I receive quite a few e-mail comments, both favorable and unfavorable, in response to my materials on Mormonism, where I invite comments (but request no testimonies, preaching or hate mail). I decided that many of those comments should be shared, so you will find a sampling here. I will add to this page frequently, with the latest comments first, so that you can check here from time to time, if you wish. I will not indicate updates on my What's New? page, since I anticipate this page will be updated very frequently.

I try to respond personally to every comment, whether favorable or unfavorable. Where I think that my response might be of interest to others, I have reprinted it here.

Both the comments and my responses have usually been shortened or excerpted, to save space. Original spelling has not been changed.

-anyhow, thanks for making the information available, in spite of what personal risks you may face (I sincerely hope there aren't any). You're doing the world a favor. -10/20/00

I have just read "How I Became an Atheist" and "The Man Who Bought a House" as well as "A Short Personal Introduction."

I only wish to thankyou for your website. I have seen your name come up on various Mormon-related message boards that I have been on from time to time. I intend to visit your website again and read more of your articles. I am refreshed to find that what you write is not emotionally "loud," or reliant on logical fallacies to any degree. -10/11/00

My brother-in-law is in the military and was transferred to Utah two years ago. Recently I have noticed in my correspondence with my sister that she is getting a little soft on the idea of joining the Mormon church.

I sent her a link to your site, "Investigating Mormonism," and I think it hit home. She told me she spent the last three days online going through your site and it's notes. That tells me that she may have been more involved than I first thought.

Thank you very much for the vast information available on your site. You may have just saved my relationship with my only sister.

Best Regards,
-10/9/00

I guess that you spend so much time trying to find what out what's wrong with other religions that you don't have time to work on your own crappy attitude. Yea, that's a real inviting slogan - "Don't join this religion because they are right but because here's a bunch of phoney evidence that say's they're crackpots." Well, in my book mister, YOU'RE THE CRACKPOT!! -10/7/00

Many of the things you say are twisted in a way that they seem wrong or based on every bit of evidence, though they are missing many facts that change the concept of the whole idea. This leads those investigating the church to have misconceptions. Whether that is your purpose or not, I don't care, I only wish for people to have the whole truth. I'm not trying to re-convert you, though you might consider it :), I just wish that you wouldn't detain the work of the Lord. -9/19/00

I responded: I would greatly appreciate your pointing out to me any places where I have "twisted" facts. Of course, many Mormons feel that presenting ANY critical facts is "twisting" the fundamental "fact" that the church is true.

That is precisely my purpose: that people have the whole truth.

I would be very curious to know whether, as a missionary, you told investigators that Joseph Smith gave at least three different and contradictory versions of the First Vision? Did you tell investigators that Joseph Smith's translation of the Book of Abraham has been shown by Egyptologists to be phony? Did you tell investigators that the endowment ceremony is based on Freemasonry, and that it involves learning the secret handclasps and passwords to get into heaven? Etc., etc.

[I then gave him my friendly challenge. No response.]

I want to know why you spend so much time trying to underly what people believe in. It is so absurd for someone do to a thing of this nature. Didn't our ancestors come to this country for religious freedom, the right to express themselves freely without anyone trying to change them or inflict filth over them for doing what they are doing. I find your web page apaling, not just because I am a mormon, but for the fact that someone would go through all of this to undermine somebody.

I presume, then, that you are opposed to the missionary efforts of the LDS church? I am doing nothing basically different from what Mormon missionaries are doing (and have done since the founding of the church). The church has now over fifty thousand full-time missionaries working around the world. They go from door to door, like salesmen, trying to engage people in conversations about religion. Their message is fundamentally this: "Your present religion is false. We have the true religion. If you join our church you will go to the Celestial Kingdom. If you do not, you are rejecting God's message, which we are bringing to you." My message to the Mormons, and to those who are investigating Mormonism, is: "Mormonism is false." My message, however, is not accompanied by implied threats of eternal punishment or rejection for failure to heed it.

Joseph Smith was the first Mormon, and he was the first to attack other religions. In his autobiography (now a part of Mormon scripture, in the Pearl of Great Price) he asserts that God told him:

"I asked the Personages [God the Father and God the Son] who stood above me in the light, which of all the sects was right (for at this time it had never entered into my heart that all were wrong)--and which I should join.
19 I was answered that I must join none of them, for they were all wrong; and the Personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in his sight; that those professors were all corrupt;..." (Joseph Smith - History 1:18-19)

So it must not have been Jesus Christ who told Joseph Smith that all the churches of that day (most of which still exist today) are an "abomination"?

You seem to be violating your own advice... aren't you criticizing me for what I am doing?

What if what you "have felt deep in your heart" is contradicted by cold, hard facts?

First of all, I don't think that it's important to me that you find offensive what I am doing, any more than it matters to you that I find offensive what sixty thousand Mormon missionaries are doing.

But when you say I gave you "a bunch of links that have no hard evidence," you are implying that the information on my webpage is false. If so, I would like to know about it. [I then referred him to my friendly challenge. He has not responded.]

It took me a long time to find this site, and I am glad that you have made it. Good luck with all of your endeavors!!! -9/8/00

I am writing you this short (I hope) message to thank you for your web site. I especially enjoyed your essay entitled "Why I Left the Mormon Church." It gives me hope...

I am 32 years old, and I am a convert to the church. I joined when I was 25. I was dating a wonderful girl who was (is) LDS. All the things she told me about the church seemed so "nice" and innocent. I took the lessons, and was baptized. That girl and I were married four months later.

My wife and I now have a four-year old boy who is our pride and joy. We are trying-- like good LDS people-- to have more children, but have had no luck after a year and a half.

Several weeks ago, we were called to give a talk at church. I am a full tithe payer, and fulfill my calling as the ward financial clerk. (I am a horribly unfaithful home teacher, however.) So I was surprised when I sat down to research/write my talk and I felt no spirit of inspiration. That week, I put off writing the talk until the last minuet: Saturday night around 11 pm. Then it hit me: I don't believe in the church. I don't believe Joe Smith was a profit. In fact, I don't even believe in God.

Somehow, I have to find the courage to tell my wife. This is going to devastate her. I think one reason that your experience moved me so much is that I believe my wife will also leave me when she discovers how I truly feel. As of yet, I haven't found the courage-- I just know that eventually I will have to let her know. My heart is heavy... I love her dearly, and I love my son, too. I can't imagine life without them. But I can't imagine "faking it" until I die, either.

So your story has given me some hope, and I am thankful that you saw fit to share it. It is nice to know that bad experiences can be survived.

Again, many sincere thanks, -9/5/00

Mr. Packham, I can now admit freely that I am atheist (I like being an atheist) - just like you. I have enjoyed, immensely, reading your website. Everything you have written, I have read. (I've also suffered depression.) You mentioned that you did not hate Mormon people but, rather, the lies that have been told and are still being told by the church. I am in accordance with you on that all the way. I come from an old Mormon family (5th cousin to that scoundrel, Joe Smith) and I can't see hating my family. However, many members of my family no longer talk to me since I had my name removed from the records. Nonetheless, I had to be true to myself. -8/24/00

...The mormons have made my life Hell for many, many years. Now, they have destroyed my family (I have three children). Are there any sites that expose mormon shysters for breaking up the marriages of mormons married to Christians? If not, I am willing to develop one. -8/23/00

The thought that the church could be false was NEVER, EVER a possibility, thus didn't need to ask about it, study it, worry about, think about, debate it, or really even defend it. It was true no matter what (boy talk about closed minded).

Years ago I would not have listened, or even cared about evidence against the BOM or anything cuz my faith was so strong. Divorce breaks down walls, (more like walls around you crumble), but it also allows you to be open to feelings and ideas you didn't think possible. I honestly think that if I were still "happily married in the temple and one of the perfect little families in our ward" that I would not be able to see what was in front of me because I didn't want to see it. Not only that, but the church is meeting your needs, it's perfect. Well, for six months now I have been reading all I can and realize the church is not of divine origin.

I think it's the "politically correct" church, the slick commercials on TV church, the family values church that is getting people to join, not the Joseph Smith/Brigham Young church. Otherwise, I don't know how so many smart, normal people like myself could be fooled for so long. It seems like this has got to be by far the most successful cult ever to last this long. Why hasn't it cracked by now? why haven't some real insiders really spoken up? there must be just enough of the spirit and personal revelation and good feelings and social acceptance and stuff like that to make it seem so true. I know that most are just innocently decieved and live the church with good intentions, still It's important to know if it's true or not before you give up your entire life to it.

The catalyst for me as a single mom was the absolute frantic impossible pace of it all. the check list of things to do, ought to do, should do, better be doing, better not be doing, ought not to do, grew day by day, and the meetings, and activities. It was daily! I was so exhausted I needed a sabatical. That and the fact that It had been several weeks since I heard anything about the Savior in Sacrament mtg., just talks about reverence, and visiting teachers and home teachers, and callings. For all the meetings over the last 8 years was I a better christian? NO? just a tired, resentful person. it's all about being a "good member of the church" more than anything else.

Okay, sorry to rant and rave. This really is to rave about your courage to put yourself out there. Me, myself, I'm not ready to rain on anyone's parade or shake anyone's faith (just yet),but rather I just want to get out alive myself. -8/10/00

I am proud of you, Mr. Packham. And I am proud of myself that I sorted myself from the trappings of the Mormon Church 18 years ago.

Thank you for your humanitarian service both to me, a stranger, and to all those "rats in the maze" behind me. -8/10/00

Response: I referred this person to my FAQ "Why Do You Attack The Mormons?", which points out that I am doing nothing different from what the Mormon missionaries are doing.

Oh well I wont waste any more of your time. After all, I have faith to build and you have testimonies to destroy, we are such busy people. -8/7/00

My response (in part): What one gets after a session of brainwashing is what those doing the brainwashing want you to get: feeling good about what they are telling you.

My friend, if you are "happier than you have ever been," then keep on the path you have chosen. For those who need a crutch to walk on their path through life, it would be a crime to take the crutch away. You need it - by all means keep it. Don't go messing around with facts that might make you wonder whether you have been duped.

[I also corrected his error concerning the growth of the LDS church: it is not "the fastest growing religion," by any standard of measurement]

The really sad thing is how much of my life they were willing to use up. I did very poorly at college for several reasons--one of which was the Mormon's constant demands on my time. I never finished my degree at the Ivy League institution I attended. (I did get my bachelor's later, though, as I re-created my life.)

Mormonism ruined any normal social life I might have had. I now have essentially no friends from that period in my life. (Naturally, all the Mormons are gone, and they discourage members from having non-Mormon friends.)It is like a black hole in my personal history. I believe that Mormonism is actually a cult that damages people's lives. Maybe there are people who are made better by it, but I haven't met them.

Anyhow, if your site can keep even one person from wasting any time with this group, you've done a good thing. God bless you & your work. -8/7/00

1. How can Joseph Smith have been a prophet when so many of his prophecies never came to pass?
2. How can Brigham Young have been a prophet when the church now states that many of his teachings were not of god? For example; blood atonement, Adam being God, and polygamy.
3. The church presidents claim to be prophets also, even though Mark Hofmann sold them documents that he forged and blackmailed them with. Aren't their profits supposed to be all knowing and should be able to spot a liar?
4. Do you have any knowledge of the book View of the Hebrews. It supposedly could be where Joseph Smith got his idea for the book of Mormon. I have not found any information about this book on the web.
5. Can you tell me what you know about the temple ceremony called the Endowment? It seems to be one of their most guarded secrets.
6. What are the belief differences between the LDS church and the Reorganized Church?

Comment: I referred him to the links on these topics here.

Why do I write to you? Over the last 2 months I have read a huge amount of material, all on the internet, that points to the possibility that the church is MAN MADE. I have had a terrible time trying to com\e to terms with this possibility. Some of the areas of doubt include:
Adam-God Theory
Blood Atonement
Manifesto of 1890
Opening of the Priesthood
Whitewashing of Early Church History

I am, I beleive capable of tolerating anybody's belief structure, but I have never been able to tolerate deception, and this is what I find so repulsive in the leaders of the church over the last 170 years. I find myself now at a cross road in my life and the life of my wife and family.

If you have the time and if this is not an imposition on you, I should be most grateful to hear from you, a little more about the areas I have mentioned above. -8/2/00

Comment: This man resigned from his position as bishop two months later, and he and his family left the church.

It has been quite a trial to find peace. Your words of encouragement have given me faith that I can find true happiness by turning my back on a 27 year myth.

Thanks again for your advice, I will be using it shortly in finding myself among the free. -7/9/00

Thank you for your value of truth above religion! I believe that the difference between people like you and I and the Mormons and most other religions is that they have to deny realtiy and truth to be able to believe their religions. I, like you, have felt the wonderful, freeing feeling of the realization that I am in control of my destiny. There is no supernatural power expecting me to worship and sacrifice my very being for him. If there is 'something' else out there, I am willing to embrace it when I see it, but I am no longer willing to 'believe' just because someone else says it's the right thing to do. The thing that amazes me is the 'godlike' power we have as mere human beings to shape and mold our own existances that seems to escape those who believe 'God' and 'Satan' are in charge. They have given away all their personal power and control over their lives.

I feel Mormonism should be exposed for what it is. I wish there were more that could be done to educate people. I do believe that over time it will collapse under its own weight like other man-made institutions have done since the beginning of recorded history. It's a funny, almost 'spiritual' thing about truth; it eventually prevails because it's the only thing that stands the test of time. I do know that websites and published stories like yours are helping to educate and change the lives of thinking individuals. What you have done is extremely important. Maybe the interenet will help educate Mormons, or at the very least, they will be forced to moderate their beliefs to a more tolerable state for the rest of society.

It must have been difficult for you for many years during your recovery process, and I admire you greatly for having the courage to do what you did. If you're like me, however, there simply was no other choice but to leave. I couldn't live a lie my whole life. In the end, there is more to be said for being true to yourself than being true to any religion.

The one issue that escapes me entirely is that religious people believe in a super-human being with power and control over the univserse, in fact, the power to create a universe. Why would that fantastic being have the need to have insignificant little humans worship him? No one has ever been able to answer that question to my satisfaction.

Good luck, and thank you for what you've done. -7/8/00

A few days later, this correspondent sent the following:

I asked him to send his "startling" materials, but he never did.

Comment: This was from a 16-year-old young man. We exchanged a few e-mails, as I tried to answer some of his questions. I then received this e-mail from his father:

I responded with a request for the information or statistics on which he based his assertion that my website has caused so many people to join the church. After several long, vituperative and preachy e-mails to me - in which he avoided answering my request for the source of his information - I suggested that his assertion was false. He replied:

My primary reason for writing you is to tell you that I found your page very facinating as well as informative. -6/1/00

Comment: This correspondent turned out to be a teen-age Mormon girl. I sent her my friendly challenge, and I got several more testimonial e-mails from her. But no facts.

Well -- thanks for your letter. At least there is now one other person who studied the evidence and came to the same conclusion I did -- based on the evidence, rather than based upon either a burning thological feeling that the church is either "true" or "anti-Christian." Best wishes. -5/22/00

thank you for your work.i have been reasearching mormonism for the last several months.and finally got on the computer(which iam still uncomfortable with) your efforts have saved me months of cross referencing. have you ever heard of his prophecyabout inhabitants on the moon? if so where is it documented? thank you again, for your work. -5/17/00

I referred him to my review of the book People In Space, where these ideas are discussed.

Incidentally I am a Christian, a member of the Church of England and a Sunday School Teacher. -5/10/00

Why would you spend this amount of time to tear down another religion...I don't understand that logic and I don't think I ever will. Seems like your time would be better spent improving your own life, spending time with family, reading for pleasure or something other than a seemingly incessant research into a religion you think is bunk. I think a lot of things are bunk, but my priorities in life are straight enough that I don't create websites about them! I think the KKK is a silly organization...but I don't obsess over it and never leave it alone.

If the Mormon Church is as messed up as you say...it will fall on it's own...it doesn't need your help! -4/24/00

I responded:

I want to thank you very much for taking your valuable time (surely you have more important things to do) to tell me what I should do with my life. I realize, after you pointed it out to me, that I have all my priorities in life wrong. Perhaps you could help me to get back to something meaningful, like e-mailing website owners and telling them how they could better spend their time? Do you have a list, or something, that I could maybe help you in your high-priority work of finding silliness in what other people do?

I hope and pray that the Internet is the downfall of the church. So many people are not knowing true God. It is quite a tragedy. Please keep up the good work. -4/25/00

What a flashback! In retrospect, it's amazing that I put up with all that gobbledygook as long as I did. Once you're out of it and then read the description you've put together, it creates quite an impact.

I congratulate you on a very calm, Ted Koppel-like balance and accuracy and fair-mindedness and thoroughness.

The main reason I left was that I couldn't imagine leading my five strong daughters deeply into it at today's level of information. Most of them thank me for liberating them from it.

And, certainly, it's much more difficult to sustain than before, given the current easy availability of debunking information, especially on the internet.

Again, congratulations on an extremely accurate and balanced presentation. - 4/11/00

This is my first excursion into the world of "no more Mormonism for me". I have been going through some of the material. That's a "no-no" in LDS but I have told them I am not a "mindless, spineless jelly fish" (which they don't approve of).

I am a widow, aged 83, and carry a great deal of resentment towards the "saints" who have spiritually tortured me. For instance "You are not worthy to go to the Temple...and a few days later a missionary arrived to tell me that if I didn't go through the Temple I would go to Hell for sure. Figure that one out! Or, after a lengthy bout of ill-health, I told the Visiting Teacher,"Now I'm starting to feel better, I'd like to get back to Church"...Her reply: "If you do come back, you can expect to be shunned until the Saints decide to accept you!" I went back and found she meant what she said.

I feel sorry for people who have never been taught the "facts of life" when it comes to scoundrels in religious garb. People are left so much alone, and when they need help these scoundrels are there..so loving, so helpful, and you fall victim.

Wishing you success.
Sincerely Ever Onward, ... -4/10/00

[The following is from my Mormon daughter-in-law:]

My older son left on a mission 2 years ago - I have written him ~ 86 letters based on my findings! Even though, as he told me the (Bible) verses he referenced were "jumping off the pages at him" he remains a Mormon. I plan on letting him do his own research - using your page primarily.

I was also happy to see the German version and had it sent to a girl who needs reassurance in Germany. I have come to the conclusion that I cannot save my son. ... I have put him in God's hands. - 4/8/00

Opinions might be varied (the world is a big place after all), but an account and insight that honest and neutral is hard to find. Just wanna leave a note of appreciation. - 4/4/00

I find this whole Mormon thing so interesting. I call it brainwashing. "my testimony" came after about 1/2 a yr. The Mormon Church is not true! I still take in church sites and am more and more convinced all the time that I am right. I teach school with 2 Mormons (husband & wife). It is impossible to reason with a Mormon about their church teaching. They really don't like me now, although I remember them saying at one time, "We Love You", blah, blah, blah!

I gave up going to church, saying, "The Mormons did me in!". ... Anyway, from going to so many churches over the years, I now believe that about the only thing Joesph Smith said that's true was (referring to the churches), "none of them are true--join none of them". - 3/30/00

The religion's unique beliefs have no basis in Christianity. I've read Bushman, Richard L.: Joseph Smith and the Beginings of Mormonism, Univ. of Illinois Press, 1984. I've added No Man Knows My History to my reading list, but haven't gotten around to it yet. I'm intrigued by the religion's weird beliefs, rituals and its obsession with making money. Keep up the good work. - 3/18/00

p.s. I would be very intrested in hearing why you find this moral-loving, charity promoting group of individuals so repulsive. Did they hurt you or your family in any way? - 3/8/00

I responded:    I am wracking my mind trying to figure out what I may have written there that you could interpret to mean that I am a "very bitter individual." Could you please enlighten me? Because I assure you that I am not bitter. I confess that I hate lies, and I hate liars. Isn't that a good thing?

Nor do I need to "resolve [my] problems." Can you point to anything in my writings that you can show to me clearly is false? I have carefully researched everything I wrote. If I am in error, I beg you to correct me. But with facts, please, not with testimony-bearing.

Yes, I have read the Book of Mormon. At one time I had a strong testimony of its truth. I had an advanced class at BYU on Book of Mormon from Dr. Sidney B. Sperry. Have you read "New Approaches To the Book of Mormon," edited by Metcalfe? Or "Studies of the Book of Mormon" by B. H. Roberts (a member of the General Authorities, and Church Historian)? Or the biography of Stuart Ferguson, the founder of the church-sponsored archaeological foundation and author of several books on the BoM (the biography is by Stan Larson, and is called "The Search For The Gold Plates")?

I just want to say thank you from the very bottom of heart for your taking the time to write me, to encourage me, and to offer suggestions to me. I read your email and took it all to heart. I do not know what I would have done if things were different, thank heavens I don't have to think about "what if's." But I cannot stress enough just how important your quick response and comforting words meant to me and I hope and pray that you will also be there for the next person who is in need of your help, your comforting words, and extremely helpful advice. Thanks so very very much for being there for me. - 2/29/00

   I just joined the true church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I just read your web page and found that many of your references and statements (Disregarding your theories) were very misleading. Many of your references were from other misleading sources. I don't understand why you didn't use sources from the church much. (Apart from your begining paragraghs.) I was confused as to the use of these other sources. I thought that the author of confusion was the Devil. I know that the the book of Mormon is true and that Joseph Smith was a true prophet. I also know that Jesus lives and that he is the founder of our church. Understand that continuing to work against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is working against the true an only church of Jesus Christ and of God. - 2/24/00

Response: I sent this Mormon my usual challenge; I have not had a reply

The missionaries did come to the door. I had been studying your site and I'm sure that they were surprised when I raised my questions and objections. Their response: Read the book of Mormon and pray to God and ask if it was true. Well, what can I say. I'm reading, but so far, all I get is "someone made this up." - 2/21/00

Dear Mr. Packham,

   Reagarding your article that establishes Joseph Smith as a "false prophet" you have a lot of well thought out points. I read your article and I find it facinating that you have access to so many of the church archives and journals etc. Concerning the Prophet Joseph Smith, I must say whether you believe Joseph was a prophet or not will not affect His standing with God, merely your own. The appeal of Logos is effective to some perhaps but to those of a stronger faith, it has no appeal. You seem to be an intelligent well versed individual, and perhaps you see logic as a basis of belief, that is exactly what the advesary would like you to believe. Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. This much I know, no matter what you do in this life in secular terms will amount to nothing in the judgement, it is entirely where you heart set is. I hope and pray you will use the gifts God has given you to further his work and build the faith of others, not hinder their eternal progress. The Book of Mormon is a True book. May you one day search it out and may God have mercy on your soul. - 2/19/00

My response: It seems that you misunderstand the issue. The issue is not whether I believe that Joseph Smith was a prophet, but whether, in fact, he was one. If he was not, in fact, a prophet, that certainly will affect his standing with God, I would think. And if you incorrectly believe that he was a prophet, that will also affect your standing, wouldn't it? You are committing here the fallacy called "begging the question."

And the facts I summarized in my article seem to shows that Smith was not, in fact, a prophet.

Dear friend, if we abandon logic, if we abandon our ability to reason, we must then also abandon all the knowledge that the human race has acquired by that means. All our science, all our knowledge of history, all our law, the fundament of our society -- all are based on logic and man's ability to reason. And you say it is wrong?

I find it really sad and ironic that you, a student at an institution with academic pretensions, can be espousing such an anti-intellectual position.

No, my dear young friend, the genuine seeker of truth and the one who really has truth WANTS us to subject his claims to examination. It is only the purveyor of lies that tries to get us to abandon our logic and our skepticism, because his lies will not stand up under such rigorous examination.

(I sent this Mormon my standard challenge; I have not had a reply)

Update:    I corresponded more with this young man. By May 2000 this young man had left the church and had succeeded in bringing several friends out as well.