Previously: The Drunkards of EphraimLate at night on July 22nd, after I had gone over the manuscript of my book one last time (did I mention I wrote a book?), I sent the final draft to the printer and went to bed. The very next morning I wished I had waited one more day, because Denver Snuffer had written a piece that so encapsulated the entire theme of my book that it just screamed to be included as an afterward.
But I was too late. My book was going to press. And soon I remembered something else I had meant to include in the book, and a week later at the Sunstone Symposium Joe Jensen delivered a paper that would have been perfect in the appendix -if I had thought to include an appendix.
So, what follows in today's post are things I wish I had mentioned or included or linked to, had I not been in such an all-fired hurry to get the book to press. Think of the following bon mots as something like DVD Bonus Extras. But first, a word from the Mrs.
Maybe I Should Listen To My Wife
Connie was never keen on the title I gave my book, What To Expect When You're Excommunicated: The Believing Mormon's Guide to the Coming Purge.
"People are going to think it's only for people who are facing excommunication," she insisted, "You'll lose most of the people you're hoping to reach."
I disagreed. I thought the title was provocative, and anyone who saw it would be so intrigued they would buy it the minute they read the title. Besides, the only other name I could think of was I Have A Blog So Buy My Book.
I'm beginning to think my wife was onto something. Because the truth is, the book isn't entirely about excommunication. Now, if you happen to be one of the many believers currently facing an
an unwarranted excommunication from the LDS Church over a bogus charge of "apostasy," then chapter 7 will likely be quite helpful to you.
But the rest of the book is for the average latter-day Saint who is struggling to make sense of the craziness going on in the Church of late. As a commenter on another blog recently expressed things, "It just feels as though we as LDS who want to follow Jesus Christ are in the middle of a terrible storm right now."
Many faithful Saints are coming to realize that the modern LDS Church bears little resemblance to the one founded by Joseph Smith in 1830. If you've done any reading in church history and wonder why the marvelous gifts of the spirit once abundant in Nauvoo seem to be missing in the church today, this book will provide an overview of how that happened and why. It compares the revealed word of God to the foolish traditions of men, and will help you sort out one from the other. It asks and answers the pertinent question of the day: how did the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which began as a theocracy (government by God) find itself largely transformed into an oligarchy (government by a small group of dominant elites)?
If you are convinced it's impossible for The True Church to ever go astray, this book may not be for you. But for everyone else it will deconstruct that false teaching, and direct you to where the Book of Mormon prophets -as well as Jesus Christ Himself- predicted just the opposite. In short, this book is for every latter-day Saint concerned with the direction the modern Church appears to be heading, and provides solutions from the word of God as to how we can repent and get ourselves back on track.
But first we're going to have to recognize what we have to repent of. Which brings us to that piece I mentioned I found on Denver Snuffer's blog.
After I had written an entire book describing the various causes in which the Christ-centered religion of my youth had been loosed from its moorings, Denver Snuffer comes along and distills it all into one simple truth: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints apparently has only one doctrine left.
Here is the essay I wish I had included in my book as an afterword, presented here with his permission:
Only One Doctrine LeftThe Latter-Day Apostasy
"In LDS Mormonism there is really only one doctrine left. Everything else is subordinate and changeable. But this single demand is paramount. If you disbelieve this position, then LDS Mormonism has no place for you. The doctrine:
"We follow a man whom we call a prophet."
"If you disbelieve this, and think you ought to follow Christ first, and the church's 'prophet' is secondary, then you are insubordinate and a threat. Believing that Christ comes first opens the possibility that Christ could tell you the 'prophet' is mistaken. That is intolerable.
"In LDS Mormonism it is allowed for the current 'prophet' to criticize and denigrate a former 'prophet.' This happens frequently. Even editorials now appear on the LDS.org website rejecting Brigham Young's teachings as wrong, even immoral. The new, living leader has the 'keys' and the contradictions are viewed by blinded followers to be 'proof of continuing revelation.'
"Therefore these contradictions are valued by the deceived. An unchanging God has error prone key-holders who can guarantee his contemporaries their salvation. This is even if later key-holders proclaim the earlier leader's mistakes. All of this is only consistent if you believe the central, single doctrine. If you question it, the whole construct begins to look foolish and riddled with error.
"When I joined LDS Mormonism there were many doctrines. None of them put President Spencer W. Kimball into a position of a dictator. Indeed, President Kimball earned our loyalty and respect by his meek example and the content of his sermons. He denounced modern idols, and criticized the war-like nature of our country. But no one demanded a loyalty oath, insisting that veneration of him took precedence over worship of Christ. I believe if President Kimball heard of such a thing being taught he would have vocally and immediately spoken against it. He denounced Ezra Taft Benson's sermon about Fourteen Fundamentals for Following the Prophet. But today these are taught in General Conference!
"LDS Mormonism has changed since I first joined. So much so that I no longer belong in an organization that holds one and only one doctrine as its bedrock. I believe Christ alone is worthy of veneration. I do not believe I must follow a man to be able to follow Christ. I do not believe I should look to the example of some man in order to be able to see Christ.
"This radical and false shift of the religion has happened in my lifetime. I never engaged in this idolatry while among the LDS organization, and I refuse to accept that kind of religion now. It is false. I reject it.
"Insofar as the LDS Church 'believes' in the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith and the revelations through him, including the D&C and Pearl of Great Price, I honor them. Insofar as they testify of the Book of Mormon and preach from it, I believe and accept it. Therefore I see some considerable merit to the LDS Church. However, their current single fundamental doctrine is false. Utterly false.
"If you extend the fundamental LDS doctrine to its logical conclusion, it is also satanic. It abrogates free will, requires obedience to a man even if he tells you to do something which you know to be wrong (a principle that has been taught in General Conference), and requires you to abandon your own agency. Since I believe everyone will be accountable before God for their choices in the Day of Judgment, the paradigm is false and will not protect you. You may think the 'key holder' will absolve you of your mistakes, but God will judge you. If you are asked to do something wrong, and you do it out of veneration for a 'prophet you will not be spared, but you will be judged and condemned.
"There are many good people in the LDS Church. There is also some considerable good done by the LDS Church. But when adulterers, liars, idolaters and the ignorant who preside in wards, stakes and areas of the church insist their personal unworthiness is excused because they are loyal to a priesthood line of authority, as we presently find in the church, then someone needs to proclaim faith in Christ and repentance. Even if only one voice will speak up, God will vindicate faith in Him in the end.
"The Great Whore will always outnumber the few who are Christ's sheep. But that cannot detract from Christ's affection for those who hear His voice and defend His religion."
Just days after submitting my manuscript to the publisher, I attended the Sunstone Symposium in Salt Lake City where one particular presentation struck me as something that would have been perfect to include as an appendix to my book if I hadn't already been too late. It was Joe Jensen's presentation titled The Latter-day Apostasy: A Scriptural Perspective. I have recommended Joe's website, Just And True, many times in the past, and the transcript of that talk is available there. Sunstone has also provided the audio on this site here, so you can listen to it if you wish. Just scroll down to Session 224, and click on the arrow below the title. You can also purchase it from the Sunstone site on CD. I'd recommend it.
What I really wish is not so much that I had included Joe's presentation in my book, but that I had written the thing myself because it's a masterpiece. Joe has performed an invaluable service to all of us by examining the subject of apostasy from every conceivable angle of interest to Mormons, and concludes -no surprise here- that the real iniquity in the LDS Church is always fomented from above (as our founding prophet Joseph Smith lamented in a quote on page 152 of my book).
Brother Jensen presents the correct (and scripturally accurate) definition of apostasy as found on the LDS Church's official website ("When individuals or groups of people turn away from the principles of the gospel") and then juxtaposes that with the fraudulent definition provided to local leaders in the corporate Church Handbook of Instruction.
"There appears to be one definition of apostasy for public consumption," Brother Jensen writes, "and another private directive to church leadership." It is this latter, completely arbitrary definition that is used today by some in high office who desire to strip faithful believers of their membership in the Lord's church.
One of the things that really caught my attention was Joe's discussion of Nehor, the notorious Book of Mormon apostate. Among the things Nehor advocated for was that the leaders of the church should enjoy certain perks and privileges, including being supported by the people so they didn't have to hold down normal jobs like everyone else, and being treated like celebrities.
I have a friend who worked at Church headquarters for several years, meeting frequently and answering directly to two well-known apostles. Once he was able to find more suitable employment, he resigned, and was glad to be out of there. "These guys," he told me, referring to the apostles, "are treated like rock stars. And they act like they expect it."
I won't name the particular apostles my friend worked under, in the interest of protecting his identity, but he also told me jaw-dropping tales of waste, abuse, and cavalier attitudes toward large amounts of money spent on dubious projects, "because they believe they can do no wrong." And although no one really knows how much our general authorities are compensated for their "labors," based on the lifestyles my friend observed, he believes the sum is quite substantial.
All this in a Church that boasts of having a humble unpaid clergy, as the Book of Mormon requires. In the first book of Alma, we learn that Nehor loses his temper and kills a guy, so Nehor is executed for that crime. But the spirit of Nehor -"the only person in the index of the LDS Scriptures to be branded an apostate"- lives on today in the popular and pampered hierarchy of the Church.
Also worth noting is Brother Jensen's reminder that the Lord has insisted that for His church to be legitimately His, it must "be called in my name" which our church certainly was for many decades. But we now know that the the name of the church was legally changed by Heber J. Grant on November 26, 1923, with the new entity retaining the original name only as a trademark that is now held in reserve by Intellectual Reserve, Inc, the copyright arm of the corporation. This is no matter to be taken lightly, as Jensen submits:
"To be His church, the organization must be called by His name, be built upon His gospel and demonstrate the works of God....The current formal name is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This seems to fit the requirement although this is only the trademark. The legal name of the organization is The Corporation of the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints; the holder of the copyright of my triple combination. Buildings and facilities typically show ownership as the Corporation of the Presiding Bishop or other entities. Does this meet the Lords requirement?I can't stress how important I feel it is for you to read this entire essay. I don't even care if you stop reading my words right now. Click on this link and get yourself an education about what it really means to be in apostasy.
Strangers In Zion
In my book, I discuss how great numbers of faithful, believing latter-day Saints have gotten fed up with the direction the LDS Church seems headed today and have vowed to stop supporting it. Many of these devoted believers, though they remain committed to the Restored gospel, are resigning from the institutional Church in protest.
I have never advocated resigning, for a variety of reasons. In the first place, this is our church. Nowhere in scripture can you find any indication that God has given an elite priest class the authority to own or control His church. In the second place, when you resign from the church, others assume you have lost your testimony of the gospel. You appear to them as just another apostate, a turncoat. Whatever statement you intended to make by leaving is lost on everyone else, because they don't want to hear your reasons. Your voice is therefore not heard, and your valiant stand for truth and righteousness is ignored.
So a group of believers led by Micah Nicholaisen, one of the lights behind A Thoughtful Faith Podcasts, has come up with an alternative to resigning. They call themselves Strangers In Zion, and they are saying, in effect, "If you're going to hold disciplinary councils on our brothers and sisters over matters that heretofore have never warranted such action, then we want you to hold disciplinary councils on us, because we share the same views as those you have targeted."
It's a pretty radical idea, but I like it. No sooner had the website been publicized than over a hundred
The newly apostate Nicholaisens go to church
church members signed on, drafting letters to their local church leaders demanding to be tried for the "sin" of refusing to kowtow to authority. On August 18th, Strangers In Zion founder Micah Nicholaisen was disfellowshiped from the Church, and he appears none the worse for the experience. The real oddity about the whole thing is that he was merely disfellowshiped for holding the very same views that Kate Kelly was excommunicated over.And some people insist this Church doesn't discriminate against our womenfolk.
(On the right of this page is a photo of Micah and his family taken today after church. Note that Micah has a beard and is not wearing a tie. That proves he is lost to us forever.)
As much as I find the idea behind Strangers In Zion strangely endearing, there may even be a better way to work the needed reforms. That would be to hold disciplinary hearings on the real apostates.
Throw The Bums Out
I have been in talks with a group of concerned Utah Attorneys and high councilmen who have posed a simple question: why should believing members resign from the church in protest, or fall on their swords like Micah Nicholaisen and others are doing, when the Lord has already provided us with the remedy to this problem?
In my book I express the belief that the current rash of persecutions we are seeing are not the work of a concerted, unified pogrom instituted by the First Presidency or the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. From what we have learned, this craziness is being orchestrated by one or two rogue apostles, aided and buffered by at least two members of the Quorum of the Seventy who, for various reasons, are overclocked with ambition and zealotry. (I go into greater detail in the book as to why they chose this particular time to tip their hand.)
Since we know the identities of some of these men, all that is necessary to rein them in is to convene a Council of Elders and try them for apostasy.
Easier said than done, you say? Yes. Impossible? No.
Actually quite probable.
Doctrine and Covenants section 107 makes it clear that no one in the Church is immune from being expelled from the church, not even the president of the Church himself. The unfavorable publicity alone could be enough to get the other members of the Twelve to finally step up and put a stop to the usurpations of their brethren. (And yes, we have the resources to see that this story goes national.)
Is there evidence to convict a general authority of the Church? Sufficient evidence is not the problem. Some of these so-called "leaders" have been violating Church law over and over again. Like I said before, it's all in my book.
My friends on the committee suggest the easiest target would be the recreant apostle Boyd K. Packer, because Packer was responsible for distributing a DVD that thoroughly renounced the teachings of Jesus. I wrote somewhat about that video in my post titled Vengeance And The Latter-day Saint. It can easily be shown how Packer has twisted and misquoted both scripture and the modern prophets in order to present a deliberate distortion that suits his own agenda, rejecting the pure teachings of the Savior and replacing them with his own deformed views.
So right about now you've decided I've lost my mind, right? This can never work.
But bear with me. I didn't come up with this plan by myself. You think it's a nutty idea to threaten high Mucky-Mucks in the Church to shut up and sit down? Well what do you think they've been trying to do to us down here at the bottom of the totem pole?
Does this sound any crazier or less effective than resigning from the church in protest to make a point? WE are the church. Who says we have to bend the knee and kiss the ring? It's time the members of the body of Christ stood fast and reclaimed their power. Let's focus our attention on those who are actually the ones sabotaging the work of the Lord.
How do we go about accomplishing this task? By the book. As D&C 20:80 instructs, "any member of the church of Christ transgressing, or being overtaken in a fault, shall be dealt with as the scriptures direct." That means we won't be consulting the corporate handbook on this one. We do this God's way. And God's way requires that we find two witnesses belonging to Boyd Packer's stake who are willing to step forward and witness that his video contains false doctrine. That shouldn't be hard.
But suppose we can't find anyone in Boyd Packer's stake willing to stand up? Fine. We go after L. Whitney Clayton of the Quorum of the Seventy, or one of those lackeys whose names escape me at the moment. Or the Area Seventy that ordered me go roll over and play dead. We maybe even target one or two of the stake presidents who have already admitted they were illegally pressured by members of the hierarchy to excommunicate members of their congregations in plain violation of church law. Heck, the late Malcolm Jeppsen's unpublished memoirs contain a treasure trove of indictments implicating general authorities still with us.
Anyway, that's enough of that for now. I won't divulge anymore except to say things are in process. We have to put a stop to this divisive nonsense. It's tearing the church apart. Time to rein in those leaders who are letting their thirst for power and control cloud their judgment. If they wish to lead, then let them lead, but what they are orchestrating now isn't healthy. We have enough problems in the church today without these guys making things worse. Like the title of Lori Burkman's recent post puts it, If It Keeps On Raining, The Levee's Going To Break.
What To Expect When You're Out Of State
The other thing that happened the day after I sent my book to press was that I finally got the call from my stake president in Sacramento. I had been expecting his call for two months, ever since that meeting with my bishop where I was given the ultimatum to shut up, get out, or get kicked out. Since I was in Utah when he called, I told him we'd have to get together when I got home. When I got home I called him and told him I was wasn't well, and he said he'd call me back in a couple of weeks. This is one week later. Maybe I'll call him.
So that's the update. Here's a few more odds & ends and then I'll wrap this up:
One of my online heroes, Tim Malone, posted a review of my book today. You can read it here at Latter-day Commentary.
I hope you'll take a look at my book. And better yet, I hope you'll buy it. In the midst of all this blabbering, did I mention the title? I don't think I did.
It's called What To Expect When You're Excommunicated: The Believing Mormon's Guide To The Coming Purge. You can find it at Amazon, and also at Benchmark Books in Salt Lake City. But be advised that as of yesterday Benchmark Books is down to their last ten copies, so you may want to call first. By the way, I finally got hold of somebody at the publisher and got them to reduce the price, so there's some good news. I never was comfortable with it listing at fifteen dollars.
My thanks to all the wonderful people who reviewed my book on Amazon. There are 15 positive reviews on there and one written by an idiot. If you've read the book, I would be grateful if you would also add your input.
At this moment my book is number 27 on Amazon's list of books about Mormonism. Three weeks ago it was number one. Clearly some of you are no longer buying multiple copies.
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