Reader responses regarding "The Mormons" PBS series

The treatment of the church was mostly even-handed, respectable, and generally fair. Yet the overall tone was clearly skeptical, which isn't surprising: there will always be critics. Personally, I would like to have seen documentation of certain historical assertions; for example, the unchallenged claim that John Taylor ostensibly taught that the reason blacks survived the flood was to carry forth the work of Satan. — Rex Ripplinger, Roosevelt, Utah

I enjoyed the "Mormons". I was impressed that the filmmaker tried to find reasonable, informed and thoughtful people from a wide variety of Mormon experience. I was so pleased that it was not a forum for anti-Mormon crazies blasting everything that to me is meaningful and important. It was ultimately done with sensitivity, while still managing to cover the most important and relevant issues. — Amy Rasi-Koskinen

The PBS documentary on the Mormons was disappointing. I was hoping for a Thanksgiving dinner and got day old fast food instead. It's a shame that so much interview time was given to excommunicated Mormons. That seems tantamount to asking convicted felons what their opinion of law enforcement is. — Dave Jensen, Alpine, Ut

Equal time was not given to church members to portray the truth about the LDS Church. For every positive thing mentioned, at least twice as much time was given to anti-Mormons and disaffected former Mormons (who were not identified as such) to voice their slanted views. Each negative thing brought up by these people has been answered time and again by responsible people in the church, but this side of it was never presented. I believe the producers had an agenda that was presented as a well-researched documentary but in reality, did very little to help outsiders understand our religion. It's no wonder Carolyn Tanner Irish thought it was so wonderful; she is one of those disaffected former Mormons who obviously was dissatisfied enough with the LDS church to leave it. If these are the kind of people cheering for this production, we have a problem with the integrity of the information presented. — Colleen, Salt Lake City

As a member of the church, I felt it missed the essence of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The film focused their microscope on microcosms of ancient history that is irrelevant to today�s LDS. — Don

As a member of the church in Wisconsin and as the only member of the church in my own family, I was disappointed but not surprised by the documentary. I hope that none of my non-member family watched it! While some of it was accurate and some of it even touching, on the whole it is certainly not something I would recommend. We do a much better job of telling our own story. Sincerely, — Robyn M. Shearer