An Interview With Gordon Hinckley

A Look Back At Mike Wallace's 1996 Interview With The President Of The Mormon Church

(CBS)  Another curiosity: the church owns more than 3,000 acres in northwest Missouri, where Mormons believe that Jesus will return for his Second Coming. Hinckley preferred not to talk about Jesus returning to Missouri or about sacred undergarments. He said that those points miss the point. He wanted to portray Mormons as mainstream, not extreme, and for that Hinckley had hired a Jewish-owned public relations firm. Mormons hiring Jews to help spread the Word?

Makes sense to Senator Orrin Hatch, but then he wears a mezuzah on a chain around his neck. A mezuzah is often put at the entrance to a Jewish home as a reminder of their faith.

"It's typical of Mormon people to love all people, but especially Jewish people. I wear a mezuzah just to remind me, to make sure that there is never another Holocaust anywhere. You see, the Mormon Church is the only church in the history of this country that had an extermination order out against it by Governor Lilburn Boggs of Missouri. We went through untold persecutions," Sen. Hatch said.

To escape the persecutions, Mormons moved west. And when they reached Salt Lake, their leader, Brigham Young, pointed and declared it their promised land. And now Temple Square is their Vatican.

In Salt Lake City, the church owns a TV station, a radio station, a newspaper, a department store and a lot of the land downtown. Utah is 75 percent Mormon, and the church could wield political power if it wanted to, but President Hinckley told Wallace, "Unlike the religious right, the Mormon church does not have a political agenda."

"We urge our people to exercise their franchise as citizens of this nation, but we do not tell them how to vote and we do not tell the government how it should be run," Hinckley said.

Gordon Hinckley said he never intended to become president of the church, but that, one by one, all the other church leaders with more seniority died.

"There are those who say, 'This is a gerontocracy. This is a church run by old men,'" Wallace remarked.

"Isn't it wonderful to have a man of maturity at the head, a man of judgment who isn't blown about by every wind of doctrine?" Hinckley replied.

"Absolutely, as long as he's not dotty," Wallace said.

"Thank you for the compliment," Hinckley said.

Mormons believe that after they die, their families will be reunited and will live together forever in heaven. "We know it's there. We have an assurance of that," Hinckley told Wallace.

"There's a lot of us that don't," Wallace replied.

"Yeah, I know that," Hinckley said. "But you could."

"I've thought about it. I've not been able to persuade myself," Wallace said.

Hinckley's reply? "Well, you haven't thought about it long enough."

[bigball1232]

The fact is mormons are different and oddballs... there is no other group of people out there that believe the things mormons do... the god they believe in is NOT the same God that Christians believe in.

[bigball1232]

Orson Hyde, Journal of Discourses, vol. 1, p.123
"Remember that God, or Heavenly Father, was perhaps once a child, and mortal like we ourselves and rose step by step in the scale of progress, in the school of advancement; has moved forward and overcome, until he has arrived at the point where he now is."

WHAT???? god is not all-knowing and perfect? he has to learn and advance...

[bigball1232]

Men- want to be a god... want to rule your own plant???
Women want to be eternally pregnant and married to a man who will be getting other women eternally pregnant???
Join the mormon church now...
See your local missionaried for details.

[dandehawk]

Your expose'' on the Mormon Church was one-sided. I am not Mormon, but you interviewed only conservative Mormons, attempting to give the impression they are outside the mainstream of society -- different, oddballs. Why did you interview Republican Orin Hatch and not interview liberal Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid of Utah, wno is also a Mormon?

[politica24]

efigge1, in response to your comment about the Marriott hotels and pornography, this is something I''ve looked into quite a bit, and because it is now a publicly owned company, these types of issues are out of Marriott''s hands. Like poor Carl Karchner, who had to watch his restaurant chain take its advertising campaign in a completely inappropriate direction.

[politica24]

I was highly disappointed in this story. Things were taken out of context and chopped up funny to the point where it was hard for me (a highly educated Mormon who was born and raised in the Church) to even follow. Very little respect was shown toward our beloved prophet and president Gordon B. Hinckley. President Hinckley was extremely humble, but he is one of the most brilliant leaders this world has seen. Mike Wallace was lucky to even be in his presence. And what''s with re-airing a show that was filmed 11-years ago (start to finish, without a real-time host) without at least updating some of the 11-year old footage? It made Mormons look like we''re 11 years behind in the fashion world, which is highly insulting to me.

[politica24]

I was highly disappointed in this story. Things were taken out of context and chopped up funny to the point where it was hard for me (an educated Mormon who was born and raised in the Church) to even follow. Very little respect was shown toward our beloved prophet and president Gordon B. Hinckley. President Hinckley was extremely humble, but he is one of the most brilliant leaders this world has seen. Mike Wallace was lucky to even be in his presence. And what''s with re-airing (start to finish, without a host) a show that was filmed 11-years ago without at least updating the footage? It made Mormons look like we''re 11 years behind in the fashion world, which is highly insulting to me.

[elder1952]

Mr. Mike Wallace, you need to research the truth of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, before you question our First Presidency, and/or any other General Authority. I was very displeased as to your lack of insight and unprofessional demeanor towards then our Prophet and President Gordon B. Hinckley. Your layman approach was well noted and documented for all too see and hear. Atypical C.B.S., mentally as usual!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[bigball1232]

There is only one God... and if you really look into it, Mormons are polythesitic... they believe there are many gods and you can be a god too... and one day you can be a god of your own planet and in order for there to be people on your planet you have to have *** with your many spirit wives and impregnant them and when they give birth to the little spirit babies they are sent down to earth... Sound strange? BECAUSE IT IS!!! This is mormon doctorin

[bigball1232]

The fact is that Mormons believe in a god that was created... That is NOT the same God in the Bible... How can you be a Christian if you believe that god was once on another planet and worked is way up the Mormon ladder so that he could reign over his own
planet, which is our earth.. and he is so busy up there making spirit babies how does he have time to even care about you... and one day if your "good" and get married in the temple you can be a god too... see genesis.. that was satan first great lie.

[bigball1232]

It''s all one sided with you guys...you can except Jesus''s forgivness and you will still have consequences... it''s the Church telling you that if you take that approach that your saying you can do what ever you want and that you can sin and it''s okay... that''s not what I said...I said you can excpet Jesus''s forgivness and know that He loves you and forgives you and WHEN you sin he still loves you and forgives you and the consequence will come from your action it should not come from a church. A church is a place to turn for help not condemnation..

[Travis212]

Ok, all together now, lets pull the beams out of our eyes.

[Travis212]

vito98103,

Mormons have never claimed not to be Christian, and we would certainly not change our doctrine merely because a member is running for President.

The name of the church, since its founding in 1830, has alawys been The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is others who have said, and continue to say, that we are not Christian. Others are free to disagree, but we have always considered ourselves Christian.

[stevegolf121]

In everyday relationships, if you break a trust, you lose friends. In my opinion, the most general and simple context that anyone has for understanding anything is to look at the way life works! Decisions have consequences. Frankly, I would be more leary of a religion that required nothing of its members . . . that is an absolute departure from the way life works on its most simple basis. To say that a church leader might act inappropriately in the context of a confession is totally possible. Leaders in every church have made mistakes . . . some have molested children, others have made people feel worthless, etc. However, those, I believe, are the VAST minority!! It is unfortunate that it has happened . . . but if the basis for a church''s truthfullness were dependent on whether or not leaders are perfect, or void of the ability to make a mistake, no church could claim to be true. I would definately not make a judgement based on any one person''s bad experience. Rather, go to the source, and find out for yourself

[stevegolf121]

I have been a member my whole life, and still am. I, like most, have had problems and done things on occasion that are contrary to the teachings and expectations of the church. Each and every time I have ever been to a church leader to address the mistake, I have been treated with love and respect. Are there consequences? Of course. I think it is comical that people think they can do whatever they want, good or bad, without consequences. What experience in life has given anyone the idea that one could do anything with out some kind of consequence? In school, if you don''t do your homework, you fail. If you are truant, you are written up. Too many absences, you are held back. At work, if you don''t show up, you are fired.

[vito98103]

Yet another on the lips Mike Wallace piece on the Mormons - what is it with him? 20% of the whole story at best - the LDS has a very good PR operation, but are in fact a very strange group (ask what ''milk before meat'' means). In fact, there were many years when they claimed to not be Christian - until ol'' Mitt decided to make a run for it. Good thing Romney is DOA - maybe not as he''d be easy to beat in November. McClain won''t be that tough either.

BTW - this comment function doesn''t seem to be working - multiple copies of the same message (?).

[vito98103]

Yet another on the lips Mike Wallace piece on the Mormons - what is it with him? 20% of the whole story at best - the LDS has a very good PR operation, but are in fact a very strange group (ask what ''milk before meat'' means). In fact, there were many years when they claimed to not be Christian - until ol'' Mitt decided to make a run for it. Good thing Romney is DOA - maybe not as he''d be easy to beat in November. McClain won''t be that tough either.

BTW - this comment function doesn''t seem to be working - multiple copies of the same message (?).

[vito98103]

Yet another on the lips Mike Wallace piece on the Mormons - what is it with him? 20% of the whole story at best - the LDS has a very good PR operation, but are in fact a very strange group (ask what ''milk before meat'' means). In fact, there were many years when they claimed to not be Christian - until ol'' Mitt decided to make a run for it. Good thing Romney is DOA - maybe not as he''d be easy to beat in November. McClain won''t be that tough either.

BTW - this comment function doesn''t seem to be working - multiple copies of the same message (?).

[vito98103]

Yet another on the lips Mike Wallace piece on the Mormons - what is it with him? 20% of the whole story at best - the LDS has a very good PR operation, but are in fact a very strange group (ask what ''milk before meat'' means). In fact, there were many years when they claimed to not be Christian - until ol'' Mitt decided to make a run for it. Good thing Romney is DOA - maybe not as he''d be easy to beat in November. McClain won''t be that tough either.

BTW - this comment function doesn''t seem to be working.

[vito98103]

Yet another on the lips Mike Wallace piece on the Mormons - what is it with him? 20% of the whole story at best - the LDS has a very good PR operation, but are in fact a very strange group (ask what ''milk before meat'' means). In fact, there were many years when they claimed to not be Christian - until ol'' Mitt decided to make a run for it. Good thing Romney is DOA - maybe not as he''d be easy to beat in November. McClain won''t be that tough either.