"There is a temptation for the writer or teacher of Church history to want to tell everything, whether it is worthy or faith promoting or not. Some things that are true are not very useful."
"Some things are to be taught selectively and some things are to be given only to those who are worthy."
On LDS historians: "One who chooses to follow the tenets of his profession, regardless of how they may injure the Church or destroy the faith of those not ready for 'advanced history', is himself in spiritual jeopardy. If that one is a member of the Church, he has broken his covenants and will be held accountable."
I suppose truth might not always be faith-promoting or useful for keeping the members in line and in the dark. But still:
When you consider the stuff like this that Packer and his colleagues say, and when you consider what they know, and when you consider the $$$ paid to their top notch PR firm, it's hard to believe they don't know they're a bunch of f**king liars.
ReplyDeleteI think they do know. Packer is clearly aware that there are things that must be hidden. Talk about false prophets!
ReplyDeleteYep. Good point.
ReplyDeleteWhat bugs me most is that most members are so fucking brainwashed to avoid all things the put the church in a negative light, that they probably have no problem with these comments.
ReplyDeleteMembers avoid all things that put the church in negative light, even people. A couple of my 'friends' stopped talking to me when they found out I don't believe anymore. A few have come back, but two still don't.
ReplyDeleteI have significant difficulty understanding why someone would choose to wear blinders when a general authority has just publicly stated, essentially, that there are things The Church wants to hide from you. How do you not wonder what those things are? But, it is even more beyond my comprehension how someone could choose to give up a relationship with a close friend or family member in order to secure the blinders more tightly. That just seems robotic, not human, to me.
ReplyDeleteBrainwashing, dissonance, robots, hive mind. They remind me of the fucking BORG from Star Trek. We will assimilate you!
ReplyDeletej-dog...i lost friends and customers (i'm a photographer). it sucks, but in the end, do we really want friends who judge us 24/7? Nah. The new friends i've made are so much more fun to be around, and don't have all the baggage of being LDS. It's great!
Thanks for an interesting post!
ReplyDeleteQuoting you here: "But, it is even more beyond my comprehension how someone could choose to give up a relationship with a close friend or family member in order to secure the blinders more tightly. That just seems robotic, not human, to me."
It's often hard to believe anyone could be so casually evil as to value an ideology over a living, breathing person, isn't it?
That's something I find unacceptable about Christianity: So far as I can see, it encourages people to place more value in their beliefs -- in their ideologies -- than in how they treat people.
That seems to me dangerous at the least and probably evil.