FACT AND FICTION CONFUSION

 The Random House publishing empire, which includes Doubleday, seems attracted to publishing books that cause confusion and promote fiction as fact. In 2003 the company published a couple of best sellers – one totally fraud and the other fiction, dressed up in part, as fact.  The first was Norma Khouri’s Forbidden Love (Random House Australia) – a complete fabrication that has set back reform efforts to deal with the real problems of so-called ‘Honour Killings’ (in Australia probably missed through possibly regarding such as part of the general domestic violence scene and statistics).  The second was Dan Brown’s abysmally researched piece of fiction, claimed to be based on facts – The Da Vinci Code.

 The publishers didn’t stop there.  In 2004 the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, better known as the Mormons, officially did a (profitable) deal with Doubleday.  It launched a commercial version of Joseph Smith’s Book of Mormon.  The new, hardback Doubleday version of the Book of Mormon was released in November 2004 to increase the spread of the LDS Church’s most popular book – which it promotes as sacred Scripture.  The Doubleday version sells at US$25 and is being promoted in bookshops and airports around the world.  As part of its initial publishing programme some 850 numbered special limited edition leather-bound copies (blue leather with gold stamp and edges) were made available and mostly auctioned off to the highest bidders. About 15 numbered copies were omitted from the numbered series made available.

 Why would anyone want to pay US$25 for the Book of Mormon?  Free copies are available from Mormon Missionaries and LDS Church offices; can be down loaded freely from the Internet; can be found for next to nothing in second-hand bookshops around the world.

 The Doubleday commercial version will not inform the reader:

 of the significant unacknowledged alterations made to the first edition, which Joseph Smith declared to be ‘the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book’ (nor will any other versions); 

 of the numerous borrowings from the King James version of the Bible (even including the additional interpretive comments translators showed in italics);

 of the imaginative use of common stories about American Indians being ancient Israelites; of the lack of reputable and known archaeological support for any part of the Book of Mormon in the Americas; 

 of the DNA evidence that completely invalidates the Book of Mormon stories of Semitic (Israelite) migrations and Native Americans being direct descendents of these ancient Hebrew; 

 of the Book of Mormon doubts expressed by B.H. Roberts (who was a past General Authority [member of the top church leadership], reputable Mormon author, and respected Mormon church historian); 

 of the many contradictions between some current official LDS teachings, other Mormon scriptures [e.g. The Doctrine and Covenants] and the Book of Mormon.   

 Those are only a few problems for the serious thinker and reader looking at the Book of Mormon.

 None of these problems has prevented Mormon enthusiasm for promoting the Book of Mormon in a variety of ways – including The Book of Mormon Movie – Volume 1 – The Journey. Several years in the thinking, preparation and filming stages – most of it seemed to have been completed during 2003 with the film being shown in some theatres in the USA, Canada and Germany, before being released in Video and DVD formats in 2004.  The project was a private one and not LDS Church sponsored.  Some of the people involved with the first film are trying to raise funds and backing for Volume 2 – Zarahemla  (the supposed ‘New World’ capitol of the ancient Book of Mormon Nephites – in popular modern Mormon culture and thinking, probably located in the modern Mexican state of Chiapas).  In spite of intense Internet (and other) promotion for the second film, and the setting up of the Book of Mormon Movie Foundation, it is unclear as to how well the project is proceeding.

 Believed by some to have a better chance of success is the comic version of the Book of Mormon. The first volume, of an anticipated 12 volume series, The Golden Plates, came out in October 2004. Experienced comic artist, Mike Allred, had worked on comics for Marvel and DC Comics for many years and has drawn Superman, Spider-Man, X-Men, Madman, and Red Rocket 7 characters. The second volume of the series was delayed because he had a contract to work on a Batman story for DC Comics – it was released towards the end of May 2005. Volume 3 should be out in September 2005. Each volume sells for about US$8 (US$7.99) – which is about double the usual US comic price. Allred is self-publishing the series which he declares on his websites as: ‘The Breathtaking Adventure, Romance, Terror, Joy, and Power of THE BOOK OF MORMON Begins Here.’