photo of a large billboard in downtown Salt Lake located on the freeway entrance.
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. A day of gratitude for our blessings.
(...it is also a day of overeating, and for some it is a tradition to watch football.) :)
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We read that the people dwindled in unbelief because of the traditions of their fathers, and they are led astray. When you dwindle in unbelief, it is not that you don't believe or have lost faith, it means that little by little the belief becomes incorrect, false and foolish.
One of our biggest 'traditions' that we have inherited by our fathers is the need to win. We strive for Success, Awards, Status, Popularity, Dominance, and Acceptance. We take great pride in winning. We want to defeat others. We have the mottos like Win at all costs, and only the weak lose. The above billboard for BYU football even brags about our LDS church school's tradition of winning for the past 40 years. (Even that is a false tradition/advertising since the records show that BYU has not always won for the past four decades) :)
We also take great pride that we as Mormons are on the final winning team. We are taught that in the end, that we will "win". However, just being part of a religion doesn't mean you are on the winning team. It is being on the side of TRUTH that always wins in the end. Anything that is false, incorrect, or foolish will be exposed, and ultimately "lose".
Nephi begins the 28th chapter in 2 Nephi by saying that he knows what he writes will "surely come to pass". He is not making this stuff up.
We read in verse 14: "They wear stiff necks and high heads; yea, and because of pride, and wickedness, and abominations, and whoredoms, they have all gone astray save it be a few, who are the humble followers of Christ; nevertheless, they are led, that in many instances they do err because they are taught by the precepts of men."
Did you catch that?.. ALL have all gone astray, except for a few humble followers.. and even those FEW do err in many instances because they are taught by the precepts of men.. or "false traditions." It sounds like we are all messed up to some degree or another.
Lately, more and more people are questioning the false traditions and stories that have been handed down to us for decades. It is mainly caused by discovering that church history is riddled with fiction and half-truths. There is a sense of betrayal at what they regard as "being lied to" about history and doctrine.
All things will be brought to light. In the end,TRUTH will win. It is important that you always are on the side of truth and not on the side of traditions of the fathers.
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All things will be brought to light. In the end,TRUTH will win. It is important that you always are on the side of truth and not on the side of traditions of the fathers.
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14 comments:
Most people I know trying to push the claim that they've "been lied to" rely on dubious sources for their (faulty) information - comments in Gospel Doctrine, what so-and-so's GA grandpa said, etc. Most people I know who have a deep thirst for knowledge have had no problems or roadblocks whatsoever in finding the info they want - all the way up through the various museums, libraries and Church Archives.
My opinion is - most ignorance is self-imposed and willful. The purpose of the Church is to bring souls to Christ and perform the necessary ordinances, not be a mental fast-food agency. The members need to take a little responsibility for themselves and their own intelligence.
There are people who intentionally push information they know to be fraudulent. However, most who push false info actually believe it themselves. It is not fair to call those people liars, but sadly they still shoulder some sort of burden of responsibility because their status and access suggests they ought to know more than simply what they were told by their parents and the leaders who preceded them. I think that is what is at the heart of those who claim they have been lied to.
From what I have read and heard, the falsehood, that Joseph Smith lied to the members his whole life about polygamy and thus led many astray to not believe in or follow Brigham Young when he later openly taught polygamy, appears quite accepted and believed by most church leaders and church historians and members who study church history,
For many Saints refused to believe in BY because of Joseph's constant warnings and teachings that those who fall for polygamy or who fall for leaders or prophets who teach polygamy, would be damned. Joseph was very clear on this and he even published such teachings and warnings.
Yet the Church seems to continue to teach that Joseph was lying and deceptive about it all. Which I do not believe he was, but that he was telling the honest truth, as true prophets always do.
Which of course causes members who search and find the truth out to feel very much 'lied to' by the Church.
Church leaders can't say or think that Joseph was telling the truth, for that would mean that Brigham Young and all the rest of the church leaders who followed him, on down to today, weren't telling or teaching the truth. Too much to admit and confess.
Thus I also believe that 2 Nephi 28 is talking about the members of the Church today, all having gone astray, except a rare few, because everyone has easily fallen and been deceived to believe in whoredoms like polygamy, divorce and remarriage, etc., all of which are abominations according to Christ, but all have become almost completely accepted in the Church today as ok, especially by most all church leaders, from the top to the bottom.
This is not easy, to be sure. If only they'd stuck with the counsel in Jacob in the BOM...
The thing that gets me is that the purpose of polygamy is to raise up seed... and yet Joseph had no children by the "other" wives, claims to the contrary notwithstanding. (I guess I should say the DNA testing could still be ongoing...?) That's the biggest clue for me personally. But here I am, in this Church anyway. I know the BOM is true and I know Joseph is a prophet regardless of the sins he may have committed and the mistakes he may have made. Beyond that is really not part of my testimony.
~Anon8:41am
I agree that there is something very suspicious about the fact that most church members/leaders believe Joseph lied about my personal doings--
while preaching against plural marriage. I personally tend to side with the person who can't defend himself (Joseph Smith)--
Brigham could say whatever he wanted to say, because Joseph was dead!
I don't think Brigham was an evil man, just deceived--
plural marriage caused a tremendous amount of heartache. Gordon B. Hinckley DID repudiate it--
said it was never inspired--
and wasn't an eternal doctrine--
As for football, who needs it?
I do appreciate the fact that Brigham said flat out he never saw Jesus Christ. I was initially a little shocked at Pres. Hinckley's words on the matter. But more and more I think - gosh, he really got it!
I meant Pres. Hinckley's words on the matter - of polygamy. Specifically that he didn't believe it was doctrine.
An incredibly good book is called "Inner Excellence" and it describes winning and goal setting. It's a very interesting look at how detrimental it is measure our success with a "win", rather than focusing on the process of "becoming".
I doubt that Pres. Hinckley really got it about polygamy, despite what he said about it not being doctrinal. I think he just thought that it was not a requirement for heaven, etc.
I seriously doubt whether he understood that it was an adulterous abomination like Joseph and Christ warned that it was, since he seemed to totally support and give the 'ok' that men could be sealed to multiple wives on earth, at least if only one wife was alive or married to the man at a time.
Pres. Hinckley appeared to totally believe that those men would have their multiple wives in eternity. He did not seem to understand what Joseph and Christ taught on the matter.
If Pres. Hinckley understood about polygamy he would have known that he had absolutely no Priesthood, keys, authority, power or claim to hold the position that he thought he was holding.
Cause he would have known that the whoredoms that Brigham Young and his buddies committed totally made it impossible for them to be qualified to continue the 'true' church.
John 7:24 (original)
Judge not according to appearance, but judge righteous judgment.
Joseph Smith translation
John 7:24 (JST)
Judge not according to YOUR TRADITIONS, but judge righteous judgment.
plural marriage caused a tremendous amount of heartache. Gordon B. Hinckley DID repudiate it--
said it was never inspired--
and wasn't an eternal doctrine--
PLEASE CAN SOMEBODY FIND A SOURCE FOR THIS? thanks
I believe Anon 10:18 is referring to the '60 Minutes interview between Mike Wallace & Pres. Hinckley in Apr. 1996 when he talks about polygamy and say he doesn't think it is doctrinal. You can google it and easily listen to it.
Dear Anon Dec. 4, 2012 8:49,
I just watched the entire 60 min. interview...again---polygamy is not even mentioned.
This proves the point of people who think they know, speaking as if they do know (like in gospel doctrine class, hee, hee), and passing on false or mistaken information.
On another note, Mr. Blog Author-er, well done, I enjoy the blog.
First time I have heard that the Prophet Joseph did not support polygamy. I have some reading to do. It has always, always bothered me that Emma had to deal with this horrible issue with all the suffering she was enduring. I would love to know that her husband did not practice this and lay this additional burden on her!
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