Part 8 - Interview with Carole Whang Schutter, screenwriter of SEPEMBER DAWN

Dianne: Do you have any great behind-the-screen stories?

CWS: During the tense scene between Jonathan and his father, played by Jon Voight, it started to rain and the rain gave it such a wonderful effect. God blessed the production in so many ways.

When we were filming publicity shots, the commentator asked me, "Why is this story Romeo and Juliet? Weren't they (the lovers in our movie) all Christians?" I asked her if she had an hour.

Dianne: Please expand on that.

CWS: I asked her if she had an hour because it was clear to me that like many Christians, she thought LDS to be just another denomination. If I had to encapsulate my answer I would say this: The dictionary says a Christian is one who professes belief in Jesus as Christ or follows the religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus. Christ is defined as The Messiah, as foretold by the prophets of the Hebrew Scriptures.

On both counts Mormons do not qualify. They profess belief in and follow a religion based on the teachings of Joseph Smith who claimed "I boast that no man ever did such a work as I. The followers of Jesus ran away from Him, but the Latter-day Saints never ran away from me yet." From History of the Church, by Joseph Smith, vol. 6, pp. 408-409. Joseph Smith in that same volume on page 319-320 in the year 1844, said, "Jehovah created ME to be your God on Earth and the Prophets have been chosen to be my mouth. To question the Prophets and the Apostles is to question Jehovah Himself." Any prophet that deifies himself is not a follower of Jesus who says, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Light. No man cometh before the father except through Me." [John 14:6]

Second, who is the Christ, the Messiah? He is the son of God. God incarnate. Christians believe there is only one God but believe that He is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. Mormons believe that Adam is the god of this planet, that Jesus and Satan are brothers, that Adam/god had sexual relations with Mary and created Jesus, and that temple Mormons chosen by Joseph Smith get to be gods of their own planet. That women can only go to heaven if the men they are sealed to (in this day and age, not necessarily their husbands since some of them marry outside the faith) call their secret name. I don't know if this has changed with women's lib. Things can be changed if the prophet of the church has new revelations from god. The bottom line is Mormons are polytheists, they believe in many gods. Christians believe, as the Jews believe, "Our God is one."

Coming next: Closing thoughts.