Tanner feature
Clovis Lark
The Notorious Tanners
Longtime Mormon critics look back as they contemplate retirement.
by Andrea Moore Emmett
There are times when one plots out a course in life, and, with calculated
steps, eventually reaches the sought-after goal. Other times, events occur
and a person is carried along to a place in life that was never charted,
but, once there, they are no less grateful for having arrived.
Sandra and Jerald Tanner fit the latter. Almost as though there had been a
void seeking them out to fill it, the couple unexpectedly found themselves
in the position of infamous icons. For many all over the world, either
curious about, or serious students of Mormon studies, the Tanner name and
their Utah Lighthouse Ministry is a known entity.
Now, after more than 30 years, the Tanners are preparing to pass the baton
and retire from their life’s work of exposing historical Mormon documents
for the purpose of proving Mormonism, for what they see, as a fraud.
The ever-shy Jerald has always maintained a behind the scenes position and
now refrains from even doing interviews due to his failing health. Through
their deep devotion to one another, Sandra’s desire is to dedicate her
time attending to him. But for now, the date of their retirement is still
an unknown and until such time, the individual who is in the process of
stepping into their shoes remains anonymous. And they are very large shoes
to fill.
The prolific amount of work which the Tanners have contributed to the
Mormon studies landscape over the past three decades have earned them
praise from many and derision from others. However, none would dispute
that they have left an indelible mark.
While the dialogue surrounding the Tanners has continually centered on
their work, which is essential in understanding who they are and why they
do what they do, at the same time, the high visibility of that facet alone
has generally obscured much of the personal side of Sandra and Jerald.
Born in Salt Lake City in 1941, Sandra was the great-great-granddaughter
of Brigham Young. Jerald was born in Provo in 1938, the great-great
grandson of a wealthy financier of Joseph Smith and the early LDS Church.
He is also a relative of deceased Utah notables, O.C. Tanner and LDS
Church Apostle, N. Eldon Tanner.
As generational Mormons from staunchly believing families, both of their
lives revolved around the church of their inheritance. “I was ‘gung ho.’
If they opened the church doors, I was there,” says Sandra. “Jerald
started questioning what he believed when the bishop approached him to get
ready for his mission.”
Sandra was living in Southern California and Jerald was living in Salt
Lake City and though their paths hadn’t crossed yet, each took up the
personal challenge to examine the origins of Mormonism.
While studying church history, Jerald read a copy of David Whitmer’s (one
of the three witnesses to the Book of Mormon) booklet, An Address to All
Believers in Christ, in which Whitmer accused Mormon founder Joseph Smith
of altering many of his earlier revelations contained in the Doctrine and
Covenants (a book of scripture which Mormon’s believe was revealed to
Smith by God.) Shaken, Jerald made a pilgrimage to the places where the
LDS Church had first been established. In Independence, Mo. he examined a
copy of the original, then named Book of Commandments, and saw for himself
what Whitmer had charged.
Jerald’s journey led him next to Nauvoo, Ill., where he met with the
Reorganized LDS Church leaders, some of their members and later with a
group of Christians by whom he felt inspired and moved. With the new
insights, historical perspectives and challenging experiences of his trip,
Jerald felt compelled to view Christianity, as it is accepted outside of
Mormonism, as his true path to God. He still the believed the Book of
Mormon to be true, but he felt that Joseph Smith had gone amok with the
church.
Meanwhile, from her home in California’s San Fernando Valley, Sandra was
struggling with theological questions for which she could find no answers.
In an attempt at resolution, she enrolled in a Mormon Institute of
Religion Class (LDS Institute buildings on numerous college and university
campuses for Mormon students) where she desperately sought answers to
questions concerning polygamy, the denial of priesthood to
African-Americans and the LDS claim to being the “only true church.” She
was soon taken aside and told by the instructor to stop asking
“disturbing” questions.
Taking a break, Sandra came to visit her grandmother in Salt Lake City,
where she met Jerald. They instantly connected in their common search for
answers and together, studied the Book of Mormon, the Bible, read sermons
from early LDS Church leaders in the Journal of Discourses (a 26 volume
set of books which include sermons of the early LDS Church leaders). They
made their way to documents in LDS Church archives.
Sandra says the answers she found shocked her as she learned that, among
other things, numerous church leaders often reiterated the claim that
polygamy would never be taken from the church or else the church would
fall into apostasy. She was particularly horrified to read Brigham Young
condoning blood atonement, using the example that if a man finds his wife
involved in adultery, he would be justified in putting a javelin through
her.
The young couple married in 1959, just two and a half months after
meeting. By now, Jerald no longer felt the Book of Mormon had any validity
and the young couple dedicated themselves wholeheartedly to Christianity
as recognized by other Christians. “We felt that the Book of Mormon didn’t
meet the standards of historical authenticity. Our continued research
pointed its story to a novel from the 1820s,” says Sandra. For the
Tanners, the Bible has authenticity because there are landmarks spoken of
in the Bible which stand today as a living testament.
They asked LDS Church leaders to remove their names from membership rolls
but were officially excommunicated by church authorities two years later.
Predictably, their family members and LDS friends were having difficulty
understanding and accepting the couple’s religious defection. “They would
ask me, ‘Sandra, we just want to know who it was that hurt your
feelings,’” she recalls. “It had to be some kind of failing. They couldn’t
get it that it was the church’s own documents that convinced us to leave.”
To fully explain themselves to their loved ones, they embarked on a
project which they believed would help. “We thought if we could just
reprint documents along with information for them to see, people would
understand,” says Sandra. “So we began sending everyone mimeographed
copies of research we had gathered.” Members of their respective wards
began receiving copies in their mailboxes as well. To Sandra and Jerald,
the information needed to be shared; it was empirical evidence and,
logically, it would be understood.
Sandra laughs in retrospect. “The reaction surprised us. People were
angry. Oh, some of them figured things out and left the church but most
just outright rejected the documentation. How well they read or considered
the information is anyone’s guess.”
In spite of the majority of disappointing responses, they continued
writing about their research and mimeographing documents until Jerald gave
up his job as a machinist and went full time into researching and
duplicating his findings. To do this, the two, who had started their
married life in California, decided to move back to Utah to be closer to
LDS historical archives.
In 1964, they founded Modern Microfilm and a makeshift bookstore was set
up in the front room of their newly purchased, modest family home in Salt
Lake. In 1983, they became a non-profit organization.
Besides their newsletters and their own publications, the bookstore sold
numerous copies of out-of-print historical books and documents and
manuscripts from LDS historical archives and universities. Information
that had been inaccessible to all but a few privileged academics was
suddenly available to anyone who was interested.
With the non-profit organization as their only means of support, the early
years were a constant financial struggle with house payments and three
children to raise. But thanks to like-minded Christians outside of Utah,
support for the family and the work they were doing was supplemented by
donations.
The little one-room bookstore became a popular gathering place for people
to visit from across the country to discuss Mormon doctrine and related
issues. “Our kids knew that when they came home from school they might see
anyone from Mormon fundamentalist polygamists to Madalyn Murray O’Hair
[the well-known atheist] sitting in our home engaged in discussion,” says
Sandra. “Sometimes they came home to a film crew.”
Seven years ago, with Modern Microfilm officially transformed into the
Utah Lighthouse Ministry, Sandra and Jerald bought the house next door,
turning the entire building over to the work of their ministry.
One never enters without finding other individuals who are there simply
for discussion while others pour over the publications for sale. Most
faithful Mormons shun them, but now and then individuals, including
missionaries, will drop by to bare testimonies that Mormonism is the one
and only true faith. They often receive vitriol in the form of e-mails and
letters.
Through those doors is also a place for Mormons in the throes of a crisis
of faith, as well as for those who have already left the LDS Church. “I
deal with the heartache everyday of people who left the church and have
lost not only friends, but their family,” says Sandra. “Now with our
website I get e-mails from a lot of Mormon kids with questions. Somehow
they find us.”
Daniel Peterson, chairman of the Foundation for Ancient Research and
Mormon Studies (FARMS) at BYU says, “Opposition can cause some people to
leave but resistance strengthens the muscles. They’ve been effective in
reaching people in leaving the church but not as effective as they’d like
to have been.”
However many the Tanners have led out of the LDS Church, those they have
reached have great love and gratitude for Sandra and Jerald. Many others
have gone to them for support after already having left the LDS religion.
“If it weren’t for the Tanners, my husband and I would be divorced. We
came so close,” says Rauni Higley. She went on an LDS mission and then
worked as a Finnish translator for the LDS Church for 14 years. “To
translate correctly I had to read the entire context of the historical
document for whatever quote they needed translated,” she says. “I learned
what the church was really about and was convinced I had to leave.”
Feeling completely alone with a decision that upset everyone around her,
Higley went to the Tanners for personal support. “The Tanners helped me
realize I wasn’t the only one that knew the whole story. That was such a
relief.” But Higley’s husband, Dennis, was bewildered. He had never even
dated a non-Mormon girl, and now his wife was rejecting Mormonism. His
world was falling apart and Higley didn’t know how to help him understand.
“The Tanners helped me know how to talk to my husband so he would be
willing to find out what I knew,” says Rauni. “I will be forever grateful
to them.”
Besides the well-stocked bookstore at the ministry, Sandra has her
personal office where many of their enormous personal collection of books
line the shelves. Rooms at the rear are for production purposes with a
printing press, computers and a gigantic collating machine. A skeleton
crew of employees stay focused on keeping operations running. Upstairs, a
meeting room used for occasional speakers occupies the entire second
floor.
Through the years, Sandra and Jerald have been the brunt of ridicule for
what they represented to many defenders of the Mormon faith. “We have
always been called ‘anti-Mormons.’ We make people uncomfortable and so if
they can call you ‘anti’ they can dismiss our work as a lie, “ she says.
“They go by the concept that truth makes you happy and if you feel
uncomfortable, then it can’t be true. In reality, we all know that there
are many truths in life that don’t make us happy, but it doesn’t change
the fact that they are true.”
Peterson admits that the Tanners have brought a lot of previously unknown
documents to light. “In an odd sort of way, I’m grateful for them,” he
says. “They’ve been industrious, but how they interpret that material,
that’s where we go in two different directions.”
For example, both would agree that historical documents show that Joseph
Smith married women as plural wives in 1842, before the 1843 revelation in
which God was supposed to have instructed Mormons to begin living
polygamously. All parties concede that these marriages were done without
the knowledge of Smith’s first wife or of the church members. The Tanners
argue that Smith was deliberately deceptive and lied to his wife when she
confronted him with rumors of his polygamist wives. FARMS maintains that
polygamy was strictly a private teaching to Smith prior to its being given
to the general membership.
Another example of diverging opinion over documented material is that of
the “First Vision,” where Smith is believed to have conversed face to face
with God for the first time. Within the 13 documented versions, each
contain vast discrepancies which include ever-changing personages who
appeared with God. Some versions speak of Jesus appearing without God,
some have God and no Jesus and others have angels involved while others do
not. Some versions say Smith was 14 at the time of the vision, others say
he was 15, while still others say he was 16. The Tanners believe that
Smith invented details as he went, forgetting and making up versions with
the church finally adopting a particular one. FARMS believes that the
reason for different versions is simply due to Smith speaking to different
audiences.
An often-heard criticism of the Tanners has been the accusation that they
have made their life’s work one of negativity by working against
something, specifically the LDS Church, instead of for something, such as
clean air. It’s an accusation for which Sandra has learned to take with a
smile. “We are for Christianity, and like consumer watchdogs, we put out
the alert against an aberrant group that claims to be Christian,” she
says.
As a self-proclaimed “Ralph Nader” of Mormonism, Sandra recently spoke at
the International Evangelical Conference at Biola University in La Mirada,
California. The focus of this year’s conference was the LDS Church and an
overriding concern that Mormonism is encroaching into mainstream
Christianity. The topics of other speakers, prayers given and literature
sold, clearly articulated that the alert on Mormonism is being taken
seriously in the Christian community. And Sandra, with Jerald sitting
nearby, were definitive authorities for those who had gathered.
Mormon historian Michael H. Marquardt considers the Tanners’ work
impeccable as well as significant. “The Tanners don’t make anything up.
It’s authentic, and they get their material in legitimate ways,” he says.
“They’ve done this by themselves and a sad thing is, there are other
historians who will use their work and not admit it or give them credit.”
While many were taken by the notorious document forger and bomber Mark
Hofmann, Jerald, with typical uncompromising accuracy, was not bamboozled.
Collectors of historical documents from the LDS Church to the Library of
Congress and Sothebys were buying Hofmann’s documents as fast as he could
manufacture them. Hofmann sold forged letters supposedly written by Betsy
Ross, Daniel Boone and other American icons, but his major focus was
forging early Mormon historical documents that were extremely damaging to
LDS doctrine and early church leaders.
All the while, only Jerald Tanner remained unimpressed and unconvinced of
their authenticity, and in 1984 publicly announced his misgivings, calling
Hofmann a forger.
Marquardt says that Jerald has a photographic memory and Sandra concurs.
“Jerald read Hofmann’s documents and from his knowledge of other
documents, he realized the wording was too close. Hofmann was relying too
much on other documents for them to be original,” she says. “Jerald said
Hofmann’s documents would never stand up in court and he’d say, ‘Can I
sell you a brick?’”
Marquardt remembers the reaction from the historical community. “We all
thought those documents were authentic so everyone ignored Jerald. We
wondered why Jerald would even question their authenticity,” he says.
“Hofmann was upset about it because he thought of all people, the Tanners
would support him.”
Mormon leaders continued to purchase Hofmann’s documents at an ever-rapid
pace through Steve Christensen, a Centerville Mormon bishop who acted as
their broker. Once in their possession, the church leaders would then
quietly store the potentially embarrassing or damaging documents in their
vaults as Hofmann promised more would follow, including the notorious
McLellin collection. William E. McLellin was one of the original members
of the Twelve Apostles of the LDS Church, and after defecting from the
church, wrote detailed, explosive accounts concerning Joseph Smith and
other leaders.
While LDS leaders arranged to secure transportation of the McLellin
collection by armored car, Hofmann became desperate to hold them off long
enough for him to actually forge them. Christensen was anxiously prodding
Hofmann to expedite the transaction and as a result, became Hofmann’s
first victim in October 1985.
It was the first of three pipe bombs that exploded within days, killing
Kathy Sheets, wife of Christensen’s partner, and injuring Hofmann with a
bomb intended for another victim. His accidental self-inflicted bombing
subsequently led investigators to his home where evidence of his
incendiary activities and tools of the forgery trade were hidden in the
basement.
In 1986, Hofmann pleaded guilty and is serving a life sentence in the Utah
State Prison. Sandra says Mormon prisoners routinely contact them after
being referred by Hofmann.
Most recently, the Tanners unwittingly came close to setting legal
precedent regarding the Web and Internet links.
After receiving an anonymously sent computer disk in the mail in October
of 1999, the Tanners discovered it contained the 1998 LDS Church Handbook
of Instructions. The Handbook is restricted only to church leaders and is
not made available to the church’s members.
Due to numerous requests from individuals confused about how to go about
quitting the LDS Church, the Tanners felt it necessary to provide accurate
information for those who they felt had the legal right to leave. Out of
the 160-page handbook, the Tanners posted 17 pages on their website giving
instructions as to how one has their church membership terminated.
Within three months, representatives from the LDS Church’s law firm served
legal papers threatening them that if they didn’t remove the material by 2
p.m. that day, they would be sued for copyright infringement. It was the
first time the LDS Church had acknowledged the Tanners’ existence. Though
Sandra and Jerald didn’t feel they had violated any copyright laws, they
nevertheless removed the material by 1 p.m. and posted the church’s letter
to them in its place.
Regardless of their compliance, the LDS Church filed a copyright lawsuit
against the Utah Lighthouse Ministry in the U.S. District Court.
In reporting the story, the Salt Lake Tribune listed Internet addresses
that contained the entire handbook, causing a rush of individuals to
connect to the sites. As e-mails poured onto the Tanner’s public web
pages, several messages listed the same Internet addresses resulting in a
complaint by LDS attorneys to the judge. In response, the judge included a
restriction against posting web addresses containing material from the
handbook.
News affiliates from around the country, including The New York Times and
numerous computer magazines, picked up the story warning of a “chilling
effect” and a “blow to a key feature of the Web.” The case was watched
closely to settle the question of whether or not providing Internet links
to copyrighted material amounts to contributory copyright infringement.
Forever on a shoestring budget, the Tanners were up against a Goliath and
opted to settle with the LDS Church rather than spend money they didn’t
have and use precious time they needed to serve the ministry.
Finally, in November 2002, the LDS Church dropped the suit on the
condition that the Tanners agree to destroy all copies and not print more
than 50 words at a time from the handbook in any future articles. “It’s
ridiculous. We could eventually print the entire handbook, 50 words at a
time,” laughs Sandra. “The suit was just an obvious attempt to try to shut
us down. To this day, other sites still post the entire handbook, and
anyone can find them with just a simple search.”
With notorious battles and headline-making controversy behind them, the
Tanners prepare for retirement. Seeing their lives in retrospect, there is
a sense of accomplishment. Sandra shakes her head. “We were so young when
this started. We had no idea what it would become,” she says. “It
essentially boils down to truth and if there is a real truth, it makes a
difference what you follow.”
(from http://www.slweekly.com/editorial/2003/feat_2003-03-27.cfm)
TheJordan6
>Date: 3/28/2003 10:51 AM Central Standard Time
>Message-id: <b61ui5$v31$1...@hood.uits.indiana.edu>
>
>Feature - March 27, 2003
>The Notorious Tanners
>Longtime Mormon critics look back as they contemplate retirement.
>by Andrea Moore Emmett
A very nice article.
For those who wish to peruse some other recent comments by Sandra Tanner, I
recommend
http://www.salamandersociety.org/8th_annual/reflections.html
Randy J.
John Manning
Excellent! Thanks Clovis.
John