"The accusations, innuendo and mischaracterizations portrayed in the video are divisive and hurtful to open dialogue and conversation," Tuttle said. "It does not accurately represent the life of Joseph Smith or the doctrine and history of the church. Either deliberately, or out of ignorance, the video ignores volumes of scholarly work, which address the concerns raised. These criticisms are old and long ago asked and answered."

Tuttle said anyone who is interested in learning about the LDS Church should look to "official sources on what we teach and believe."

Because of the LDS-themed pictures on the DVD's cover, some recipients have been confused, thinking the video came from the LDS Church. While copies of the video were mailed on Tuesday to rural areas of Utah, hand deliveries were made on Sunday to St. George, Ogden, Salt Lake County and several cities in Utah County.

Judy Harper, an American Fork resident, said two men left the video hanging from her doorknob in a plastic bag.

"It was strange, it just looks like something the (LDS Church) would send you home from Relief Society with," Harper said. "We just assumed it was from the church and we threw it on the fridge for later."

Harper said she didn't realize what the video was until the next day when a friend, Gloria Parker, who also received the video, told her.

In Parker's LDS congregation, the DVDs' delivery came up as church members questioned whether the video was a new project made by the LDS Church.

Despite the images on the DVD's cover, when Parker's son, Brian, saw his parents' video, he knew it had to be made by someone else.

"In my opinion, the (LDS Church) ought to go after whoever's (making the video)," Brian Parker said. "I don't go bother their religion. Why can't they just leave me alone? I don't know why they have to try and bash people, but I guess they're just going to do what they're going to do."

---

E-mail: achoate@desnews.com