Spying and recording

[blazerb]

I just finished listening to Sam Young on Mormon Stories. It occurred to me that on the one hand, the church forbids recording the talks of general authorities, interviews with members of all ages, and disciplinary councils. The leaders want complete privacy to do and say whatever without too many members finding out what happened. On the other hand, the church calls people to monitor the internet so they can know what the members are up to. They report what we say here, in the Bloggernacle, or Reddit to the SCMC or whoever they feel should know. While I realize the two situations are not exactly congruent, demanding privacy for the leaders while forbidding it for the members looks hypocritical to me.

For the record, I don't expect much privacy for the things I say here. I can't understand why the church thinks that they can demand privacy for their actions that affect so many.

[IT_Veteran]

I've never thought much about that, but you're absolutely right! Although, I'm not concerned that people will report me. If they do, I'm prepared to deal with the fallout of that.

Rather, I worry for those that are just exploring their doubts and questions. It makes it dangerous for them to even ask the questions that need to be asked.

[Corsair]

For the record, I don't expect much privacy for the things I say here. I can't understand why the church thinks that they can demand privacy for their actions that affect so many.

This idea arises because they are speaking as lawyers, not as prophets. I suspect that the lawyers in the church have done their best to remove all possible legal and financial risk out of the church. But this has gutted a lot of spiritual growth. How often do you hear about LDS meetinghouses being used to house people displaced after a disaster? It usually does not happen because of legal liability.

LDS buildings have fully apportioned kitchens but we are forbidden from actual cooking. My ward had a pancake dinner recently and it was lightly raining that evening. But the cooking was done on a campstove under an outside camp awning because cooking inside and out of the rain was not allowed. The risks of privacy and recording are known to the legal team of the LDS church. They do all they can to avoid those risks also.