There are also half a dozen bloggers I know personally who are not only facing excommunication but are not being told what they said or did wrong, they are simply being told they can either quit their blog or be exd. And some have already been excommunicated and weren't told what they did wrong.
"I do not like the old man being called up for erring in doctrine. It looks to much like the Methodists. And not like the latter-day-saints. Methodists have creeds which a man must believe or be kicked out of their church. I want the liberty of thinking and believing as I please. It feels so good not to be trammeled." Joseph Smith
"People of Paradox: A History of Mormon Culture"
by Terryl L. GivensWouldn't it be great if we as members were allowed the liberty of thinking and believing as we please without the threat of excommunication for it?After all many feel that it is not enough that a man err in doctrine to prove he is bad.I have to wonder why so many bloggers and outspoken members are all under fire. I'm wondering if it has something to do with the mass exodus of people leaving the church.Millions of members are leaving and having their names removed. But I think part of the problem is the fact that most Mormons average in age to be very young born in the 80's and 90's yet our leaders were born in the 1920's and 30's.So I see a big disconnect especially with regard to social issues like prop 8 or women's issues.These liberal Mormon bloggers are symbolic of that disconnect, they are the symptom rather than the disease to be cut out of the body of the church like a cancerous tumor.If the bretheren want to stem the tide of members leaving perhaps a bigger effort to apologize for the missteps made on their end and reconnect with the younger generations.I don't know why these decisions were made by the church so I have to wonder.I also wonder if these are simply the death throes of the old regime before the young more liberal generations take the reigns.These bloggers and activists are being made an example of. It feels like a scare tactic rather than a disciplinary action.It strikes me as odd that the Joseph Smith quote above seems contrary to the modern church reaction to dissedents however faithful they may be.This is all speculation at this point but perhaps the bretheren will release a PR statement to clarify the reasoning behind their decisions.Many people are having strong reactions and though we are losing what I think are great people, this trend of excommunications can't continue without exacerbating the disconnect that exists between the young general membership and our much older leaders.These excommunications are, I believe, meant to serve as a stern warning to the rest of us but I think it will have a very different outcome. And that is that the guidance of our leaders is simply out of touch and maybe that these actions by the church leaders is more hurtful than helpful.J.J.Dewey had this thought; when the claim that some are leading the flock astray crops up think of how much time it takes to convert one investigator. Now think of how many people have ever lived and how many will ever live then add a third of that number.That's how many people satan converted to his ways befor The Lord kicked him out of heaven. But it wasn't because he was leading others astray because he had been freely doing so for eons. It was because he waged open war with The Lord.The Lord allowed Satan to say whatever he wanted freely and openly so why are people who simply believe differently treated so differently from the way The Lord treated His dissedents? Shouldn't we emulate the ways of The Lord?The old generation is traditional and the new is more progressive. In the next few decades our church will be a very different place. But that's just how I see it. I know I could be wrong.
