The Anti-Defamation League has blasted the film, "The Godmakers II," as a "blasphemous attempt to discredit The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its leaders."
Like its predecessor of 1984, "Godmakers II" utilizes a documentary-like style with a factual tone to project a high degree of believability. Unauthenticated personal interviews and misinterpreted Mormon teachings are used to implicate the church in sacrilegious practices, the league said in a statement released Tuesday from its headquarters in San Francisco."This lack of respect for religious commitment puts a cloud over continuing efforts to create inter-religious understanding and tolerance. It is our hope that people who view the film will similarly repudiate `Godmakers II' as prejudicial and untrue, and recognize it for what it truly represents - a challenge to the religious liberty of all," said Richard Hirschhaut, the league's central Pacific regional director.
Founded in 1913, the league is a human relations organization dedicated to securing justice and fair treatment for all groups regardless of their differences.
Earlier this month the National Conference of Christians and Jews and its Utah chapter strongly criticized the film, which was made by Ed Decker, an ex-Mormon who heads the Issaquah, Wash.-based Saints Alive in Jesus.