Response to "End of the Mormon Moment"

In today’s New York Times is an op-ed piece by Cadence Woodland, an LDS writer and an admitted Church dissenter whose LDS faith “has crumbled,” and who, in December, “stopped attending [LDS Church] services” with “no plans to return.”

Her piece is titled, “The End of the ‘Mormon Moment.” The “moment” to which she refers is the recent wave of positive public interest in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints—spawned, at least in part, by public relations campaigns like “I’m a Mormon,” the public’s awareness of the rising number of Mormons in politics, the candidacy of Mitt Romney, and even “the prevalence of Mormon ‘mommy bloggers’ and negative publicity created by the Broadway musical, “The Book of Mormon.”

These and many other public events and issues have cast an unprecedented and worldwide spotlight on the Church, its doctrines, and the Latter-day Saint lifestyle. But instead of taking advantage of this great publicity, Woodland asserts that the Brethren have blown their golden opportunity to help the Church “stay relevant in the 21st century.” Her definition of “relevant” means that Church leaders should have acted on the demands of Kate Kelly, recently excommunicated for her public demands that the Church change its stance on ordaining women to the priesthood, Woodland says that because the Brethren did not cave to the demands of Kelly and her adherents, the Church “killed its own moment.”

Sounds like the Church faces a pretty dark future—but consider two things:

1. The Church is not just another man-made and man-run organization. The Brethren are not in charge—the Lord is, and in a very “hands-on” way. He directs its affairs. Church policy is determined by the Lord Himself. This means, because the Church operates on the unchanging principle of revelation, that anytime we refer to a decision or position taken by “the Church,” we really mean a decision or position taken by the Lord Himself through His authorized servants.

That definition and clarification helps us understand that what Woodland is really saying (because of her “smarter than God” attitude) is it’s the Lord who has blown a perfectly golden opportunity to make His Church “relevant in the 21st century”—and all because He won’t cave to Kate Kelly’s demands.

The Lord and His servants do not stick their fingers up to see which way the winds of public opinion are blowing before announcing Church policies or doctrines. Popularity wasn’t Christ’s aim when He walked among men, nor is it His aim now. His ways are not our ways. He has greater purposes in mind.

And …..
2. I am reminded of the following statement made by President Gordon B. Hinckley during his annual address to Church educators on September 14, 1984:

I noted from last Sunday’s papers that a new book is off the press, put together as a “history” of this work by two men who have spent much time gathering data. I have not read the book, but the conclusion, reported one reviewer, is that the future of the Church is dim.

Without wishing to seem impertinent, I should like to know what they know about that future. They know nothing of the prophetic mission of this Church.

Nor do writers of op-ed pieces who believe the Lord and His Church have missed a pivotal “moment” in history by not caving in to demands for tolerance and inclusion.


Link to the article: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/15/opinion/the-end-of-the-mormon-moment.html?emc=edit_th_20140715&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=60893940&_r=1


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The Unicorn in the Garden

The Unicorn in the Garden

by James Thurber
reprinted from
Fables For Our Time
Once upon a sunny morning a man who sat in a breakfast nook looked up from his scrambled eggs to see a white unicorn with a golden horn quietly cropping the roses in the garden. The man went up to the bedroom where his wife was still asleep and woke her.  

"There's a unicorn in the garden," he said. "Eating roses."

She opened one unfriendly eye and looked at him. "The unicorn is a mythical beast," she said, and turned her back on him.  

The man walked slowly downstairs and out into the garden. The unicorn was still there; now he was browsing among the tulips. "Here, unicorn," said the man, and he pulled up a lily and gave it to him. The unicorn ate it gravely. With a high heart, because there was a unicorn in his garden, the man went upstairs and roused his wife again.  

"The unicorn," he said,"ate a lily."  

His wife sat up in bed and looked at him coldly. "You are a booby," she said, "and I am going to have you put in the booby-hatch."  

The man, who had never liked the words "booby" and "booby-hatch," and who liked them even less on a shining morning when there was a unicorn in the garden, thought for a moment. "We'll see about that," he said.  

He walked over to the door. "He has a golden horn in the middle of his forehead," he told her.

Then he went back to the garden to watch the unicorn; but the unicorn had gone away. The man sat down among the roses and went to sleep.  As soon as the husband had gone out of the house, the wife got up and dressed as fast as she could. She was very excited and there was a gloat in her eye. She telephoned the police and she telephoned a psychiatrist; she told them to hurry to her house and bring a strait-jacket.

When the police and the psychiatrist arrived they sat down in chairs and looked at her, with great interest.  

"My husband," she said, "saw a unicorn this morning."  The police looked at the psychiatrist and the psychiatrist looked at the police.  

"He told me it ate a lilly," she said.  The psychiatrist looked at the police and the police looked at the psychiatrist.  

"He told me it had a golden horn in the middle of its forehead," she said.  

At a solemn signal from the psychiatrist, the police leaped from their chairs and seized the wife. They had a hard time subduing her, for she put up a terrific struggle, but they finally subdued her.

Just as they got her into the strait-jacket, the husband came back into the house.  "Did you tell your wife you saw a unicorn?" asked the police.  

"Of course not," said the husband. "The unicorn is a mythical beast."  

"That's all I wanted to know," said the psychiatrist. "Take her away. I'm sorry, sir, but your wife is as crazy as a jaybird."  

So they took her away, cursing and screaming, and shut her up in an institution. The husband lived happily ever after.  

Moral: Don't count your boobies until they are hatched.

GLOSSARY:


• booby: in this context, a crazy person (probably from the name of a stupid extinct bird).
• booby-hatch: a mental institution, a place where the insane are kept.