I joined the Church at the age of 18, thinking Mormons believed in honesty. Over the last 40 years, I've discovered the following:

*Mormons are just as dishonest as the general population, if not more so.

*Half of active Mormons lie all the time, the other half of active Mormons lie only when they think they must.

I've asked plenty of bishops and Institute teachers about lying, over the years, and this is what I was told:

*Church leaders have the authority to lie when the Lord so directs them.

*Our parents can lie to us, but not us to them, so, yes, Church leaders can lie, because they are like our parents, and we are like their children.

*Joseph Smith had Divine Authority, so, yes, HE would lie, and HE could marry his own foster daughters, and his neighbor's wife, but WE cannot. HE had the Divine Authority to do so. WE don't.

*Mormon women don't lie. They never lie. It is against their nature. Isn't done.

*Yes, Mormon women lie. They have the right to lie to any man who is not their father, husband, or priesthood-leader.

I asked, "Can I lie to any woman who is not my mother, wife, or a leader in the Relief Society?"

Response: "No, of course not!!!"

I asked, "Why not?"

He replied: "BECAUSE LYING IS AGAINST THE TEACHINGS OF THE CHURCH!!!"

In other words, "LYING" is bad and evil, unless:

*You are a parent trying to protect a child.

*You are Church leaders, trying to protect "weak Members" from information that will prove harmful to their faith (i.e. The Truth).

*You are a Mormon woman, and the man you are lying to is NOT your father, husband, or priesthood-leader."

After many years, I discovered that there are MANY forms of lying that is God-approved and Church-approved. I've also discovered that Mormon leaders lie quite a bit, Joseph Smith and Brigham Young lied all the time, and Mormons habitually "lie" on their missions (not all, but most), and Mormon women "lie" to any "man" they don't respect or they don't have a close relationship with.

They lie to themselves all the time. Why wouldn’t they lie to you too.

A God who lies has been with the Mormon Church almost from its inception. When Joseph Smith created his new fictitious “translation” of the Book of Abraham, he also added to the narrative his description of the Mormon God the Father as the creator of a lie, and the story goes back to the time of Abraham.

The original narrative is found in the Bible in Genesis 12:10-20. In the story Abraham and his entourage travel into Egypt. Since his wife Sarai was still beautiful even in her old age, Abraham was afraid that the Egyptians would kill him in order to take her. He hatched the idea that he would tell the Egyptians that Sarai was his sister so they would be less likely to kill him and he told Sarai to tell them the same story.

In his new "translation" of the Book of Abraham (1:21-25), Joseph Smith rewrites the story and it is the Mormon God who creates the lie:

“21 And I, Abraham, journeyed, going on still towards the south; and there was a continuation of a famine in the land; and I, Abraham, concluded to go down into Egypt, to sojourn there, for the famine became very grievous.
22 And it came to pass when I was come near to enter into Egypt, the Lord said unto me: Behold, Sarai, thy wife, is a very fair woman to look upon;
23 Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see her, they will say—She is his wife; and they will kill you, but they will save her alive; therefore see that ye do on this wise:
24 Let her say unto the Egyptians, she is thy sister, and thy soul shall live.
25 And it came to pass that I, Abraham, told Sarai, my wife, all that the Lord had said unto me—Therefore say unto them, I pray thee, thou art my sister, that it may be well with me for thy sake, and my soul shall live because of thee.”

Joseph Smith’s Mormon God creates lies, disseminates lies and commands others to lie. Everyone must follow the commands of the Mormon God or become a sinner, but if the Mormon God commands that a person should lie, is that not being a sinner also and a person cannot refuse? That is the ultimate double bind and a person just can’t win with the Mormon God.

The Mormon God has other serious moral issues that if a regular Mormon believer did not repent of their own practice would disqualify them from the Celestial Kingdom. So, the Mormon God is a hypocrite as well since he does not follow his own commands.

However, that appears to be normal conduct for the Mormon God, since he also had literal, physical sexual relations with his daughter, Mary, in order to procreate the temporal physical body of Jesus. So, Mormons worship a God who not only creates lies and commands them to be told, he is also incestuous as well. The God of Joseph Smith conducts himself remarkably close to the behavior of Joseph Smith.

Half of what they say is lies, and the other half ain't true.

From day one in the Mormon church the facade of perfection became paramount to one's standing. Image over substance. Most Mormons are all paper roses. Cue Marie's song here.

Like the BYU Honor code. It is a front. The G.A.s are not interested in keeping the students on the path of righteousness. They are interested in the world seeing them as the ideal which proves the church is superior which proves they, the G.A.s are superior. And also as a side benefit---the ole rich guard are more likely to give donations to a school of the type of "clean cut" kids like back in their day. So, no hippies, long hair, short skirts, only a sprinkling of various ethnicities, and for sure no gays unless they are obviously suffering from not getting any as they thank the god for their "special challenge."

The Mormon church was born on a bed of lies and has continually perfected their game. Well up until google put a crack smack in the middle of the face of Mormonism.