Posted on 04/05/2011 1:15:18 AM PDT by delacoert
I once observed to a Mormon friend that Gordon B. Hinckley, late president of the Mormon Church, publicly lied when it suited him. No, I didn’t simply up and assault my friend’s faith. That would be bad manners. He and I discussed religion often; this happened to come up in the course of one of our conversations.
“Lied?” said my Mormon friend. “Name one instance.”
Without having to think hard or research, I came up with three:
1. When Hinckley served as an assistant to his predecessor, Ezra Taft Benson, he repeatedly assured church members that Benson was actively engaged in managing the affairs of the church. Benson’s grandson exposed the lie: Ezra was a vegetable, and had been for years. (Curiously, the reaction of church members was to reprimand the grandson, now no longer a Mormon, for stirring up trouble.)
2. During an interview on the Larry King Show, King brought up the Mormon doctrine that humans could attain godhood in the next life. Hinckley said, “I don’t know that our church teaches that.” Attaining godhood in the hereafter is central to Mormon theology. Hinckley of all people knew that.
3. During an interview held in Australia, Hinckley unequivocally stated that polygamy is “not doctrinal.” He knew better. Section 132 of the Mormons’ own book of scripture, Doctrine and Covenants, spells out polygamy as not just a doctrine, but a commandment.
In each instance, my friend defended Hinckley with, “You can see why he had to say that,” and invoked the tired old milk-before-meat argument.
Interesting. He began by denying that his leader lied, and finished by defending his leader for having lied.
Official lying is not new to the Mormon church. In 1838, when asked point-blank if Mormons believed in “having more wives than one,” founder Joseph Smith said, “No, not at the same time.” Smith had been practicing polygamy in secret since 1831. In 1890, Smith’s successor Wilford Woodruff publicly and officially proclaimed the Mormon practice of polygamy ended. It continued in secret, and not just by grandfathering already-performed plural marriages. For decades, new ones proceeded with official, albeit clandestine authority.
Not that the Mormon church is the exception. Dig through any church’s history and you’ll find lies, scandals and coverups. It’s just that I happen to live in Utah, where the Mormon Church is headquartered, and where Mormons quite naturally abound. And I was once a practicing Mormon convert myself, so I know the church’s doctrines and practices well.
Ping for later.....
The bit at the end is a pathetic dodge under the cover of vestigial Mormon loyalty — “Dig through any church’s history and you’ll find lies, scandals and coverups.”
The written word from the profits as recorded in the Bible is entirely free of lies. This reference to “lies and scandals” no bearing on the testimony of biblical profits. The walk and works of Mormon profits is an unavoidable shambles, however.
A
A
U. of Utah president: Mormons should join ACLU
"We all ought to be members of the ACLU," said Michael Young, a Latter-day Saint and a descendant of Utah colonizer Brigham Young, in a question-and-answer session after addressing the LDS International Society at Brigham Young University during a conference on the erosion of religious liberties.
“Prophets”
Ironically, I think he was partially correct
Get a life. This is a political not a religious forum. Some free advice: if you nevertheless feel an overwhelming urge to post something containing slander, try and delay the fulfillment of your desire until you are able locate some kind of for it source (not one of the three points of alleged lying has any kind of documentation or source)for your breaking news…btw, President Hinckley died three years ago….
What are you talking about? This is the Religion forum! This is the perfect place to put this thread.
Now you are claiming the posted article is slander?! So you deny the 3 examples that were posted? If someone does provide sources, will you retract your statement that it is slander?
If you do not wish to see RF posts, do NOT use the "everything" option on the browse. Instead, browse by "News/Activism." When you log back in, the browse will reset to "everything" - so be sure to set it back to "News/Activism."
Sure, be happy to.
Just curious. Are you saying that the poster didn't provide documentation or a source, or are you saying that there IS no documentation or source for any of the poster's statements and that none of them, therefore, are true statements?
If one wants to engage in pure polemic religious debate there are plenty of pure religion forums for those with that inclination.
My suspicion on the wide majority of religious polemic that gets posted on Free Republic is not that people want to engage in a pursuit of truth...they are mostly recycled ideas...this story is what 3 years old? But rather that people do it fulfill their base desire to slander another religion (and again I will repeat the point that I made in my original post: that Free Republic is not the place for fulfill one's urge to slander another religion).
I’m say both
I’m saying both
Hinckley lying on Larry King
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lsBFlcjE-8&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxwDgTZU5j4
Hinckley on 60 minutes lying about why blacks were not allowed to join
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97N9Jk5-CsI&feature=related
Understood. You have an absolute right to your faith and testimony.
Are you familiar with the term "faith-promoting history," introduced in 1991 by now President of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles Boyd K. Packer?
I will be away from the computer for several hours.
Thank You, but my reply was a request for neither faith or testimony...is was for fact. This is a conservative political forum...where is the tie-in to political conservativism in this post? If one can’t help themselves but to post random (unrelated to any current event) self promoting slander at least have the courtesy to provide a source of the slander.
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