In media roles, we are keenly aware that our reporting provides information that helps those for good or evil to further their work. This day, I am continually taking calls, or e-mail inquiries, from people who want to know where they can get the free DVD Jesus Christ/Joseph Smith that Mormon detractors are distributing. And some wanted to know how they could volunteer to put the DVDs on East Valley doorknobs. I give out the phone numbers as customer service.As I write this, more than 90 comments have been posted under my news story in todays Tribune titled Rival religious group disputes Mormon teachings, which can be read online. The intensity of comments reminds us of what happened on our website last week about a story regarding white pride activists in Scottsdale. It generated 159 comments, some pretty vile and vicious. A lot of it Mormons are trying hard to defend their faith and say what they believe.The uproar is over the Concerned Christians, based in Mesa, putting out about 18,000 DVDs last weekend on doorknobs 15,000 in the Valley and the rest in Tucson and the Snowflake-Taylor area of eastern Arizona. They were produced by LaBarge Media and made available to groups like Concerned Christians by Living Hope Ministries in Brigham City, Utah.In the interest of disclosure, I have second cousins on my mother side in northern Utah who are Mormons just incredible, industrious and love-filled people. They fully fit the mold, even stereotype of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. (The patriarch, Don, some 40 years ago won a Readers Digest contest of $100 a month for life. We always thought that was the neatest thing. As far as I know, the checks keep coming.)His mother, until her death, was a Presbyterian, as I am, and she thoroughly loved her sons large Mormon family there in Utah where they all lived. I suspect both sides would have preferred they were all in one faith. But many, many families see beyond that.Who cant sympathize with Mormon families in wake of the campaigns to warn others of that churchs teachings, how such theology deviates from Christian orthodoxy? Couldnt your religion be subjected to attacks by those who find it deeply flawed? I asked the Rev. Paul Eppinger, an American Baptist pastor who once led the Arizona Ecumenical Council before he founded the Arizona InterFaith Movement, which brings together representatives from about 25 of the worlds religions for dialogue and education. With the world threatening to blow apart in the Middle East, with much of it between religions Jewish and Muslim with Iraq and everything else, why must we have this kind of suspicion, hatred and doubt? he asked. We dont need this in our community. Eppinger said he assumed the Concerned Christians know something about the Bible and words of Jesus like By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. (John 13:35) Further, Jesus said the first Great Commandment is to love the Lord your God, and the second is to love your neighbor as yourself. Add to that, he said, Love your enemies.I wished Concerned Christians would show some concern and be Christians, Eppinger said. The word Christian means little Christ, and I wished theyd be little Christians, showing the love of God to all people. He offers a welcome to Concerned Christians to become members of the Arizona Interfaith Movement so they could learn about Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Bahais and learn a different side of Mormons than what they are espousing. Mormons have been part of AIM since it was founded in 1995. Don Evans, spokesman for Mormons in Arizona, told me how disappointed he is that an organization has chosen to attack our church. Rather than espousing their own beliefs, they are trying to tear us down. He said its no surprise what Concerned Christians founder Jim Robertson and his group are doing this time, given more than 30 years of their activities. Evans said his members are strong in their beliefs and are not going to be swayed.Last fall, when Concerned Christians distributed another DVD, The Bible vs. The Book of Mormon in Taylor and Snowflake, volunteers say they put out 4,000 to 5,000 DVDs in a 90-minute blitz. After that effort, Robertson wrote in an issue of The Cross, the Concerned Christians newsletter, that the volunteers planned fast work because we knew it wouldnt take long for the Mormon leadership to catch on to what we were doing and instruct their members not to look at the DVD.Robertson defended the content of the newest film contrasting statements of Christ and Smith. It shows that what Jesus taught is not what Joseph Smith taught or vice versa, he said. So people should understand that although Mormons claim that Joseph Smith and Jesus Christ are almost one and the same, this shows that there is no comparison between the two. Robertson said his group, which has used volunteers from Baptist, Lutheran, nondenominational and other churches, is using aerial maps to determine where to deliver DVDs and have about 35,000 more to put out at homes. We pick the area that is most heavily populated. The DVDs Utah distributor advises groups to concentrate around Mormon temples but in this area, we cannot do that because we have a lot of non-Mormon Mexicans around the temple area, so we are going into communities where we know Mormons live, but Christians do, too. Concerned Christians was started by Robertson and his wife Judy in 1973 after they left the church and started an outreach to ex-Mormons and those still in the church. Craig Ray, a lifelong Mormon from Mesa, has monitored the Concerned Christians since 1979. They work on hate instead of love, he said. They say, We love the Mormons, but we hate the Mormon Church and its teachings. But as I look at it, they go together. What makes a Mormon a Mormon is because of the church and the teachings that it gives us.

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