You’ve no doubt seen this already at some point in your intertubes wanderings, but in case you haven’t, here’s a slightly older cartoon explanation of Mormonism. You can tell it’s older by the rotoscoped animation. And yes, this is a very close representation of their true beliefs.
My true belief is that Joseph Smith was a liar, a charlatan and a fraud, with a messiah complex the likes of which haven’t been seen since Jesus of Nazareth himself. That is, if Jesus even existed, which a number of secular historians strongly doubt… not that his historical veracity even matters, since if he existed, he was just a cult leader like Joseph Smith or David Koresh or Claude Vorilhon.
When you examine the origins of the LDS church, it’s really, really bizarre.
I’m more of the opinion that Christianity as we know it today is more a product of Paul (Saul) than of the person called Jesus. See Pauline Christianity at Wikipedia for further information.
Further info about Paul (Yes, St. Paul, Paul of Tarsus):
I read Maccoby’s book years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it.
[…] (incest, stuff about penises and poop, etc.), and in all sorts of other religions (e.g. Mormons believing they’ll become gods themselves, Islamic violence against cartoonists, Scientology as a whole), do people consider you to be […]