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Among this new generation of enemies of the church, unfortunately, were some of the best and the brightest, from the elite class of the most privileged — including, no less, four princes of the royal house and a son of the high priest.
A couple weeks ago, on the Sunday of the spectacular solar annular eclipse, I also had the opportunity to teach my ward's gospel doctrine class while Dan Peterson and his wife Debbie sat in as guests. Interestingly enough, in light of conversations Dan and I have had over the years, the topic of the lesson was the conversion of Alma the Younger and the sons of Mosiah. As part of the lesson, we read the following passages from the Book of Mormon:Mosiah 27
8 … the sons of Mosiah were numbered among the unbelievers; and also one of the sons of Alma was numbered among them, he being called Alma, after his father; nevertheless, he became a very wicked and an idolatrous man. And he was a man of many words, and did speak much flattery to the people; therefore he led many of the people to do after the manner of his iniquities.
9 And he became a great hinderment to the prosperity of the church of God; stealing away the hearts of the people; causing much dissension among the people; giving a chance for the enemy of God to exercise his power over them.
10 … for he did go about secretly with the sons of Mosiah seeking to destroy the church, and to lead astray the people of the Lord, contrary to the commandments of God …
I noted the fact that we are often taught that the Book of Mormon was written, not for the people of that day and age, but rather for us, and that its various lessons should be "likened unto" us. Therefore, I posed these questions to the class:We are informed that these apostates among the Nephites went about "secretly … seeking to destroy the church." Are there such people among us today? And, if so, in what manner are they "seeking to destroy the church" and "to lead astray the people of the Lord"? How can we recognize such people? What are their methods and techniques? Once we recognize them, what should we do to combat the things they are doing?
Dan has referenced my lesson and questions in his Mormon Times article today. I recommend it, and I hereby pose the questions to all of you.
Perhaps we think that sometimes those who are undermining the church are always attempting to do it. They display their true colors when they can do it anonymously, but otherwise it's more of a case where the lie in wait to deceive. When an occasion arises to do so, they throw a seed of doubt in here or there.
The danger is that we as a missionary church have many people come in whose testimonies are just in the budding stage, and who are thirsty to learn. Those who seek to destroy the church secretly may simply be seeking to undermine the testimony of the new convert by throwing a casual doubt in here or there. They don't do it with those who have more mature testimonies because, as has been noted, they are more discerning about such things.
We wonder why some converts, who seem so promising, fall away. The secret, flattering, doubt-sowing words of some are one of the causes.
On the Internet itself, those who flatter can be more open. They can post in venues where there is no one to point out what they're doing. Some are very gifted in the language they use, and very convincing.
"We need to be more open about the things we do in the temple."
"Other churches have negative perceptions of us that are our fault. We need to change."
"Why can't the church apologize for the terrible wrongs its perpetrated on others."
"Look how wrong the leaders of the church are in this matter. Maybe they're wrong about other things."
The list is endless. Because of the anonymous nature of the Internet, there are members of the church who need do nothing face to face with others, but who can freely flatter and sow doubts on discussion boards.
And there is absolutely nothing wrong with identifying those who do so in such forums and exposing exactly what they are doing.
Dr. Shades wrote:Cinepro's reply to Schryver's post is a classic. Click here to read it.
Analytics wrote:Dr. Shades wrote:Cinepro's reply to Schryver's post is a classic. Click here to read it.
Cinepro made a really good point, although I wonder if it was too subtle for the average Mormon D&D reader to catch. The actual church leaders seem to be more tolerant of free thought than Schryver and Peterson. So who is it that is really the best and the brightest, from the elite class of the most privileged, influencing and manipulating the Saints with the power of their eloquent and flattering words?
Doctor Scratch wrote:Probably John Dehlin, if I had to guess. This is probably a set-up for whatever version of Greg Smith's "hit piece" winds up in the Review.
