In the wake of President Packer's hurtful words yesterday, I decided to take a few minutes between classes and type out a few thoughts that have been begging to be expressed.
There's a certain habit that most LDS church members have that strikes me as being incredibly hypocritical, and frustrates me to my core. It suggests to me that knowing/seeking the truth is not very important, but the real priority of the faithful masses is to avoid confronting anything that challenges the comfort they feel in their "unshakeable" testimony. Cognitive dissonance is a bitch, isn't it.
I'm referring to the inconsistency in the way most mormons view the authority of the "prophets and apostles."
Faithful LDS church members strive to always obey the "prophets and apostles" because they know they are called of God, speak to him directly, and would never leave the church members astray. At the same time, these same people dismiss the past errors of these "prophets, seers, and revelators" that they sustain without hesitation, saying "they're just men, they make mistakes too."
So what is it? Are they prophets and apostles, or just men? Are they vicars of Christ, or do they speak they're own opinions, informed by their own experiences, contemplation, and studies? Are they simply (arguably) wise men, who try to live and teach the teachings of Christ, or do they speak to him directly, and tell us his words, and his will, in a way that we cannot discern for ourselves without them?
Many LDS people who have been close to me throughout my life continue to unapologetically oppose gay marriage because the prophets say they should. Many of them say "I don't understand it myself, but I know that I need to follow the prophet's counsel." When asked about all the apostles that have left the church after Joseph Smith's death, they respond that they were weak men, who gave into temptation and satan's influence. When asked about the crazy doctrinal teachings of Brigham Young, which the church has distanced itself from, they say that he is entitled to make mistakes, and we can't hold him to perfection. When asked about all the prophets and apostles being repeatedly duped by Mark Hoffman, and praising God for uncovering the sacred, yet fraudulent salamander letter, they have a a way of dismissing that too, while maintaining that the words that come out of the church leadership's mouths are as good as scripture. When asked about the things President Kimball, and Bruce R. Mcconkie wrote that are clearly false, they conveniently reply that those books were written by Kimball and Mcconkie the men, not Kimball and Mcconkie the prophets, and were never endorsed by the church. I call bull ****. I know from first hand experience that when mormon missionaries confess to certain sins, mission presidents give them the miracle of forgiveness, and tell them to read it, apply it, and remember that it was written by Christ's mouthpiece on earth.
My point: If mormons can't, and don't, expect perfection out of their prophets, shouldn't they be critically analyzing everything they say before following it? If you don't understand the Church's position on gay marriage, for example, shouldn't you excuse their position the same way you excuse their past positions? They won't, because it's too hard. They'd have to think a little, and they've been programmed not to do that. They'd have to develop personal ethics, and make personal moral choices that require some pondering and thought. That's too damn hard. It's easier to just internalize what's spouted out, and when the church gradually changes as a whole, you change with it. A personal relationship with the God you claim to worship is too difficult for most, because his messages never come so clearly and so black and white as the instructions from the conference center pulpit. Most mormons I know don't want to be bothered with trying to be good people, they just want to feel safe and cozy in their 100% knowledge that they know the whole restored truth, and everybody else is missing out. Nothing scares an average person of faith more than a doubt.
