"Cafeteria Mormon? What's that?" says member of the Seventy

[_Tim the Enchanter]

This article (mainly about Jon Huntsman) includes this parargraph:

Elder L. Whitney Clayton, a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy, a council of worldwide Mormon leaders, said in an interview that strength of religious conviction among individual Mormons varies, but those who are active tend to be firmly grounded in the faith - he said he had never heard the term “cafeteria Mormon’’ or anything similar.

Can this really be true? How can a member of the Seventy have never heard the term cafeteria Mormon or anything similar?

In his last conference talk, barely four months ago, Russel Nelson said:

Teach of faith to keep all the commandments of God, knowing that they are given to bless His children and bring them joy. Warn them that they will encounter people who pick which commandments they will keep and ignore others that they choose to break. I call this the cafeteria approach to obedience. This practice of picking and choosing will not work. It will lead to misery. To prepare to meet God, one keeps all of His commandments. It takes faith to obey them, and keeping His commandments will strengthen that faith.

What gives? Am I paying better attention in general conference than Bro. Clayton?

[_DarkHelmet]

I have a hard time believing he hasn't heard that term. And Russ Nelson is wrong. All TBMs are chapel TBMs. There is so little actual doctrine that can be nailed down, you simply find what works for you. Those people who strictly obey everything the prophets say are criticized by apologists for not thinking for themselves.

[_harmony]

Can this really be true? How can a member of the Seventy have never heard the term cafeteria Mormon or anything similar?

His eyes may be open in conference, but the ears are asleep.

[_moksha]

Elder L. Whitney Clayton, a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy, a council of worldwide Mormon leaders, said in an interview that strength of religious conviction among individual Mormons varies, but those who are active tend to be firmly grounded in the faith - he said he had never heard the term “cafeteria Mormon’’ or anything similar.

I understand this all too well. When we get older our short term memory is the first to go. The question should have been, "does he remember what they used to serve in the cafeteria".

-

[_ajax18]

Maybe he wanted to say that he didn't think there were any cafeteria Mormons, but when the prophet calls some people cafeteria Mormons, it's kind of tough to back that up. Nearly every active Mormon is a cafeteria Mormon IMHO. They all take different pieces that they believe or don't believe about polygamy and use the words of dead prophets or the silence of living prophets to justify their position. Every man alive chooses some things he will believe and obey and other things he will not.