Pahoran, The LDS Church is ethically challenged.

[_Yoda]

How does one do that when General Authorities have specifically told us not to contact them directly?

We need to change the things we can and the wisdom to know the items we cannot change, no matter how glaring.

This is why I love the penguin!

[_Drifting]

I agree with Pahoran's statement. Years ago I walked away from the Church because I realized this policy was abhorrently wrong. But they discontinued this policy and years later I returned to the faith because this obstacle was removed. Pahoran is right, because what is wrong can be manifest in so many things - things that have nothing to do with the Church. We need to have some forgiveness just to navigate through life. The Church tried to improve and that should count.

I don't agree.
Either God decided it was time to stop racial discrimination in the Church - in which case God is a racist. Or it wasn't Gods policy in the first place - meaning the Church is not led by divine inspiration, making it a fraud.
If I recall correctly, the Church did not lead the way on racial equality. It had to be dragged kicking and screaming like a spoilt little five year old. It was only when sanctions were threatened and when boycotts happened that the Church changed its policy.
I see exactly the same behaviours today with equality for gay people and women. The Church has not tried to improve, it was just politically expedient to change in 1978.

[_moksha]

I don't agree.
Either God decided it was time to stop racial discrimination in the Church - in which case God is a racist. Or it wasn't Gods policy in the first place - meaning the Church is not led by divine inspiration, making it a fraud.
If I recall correctly, the Church did not lead the way on racial equality. It had to be dragged kicking and screaming like a spoiled little five year old. It was only when sanctions were threatened and when boycotts happened that the Church changed its policy.

That leads into the dead end of needing things "Oh so true", when life itself seems to be a constant discovery of new truths and understanding. The policy was wrong and now it is changed. There is an entirely new generation that senses this or so I read when all those BYU students spoke out against what Professor Bott of BYU said in that interview. Pahoran will always represent an apologetic side of an argument. He insisted that the Mountain Meadow Massacre was the fault of slain victims of the wagon train. However, he was right to observe that the Church's former racial ban was abandoned nearly 34 years ago.

I see exactly the same behaviours today with equality for gay people and women. The Church has not tried to improve, it was just politically expedient to change in 1978.

Change for the other policies will at some point be expedient as well. Then more wrongs will be set right. Someday a future generation of BYU students will look back and see that as well.

[_Drifting]

Change for the other policies will at some point be expedient as well. Then more wrongs will be set right. Someday a future generation of BYU students will look back and see that as well.

I agree with this.
But, and it's a cause of internal turmoil for me, being Mormon meant supporting racist practices. Putting that behind us brings us now to being Mormon meaning supporting homophobic and sexist practices.

The Church can and does change. But its trend is to do so long after society has moved on and it becomes awkward, embarrassing and potentially costly in terms of finances and converts.

For a religious organisation that is just trying to do its best that's one thing. But for a Church claiming to be the only one with all the truth and the only one that God sponsors as His, it becomes a damning indictment of its claims about itself.

[_Kishkumen]

What makes you think that the LDS church has any obligation to offer salvation to anyone who sincerely desires it?

It's not like it's Christianity or something.

Ouch!