Really? Excommunicating Opinions?

[Russianwolfe]

You are not excommunicated for your opinions. You are not excommunicated for asking questions. You are excommunicated for your actions. I am confident that both of these individuals were counseled by their bishops and were told exactly what their actions were that were called into question. And from what I have read on the net, it seems that John Dehlin asked for his court, he was not threatened. These people can say anything they want because they know that the Church will not make any public statements. The Church considers a disciplinary court a private matter and will not discuss it publically. By taking advantage of the Church's position these two people can say anything they want without fear that the Church will say anything.

Do you remember that woman in the 80s who was excommunicated from the church? She wrote the book entitled "From Housewife to Heretic"? I read the first chapter of her book and she was one strange woman. She prayed to a Heavenly Mother among other things. A lot of people wanted you to think she was excommunicated for her stance on the ERA. This was not true. She was excommunicated because she was preaching and teaching that no one should talk to the missionaries until the Church and prophet changed their stance on the ERA. She was actively working against the Church. This is one rare case where the Bishop who held the court issued a public statement about exactly what she was excommunicated for. And it was not what she claimed.

Marvin

[Cerebrum123]

As I kept saying to the mormons here, the LDS church believes the Prophet and Apostles are God's mouthpiece. Either agree with them or leave. If you disagree with what they say, then you are disagreeing with God. That's how they think.

https://www.lds.org/liahona/1981/06/...ophet?lang=eng
14 Fundamentals in following the prophet:
excerpts:
1: The prophet is the only man who speaks for the Lord in everything.

11: The two groups who have the greatest difficulty in following the prophet are the proud who are learned and the proud who are rich.

14: The prophet and the presidency—the living prophet and the First Presidency—follow them and be blessed—reject them and suffer.

----


Heck there is even a hymn about it:

We Follow the Prophet

Music from the Ensign

1. We follow the prophet, we love to obey.
We listen and learn as he shows us the way.

Chorus:
We follow him gladly, with faith in his word,
For he speaks the will of the Lord.

2. We honor the prophet, we lengthen our stride.
We speak of him kindly, in love and in pride.
Chorus

3. We pray for the prophet, that he may be strong,
Defending the right and condemning the wrong.
Chorus

Sounds like it could have been written by a Muslim about Islam.

[Sparko]

As I kept saying to the mormons here, the LDS church believes the Prophet and Apostles are God's mouthpiece. Either agree with them or leave. If you disagree with what they say, then you are disagreeing with God. That's how they think.

https://www.lds.org/liahona/1981/06/...ophet?lang=eng
14 Fundamentals in following the prophet:
excerpts:
1: The prophet is the only man who speaks for the Lord in everything.

11: The two groups who have the greatest difficulty in following the prophet are the proud who are learned and the proud who are rich.

14: The prophet and the presidency—the living prophet and the First Presidency—follow them and be blessed—reject them and suffer.

----


Heck there is even a hymn about it:

We Follow the Prophet

Music from the Ensign

1. We follow the prophet, we love to obey.
We listen and learn as he shows us the way.

Chorus:
We follow him gladly, with faith in his word,
For he speaks the will of the Lord.

2. We honor the prophet, we lengthen our stride.
We speak of him kindly, in love and in pride.
Chorus

3. We pray for the prophet, that he may be strong,
Defending the right and condemning the wrong.
Chorus

[Bill the Cat]

I thought Dehlin was being excommunicated because of his views on the lack of historicity of the Book of Mormon.

[DesertBerean]

I read this as the organization trying to reassert control. You know them better than I do, but based on what I've seen about their issues, they're feeling the pain from being questioned about their most basic doctrines. I mean, they've always been under pressure about their teachings about Jesus and salvation. But I've noticed that since they stopped their practice of saying they were not Christians, they've become very intolerant of dissent.

[ke7ejx]

Earlier yesterday I read about Kate Kelly and John Dehlin. Kate is being excommunicated for being part of a group called Ordain Women who has been trying to get the church to reconsider the roles of women in the church. She is being brought up on charges for Apostasy. John Dehlin supported homosexual acceptance in the church, he is also being exed by the LDS church.

Personally I find this to be the prime example of cowardice. These two people have brains and form their own opinions and the church is saying "we don't like your opinions so there's no room in this church for you." Am I the only one that finds the church being a little chicken guano all because they don't like their sheeple forming their own opinions?