This comment area is closed to new submissions. Visit ITVS.org to continue the conversation about this film.

12/26/03
Kathleen
Portland, OR

My biggest concern so far reading the emails just from today of the 12/26/03, variety would be this one below from Paul Merchant. I will not waste too much time, as it is time consuming to read these posts (ok, maybe I will after reading my response), but Paul is the absolutely TYPICAL Mormon. Paul who has found a way, as his ward members have, that are (quote): "The ward I attend includes about a dozen physicians and psychiatrists, several attorneys, a handful of engineers, and other leaders in my community. These people are, for the most part, life-long learners." No Paul, what you have are lifer's (we call them born in the covenant Mormons, or most of them were anyway), who have served Mormon missions, for the most part, and gotten the "key" to making MONEY! They learn how to sell on their missions! And sell you do, right down to the money they all pay you for your adventures as Mormon "elitists" outside of the 10% they HAVE to give the church from their income! 10% is being conservative there are other funds they NEED to give to, building fund, missionary fund, (That's the best one, as most of the families who have boys, have to pay for the missions themselves, and some families have two plus boys on a mission at the same time at $350.00 a month, per boy!) (Don't forget the underwear!!!) I heard this second hand, but a cousin of mine just bragged over Christmas dinner that his ward raked in $70,000 in ONE night of tithing settlement. (Tithing settlement is a requirement for every active Mormon at the end of the year to "make good" on what they owe the church). What your church is really based on is a bunch of really rich men, many of you younger men, who haven't YET gotten your great calling as a high up leader in the church, but you are campaigning for it, none the less giving your money, your time, and sacrificing your very family to become as famous inside your small (if you would only look at how hilariously small the mormon community is in this world you’d be so embarrassed at your claims), community so that you can be one of the elitist in the mormon church. Hopefully one day (you hope) your fame and glamour will nominate you into some state of power within the Mormon Church organization. That is your deepest dream. I know your type Paul..there are many like you including the cousin of mine I mentioned above. You see, I know you, or at least, I know your kind. I am a descendent of the very same kind. I am Brigham Young's great, great, great granddaughter. I listen to my family talk about the history of this man, the incredible person he was. And they live on the fumes and asserted glory that he was somebody to be reckoned with. (I did too, until I realized that I needed to learn more). Yes he was but not in the way the Mormon Church has whitewashed and taught them. If they really KNEW what he was, instead of the painted depiction of someone good Read some REAL history of your church Paul. And not what your leaders (who you obviously strive to be just like), want you to read. Read EVERYTHING! Find out the truth . Kathleen
----------------------------------------------------
12/26/03
Paul Merchant
Dear Independent Lens,
By creating an unrealistic, mostly one-sided attack on Mormon missionaries and people of the LDS faith, PBS and Nancy du Plessis broke the trust of many who helped in the production of Get the Fire. And judging from the comments I've heard from others and from my own reaction to the film, the filmmakers also broke the trust of a large portion of their audience. My biggest concern with the film was that it portrayed the LDS church as an organization that only preys on the weak and vulnerable. This is untrue. The LDS church also "preys" on the powerful: US senators, state governors, a large number of CEOs and business leaders, intellectuals and scholars at top universities, and even filmmakers like myself. While the LDS faith certainly has a wonderful message for the "weak and the vulnerable," the majority of the members and return missionaries are not naïve simpletons who are somehow brainwashed by a cultish corporation. On the contrary, we are smart. The ward I attend includes about a dozen physicians and psychiatrists, several attorneys, a handful of engineers, and other leaders in my community. These people are, for the most part, life-long learners. They have access to anti-Mormon information on the Internet. They aren't afraid to read writings of early leaders of the LDS church. They enjoy intellectual discussions on a variety of topics. They are the type of people who watch and support PBS [or at least they used to, before PBS broke their trust]. As a filmmaker, I can appreciate the need to generate interest by portraying Mormon missionaries who are struggling or by sounding perspectives from people who have left the LDS faith. Even as a member of the LDS faith, I find these perspectives interesting. However, filmmakers are generally required to show some sensitivity and accuracy, especially when addressing issues of faith. In other words, a responsible filmmaker would have shown these negative points of view without distorting the truth and without coming across as having a bigoted, one-sided agenda. [But perhaps PBS no longer sees accuracy and sensitivity as necessary. Perhaps PBS will soon be broadcasting thinly veiled attacks on people who belong to the Catholic, Jewish, Baptist, or Evangelical faiths. Perhaps PBS no longer thinks it is necessary to act responsibly when addressing religious topics.] Sincerely, Paul Merchant

12/26/03
Van R
Yorba Linda, CA

I thought it was a good film. I really believe the general public needs this type of exposure to the inner plans of the Mormon Organization. It is, after all, the intent of the missionaries to show blatant disrespect for all peoples who do not share their alternative religious beliefs. The self-righteousness demonstrated by these misguided men and women, usually under age 21, is overwhelming to the majority of Christians. The missionaries have no concept or awareness of their intrusion into, and disrespect of, the lives of people who have their own religion. Citizens have not invited these young men into their lives. They go where they are not wanted, and are offended when not accepted? How absurd is that?

When more of the public becomes aware of the Mormon ritual of baptisms of the dead...taking the names of people who were not Mormon while they were alive...and baptizing them Mormon in the Mormon font, there will be a much larger outcry than what you are reading on this board.

I believe it is the only religion that requires payment of money to get to the "Celestial Heaven." Only "worthy" people can marry in the temple,(meaning paying a documented tithe to the church) and it is taught that a unless you have a "temple marriage", well, you just can't get to heaven and share your after-life with your family, and with God.

Sooner or later, hundreds of missionaries do begin to think for themselves. The Church establishment has done everything it can to smother the curiosity of real thinkers, but with the age of the internet, it's just been too hard to keep information from those questioning the LDS beliefs.

12/26/03
misty escobar
normal il

I think it is so sad to watch the show and then read some of the comments about this film. I wish that people would pray about it instead of judging the missionaries and the LDS church and then they would know the truth. Jesus does live, Heavenly Father does live and Joseph Smith was a prophet. The movie was poorly done becasue for those couple of return missionaries that have left the church their are thousands that have known the Truth and stayed. I am very disappointed in PBS for even airing this but what can you expect, the LDS church has been persecuted from the beginning.

12/26/03
Alex Beckstead
San Francisco, CA

Bravo to ITVS and PBS for giving some airtime to the Mormon experience. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its members are an often overlooked part of the American mosaic, and I applaud you for funding a film on the topic. That said, I think this particular program failed to add to the public discourse in a meaningful way, or to reveal the complexity of the LDS missionary experience.

As I scanned through the online feedback, I noticed that it was divided clearly between faithful Mormons who felt their detractors were given too much emphasis, and disenchanted former missionaries, members, and associates of the LDS church whose disdain lets them overlook the spiritual strength that many draw from the LDS church. This schism mirrors the editorial didacticism of the film itself, which gave voice to two extremes of the spectrum, but left the more interesting gray areas unprobed. I’ve heard filmmakers declare a program a success because it offends opposing viewpoints. But I think the measure of a truly successful nonfiction film is its ability to persuade people on both sides of an issue to move towards understanding each other. In this case, many members of the LDS church need to admit to the arrogance of their faith and actions, and many of the critics of the LDS church (or of any faith, for that matter) need to respect—not just tolerate—people who find meaning in the tenets of religion.

I am a practicing Mormon, and I served a mission. Whenever I get to know another member of the LDS church, inevitably our conversation will lead to the topic of missions. We compare notes, and we always find that the experience of being a missionary meant different things to each of us, and that it influenced our development in different ways. One of the faults of this film is that it looks at the issue through a narrow lens by focusing on a single mission and on missionaries from Utah. My mission to Poland was an entirely different experience than that of my friend who went to Brazil, or my brothers who went to Minnesota, New Hampshire and Arizona. There are things I learned about myself and my faith during my mission in Poland that my friend probably couldn’t learn through the same experience in South America. I’m also sure there were things my brothers learned by being missionaries in their own country that I will never understand.

Going on a mission opened my eyes to the world. I went from a state that was 75% LDS to a country that was 98% Catholic. For me, the experience of going from a culture where I was part of a large majority, to one where I was a very visible part of a small minority, was life changing. My mission put my faith and background into global perspective. I learned that the LDS church has no monopoly on goodness, and that it’s possible to find inspiration from all kinds of creeds, cultures, faiths and backgrounds. Some of the people I met in Poland found this inspiration in the LDS church. Most did not. But there were very few times that I sat down and talked about faith and religion with a Pole and didn’t feel that we both benefited from the exchange.

I’m also well aware that for many young LDS men and women, going on a mission has the opposite effect, and they come home zealously self-righteous. But over time, the meaning of the missionary experience changes, and I know that I will be wrestling with what those two years meant to me for the rest of my life. There were accuracies in the film that made me uncomfortable: The scene in the film where the missionaries use a "survey" to get their foot in the door reminded me of a similar tactic that was briefly popular in my mission. I personally refused to do it, because I thought it was dishonest, and that misleading people in any way was contrary to our intent and our message as missionaries. But I must also admit to using the "milk before meat" justification (cited by a Sister missionary in the film) on more than one occasion to mete out information about the LDS church on my own terms.

The LDS church is not above criticism, and its desire to present a "faith promoting," selective history of itself is often more infuriating for some of its faithful members than it is to its detractors. But my faith is a part of who I am. I can’t deny it, and I owe some of the best impulses of my nature --like charity, compassion, and excellence--to my faith. I’m willing to accept that there are historical complications and contradictions in my faith, and that its leaders aren’t perfect. The real value of the Book of Mormon (or the Bible, for that matter) isn’t its history, but its narratives, and the values of love and forgiveness that they should instill in us. The real value of religion isn’t its ability to explain the world, but its potential to provide hope. Hope is an emotional response, but that makes it no less valuable than a well-reasoned argument of fact. At a time when the world could use more hope and less religious conflict, I was ultimately disappointed in this simplistic, outsider’s look at a complex subject.

12/26/03
Rick
Peoria, AZ

Bravo to Nancy du Plessis for giving us a glimpse of what LDS missionaries go through during their two year mission. This unpaid volunteers are to be commended for the effort and dedication they have to give up two years of their life for the LDS Church.

It is unfortunate that many of these missionaries upon returning loose their faith in the LDS church once they do their own research and find that the LDS doctrine and history is full of holes. The theology of the LDS church cannot withstand the scrutiny of any intelligent person who has access to unbiased information that the LDS church cannot control.

A few reflections of the show that impressed me:

Day one at the MTC in Provo. Opening orientation the President of the MTC tells the future men and women missionaries that they are automatically and instantly bound by the rules in the missionary handbook. AND if they even break one of the rules in it that they jeopardize their standing before God and their place in the Celestial kingdom! WOW!! Ho w's that for heavy handed! I can just imagine the sinking feeling that some of them got when they heard that.

One of the young men who was having a problem with his "testimony" was told to just keep repeating his testimony to others and soon it would become true to him. This is nothing more than a brainwashing technique that the LDS leadership use.

One of the missionaries appeared to be doubting his faith even before the two years in Germany were up (the one with the evil facial hair in the post interview). I am sure many returned missionaries feel used by the LDS church and have come to the conclusion that it is just a money making organization. As one put it "LDS inc". I think the one return missionary that said the church has no heart is way out of line though. The majority of Mormons that I have known have been loving and caring people.

Toward the end of the two year term the Germany Missionary President was putting pressure on one of the young men to hurry up and get married so that he woul d "have someone to take with him to the Celestial Kingdom". In his opinion the only future worth anything for him was to become a husband and father now. The young man could only half heartily agree as I don't think he had even a girlfriend at that point. I'm thinking to myself that this is also a standard thing that is done to insure future Mormons. I had to laugh when the young men first got their the Missionary President asks them if they are "sexually pure". I wish one of them would have said "none of your business"!!

I would encourage any intelligent adult who is not afraid of the truth to do their own independent investigation of the Mormon history and more importantly the beliefs of the LDS church verses mainstream Christianity to come to their own conclusions to what the truth is.

12/26/03
Mike Stanger
Las Vegas, Nevada

Well, it seems that I have been labeled both a fantasizer and a liar because I took issue with this film. Wow!

I can't really address the gentleman who labeled me a fantsizer, since the specificity of his critique of my view got no further than name-calling.

I will attempt to clarify something with respect to the accusation of untruthfulness. I said in my initial post that I didn't like the film's implication that the church "mandates" the type of underwear worn by its membership. Some fine anonymous soul apparently felt I was denying the existence of the garment, and proceeded to enlighten all of us. I hereby affirm their existence. The "Mormons wear funny underwear" line is old hat (and the fact that it was used in this documentary underscores the fact that "Mormons as freaks of society" was part of the film's theme). We don't deny the existence of the garment. We hold them sacred. Nothing in my earlier post said anything differnt. My issue is with the way the film treated the subject. Th e implication was that unsuspecting victims are forced to wear the garment. This just isn't true. The church isn't about compulsion. The returned missionary critics in the film had somehow managed to exercise enough choice to take their garments off, and so could any one of us. Those planning to go to the temple for the first time have the opportunity to attend a Temple Preparation Course where the garment is explained to them.

In fact, now that I think about it, choice, or lack thereof, is really what much of my criticism of the film boils down to.

I choose to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ. I choose to wear garments. I chose to serve a mission.

You may choose another path, but please don't begrudge me mine, or imply that I have done so without exercising some level of intelligence, or that some overwhelming sense of societal pressure forced me to make the choices I have. I've made each of those choices with eyes wide open.

12/26/03
Capt Jack
Flint Michigan

LDS members are brought up from very young to have a persecution complex. Anytime anyone dares express an opinion or reveal a fact that portrays the Church in a negative light is automatically perceived to be "anti". So on that basis this project was doomed to be criticized by Church members.

As a returned missionary, I found the program to be balanced and provided an accurate picture of what day to day missionary life is all about. I would have liked to have seen more interviews with some faithful returned missionaries; it would have served to neutralize the criticism this project is sure to face from active LDS.

I have to agree with the ex-missionaries observation that at the heart of the Church is a corporation. If that were not the case, why spend $500 million on commercial shopping centers in downtown Salt Lake? And why spend over $100 million on a new conference center?

12/26/03
Terry Bradford
Mesa, Arizona

I watched your film the other night on PBS. While I wasn't surprised by the uneven content of the finished product, I was amazed that you would make such a blatant omission in not interviewing at least one active returned missionary. In reading comments about the film, this seems to be the most common complaint.

As a convert (and former anti-mormon)from San Jose Califonia, I served a mission in England and Wales in the early 70's. It was and will ever be the greatest experience of my life. I went from being a homesick, immature, undisciplined youth from a trailer-trash upbringing to a motivated, goal oriented, grateful young man. Each person, companion, leader, convert I met taught me something about myself. The work was hard, getting up early was no picnic, and studying for a avid non-reader like myself was a real challenge. Through perserverance, prayer, and encouragement I endured, then excelled in living the missionary life. Not a day goes by that I don't think about one of the experiences I had there ..

Both of my sons have served missions. I will admit that I pressured them into making a decision after high school to chart a course for what the next few years would bring. They both chose missions, but they were on their own when it came to their preparation, timing and worthiness. Yes, family tradition, friends, parents all had a hand in their decision to go, but everyone weighs these factors in every major decision in life. Ultimately they new it was true, and wanted to serve the Lord Jesus Christ and sacrifice their lives in service to him. It was great to travel with them in New Jersey and Germany after their missions and see that they too had many of the same fantastic experiences I had. Sometimes the end does justify the means. I consider it being a good parent to strongly encourage your children to follow the same path that has lead to your own happiness.

Today I continue as an active latter-day saint, with a lovely wife and am preparing for more missions with her. I am so grateful for my yo ung missionary experience which has contributed to every positive aspect of my life. Feel free to interview me at any time if you need to do some damage control balancing your work.

12/26/03
Brian Andre

I am a professional art director and about 70% of my work is in broadcast production and on-line edit supervision. I really enjoy and especially appreciate documentary style films. All of my comments or correspondence over the years have been only praise for PBS programs but for the first time I feel like you really missed the mark.

The other night I watched "Get the FIre" the documentary on Mormon missionaries.I felt like the producer of that show was bias and manipulative in several ways. First of all it is too bad there was no narrator to help make sense of what was being seen—it all was very confusing to me. The directors shooting and editing style was jumpy and disjointed which I felt created an uneasy feeling. The color for most of the show was dialed out —giving the footage a cold, dismal feeling. I also felt that the producers skewed the view by ONLY interviewing returned missionaries who were no longer active in their faith. Every one of the testimonials was given by guys with an axe to grind. And what was even more troubling to me was that these NEGATIVE comments were left in rich, full color and warm lighting making them feel more attractive and engaging.

Filmmaker, Nancy du Plessis may say she wanted show both sides of the story but you and I both know a producer can choose an editing style and testimonials which best sell the point of view they want to get across. The lighting alone is evidence of her point of view! A good documentary filmmaker tries to keep their personal views anonymous. It's too bad she didn't show both sides of this interesting subject in the SAME light.

It's obvious to me that this film has a hidden agenda.

12/26/03
Carl Muench
Vancouver, Washington

Yes, it was a not-very-subtle hit piece in the way it was presented. The documentary was just another in the current secular trend which is trying to minimize all aspects of religious life in America and the world at large. The watchwords are: "Christianity bad and intolerant. Minority religions and non-descript 'spirituality' tolerant and good." Anything that gets in the way of international humanistic secularism is berated and derided.

12/26/03
Red Wing, MN

I was baptized by Mormon Missionaries in 1966 (Indiana), then became one in 1968 and served in California/Nevada, mainly with the native American populations.

I was married in the Temple in 1972, and graduated from Weber State University (Ogden, Ut) in 1974.

I am no stranger to Mormonism. My eyes are wide open to the good, bad, and ugly of the "truth".

Your documentary was good. I enjoyed reliving the struggles, both good and bad of a trying time in my life. Bias, fair, had nothing to do with it. This was "Your" film. Bravo!

12/26/03
Chloe
Knoxville, Tn

Thanks for a balanced look at the Mormon missionary experience. I am a reformed Mormon. My experience in the church was that I trusted the Church and its leaders more than God himself. LDS church is self promoting marketing tool(one of the richest organizations in America). It hides it true intentions from new converts and even its "missionaries". If their true theology came out beforehand, most converts wouldn't join. Its number one goal is to prove that Joseph Smith is the one true prophet, so the church remains intact. As a woman I felt as if I was no more important than as having babies. A mother was my most important role. In the Bible Jesus respected woman as much as men, and didn't require them to become mothers in order to enter into heaven.The church wants total dedication to them, God is placed on the backburner. It denies intellect and creativity or individual thought. If you notice the missionaries are always talking about emotions and feelings, not actual thinking. I am now a born again Christian, and very happy with my relationship with God (who promotes individual thought and thinking). Now my faith is based on God, rather than the most organized church in the world. If anyone is considering joining any new religion, please do your research, don't convert with your eyes closed and relying on emotions .