By Jerald and Sandra Tanner

Wallace Turner, former Pulitzer Prize winner and correspondent for The New York Times, has now completed a book entitled The Mormon Establishment. This book will probably be one of the largest-selling books concerning Mormonism since Fawn Brodie’s No Man Knows My History. In fact, the following statement by Fawn Brodie appears on the jacket of Wallace Turner’s book:

It is a courageous book . . . he is not afraid of attacking bigotry where he finds it, even in a highly respected and respectable church. He has cut through much of the secrecy that enshrouds the power of Mormon leadership and exposed the structure with clarity and objectivity, as well as a perceptive regard for the overpowering impact of Mormon history on the present.

In our opinion, this book will deal a heavy blow to the foundation of the Mormon Church. While Mr. Turner is very fair with the Mormons and even goes out of his way to bestow praise where it is due, he is very critical of certain doctrines and practices, such as the Mormon doctrine concerning the Negro, the doctrine of polygamy, and the interference of the Mormon leaders in politics. We feel that this book is very well written and extremely accurate.

At Modern Microfilm Company, we have a very special interest in Wallace Turner’s book. In this book, Wallace Turner devotes about eight pages to our work and Modern Microfilm Co. This will, no doubt, give a great boost to our work and will probably be our greatest opportunity to get the public acquainted with our work.

Some of our readers will probably remember that Wallace Turner is the reporter who interviewed Hugh B. Brown, a member of the First Presidency of the Mormon Church, in 1963. In this interview, Hugh B. Brown was quoted as saying:

“We are in the midst of a survey looking toward the possibility of admitting Negroes,” said Hugh B. Brown, one of the two counselors serving President David O. McKay in the First Presidency of the Mormon Church.

“Believing as we do in divine revelation through the President of the church, we all await his decision,” Mr. Brown said.

Mr. Brown, a 79-year-old former attorney, said he believed that if the change were made, it would be a doctrinal revision for Mormonism of a magnitude matching the abandonment of polygamy in 1890. (The New York Times, Western Edition, June 7, 1963)

After this article appeared in The New York Times, Hugh B. Brown claimed that he was misquoted. In his new book, Wallace Turner shows that Hugh B. Brown was not misquoted and that the Mormon Church’s own press representative had “approved” the quotes attributed to him (The Mormon Establishment, pages 258-261).

In December of 1965, The New York Times ran a series of three articles concerning the Mormon Church, written by Wallace Turner. These articles were very well written and very revealing. Although newspapers throughout the country ran these articles, the newspapers in Salt Lake City refused to print them. The Deseret News claimed that it did not print the articles because it was not a member of the Associated Press News Service. The Salt Lake Tribune could not offer this excuse since it is a member of the Associated Press.

A man in the editorial department of The Salt Lake Tribune stated that the reason they did not print these articles was that they felt that the activities of the Mormon Church were “sufficiently” covered and that there was no need to pick up these articles from The New York Times.

In the January 1966 issue of The Salt Lake City Messenger, we told of the suppression of these articles by the newspapers in Salt Lake City. After quoting from these articles, we stated:

Although the Mormon leaders may be able to control the newspapers in Salt Lake City and keep them from printing articles such as these, we feel that the time will come when they will have to face these problems.

They will not be able to keep their people in the dark forever! (The Salt Lake City Messenger, January 1966, page 4)

When we made this statement, we had no idea that Wallace Turner would come out with a book on Mormonism. We know that Mr. Turner was very disappointed that the Mormon people in Salt Lake City could not read the articles he had written concerning them. But now that he has written a book, there is no way that the Mormon leaders can stop their people from reading it.

We feel that the time has now come when the Mormon leaders will have to face the truth. Their methods of silence and suppression are not going to be sufficient to keep their people in the dark. The light must break through, and we feel that Wallace Turner’s book will do much toward bringing light to a people who have been kept in the dark by their leaders.

Wallace Turner claims that “the most serious problem facing the LDS church today is the Negro question.” Wallace Turner “devotes two chapters to the burning issue of the Mormon doctrine on the inferiority of Negroes.” On page 244 of his book, Wallace Turner states:

So the ultimate effect of this aspect of LDS doctrine is as racist as anything asserted by the Theodore Bilbos and Robert Sheltons in the bigoted corners of the southern states . . . the LDS church actually is one of the most influential organs of racial bigotry in the United States.

All the imposing list of wonderful and truly praiseworthy things about this tremendous and impressive institution help to conceal this ugly corner of its theology.

Concerning the Book of Abraham, which is the basis for the Mormon doctrine of discrimination against the Negro, Wallace Turner states:

The foundation on which this whole doctrine of Negro exclusion is based in the clause or so in the Book of Abraham.

Yet, of all the works attributed to Joseph Smith, this one is the most thoroughly denounced by the scholarly world. . . .

The church has reproduced some copies of the hieroglyphics which the Prophet Joseph said he translated. The reproductions are accompanied with detailed statements of what the Prophet said the hieroglyphics show. It was almost as if the invitation were being extended to scholars to denounce the work. This they have done with gusto. . . .

I am convinced by very simple direct evidence that the Book of Abraham is a spurious translation. (The Mormon Establishment, pages 232-233)

On pages 234-239 of his book, Wallace Turner gives the information that convinced him that the Book of Abraham is a “spurious translation.”

Wallace Turner’s book is filled with interesting information. It has 12 chapters and 343 pages. The following are the chapter headings:

1. The Rightists and the LDS Church
2. The Holy City by the Dead Sea
3. The Angel Moroni, the Farm Boy, and the Book
4. “Zion Will Be Built”
5. “One Tenth of Their Interest Annually”
6. Divisive Forces at Work
7. Origins and Importance of Polygamy
8. Polygamy Today—Rejected by Saints
9. The Anti-Negro Doctrine
10. Will the Negro Doctrine Change?
11. The Church in Politics
12. George Romney—Latter-day Saint

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