Some of the questions and answers said in some of these remarks are absurd. Nearly all the churches in the USA probably most of the Christian Churches in the world except the Roman Catholic Church banned black people from their white congregations but now have them and black preachers.
The “Dateline SLC” is where the story came from not where the guy that excommunicated him came from.
The letter written explaining the excommunication explained that he was welcome to believe whatever he wished but that when he started working against the faith to teach others to believe something other than approved church doctrine then that meant they had no choice but to excommunicate him.
I don’t know know why someone would want to be a part of something they don’t believe in anyway unless they are somehow exploiting the church for their own gain.
As far as changing “Inspiration” to get rid of plural marriage, the Mormons still have plural marriage but you can’t have two living spouses whom you are married to at the same time. This was done because the Federal Government confiscated all Church properties and basically took over the church. If they wanted to run the church and get their property back they had to agree to the conditions of the Federal government. I would say that doesn’t require much inspiration, just a little common sense.
The NY Times ran two pictures Tuesday:
Mormon Church Expels Outspoken Critic
Here's the caption for the second picture:
"Mr. Dehlin, an outspoken critic of the Mormon Church, arrived with his wife, Margi, at the hearing in North Logan, Utah, on Sunday."
This story was ALL ABOUT this excommunication hearing!!!
It was in North Logan...over 85 miles from SLC!!!
The KSL.com & Deseret News (both Mormon owned) reiterated this:
North Logan Utah Stake President Bryan King convened a church disciplinary council for Dehlin on Sunday night after eight months of correspondence and meetings with Dehlin. King delivered a letter to Dehlin late Monday with the council's decision, and Dehlin distributed it to the media.
Mormon Stories founder Dehlin's spread of 'false concepts' results in excommunication from LDS Church
King lives in Logan; the "council" referenced are members of that Logan stake. The hearing was in North Logan Sunday night.
The excommunication was the story -- and for you now attempt to make the excommunication NOT the story is asenine, ludicrous, and lame.
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As far as changing “Inspiration” to get rid of plural marriage...This was done because the Federal Government confiscated all Church properties and basically took over the church. If they wanted to run the church and get their property back they had to agree to the conditions of the Federal government.
OK, but your description itself here is semi-problematic; why? Because the Mormons didn't fully "get rid" of polygamy when the feds did all that in the 1880s.
How so?
#1: The Mormons didn't break up existing polygamous families in the 1890s...
#2: The Mormon leadership didn't completely halt new plural unions in the 1890s and 1900s.
I have read this book -- Solemn Covenant: THE MORMON POLYGAMOUS PASSAGE by Carmon Hardy, 1992.
If you review the name-by-name appendix of this book re: new wives added to Mormon men practicing polygamy, you find that LDS leaders solemnized at least 260+ known plural marriages in the post-manifesto years when the church was pretending to be 100% against polygamy. Most of these were sanctioned by...
...Either apostles like Taylor & Cowley (later ex-communicated) or by Anthony W. Ivins. Ivins was the first stake president of the first Mexican Lds stake -- in Colonia Juárez, Chihuahua. It was quite "convenient" for a Mormon man, wanting to take a new Mormon plural wife, to take her to Mexico to have it solemnized...he would honeymoon with her there...and then return to the states.
Ivins was promptly "rewarded" for this by being made an "apostle" in 1907.
His son, H. Grant Ivins, wrote a 14-page "expose" of this practice, focusing on an 11-year period:
Polygamy in Mexico as Practiced by the Mormon Church, 1895-1905 by H. Grant Ivins