George W. Bush may think Ponderize is a derivative of the word ponder but it is not.
Websites and Facebook groups are now dedicated to this new "word" which is the religious and intellectual equivalent of the "words" swag and yolo.
The reason this made up word bothers me isn't just how stupid people spread their stupidity, its that otherwise intelligent people suspend disbelief and their own intelligence if the stupidity in question or the bigoted views come from leaders.
This is because of the insipid idea that the leaders can do no wrong. Or that they make mistakes but asking them to be held to account for those mistakes is fault finding or Anti-Mormon, the leaders deserve Christlike forgiveness. Yet if a member makes a mistakes they face diciplinary action. No immediate forgiveness is given.
Case in point; 3 Apostles died and left vacancies in the quorum of the 12. In a church where "The face of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is changing. Once consisting mostly of people from northern Europe and concentrated in the state of Utah, the Church’s membership has grown across the world since the mid-1900s. Today that face reflects every race and culture and has more color, more diversity, than ever before." -Mormon Newsroom, March 2015
"More color, more diversity, than ever before." Just not in the leadership. We have geriatric white men running a church whose members are more often than not non-white and 56% female and 44% make and yet there is more representation for white women than for priesthood holders of color.
But the face of the church is changing....from one group of old white men to another group of old white men. I'm sure these men are worthy but my point is that I find it hard to believe that God continually passes over His children of color. Especially when there are so so many worthy men of color in this church. It's not that I think these men are not worthy its that old white men are not the only worthy males available in a church whose membership is mostly made up of nonwhite members.
When I read I mentally replace the words "politically correct" with "compassionate and understanding human being." If even the law of averages applied to leadership roles the diversity of church members would be reflected in the leaders. This is not the case because the leaders are called of God. God just thinks that old white men from Utah make better leaders. Just ask Elder Bednar.
The church admits that though leaders for decades hid behind the mantra that black men were denied the priesthood because of God's will, when according to the current administration, it was actually their will rather than The Lord's. So in fact, these disappointing appointments to the quorum of the 12 are likely to actually be the will of the brethren rather than the will of The Lord.
And the same logic that members use to perform the mental acrobatics necessary to legitimately convince themselves and others that the church is not racist or sexist is the same "intellectual" process that is used to convince others that Ponderize is a word.
