One of the remarkable things about the Mormon Church is their capacity to change in the face of public opposition without admitting error, apologizing, or even admitting that they've changed at all.
Even more remarkable is the way the followers fall into line. One day a prophet can be castigating Gays and saying they deserve the death penalty:
http://www.i4m.com/think/history/mormon_gays.htm
The next moment they are serving with the Bishop and the members are singing with joy that "all is well in Zion."
The capacity for change is, of course, admirable. But when an organization changes without admitting culpability, error, or even a lapse in judgement it looks more like George Orwell's book 1984, where inconvenient events are quickly sanitized and removed from the collective memory.
If we are really witnessing the latest change in church doctrine, and the abandonment of more than a century of anti-Gay rhetoric, we can expect the church will follow the same process that's served them so well before. Denials, re-writing history, new talking points, etc. And all with a happy face and a "what are you talking about?" response whenever the church's history toward Gays is brought up.
When I was an active Mormon I learned there are several steps to repentance, including:
1) Recognizing the sin
2) Remorse for the sin
3) Restitution for the sin
4) Resolve never to commit the sin again.
If the LDS Church is to *really* follow the example of Jesus, they need to do all those things. But if history is any guide to the future, hell will freeze over before the LDS Church admits that they sinned against Gays, feel genuine sorrow for the way they treated Gays, try (in anyway) to make restitution for their behavior, or exhibit any resolve not to be just as nasty toward other groups that serve as convenient "evil doers."
Instead a new army of apologists will deny that anything has changed -- and those with short memories will believe them.
Duwayne Anderson
Daniel2