Doctor Scratch wrote:I heard this morning from one of my informants--this is the person who supposedly has a rather deep connection to the Church hierarchy in Salt Lake City. Compared with the intel I receive concerning the Maxwell Institute, this is much harder to verify, so as always, take it with a shaker-full of salt.
In any case, I was told that Pres. Monson has entered a period of decline due to Alzheimer's Disease. Allegedly, he has begun to do "embarrassing" things in public venues, and he is now surrounded by Church-appointed handlers virtually 24-7. The interesting thing is that the Brethren have (again, allegedly) divided into competing factions. One of these is led by Elder Uchtdorf, who basically wants to take over in much the same way that Pres. Hinckley did after Pres. Benson became incapacitated.
The other faction is, of course, led by Elder Packer. Interestingly, according to my informant, Elder Packer wants to stage a kind of "coup" whereby the Brethren would vote to give Pres. Monson "emeritus" status, thus allowing Packer to ascend to the throne in spite of the fact that Monson is still alive. My informant added in the detail that Pres. Packer's patriarchal blessing said that he would one day hold the office of Church President, so he may view this as his chance to fulfill this "divine calling."
Again: I want to stress that, as of right now, this pretty much has the status of a "believable rumor." As with a lot of the intel I am given, its truthfulness (or falseness) will be borne out in the coming weeks and months. So treat this with skepticism.
Whoa! Seriously? Man, that would explain his weirdness at times lately. There have been times when I honestly thought he was acting a little senile. Things like his off the wall "humour" and his goofy grins. I just figured it was the dark cloud of unbelief over my eyes, keeping me from seeing the solemn prophet underneath that goofball exterior.
krose wrote:It seems to me that dementia should provide an ideal vessel for the Lord to use for delivering his words to the people. If the person in physical possession of the brain no longer fully controls it, God can more easily take control and deliver revelation.
In this case we would know that the prophet is not speaking as a man, inserting his own reasoning.
Excellent point.
"We have taken up arms in defense of our liberty, our property, our wives, and our children; we are determined to preserve them, or die." - Captain Moroni - 'Address to the Inhabitants of Canada' 1775
I don't believer they will do an official emeritus dismissal to Monson. I see two options here.
Option 1: Keep the first presidency in tact and allow the counselors to run the show but keep Monson at home with the nurse and announce that Monson is unhealthy.
Option 2: Announce that Monson has Alzheimers, that he is no longer able to perform his duties and that his condition will only get worse. Consequently we keep Monson as President in name but since he is no longer able to perform duties, dissolve the first presidency and allow the quorum of Apostles to run the church until Monson dies and a new president can be called along with a new first presidency.
Option 2 is similar to emeritus status but different in that, a new president and first presidency will not be called to replace Monson until Monson dies.
They'll just do what they did the last time this happened: keep him out of sight and tell everyone he's still the one in charge.
"It doesn't seem fair, does it Norm--that I should have so much knowledge when there are people in the world that have to go to bed stupid every night." -- Clifford C. Clavin, USPS
"¡No contaban con mi astucia!" -- El Chapulin Colorado
Zelder wrote:I don't believer they will do an official emeritus dismissal to Monson. I see two options here.
Option 1: Keep the first presidency in tact and allow the counselors to run the show but keep Monson at home with the nurse and announce that Monson is unhealthy.
Option 2: Announce that Monson has Alzheimers, that he is no longer able to perform his duties and that his condition will only get worse. Consequently we keep Monson as President in name but since he is no longer able to perform duties, dissolve the first presidency and allow the quorum of Apostles to run the church until Monson dies and a new president can be called along with a new first presidency.
Option 2 is similar to emeritus status but different in that, a new president and first presidency will not be called to replace Monson until Monson dies.
They are not going to tell the members anything, ever. #1 of the only option that will ever be considered.
(Nevo, Jan 23) And the Melchizedek Priesthood may not have been restored until the summer of 1830, several months after the organization of the Church.
Zelder wrote:I don't believer they will do an official emeritus dismissal to Monson. I see two options here.
Option 1: Keep the first presidency in tact and allow the counselors to run the show but keep Monson at home with the nurse and announce that Monson is unhealthy.
Option 2: Announce that Monson has Alzheimers, that he is no longer able to perform his duties and that his condition will only get worse. Consequently we keep Monson as President in name but since he is no longer able to perform duties, dissolve the first presidency and allow the quorum of Apostles to run the church until Monson dies and a new president can be called along with a new first presidency.
Option 2 is similar to emeritus status but different in that, a new president and first presidency will not be called to replace Monson until Monson dies.
They are not going to tell the members anything, ever. #1 of the only option that will ever be considered.
Of course, there is option 3. God could give them all Alzheimers as the same time, then they are completely screwed.
"You lack vision, but I see a place where people get on and off the freeway. On and off, off and on all day, all night.... Tire salons, automobile dealerships and wonderful, wonderful billboards reaching as far as the eye can see. My God, it'll be beautiful." -- Judge Doom
i am a little late to this discussion but with an older brother with alz. i wanted to comment that as the disease progresses , erratic behavior like profanity outbursts can be triggered by small things, like not knowing what to do when the phone rings or getting agitated and telling a friend or stranger "to get the hell out of my house". my brother has had such episodes. the treatment is to have his docs , like my brother's docs at johns hopkins mix a cocktail of meds to "calm" him down without pushing him over the edge to "zombie' status which happens in most cases because most docs don't know how to mix the drugs-anti anxiety. anti psychotic, etc in formula that allows the patient some quality of life.
i assume tommy boy is headed toward that-flareups of off the wall comments "hi", trying to disrobe in semi-public places, giving incoherent instructions, saying one phrase over and over like "i did that' i did that , i did that over and over.
for tsm the handlers must recognize a bizarre outburst/order/action and simply ignore it and try to keep monson in chk. i sorta see a ronald reagan type dementia and wonder whether the handlers will try to drug him up before they put him in a cave. admitting his disease would be honest and appreciated by the faithful but if past performance is any indicator, it's ETB all over again.
Didn't Howard W. Hunter hold seniority over Gordon B. Hinckley the entire time Hinckley was running the Church for an incapacitated ETB? Woudn't that make what Elder Packer allegedly wants to do against precedent?
And when the confederates saw Jackson standing fearless as a stone wall the army of Northern Virginia took courage and drove the federal army off their land.
harmony wrote:They are not going to tell the members anything, ever. #1 of the only option that will ever be considered.
Gordon Hinckley announced to the general membership when Howard Hunter's cancer went into his bones. What would keep Henry Eyring from saying anything about Monson's alleged Alzheimers?