Did I miss this? Mormon Expressions interviews John Dehlin

[_Morley]

They won't touch Joanna and John. The church still has a lot of momentum in the eyes of its faithful membership. There is a huge capacity for forgiveness in the membership. Many members gain from feeling accepted. That is enough to stay. The leaders know they have loyalty among the ranks.

I predict they play the "We're normal and focus on Christian charity" card. This will be the focus. It will get easier to be a lax Mormon in the future. The church will lose some revenues but other than that, they will continue, despite the troubling PR issues.

I think this is right on.

[_Equality]

All one has to do to retain membership in the church as a critic today is profess a love and appreciation for the Brethren. As long as one does not criticize the current crop of church leaders, one can say just about anything. The only litmus test is criticizing the Brethren; everything else is forgivable. Brooks and Dehlin understand this; the Toscanos never got it. Dehlin bends over backwards to give the Brethren rhetorical blow jobs. If he ever stops, they'll cut him loose. "it is wrong to criticize the [current] leaders of the church, even if the criticism is true."--Dallin H. Oaks. This is the only truly excommunicable offense in the church today.

[_Willy Law]

Grant Palmer didn't play the game correctly.

You can be a faithful member and publicly follow a Joanna type. She has the right touch. So does John. They are a couple of smooth operators.

I get what you are saying Zee, and agree in part, but what did Grant Palmer do exactly? He published a book and appeared on PBS. This got him disfellowshipped.

Dehlin has put out over 300 podcasts, many of them critical of the brethren, organized conferences for non believers and stuck his finger in the church's eye in regards to the priesthood ban, gay marriage and the Book of Mormon musical. He has stated over and over again that he does not believe in the faith claims and does not believe in an anthropomorphic God. I think Dehlin is daring the church to do something.

I agree that Palmer did not play the game correctly, he did not organize a following around him. Palmer got disfellowshipped and a few people turned up and protested. Dehlin or Joanna get disfellowshipped and thousands will rally around them. Not saying Palmer didn't deserve the same attention, what he did was courageous and should be applauded, but he needed some Palmerites.
Deep down I guess I'm hoping the church takes action against John or Joanna. It would be my "last straw" moment that would bury any hope of me having any relationship with the church in the future.