Mormons also exists among Evangelicals, and it existed among Christians in Paul's day; men whom Paul called "reprobate", "corrupt", "robbed of the truth", and he warned Timothy to "turn away" from them.

The other kinds of ex-Mormons I have seen are:

*Mormons who were excommunicated for adultery or some other major sin. Instead of repenting they became angry and bitter, and vowed to "get even". They often join Evangelical churches and rage against the Church.

*Mormons who were raised in the Church, went inactive at a very young age, never really knew Mormon beliefs, became converted to Evangelicalism in later years, and then became convinced Mormonism is false thanks to anti-Mormon propaganda they discovered AFTER becoming Evangelicals.

Those are the only types of "Ex-Mormons for Jesus" I have known. And I have met them and gotten to know them over the last 23 years.

Of course, most Mormons who lose their faith because of anti-Mormon propaganda do not become Evangelicals, but they become atheists, or agnostics, or perhaps New Agers. Some turn to using alcohol. Most begin to live immoral lives. Why? Because when they lose faith in the Church theytend to lose faith in everything! Anti-Mormon propaganda has had little effect upon active Mormons, but for those who have left the Church because of it, far more are now agnostics than are now Evangelicals.

Conclusion

After 23 years of researching Ed Decker I can come to only one conclusion: he is a FRAUD!

REGARDLESS of whether Joseph Smith and Mormonism is also a fraud, Ed Decker, president of Saints Alive in Jesus, author of "The God Makers" books and videos, is a fraud! He is a liar. He is a con-man, and apparently has been most of his adult life. He is a scam-artist in the "Jesus Business"; and business is good!

Decker is a "muderer" in the same way that a Quaker who stirs-up a crowd to anger against an innocent man, and then the crowd murders that innocent man, but the Quaker says, "My hands are clean! I hurt nobody!" Decker went to Chile calling Mormon missionaries "secret CIA agents" knowing that Chileans HATED the CIA with a seething hatred (and RIGHTFULLY SO!). What Decker did would be like going to South Africa during the Apartheid years, and saying to a crowd of blacks in a black community, "So-and-so is a colaborator with the white Police" and then watching the crowd torturing and murdering so-and-so, who was innocent, and then saying, "I had NOTHING to do with the murder of so-and-so!" The man who LIED is more guilty of murder than any in the crowd!

After 23 years, I've finally been able to reconstruct (in a limited way) Decker's "history" in the LDS Church, and out of it:

*As a young man living in New Jersey Decker got a swimming scholarship to Utah State University, in Logan, Utah. He smoke, drank, and slept-around. He met a young Mormon woman he was attracted to, and, as happens many thousands of times each year, he "cleans himself up and joins the Church". Why? To get her! This happens all the time between young Gentile "Don Juans" (as Decker was) and Mormon women in Utah.

*He is active for about 18 months; just long enough to go to the Temple a few times. After he has secured her and a baby is on the way Decker turns back into his true self; drinking, fornicating, and swindling. He travels all over the U.S.; to different states. Why? Because if he swindles in one state he can flees to another without being persecuted in the former state (U.S. laws are different now).

*Decker and his wife live all over the United States. He attends Wards only long enough to befriend people and get them to give him money on get-rich-quick scams. He literally takes the money and runs from state to state. In the late 1960s he winds-up in Washington State. His Mormon wife finally gives up on him. He has committed adultery against her more times than she can remember. Mormon bishops, hoping to keep the family together, tell her each time to "forgive" him. She's finally had enough, and she divorces him on grounds of multiple adultery and mental cruelty. Decker does not contest the divorce nor the grounds of divorce. He does not contest nor counter-sue.

*After the divorce Decker meets an Evangelical woman, and she falls for him. As before, Decker feigns a conversion to her church (an Evangelical one); as a means of "getting" her to marry him. However, this time he is asked to give his conversion story on how he, as a Mormon, was "saved". Decker does so, and is applauded. He LIES, but the Evangelicals love his sensationalism, so they believe every word. He likes the attention and acclaimation. He gives more "testimonies" at other churches, and receives more applauds and acclaim! His story, and his ego, GROWS with each lecture! He then gets the idea (from someone else probably) to start a "ministry" where he can make money while giving lectures against Mormonism, and how he "got out of Mormonism and found Jesus".

*At first it is slow, but then he begins to "spice up" his lectures by tying Mormonism into the Illuminati/Freemasonic conspiracy (introduced by John Todd just a few years before). Evangelicals LOVE this! Pastor Bob Moorehead hears of him, and asks Ed to speak before the 6,000 members of the Overlake Christian Church. A MASSIVE amount of money comes in! Decker decides to make this his career, and, with help from Overlake and others, forms the Ex-Mormon for Jesus Evangelistic Association (i.e. "Saints Alive in Jesus").

*Decker begins his career as a professional anti-Mormon by writing To Moroni With Love; a small anti-Mormon booklet which is quite tame compared to his later works. The small booklet sells phenomenally, and pastors from all over the U.S. ask him to come speak at their churches; with $500 to $300 per diems per visit. He then comes into contact with Pat Matrisciana of Jeremiah Films. Plans are made to create a film called To Kolob And Back; an expose' of Mormonism. It is later changed to "The God Makers". A book by the same title is written by Decker with Dave Hunt; a popular Evangelical writer at that time, and published by Harvest House Publishers of Eugene, Oregon. The film is a smashing success; as is the book. Decker becomes a "beloved Man of God" to MILLIONS of Evangelicals around the globe.

It is my fear that Decker will pass from this existence beloved by millions; who have been duped by his lies.

I also believe that I have just scatched the surface on the life of Ed Decker. I've seen just a small glimpse of the darkness and crimes of this man. Perhaps one day the whole truth regarding this man will be brought to light. Unfortunately, even if that happens, Evangelical Anti-Cult leaders will (as they have done so many times before) simply sweep it under the rug; justifying it by telling themselves, "He's done too much good for the Body of Christ!"

But has he?

I would submit to you that his works has converted very few Mormons to Evangelicalism! Every single "Ex-Mormon for Jesus" I have met left the Church for other reasons than Decker's lies! Active Mormons KNOW that Decker is LYING! He doesn't fool us. He fools YOU! He fools YOU into giving him your MONEY$$$$!!!

For him...it's all about MONEY and EGO! He loves the MONEY because it makes him rich. And he is a VERY RICH man! The money gives him wealth. He DOES take care of his family very well. But the money also goes to his girlfriends, and the more $$$ his has the younger and prettier they get!

Decker is a "con-man"; always has been. He conned Mormons for many years. Taking their money in get-rich-quick schemes, and then moving to a different state (because he knew that prosecutors rarely go outside of thier home state to prosectute con-men in ponzy schemes).

He is a con-man! And for him it's NOT about "Jesus", but about "MONEY"!

I'll give you just one example!

In 1980 Decker decides to sent "care" packages to 500 homes; a free bag of groceries, with a copy of his To Moroni With Love booklet inside. He gathers tens of thousands of dollars of donations. He gathers a ton of food, and has volunteers place the food, and the pamphlet, into brown bags. Where do the 500 bags of free food (and Decker anti-Mormon booklet) go? To the poor of Ranier Valley in Seattle? No! They go to 500 homes in Bellevue, Kirtland, and Redmond Washington; where the average income was (even then) over $100,000 per year!

That evening 500 rich white folks drove up in their BMWs, and their Porches and Mercedes to find a free bag of groceries on their front porches; with a copy of To Moroni With Love sticking out of the top!

Why did Decker send free groceries to rich people?

Because RICH people are the ones with the $$$; the ones who could make Decker wealthy with their donations to his "ministry"!

Get it?

I first met Decker in 1979, and I visited his home in 1980. It was LAVISH! It was in May Valley, between Renton and Issaquah. It was a HUGE vaulted home with a guesthome in back, a large mobile home (Saints Alive H.Q.), and an expensive British MG sportscar in the driveway. At that time Decker was claiming he was in "near poverty" for the Lord!

Really!

Dear Reader, Ed Decker is a LIAR, a FRAUD, a CHARLATAN, and an EVIL and VICIOUS con-man!. He has attempted to make Evangelicals HATE Mormons, and he has been very successful in this! But he LIES! He is a con-man in the "Jesus Business". This is the TRUTH: whether or not Mormonism or Joseph Smith is also a lie is another question completely.

Ed Decker is NOT "for Jesus". Ed Decker is for "Ed Decker". He lies in the name of Jesus daily. His lies have inspired innocent people being killed, others beaten, spit-upon, mocked, disrespected, and abused. He is perhaps guilty of even worse crimes. His lies inspire SEETHING HATRED! His books and tapes do not convert active faithful Mormons! No believing Mormon is converted by his obvious lies and distortions. All they are for is to "sensationalize" ("sensational-LIES") so he can MAKE ENORMOUS AMOUNTS OF MONEY!

Like his closest friends and associates, Ed Decker is simply a con-man in the "Jesus Business"; and business is good!

That's all.

Unfortunately, only a few hundred Mormons will read this paper. Only a few dozen Evangelicals will read it, and most of them won't believe it! They will believe that this article is part of a "Mormon Church conspiracy" to discredit Decker! Again, Decker is successful because he works off of ignorance and fanaticism. The more ignorant and fanatical the Evangelical, the more they will believe and support him; all evidence against him be damned!

Of course, many Evangelicals are neither ignorant nor fanatical. Very few of them will read this article. None of them, if any, will then try to expose Decker as a fraud; even if they believe he is.

Why? Because they are either scared of him sueing them, or they believe he is "doing too much good for the Body of Christ". Or, they simply don't care.

Ed Decker will go down in Evangelical history as a self-sacrificing, truth-telling, Christian-soldier-in-battle-with-the-Great-Red-Dragon, "Man of God".

What a shame! What a travesty of justice and truth! What a MOCKERY of the precious Name of JESUS!

But...to the few honest Seekers of Truth out there, you now know the TRUTH about Ed Decker and his closest friends and associates!

This article was written for YOU! Many anti-Mormons believe there is "no sin" in LYING IN THE NAME OF JESUS if those lies are about Mormons or the Mormon Church! For them, to LIE about Mormonism is like LYING about the Devil! What harm is there in that? For them to lie about Mormons, and to lie to Mormons, is no "sin" at all but another way to "Praise" Jesus! Jesus, on the other hand, told His disciples to be completely honest, that even their answers are "Yea,yea" or "Nay,nay", and anything beyond that is of evil.

Not only does LYING and using distortion about Mormonism go against what Jesus says His disciples should do, but, ultimately, Mormon apologists (and I was one) WILL EXPOSE THOSE LIES, and leave the Mormon more confident than ever that he has the truth and anything an Evangelical Christian tells them is a lie!

Lies are of the Father of Lies! Let the lies alone, and be as accurate and honest as you can about 'Mormonism' and every other subject.

Ed Decker is one of the most notorious liars ever to call himself a "Christian"! That's because he only PRETENDS to be a Christian. He is in fact a CON-MAN who uses the Name of Jesus to "con" people. For decades he "conned" Mormons out of their money. For decades after that he CONED evangelical Christians out of their money. Decker has received many MILLIONS of dollars; which did NOT go to convert Mormons, but rather went into his own pockets to give him a lifestyle of "the rich and famous" and also to pay for his many young women, and some went to organizations like the "Christian Defense League" (the same organization that Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVey belonged to) which seeks to kill all Jews, and re-enslaves blacks.

Decker will go down in "Christian" history as a "Man of God". But now YOU know the truth!

Thank you for your time.

Darrick T. Evenson
June, 2004

1) Mr. Decker, are your wife's claims that she divorced you on ground of multiple adulteries true or not?

NOTE: Ed will either say, "I'm going on vacation and won't be back for awhile" or he will say "She committed adultery against her third husband". He won't answer the question asked.

2) Mr. Decker, did you ever claim that a radio station was burnt down after you played a recording of the Mormon Endowment Ceremony? If so, what station was that?

NOTE: Ed will do a "tap dance" and say "Well, it was in the newspapers at the time! You do your own research".

3) Mr. Decker, do the words "pay lay ale" mean "O Wonderful Lucifer!" in Hebrew? What source are you quoting when you NOW say that the Mormons USED to say "Pay Lay Haylayl" ("O Wonderful Lucifer")? What historical source did you get that from?

4) Mr. Decker, did you ever claim that Mormons store 2 years of food and ammunition so they can take over the U.S. when the Prophet says "go"?

5) Mr. Decker, did you ever claim that there is "an exact replica" of the White House Oval Office in the LDS Washington D.C. Temple; so that the Mormon Prophet can rule America from that exact replica once the Mormons take control?

6) Mr. Decker, just WHO poisoned you in Scotland with "7 times" the lethal dose or arsenic? Was in the Masons or the Mormons? What doctor told you you had "7 times" the lethal dosage in your system?

NOTE: Decker will say, "Can't tell you who the doctor is because he's scared for his life" (i.e. Mormons will kill the Doc if they find out who he is)

7) Mr. Decker, you once claimed that you "found a man in camoflauge fatigues" who had tried to assassinate you. What happened to this man? Was he a Mormon? Did you turn him over to police? What agency? Is there a police report on this man?

Need I go on? I would encourage you to ASK. You can contact Ed Decker at:

ed@saintsalive.com

Will he reply? He probably will...with something like:

"Oh, let me tell you about Darrick Evenson, even the Mormons don't like him.... etc"

Suggested Reply: "Mr. Decker, I'm happy to hear what you have about Darrick Evenson. But first, can you answer the questions I have asked?"

"I'm going on vacation, and I'll be happy to reply when I return" (he never will reply)

Suggested Reply: "Mr. Decker. I'm happy to wait until you return. When will that be?"

"Are you a Mormon? You've asked me very confrontational questions. I don't feel I need to give YOU an answer!"

Suggested Reply: "Mr. Decker, why are you getting defensive? The article is not accurate is it?"

"Look, why not do your OWN research OK?"

Suggested Reply: "Mr. Decker, I AM doing research. One thing any journalist or seeker of truth must do is ASK THE SOURCE. YOU are the SOURCE about things about Ed Decker. I'm just trying to find-out if what the article says about you is true or not. Why won't you answer the questions?"

Good luck! Let me know what Ed tells you. It should be fun.

Photos of Ed Decker

"The God Makers" video. The most successful piece of anti-Mormon propaganda of all time. The film was seen by 12 million. The video has been rented by additional millions.

Cover of "The God Makers" (new expanded edition where the plagarism from the Tanner's Mormonism: Shadow or Reality? has been covered-up, but, nevertheless, more Tanner materials (from their newsletters) are used)

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Richard "Dick" Bear. He was Decker's side-kick in "The God Makers" film. He left Ed and founded "Ex-Mormon and Christian Alliance" and spoke at hundreds of Evangelical churches for decades. He brings copies of his second excommunication letter to "prove that Mormons are LYING when they say I was excommunicated for adultery!" Actually, Bear was exed TWICE; the first time for adultery (having an affair with a woman while he was married and cohabitating with his wife--they were NOT separated legally or otherwise!). He neglects to mention that at his presentations. Bear later associated with Watchmen Fellowship (Evangelical anti-cult group), but apparently does not anymore. I can't find him anymore on the Internet. His own son, Sterling Bear, used to go to where Dick was lecturing and stand up and say: "That man is an ADULTERY and a child-abuser! He is a LIAR! I know, he is my father!" He has claimed in the past he was a "Mormon bishop" and a "Mormon mission president". Both claims are LIES (for documentation of this see THEY LIE IN WAIT TO DECEIVE volume 4, p.36). Evangelicals called me a "liar" when I told them Bear had been exed twice; the first time for adultery. I wasn't lying. Bear was. They believed him! Can you spell d~u~p~e~s?

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Why is this man smiling? Pastor Bob Moorehead, Decker's good friend and "mentor", left Overlake Christian Church under a cloud of accusations of sex with men in bathrooms in front of children, affairs with men, and trying to seduce young Christian teenage boys. Pastor Bob left Overlake and became a leader of Promise Keepers (a huge Christian men's group--"It's raining men, hallelujah, it's raining men!" ;~) ). If you happen to see "Pastor Bob"...keep your peck in check (especially if you are aged 14 to 16)!

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The sanctuary of Overlake Christian Church in Redmond, Washington; where Pastor "Bob" ministered to his flock, and where his protegé Ed Decker gave his first SUCCESSFUL ($$$) anti-Mormon lectures. They put Ed in "business". When 17 members of the Overlake Christian Church came forth and said they were accosted by "Pastor Bob" in a sexual way, the Board of Elders called all of them "LIARS!"

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Bill Schnoebelen; ex-Satanist, ex-Mormon, ex-Associate Director of Saints Alive in Jesus--the "Baron Von Munchhausen" of Anti-Mormons. He claimed to be a former Roman Catholic priest (a lie). He in FACT was a former member of a small group that engaged in making child-porn and engaging in homosexual occultic rituals. Bill later wrote books for Chick Publications; who had, years before, made John Todd a "Christian Hero" to tens of thousands of Evangelicals.

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Doug Wallace: Decker's lawyer, good friend, and sometime "Prophet". He ordained a black man in 1975 in protest of the LDS Church "ban" on black priesthood-holders. In 1978, when the Church lifted the ban, Wallace decided the Church was "evil". There is no pleasing this guy! Remember, if he is arrested in Boise for picking up prostitutes, it is a "set up" by Mormon conspirators! Wallace is now sueing President George W. Bush and Dick Cheney.

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"Dr." [NOT!] Walter R. Martin (in one of his bad toupées). Martin claimed since 1964 to be "Dr." Walter R. Martin; his daughter later saying this was a "nickname". His "Ph.D. in Comparative Religion" in 1976 was from a correspondance school that ONLY offerred unaccredited doctorates in Business and Organizational Management; his 1976 doctoral dissertation was Kingdom of the Cults which was published in 1962! The Browns prove in They Lie In Wait To Deceive volumes 3 and 4 that "Rev." Martin lied about his credentials, lies about his past, lied about his ordinations, and, of course, LIED about the LDS Church; on a daily basis. He died of heartfailure in 1989 on his toilet (according to the police report). CRI later said Martin died "while in prayer on his knees" next to his bed.

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Hank "Hanky-Panky" Hanegraaff (Martin's "heir-NOT-apparent" at the Christian [sic] Research Institute--CRI). Walter Martin's widow claims that Hanegraaff is a "liar". Others claim that Hanegraaff is a plagarist and opportunist. 37 former employees of CRI claim that he is a liar and "criminal" and they formed an organization to try to get Hank out of CRI; along with many lawsuits against him. One former employee (Bill Alnor) claims he is guilty of massive mail-fraud. Hank is moving CRI from California to North Carolina; away from lawsuits of former CRI employees and the prying eyes of pesky local postal inspectors. Hanegraaff once called me (Darrick Evenson) a "PATHOLOGICAL LIAR" over the air during a Bible Answer Man program (heard on Christian radio stations Monday through Friday in hundreds of cities in the U.S. and Canada at 3pm Pacific Standard Time).

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Bob "Bee'el-zee-Bob" Larson. Larson had a very successful radio show called Talk Back with Bob Larson which was over 400 Christian radio stations. Mostly it was about Satanism. He and Decker are close friends, and he has had Decker and Schnoebelen on his program numerous times. Larson loved to talk about how "adulterous" Joseph Smith and Brigham Young were. Larson says that claims by former employees of his that he used porn, had affairs, hired street kids to "fake" being Satanists then "saving" them over the air then asking for money to send them to drug rehabs, the strippers, the mansions, the LIES, are all part of a "Satanic Conspiracy" to discredit him. Larson no longer has a radio show, but now holds "Christian Exorcism" classes nationwide.

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Chuck Chuck and Dolly Sackett are ex-Mormons who claim that when they worked in the Mormon Temple they were required to wash and fondle the private parts of Mormon Temple-goers during the Washings and Anointing Ceremony (where Mormons are sprinkled with water and olive oil--the first part of the Endowment Ritual). They appear in "The God Makers" and "Temple of The God Makers". When Hank interviewed them once on "The Bible Answer Man" I called in and I asked them if they ever touched the private parts of Mormons in the Temple, they both said, "Ah....ah...uh...ah...ah...ah....ummm....ah..." then Hank cuts me off the air (Walter Martin used to do the same thing which somebody called him and asked him about his education etc.).

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Loftes Tryk (a.k.a. "The Trickster"). This is a photo of him from the California Sex Offender website. He had sex with his own daughters; including one who had not yet reached puberty. The Church excommunicated him. He got MAD and vowed REVENGE! After he got out of prison he became a professional Anti-Mormon, and wrote The Best Kept Secrets in The Book of Mormon. He likes to "set up" missionaries; telling them "I don't know anything about Mormonism!" then shows them anti-Mormon literature and says, "Could you help me with this? This is really confusing me?" in the hopes he will destroy their faith. He used to be a BIG supporter of Ed Decker, and Saints Alive promoted him and his book for many years. He tells Evangelicals that he left Mormonism "after many years of intense Bible study" and that the Mormon Church "took my wife and family away from me because I became a Christian". And, of course, the Evangelicals believe EVERY WORD he tells them! I can still hear that little old lady (holding Tryk's book) at the First Baptist Church of Pomona (when Dick Bear was giving an anti-Mormon lecture) saying with conviction in her voice: "I KNOW that the man who wrote this book is a MAN OF GOD!" You can see him registered as a sex offender at the following website (you need to read the disclaimer then type in his name): www.meganslaw.ca.gov/index.html

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John "Johnny" Todd. Witch then Christian, secret leader of 13 High Warlocks, founder of Zodiac Records which had "95%" of all rock and county-western stars, high member of the Illuminati, former Green Beret--highly decorated in Vietnam-- coverted to Christ! He then made quite a good living lecturing against the Illuminati Conspiracy at Evangelical churches. While he did this he sexually seduced myriads of young Christian girls (some as young as 13), and also involved them into nude witchcraft rituals. He spoke about his "Green Beret" days in Nam (he was a Army clerk in Germany discharged because of mental illness). His exploits were popularized by Jack Chick of Chick Publications in a series of comic books. It was Todd who invented the conspiracy theory that later was used by Decker so successfully in his "God Makers" books and videos. Todd is now serving 300 years for the forcible rape of a minor child.

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Wally Tope (we knew him affectionately as "Tope the Dope" because sometimes the lights were "on" but nobody was home). He was a highly trained Civil Engineer who lived in poverty so he could "witness" about Jesus on a full-time basis; which included printing and distributing his own anti-Mormon tracts. During the 70s he smuggled Bibles into Russian and Poland. The most honest Anti-Mormon I ever knew. A genuinely sincere and noble guy; rare among Anti-Mormons as hen's teeth. He was killed when he went to the L.A. Riot Zone to "witness" about Jesus to the rioters; who promptly beat him into a coma; where he remained for 19 months then died. He wrote Poisoning in Pizzaland: The Truth About Ed Decker's So-Called Arsenic Poisoning in Scotland which the Tanners reproduce (most of it) in their Serious Charges Against the Tanners (on sale at Utah Lighthouse Ministry online). Tope was working on a massive and exhaustive exposé of Decker--which he had worked on for years and contained hundreds of documents. It was ready for publishing just before he died. At the last Capstone (Anti-Mormon) Conference in Utah Tope pointed at Decker calling him a "LIAR" (because Decker LIED about many things--including being poisoned in Scotland with "7 times the lethal dose of arsenic). Decker grabbed Tope's finger and broke it! After Tope's death his brother and friends went to his apartment in La Canada-Flintridge (next to Pasadena) looking for his anti-Decker manuscript. It "disappeared" into thin air. Neither his friends or family could find it. While Tope was in a coma in the hospital somebody broke into his apartment and stole anything referring to Decker. He massive expoé of Decker will never again see the light of day.

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Ruth and Carl Sanders. Carl claimed that he had a Ph.D. from the University of Hong Kong (a lie) and worked on a machine that imprinted "666" under the skin (a lie); which would be the "Mark of the Beast"--the End-Times Antichrist. He was later "confronted" by an Evangelical pastor who had heard contradictions in several of his tapes (taped at different times). Sanders then confessed he lied and made it all up. A year later, he was back on the road telling the same lies at Evangelical churches. He got his start at Overlake Christian Church; under Pastor Bob Moorehead.

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Beverly Russell. Susan Smith's step-father who molested her as a child, and had a sexual affair with her all of her adult life (single and married). Friends called him "Praise Jesus" (for the many times he would say, "Praise Jesus". He was the head of the Christian Coalition in his county in South Carolina. Thousands of Evangelicals believed him to be the most "Christian" man they ever knew. An avid supporter of Saints Alive in Jesus.

Decker "buddy" and supporter Jimmy Swaggart on TV just after photos with him and prostitute are released. He is crying and saying to God "I have SINNED against you!" The prostitute claimed that Swaggart wanted to masturbate in front of her 9 year old daughter. She refused. Decker often praised Swaggart in his newsletters; because Swaggart heavily promoted "The God Makers".

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Decker "buddy" and supporter, the Rev. Jimmy Bakker of the PTL Club, being hauled to prison for various crimes. Here he is using his jacket to try to cover-up the fact he is handcuffed. The day after he and his brother-in-law "raped" (according to Hahn) Jessica Hahn in a hotel room, they both appeared on Bakker's TV program "PTL" ("Praise the Lord") saying "The Lord really ministered to our needs last night didn't he?" Bakker was the only national Evangelical TV host who allowed portions of "The God Makers" to be played. He and Decker were good friends. The "PTL" program was seen by millions of Evangelicals 5 days a week for many years.

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Jerald and Sandra Tanner in front of their SLC bookstore. "The God Makers" is based upon the Tanner's book Mormonism: Shadow or Reality?. After the Tanners criticized Bill Schnoebelen and his book Mormonism's Temple of Doom Decker and James Spencer attacks the Tanners; calling them "secret agents" for the Mormon Church. The Tanners responded by exposing Schnoebelen as a FRAUD in their newsletter "Covering up Syn", and exposing multiple LIES by Decker in their book Serious Charges Against the Tanners and The Lucifer-God Doctrine; both can be purchased from Utah Lighthouse Ministry online. The Tanners don't "lie"--they just twist facts around, leave out evidence, and "infer" so as to make them say what they want. One non-Mormon scholar who studied their works closely called it "The Tanner Shell-Game". You think the ball is in one of the shells, but it's actually in the con-man's pocket all the time! The Tanners present themselves as totally honest and moral Christian researchers. They will be exposed in They Lie In Wait To Deceive volume 5; in LDS bookstores in late 2005 (hopefully).

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Pat Matrisciana, president of Jeremiah Films. They made "The God Makers" and "Temple of The God Makers" and "The God Makers II". He also made "The Clinton Chronicles" and many other videos. Pat is a sincere man who believes that Mormonism is part of a greater Masonic/Illuminati anti-Christian conspiracy that is planning to create a "New World Order" and introduce the end-times Anti-Christ. Decker conned him; as he has conned MILLIONS.

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Jack Mohr, Brig.Gen of the "Christian Defense League" (a anti-Semintic white supremacist militia). Mohr is well known for his anti-Jewish and anti-black books and articles. He is one of the original authors of the belief that the "New World Order" will bring in the end-times Anti-Christ. Mohr has written that Jews are the children of Eve and Satan, and that blacks are sub-human soulless "beasts of the field" created to serve whites. Ed Decker co-authored Mohr's book The Hidden Power Behind Freemasonry. Few people know of Decker's connections to the White-Supremacist movement (this is something Decker does NOT want most people knowing anyway). Decker loves to point out how "racist" the Mormon Church is because it denied blacks the Mormon Priesthood for 150 years. Decker presents himself as a "Evangelical Christian" who is fighting the Mormon/Masonic conspiracy. Evangelicals send him millions of dollars. Much of this goes into his pocket. Some of it goes in other pockets for secret projects.

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Mark Hofmann was a closet atheist who was an active Mormon who worked with anti-Mormons like Michael Marquardt and others. He forged hundreds of documents; including dozens to make Joseph Smith look like he was heavily involved in Black Magick. Some of his forgeries were pro-LDS, and he sold these to the LDS Church:

Hofmann showing the Anthon Transcript to LDS Church leaders in 1980

Hofmann was busy forging documents that would provide the "proof" Decker and other professional Anti-Mormons needed! Hofmann forged Americana (like an Emily Dickensen poem) as a way to make money. A Mormon bishop named Steve Christensen was getting too close to discovering that Hofmann was fraud; so Hofmann killed Christensen with a pipebomb wrapped in heavy cement nails. Hofmann then killed Kathy Sheets; the wife of Christensen's former boss, to throw suspecion off himself. Hofmann was in route to murder a third innocent victim when he dropped the bomb he was carrying and it blew up on himself. When this happened Ed Decker told The New York Times magazine and everybody else that Mormon leaders had killed Christensen, Sheets, and tried to kill Hofmann because "he was coming out with too much truth about Mormon origins". After 8 months of investigation, investigators PROVED Hofmann made the bombs and forged hundreds of documents; including his Anti-Mormon documents that Saints Alive used and promoted. Hofmann later confessed, and was given a life sentence.

Hofmann is interviewed just before entering Utah State Prison

LDS bishop Steve Christensen and Kathy Sheets, a housewife and mother of four, were murdered by Hofmann because he thought Christensen was suspecting him of fraud, and Kathy Sheets was killed by Hofmann so that police would think the bombings had to do with unhappy investors in her husbands company that Christensen used to work at. Hofmann was on his way to murder a third person when he accidently dropped the pipebomb he was carrying and it blew up. It injured him. Decker said the bombs were planted by "Mormon agents" bent upon silencing Hofmann who was a "hero". After Hofmann confessed Decker told people that Hofmann was "framed" by Mormon police and prosecutors.

Hofmann's car just after he dropped the bomb he was going to kill another innocent Mormon with. After the accident Hofmann told Time magazine it was done by a "fanatical Mormon" who didn't like his finds. Decker said it was done by "Danites"; secret Mormon Church assassins directed by Church leaders.

H. Michael Marquardt. Anti-Mormon researcher. Decker acquaintance at the Capstone Conferences. He and Mark Hofmann spent hundreds of hours together in Marquardts home-library doing "research" before and during Hofmann's amazing "discoveries".

D. Michael Quinn. He worked for the Church as an historian. When asked to attend a Church Court concerning "rumors" he had a gay lover, Quinn didn't show-- twice, so he was excommunicated. He now claims Joseph Smith was bisexual, and Jesus was "gay". He speaks at Affirmation (gay/lesbian Mormon) gatherings. Anti-Mormons promote his book Mormonism and the Magic World View which depends heavily upon Hofmann's "discoveries" (now proved forgeries).

After Hofmann confessed to the forgeries and bombings he was asked why he forged the documents. He said that he became an atheist at age 14 and wanted to create the evidence that PROVED Joseph Smith a fraud.

The following books were written about the Mark Hofmann affair:

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The Angel Moroni morphing into the Devil (from an Anti-Mormon website). Anti-Mormons tell Evangelicals that Joseph Smith was a fraud and lied about seeing angels, but that the Angel Moroni was really Satan who appeared to Joseph Smith "as an angel of light". Evangelicals don't see any contradiction, and swallow everything Anti-Mormons tell them: hook, line, and sinker! They give to professional Anti-Mormons like Decker, Martin, Hanegraaf, Sackettes, Tanners, etc., tens of MILLIONS of tax-free dollars every single year.

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They Lie In Wait To Deceive series of books (most books 500+ pages) that document Anti-Mormon deception with photocopies of letters and affidavits page after page. The books were are by Robert and Rosemary Brown of Mesa Arizona. Rosemary Brown's mother Barbara was kidnapped and forced to "sign" things against them as a way to discredit the Browns. She was rescued and recanted what she was forced to sign under threat of death and withholding of food. The kidnapper, Ray Samora, still has a warrant out for his arrest for kidnapping, grand larceny, and other things. Samora's last telephone bill (which the Brown's reproduce in Volume 4) show that Samora had repeatedly called the unlisted private telephone numbers of the private residences of "Dr." Walter R. Martin in Calfornia and Ed Decker in Washington State. Most of the calls lasted only a few seconds. Others lasted several minutes. Another later kidnap attempt (this time upon one of their daughters) was foiled when the girl kicked the car into reverse, turned to the left, and slammed the brakes. The knife-wielding assailant flew out the car (the door was open) and ran away. The Browns are now retired. Volume 5 of THEY LIE IN WAIT TO DECEIVE (an exposé of the MASSIVE deception used by Jerald and Sandra Tanner) is due out hopefully sometime in 2005. You can order all volumes of the book from at a highly reduced price at

www.fairlds.org/pubs/liw.

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