There have been several articles from major online news sources about the Church’s “Becoming Like God” essay:

“Mormons say faithful aren’t taught they get their own planets” (http://nypost.com/2014/02/27/mormons-say-faithful-arent-taught-they-get-their-own-planets/)

“No, People Don't Get Own Planets in Afterlife Like in 'Book of Mormon'” (http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/mormons-people-planets-afterlife-22703298)

“Mormons explain: Believers won’t get their own planets in afterlife” (http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/mormons-explain-believers-won-planets-afterlife-article-1.1704487)

“Mormon Church reveals people do NOT get their own planets in the afterlife... despite what The Book of Mormon claims” (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2569583/Mormons-People-dont-planets-afterlife.html)

“Mormon Church Dispels Planet Afterlife Misconception Fostered By 'Book Of Mormon' Broadway Show” (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/28/mormon-church-planet-afterlife_n_4875145.html?utm_hp_ref=tw)

“Mormon church pushes back planet misconceptions from Broadway show” (http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/mormon-church-pushes-back-planet-misconceptions-broadway-show)

“Mormons: People don't get own planets” (http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2014/02/28/mormons-people-dont-get-own-planets)

“Mormon Church: Followers don't get their own planet” (http://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/world/mormon-church-followers-dont-get-their-own-planet-623827.html)

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Every article referenced above claims the LDS Church is refuting the idea that Mormons believe people get their own planets in the afterlife. What did the Church’s “Becoming Like God” essay actually say?

From “Becoming Like God” (https://www.lds.org/topics/becoming-like-god?lang=eng):

“Latter-day Saints’ doctrine of exaltation is often … reduced in media to a cartoonish image of people receiving their own planets.… While few Latter-day Saints would identify with caricatures of having their own planet, most would agree that the awe inspired by creation hints at our creative potential in the eternities.”

The essay never explicitly denies that the Church teaches that people get their own planets. But that’s what the essay implies, and from the titles of the news articles above, that’s certainly the message that reporters received and are propagating in the media.

Church leaders are very clever in their deception. They release an article that implies that they don’t believe this crazy idea that people get their own planets. A bunch of articles make their way around the Internet saying that the Church is refuting this misconception, which makes the Church appear more mainstream and less bizarre.

And why didn’t the essay explicitly state that this is not a doctrine of the Church? Because it is. It has been taught repeatedly throughout the history of the Church. Below are a few quotes.

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"To become like him we must have all the powers of godhood; ... There is no end to this development; it will go on forever. We will become gods and have jurisdiction over worlds, and these worlds will be peopled by our own offspring.” (Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation 2:48, quoted in Achieving a Celestial Marriage Student Manual, 1976, p.132)

"The time will come when some of these boys, through their faithfulness to the gospel, will progress and develop in knowledge, intelligence and power, in future eternities, until they shall be able to go out into space where there is unorganized matter and call together the necessary elements, and through their knowledge of and control over the laws and powers of nature, to organize matter into worlds on which their posterity may dwell, and over which they shall rule as gods.” (Lorenzo Snow, Improvement Era, June 1919, 658–59)

"All those who are counted worthy to be exalted and to become Gods, even the sons of God, will go forth and have earths and worlds like those who framed this and millions on millions of others." (Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 17:143)

"Desirable as is secular knowledge, one is not truly educated unless he has the spiritual with the secular. The secular knowledge is to be desired; the spiritual knowledge is an absolute necessity. We shall need all of the accumulated secular knowledge in order to create worlds and to furnish them, but only through the 'mysteries of God' and these hidden treasures of knowledge may we arrive at the place and condition where we may use that knowledge in creation and exaltation" (Spencer W. Kimball, Conference Reports, October 1968, p.131)

"Each one of you has it within the realm of his possibility to develop a kingdom over which you will preside as its king and god. You will need to develop yourself and grow in ability and power and worthiness, to govern such a world with all of its people." (Spencer W. Kimball, “. . . the Matter of Marriage” [address delivered at University of Utah Institute of Religion, 22 Oct. 1976], 2)

"We educate ourselves in the secular field and in the spiritual field so that we may one day create worlds, people and govern them." (The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, ed. Edward L. Kimball [1982], 386)

"The real life we’re preparing for is eternal life. Secular knowledge has for us eternal significance. Our conviction is that God, our Heavenly Father, wants us to live the life that He does. We learn both the spiritual things and the secular things 'so we may one day create worlds [and] people and govern them' (Spencer W. Kimball, The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, ed. Edward L. Kimball [1982], 386)

“Brethren, 225,000 of you are here tonight. I suppose 225,000 of you may become gods. There seems to be plenty of space out there in the universe. And the Lord has proved that he knows how to do it. I think he could make, or probably have us help make, worlds for all of us, for every one of us 225,000” (Spencer W. Kimball, “The Privilege of Holding the Priesthood,” Ensign (Conference Edition), November 1975, p. 80. Quoted in Doctrine and Covenants Institute Student Manual)

"That great blessing of celestial glory could never have come to us without a period of time in mortality, and so we came here in this mortal world. We are in school, the mortal school, to gain the experiences, the training, the joys, and the sufferings that we partake of, that we might be educated in all these things and be prepared, if we are faithful and true to the commandments of the Lord, to become sons and daughters of God, joint heirs with Jesus Christ; and in His presence to go on to a fulness and a continuation of the seeds forever, and perhaps through our faithfulness to have the opportunity of building worlds and peopling them." (Joseph Fielding Smith, “Adam’s Role in Bringing Us Mortality,” General Conference, Oct. 1976, reprinted in Liahona, Jan. 2006.)

“When two Latter-day Saints are united together in marriage, promises are made to them concerning their offspring that reach from eternity to eternity. They are promised that they shall have the power and the right to govern and control and administer salvation and exaltation and glory to their offspring, worlds without end. And what offspring they do not have here, undoubtedly there will be opportunities to have them hereafter. What else could man wish? A man and a woman, in the other life, having celestial bodies, free from sickness and disease, glorified and beautified beyond description, standing in the midst of their posterity, governing and controlling them, administering life, exaltation and glory worlds without end” (Lorenzo Snow, Deseret News, 13 Mar. 1897; quoted by Spencer W. Kimball in The Miracle of Forgiveness [1969], 246; See also Lesson 10 of The Latter-day Saint Woman: Basic Manual for Women, Part A)

“Having fought the good fight we then shall be prepared to lay our bodies down to rest to await the morning of the resurrection when they will come forth and be reunited with the spirits, the faithful, as it is said, receiving crowns, glory, immortality and eternal lives, even a fulness with the Father, when Jesus shall present His work to the Father, saying, ‘Father, here is the work thou gavest me to do.’ Then will they become Gods, even the sons of God; then will they become eternal fathers, eternal mothers, eternal sons and eternal daughters; being eternal in their organization they go from glory to glory, from power to power; they will never cease to increase and to multiply, worlds without end. When they receive their crowns, their dominions, they then will be prepared to frame earths like unto ours and to people them in the same manner as we have been brought forth by our parents, by our Father and God” (Discourses of Brigham Young, p. 283; Journal of Discourses 18:259, October 8, 1876)

"Peter and John had little secular learning, being termed ignorant. But they knew the vital things of life, that God lives and that the crucified, resurrected Lord is the Son of God. They knew the path to eternal life. This they learned in a few decades of their mortal life. Their righteous lives opened the door to godhood for them and creation of worlds with eternal increase" (President Kimball Speaks Out [1981], 91). (See Ensign, November 1997, p. 60)

Good summary!

The Church was a criminal organization back in the 1800s. The
U.S. Congress found it necessary to pass laws aimed specifically
at the LDS Church (Edmunds-Tucker act, 1887) much like the
RICO act which was aimed at the Mafia.

Since the Church was, for over a generation, a criminal
organization, lying and deception have become part and parcel
of Mormonism. The whole concept is ingrained in TBMs. When
Hinckley went on national television and gave deceptive,
misleading, evasive answers to simple questions, TBMs were
proud of how he avoided looking foolish, how he avoided
casting Doctrinal "pearls before swine."

When, during the 2008 primary, Huckabee mentioned that he'd
heard that in Mormonism "Jesus and Satan are brothers," the
LDS media spokespersons responded by saying that it was
something that is often said by anti-Mormons. They gave the
impression that it was not true, but they didn't come out and
actually SAY it was not true. Same with this essay.

The essay on "race and priesthood" talks about how the
priesthood ban was started by Brigham Young and not by Joseph
Smith (there is evidence that this is not true). It mentions
how it was started during a time when racism was rampant and
accepted. It then mentions the "curse of Cain" idea
(specifically mentioned by Brigham Young while calling upon
his prophetic mantle) and the "less valiant in the
pre-existence" idea. Then it says, "Church leaders today
unequivocally condemn all racism, past and present, in any
form." One would think that would include the official Church
policy, which was in effect for 126 years, of excluding Blacks
from holding the priesthood. But I'm informed by my brother,
an LDS Institute director, that it doesn't mean that. Since
that was a directive from God, it wasn't "racism."

The Church is being true to its roots as a criminal
organization in perpetuating a culture of dishonesty and
deception.

A couple of years ago, I posted about this very topic. I referenced the following quote:

"To be able to live in this part of the celestial kingdom, people must have been married in the temple and must have kept the sacred promises they made in the temple. They will receive everything our Father in Heaven has and will become like Him. They will even be able to have spirit children and make new worlds for them to live on, and do all the things our Father in Heaven has done” (Gospel Fundamentals Chapter 36)

I even included a link to this quote on lds.org.

I just went to it and found that the page had been removed.

Down, down the memory hole it goes! Where it stops, nobody knows.

Here it is: https://www.lds.org/manual/gospel-fundamentals/chapter-36-eternal-life?lang=eng

I was always taught that we would "have world's without end" so technically Mormons won't have A planet, they will have an entire universe.

Deacon,

Thanks for the link! They must have just moved the location since then. I need to go back to my blog and update the link.

Thanks!

BUT.... None of these quotes actually say "your own PLANET." They talk about creating worlds. No one knows what a world really is, whether all the other worlds have planets and stars and are in a universe. Because we can't get to them. So they were not lying. Technically, and this is also the way I remember it, I was never actually told I would get my own planet. Or rather that my God husband would get his own planet for him and me and the rest of his harem. I was just told that I would be participating with him in creating his world. It depends on what the meaning of the word "is" is.

The lie in the essay is the statement that "few LDS would identify" with this cartoonish caricature. The truth is, all LDS identify with it, cuz the apostles teach it to them.