Runtu's Rincón

A further sign that all is not well for the LDS church in Europe is the latest administrative consolidation. Ten years ago, Europe was divided into three administrative “areas” (West, Central, and East) each presided over by three General Authorities or Area Authorities. With the church’s announcement, the number of areas now stands at one.

As a friend of mine noted, “Growing businesses don’t consolidate their structures. Businesses in trouble do.” It’s been well-known that the church’s growth rates in Europe have been flatlining or in decline for several years. This has to be particularly galling, considering that twenty years ago only Western Europe was open for missionary work. The fall of the Iron Curtain was widely expected to bring about major growth for the church in previously untapped countries. Instead, the church has a miniscule presence in Eastern Europe and has been stagnating in Western Europe.

Nevertheless, the First Presidency tries to sound upbeat and positive: “As we have prayerfully considered the matter of how to more effectively establish the Church in all the world as required by the revelations, we have felt impressed to reduce the current number of areas and to place upon Area Presidencies an increased responsibility for the operation of the Church.”

I read this as a possible warning that more consolidation is coming in the future. The church is not going to go away anytime soon, but it’s clear that the salad days of rapid growth are long over.

This is from a former mission president:

The phone rang late one night. My wife answered it and shook me with some urgency, something about one of the elders really needs you. Rising from the fog of sleep and forcing myself to pass into consciousness I mumbled a groggy hello.

“President, it’s over. I can’t I just can’t …… I think you need to send me home”, he nearly yelled into the phone. His despair quite apparent.

“What’s wrong elder, what has happened”, I was suddenly very much awake.

“President, I’m GAY ok? I’m GAY! I thought Heavenly Father would fix me if I was a good missionary. I’ve done everything I can, but it’s just getting worse. Why am I like this? What did I do? It’s not fair. I need to go home”.

“Elder, bring your companion and catch the early express train. It get’s here about 9:00 AM. I’ll send your comp with one of my AP’s and we’ll go have breakfast. Don’t worry elder, don’t panic, it will be ok”, I said.

He started to cry and agreed to meet me. He was a great missionary, one of my best., and a wonderful person. My heart ached, I never fell back into sleep that night.

Over breakfast in a quiet European sidewalk café he told me he’d known from a very early age that he had an attraction to the same sex. He’d never acted on it, in fact had gone out of his way to date young women, and yet there it was. Constantly gnawing at his desire, men catching his attention. We talked into the afternoon. I helped him to understand that this was not something he had chosen, Neither was it punishment for some sin. It simply is the way it is. He did have a choice though, His choice was whom or what would have his allegiance. He could be true to himself, or he could be true to his religion. I didn’t see how he could do both. Although Mormonism has made some progress, it has not arrived at the point of embracing it’s sexually active homosexual members. The two concepts are mutually exclusive. I didn’t at the time know which choice was best. Both choices seemed to have their pros and cons. He began to sob, his body convulsing.

I put my arms around him and held him until he regained his composure. I told him I loved him. I felt his tears soak through the fabric of my shirt and onto my shoulder, the tenseness of his body ridged with pain. He cried and with each tear he seemed to release years of pain, of hiding, of shame and self loathing. He’d endured a lot to cover his secret. Why? It made me angry that he or anyone should have to endure such meaningless anguish. It was then and there at that very moment that I finally and forever understood bigotry and it’s power to destroy.

What kinds of gods do people create, so often full of hatred, anger and bigotry? Members of the LDS faith were once persecuted, hated and driven from their homes, in part by other religious zealots repulsed by unconventional “marriages.” Now, come full circle, the once-bullied have joined themselves with the bullies in the voice of bigotry as they battle their boogeymen.

American youths and innocent civilians continue to die in an unjustifiable war. Greed leads to gas prices climbing into the stratosphere. Millions of innocents die of still uncured viruses. Religion- and ethnic-induced hatreds rage worldwide. Poverty runs amok and the poor starve. Yet when the Mormon God speaks, he speaks out against two people who love each other and want to express that love in a committed formal way.

I imagine a day will come when the LDS Church will regret lending its support to a failed president and a failed constitutional amendment that did nothing more than divide a nation and rally bigoted and frightened people to the ballot box. The attempt to amend the constitution of the United States failed, Utah and it’s Mormon theocracy would still march forward, reaching out to hate someone. Mormon legislators in the Utah State Government continue even today in the crusade against the rights and pursuit of happiness of those they fear and misunderstand.

There is a parallel with the way the LDS Church today marginalizes the gay community much as it once marginalized the black community. To previous generations of Mormons, blacks were descendants of Cain and less valiant in their pre-mortal days, a lower class. I wonder what future prophet will become enlightened as to the fact that all are equal in the eyes of a just creator? Who or whatever that may be.

All the time I hear LDS church members dismissing homosexuals as “perverts” who are just dealing with a temptation to sin in a specific way. The reasoning is that the “natural man is an enemy to God” and that homosexuals just need to conquer their natural desires, and everything will be fine.

Frankly, the idea that there are two “yous” inside of you, the good spirit and the evil “natural man” of the flesh, is one of the most pernicious teachings of Mormonism. This doctrine puts people at war with themselves and forces them to deny their true selves. As the writer puts it, “He could be true to himself, or he could be true to his religion.” That’s a really awful choice to have to make.

Thomas Monson has often repeated Polonius’ advice to Laertes in Hamlet: “To thine own self be true.” But Polonius, obsequious hypocrite that he was, didn’t really mean it. And neither do the Mormons.

From my good friend Chris Smith:

Parley Pratt wrote in 1838 that the Book of Mormon

set the time for the overthrow of our government and all other Gentile governments on the American continent, but the way and means of this utter destruction are clearly foretold, namely the remnant of Jacob [the Indians] will go through among the Gentiles and tear them to pieces, like a lion among the flocks of sheep.…This destruction includes an utter overthrow, and desolation of all our cities, Forts, and Strong Holds—an entire annihilation of our race, except such as embrace the covenant, and are numbered among Israel.

Pratt also added,

I will state as a prophecy, that there will not be an unbelieving Gentile upon this continent 50 years hence; and if they are not greatly scourged, and in a great measure overthrown, within five or ten years of this date, then the Book of Mormon will have proved itself false.

It would appear that according to this early Mormon apostle, the case is closed. The Book of Mormon is false; game over.

Good night, everybody!

One of Joseph Smith’s geniuses was his ability to anticipate and deal with objections to his movement. One can only stand in awe of the way he waved off inevitable skepticism of his tall tales.

Joseph had to have known that most intelligent, educated people, even in his day, would reject fantastic tales of Israelites traveling to the New World in submarines. He appears to have anticipated widespread rejection of his claims with this passage early in the Book of Mormon:

26 And I also cast my eyes round about, and beheld, on the other side of the river of water, a great and spacious building; and it stood as it were in the air, high above the earth.

27 And it was filled with people, both old and young, both male and female; and their manner of dress was exceedingly fine; and they were in the attitude of mocking and pointing their fingers towards those who had come at and were partaking of the fruit.

28 And after they had tasted of the fruit they were ashamed, because of those that were scoffing at them; and they fell away into forbidden paths and were lost. (1 Nephi 8:26-28.)

This is really brilliant in that it accomplishes two objectives: it labels all skepticism as mocking and scoffing by proud and worldly (and evil, of course) people, and it tells us that church members who come to disbelieve are really just giving in to pride, shame, and peer pressure.

Indeed, throughout LDS scriptures, we are warned that education and intelligence are not to be trusted:

O that cunning plan of the evil one! O the vainness, and the frailties, and the foolishness of men! When they are learned they think they are wise, and they hearken not unto the counsel of God, for they set it aside, supposing they know of themselves, wherefore, their wisdom is foolishness and it profiteth them not. And they shall perish. (2 Nephi 9:28.)

Similarly, Joseph Smith anticipated that educated people would reject the evidence for his scripture. He sent Martin Harris to show a copy of some alleged Book of Mormon “caractors” to one Professor Charles Anthon. After Anthon rejected the transcript, Joseph made sure to include this in the Book of Mormon:

14 Wherefore, the Lord God will proceed to bring forth the words of the book; and in the mouth of as many witnesses as seemeth him good will he establish his word; and wo be unto him that rejecteth the word of God!
15 But behold, it shall come to pass that the Lord God shall say unto him to whom he shall deliver the book: Take these words which are not sealed and deliver them to another, that he may show them unto the learned, saying: Read this, I pray thee. And the learned shall say: Bring hither the book, and I will read them.
16 And now, because of the glory of the world and to get gain will they say this, and not for the glory of God.
17 And the man shall say: I cannot bring the book, for it is sealed.
18 Then shall the learned say: I cannot read it.
19 Wherefore it shall come to pass, that the Lord God will deliver again the book and the words thereof to him that is not learned; and the man that is not learned shall say: I am not learned.
20 Then shall the Lord God say unto him: The learned shall not read them, for they have rejected them, and I am able to do mine own work; wherefore thou shalt read the words which I shall give unto thee.

Again, this is pretty brilliant. Essentially, Joseph Smith tells us that anyone who rejects the evidence does so “because of the glory of the world and to get gain.” Rather than put any faith in someone who could actually analyze the claims Joseph Smith made, we are to put our trust in a small group of handpicked “witnesses” who tell us an angel showed them the plates.

Thus, the contrast is always between the learned and prideful who expect real evidence before taking a known grifter at his word and those who humble themselves before God and accept things at face value.

It’s not surprising that the positives (faith, humility, steadfastness) lead toward believing Joseph Smith and the negatives (pride, mocking, worldliness) lead us toward healthy skepticism.

I’ve been told I have “intellectualized” Mormonism. Apparently, that’s a worse sin than, say, bedding teenagers and married women.

What’s weird about this is that Mormonism emphasizes education as a means of personal growth and as a way to support your family. But there’s this curious disconnect that derides education and intellect when they are pointed at Mormonism.

But what do I know? I’m one of those prideful folks pointing fingers from the great and spacious building.

I’m always amazed at what minor things can set people off into a rage. Today I stated the obvious, that the LDS church as an institution (and most of its members) stood on the sidelines of the Civil Rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s in the United States. This would seem pretty noncontroversial. While Martin Luther King was being beaten and jailed, the LDS church was defending its exclusion of black men from the priesthood and warning that King and his movement were Communist-directed troublemakers.

But for saying that the church and most members were uninvolved in the movement, I was told that I have a “jaundiced worldview and bigoted agenda against all things Mormon,” among other similar expressions of hate.

I never have understood people getting so angry about religion. Any disagreement is seen as an attack, and even the most inocuous statement is seen as a vile distortion of all that is true and good.

This little exchange reminded me of how much I appreciate civil dialogue, even when the two sides are far apart. It’s certainly possible, but I find that the more time I spend around certain people, the less agreeable and charitable they become.

But I guess that with the openly hostile, you know what you’re getting.

Anyway, thanks to the posters here who have managed to discuss things with kindness and civility.