The worst (least inspired) decisions by Church leaders

[deacon blues]

What would a list of the ten worst decisions made by church leaders contain? Polygamy? 116 pages? Racism as doctrine letter to Lowry Nelson? Elder Uchtdorf's admitting they make mistakes? The criteria of the decisions might even be varied: is the goal to pursue Truth, promote Christianity, or promote the health and growth of the LDS Church?

[Brent]

Because of parents sin (same sex marriage) children are denied saving ordinances.

[alas]

The above is the worst recently. Let's punish kids for their parents getting married to the person they love, when some old men disapprove of that love.

But back in 1960-1978 there were some lovely quotes about why there was a priesthood ban for those of African heritage. Such as ETB claiming that MLK was a communist. Then there were the attempts to cure gays with electroshock "therapy" which was more just good old torture than any kind of ethical therapy. And shooting the messenger when Alred tried to publish about stories of ecclesiastical abuse. Yeah, Mormon God is pretty stupid.

[FiveFingerMnemonic]

I would say gathering Zion in Missouri was a huge mistake ending in the loss and destruction of property and lives. Even the top brethren recognized the problem as they tried to tarry in Kirtland and send the poor suckers onto Zion.

[Yobispo]

Printing the Articles of Faith. No evangelists, we never hear about he New Jerusalem anymore, they punish the kids of gay parents, and they certainly aren't honest. Also, they left out some ordinances. The AoF describes some other church.

Or maybe Zion's Camp.

[Just This Guy]

1. You could go back to the beginning and say: Anyone thinking getting involved with a farm boy/con man from upstate NY would be a good idea.
2. Destruction of the Mormon Expositor printing press
3. Following BY over other contenders for leadership.
4. Anything regarding the use of handcarts.
5. Mountain Meadows Massacre
6. Hiding the truth of church history instead of being open and evolving with the rest of the world.
7. Maintaining the ban on blacks & the priesthood.
8. November Exclusion Policy
9. Kirtland Safety Society
10. Mark Hoffman affair.

[achilles]

I guess the answer would depend on what time period we're talking about

1) Polygamy. Hands down. We all know the reasons; I'm not convinced that there was anything positive about the decision to make the church "about" polygamy.

2) Exclusion of Women from Leadership. For a church supposedly divine in nature, it surely treats women poorly. The Chicken Patriarchy model is a lot like the approach to LGBT folks: we know better, we'll protect you and guide you and keep you under our watchful eye. The fact that Priesthood does not substantially include women is completely absurd. In my opinion the Church loses out on half its strength in a lot of ways. The doctrines surrounding polygamy, including temple doctrines of women being priestesses to their husbands, WTF? (sorry for the language)

3) Kirtland Bank. I don't think it was a mistake to try; I do think it was a monumental mistake to imply that the Bank had a divine destiny--it really destroyed a lot of "testimonies".

4) Willie and Martin Handcart Co. I get that it was a local leadership decision; but to abandon all common sense and insist God will protect you no matter what, it's just stupid.

5) The Racist Priesthood/Temple Ban. Very damaging, IMO. Hurt a lot of people. Continues to hurt people. Shows the pettiness possible coming from a "universal" church that is supposed to bless all people.

6) Mountain Meadows Massacre. Also a local leadership decision, but in my opinion, the cultivation of a siege mentality combined with the imprimatur of divine approval...it just leads to this kind of crap.

7) Reparative Therapy of Homosexuals. The pseudo-scientific/pseudo-revelatory approach to the subject--holding courts when people haven't done anything wrong, using aversion therapy (including shock therapy), pray away the gay, encouraging heterosexual marriages under false pretenses, insisting that sexual orientation can be changed, and finally imposing a condescending pseudo-monastic life upon homosexuals with little care for the damage it causes--all of this under the impression that it is being directed by God. The Church insists it is guided by divine revelation, and yet has gotten it wrong time and time again, stringing people along, and ruining lives.

8) Correlation/Correlated Church History. Correlation stamped out the enthusiasm, individuality, and natural gifts of members at the local level. The white-washed Church History causes enormous damage to people when they realize they've been deceived. I'm convinced that just being matter of fact about ugly parts of Church history would get much better results.

9) Mission Age Change. I get that the Church may have had concerns about losing youth between HS graduation and the mission. But sending 18 year olds out--we know that young men make huge gains in maturity in that year, maturity that they need as a missionary. We know that missions are unnecessarily brutal, and we've had a lot of young men go out, and come right back. I just don't think this was inspired by anything but the fear of young men not going, or leaving the church vs. the damage that has happened to many of these young men. Who knows, it may lead to more kids leaving than before.

10) Proposition 8 and The POX. The Church really damaged its credibility and unnecessarily alienated a lot of people. Additionally, it put many of its own members in a very difficult position. It also encouraged some of its membership in a very damaging prejudice, giving it a stamp of divine approval. Don't even get me started on the "love the sinner" BS, there is nothing loving about condescendingly denying a normal life to people who are different, especially since the Church insists that marriage and family are the greatest blessings available to all of us.

Personally, the POX was the last straw for me--it was made abundantly clear to me that the Church didn't want me or my future children unless we were to change who we are. The POX violates core doctrines of the Church, and is just mean-spirited. Again, the condescending insistence that it was done out of love--it just makes me very angry.

***

Well, it turns out three of those things touch on LGBT issues, I guess I take these things pretty personally.

[Palerider]

In my generation most of this came from Pres. Kimball but I think it has been in the church nearly since inception.

The go on your mission, come home and get married right away, have children right away, go to school and hold a job while trying to support your family program.....

This thing has been total crap from the beginning and it left a generation mired in poverty before the church woke up and started to walk it back a ways because they were losing out on all the tithing those families should have been paying.

I remember telling a friend of mine in the Stake Presidency how utterly exhausted I always felt when I first got married, had our first child and was working and trying to go to school all at the same time, while holding a church calling and doing home teaching, and attending the temple. He essentially said, "If you work hard you can do it."

I began to wonder what was wrong with me. The first 10 years of our marriage was just brutally exhausting. Living below the poverty level, but refusing government help (as per church policy) but still paying our tiny pittance of 10% which the church had no problem accepting whatsoever.

We were truly blessed......

Think I raised MY kids to be that way??? Not a chance.....

[deacon blues]

I get a feeling the list could be extended to "fifty worst decisions" or even "100 worst decisions" by Church leaders. I sometimes regret posts, and this one I feel is a little unfair. I don't own up to my own worst decisions. So--

In the spirit of bilateral disclosure, the ten worst decisions of Deacon Blues life were (I'm sure I'm leaving out a few):

10.Not asking Diane J. out in college.
9. Hiding Lloyd's "Monkees" record albums in a snow drift.
8. Not looking in the rear view mirror before backing the grain truck into the other grain truck.
7. Not asking my Freshman History teacher (Ricks College) why our History textbook made no mention of Adam, Eve, Noah, Abraham, or Moses.
6. Playing touch football with middle school students. (resulted in broken leg)
5. Not defending my wife (later ex-wife) when my father verbally attacked her.
4. Acting like I loved a girl (S.) when I only liked her.
3. Abruptly ending pursuit of my Master's degree. (I was depressed)
2. Suicide attempts. (2) (These may not count, I was really depressed.)
1. Staying in a band that fired my (deacon's) wife. (later ex-wife).
1-A Getting married too soon after my mission. I'm ambivalent about this. I really messed up my first marriage, but without it, I wouldn't have of the greatest daughters a man could have.

Yes, I'm sure I left out a few. so I hope I may be forgiving of others.

[deacon blues]

In my generation most of this came from Pres. Kimball but I think it has been in the church nearly since inception.

The go on your mission, come home and get married right away, have children right away, go to school and hold a job while trying to support your family program.....

This thing has been total crap from the beginning and it left a generation mired in poverty before the church woke up and started to walk it back a ways because they were losing out on all the tithing those families should have been paying.

I remember telling a friend of mine in the Stake Presidency how utterly exhausted I always felt when I first got married, had our first child and was working and trying to go to school all at the same time, while holding a church calling and doing home teaching, and attending the temple. He essentially said, "If you work hard you can do it."

I began to wonder what was wrong with me. The first 10 years of our marriage was just brutally exhausting. Living below the poverty level, but refusing government help (as per church policy) but still paying our tiny pittance of 10% which the church had no problem accepting whatsoever.

We were truly blessed......

Think I raised MY kids to be that way??? Not a chance.....

I agree. This made me think about my rush to get married after my mission. This may be diverting the thread but, has the church really walked back from the "get married asap after your mission and start having kids" mantra.

[wtfluff]

One I don't think has been mentioned: Joseph lying and claiming that the Book of Mormon was "ancient scripture" when he really just pulled it out of a (rock in a) hat.

Edit: And another I just thought of: The switch to 18-month missions for both boys and girls in the 80's? (Which was quickly switched back to 2-year missions for the boys fairly soon after...) This one is not a "big deal" as far as the truthfulness of the church is concerned, and probably doesn't belong on a "Top 10," but it was definitely uninspired.

[Palerider]

has the church really walked back from the "get married asap after your mission and start having kids" mantra.

The last thing I recall Hinkley saying in public was that "you shouldn't have more children than you can care for" which is precious little wiggle room.

What they say privately may not have changed that much. You know how that goes. And the sad part is that the only reason they're counseling quick and early marriage is they don’t want a bunch of RMs running around out there being immoral and becoming inactive.

[jfro18]

It's hard to do a top ten list that has the theme of 'least inspired' decisions since I assume none of them were truly inspired, so to me it would just be a list of the worst decisions overall... I guess for those I'd put them in no particular order:

Torching the Nauvoo Expositor: JS knew the whole thing was true and torched it anyway because the gig was up. Little did he know that somehow this abomination of a church would survive on without him under the dictatorship of Brigham.

Releasing the Book of Abraham: JS never thought that they'd be able to prove him wrong on the translation, and he knew the release would give him credibility with his people. But in the end, a horrible decision for the legacy of the church.

The November policy: The church has gone out of its way to demonize gays, and in doing so are turning off a ton of members that are not a bunch of old white dudes at the top. I know a lot of people have left already because of it, and that decision puts them in a box that will be very difficult to get out of.

Polygamy/Polyandry: Obviously the church will never shake this problem, and it was all because Joseph Smith needed to find a way to stop people from judging him for cheating on Emma.

The ban on blacks: Like polygamy, this left the church in a place that is just ugly. Neither the ban nor the lifting of it was revelation, but the church's leaders made clear to say it was doctrine throughout the 130+ years.

Adam-God theory, falling for the Hoffman forgeries, hiding the first First Vision account, excommunicating the September 6, JS arbitrarily changing the D&C...

I guess most of these are covered so I'll stop for now, but what a mess the leaders are. It's almost as if they don't actually receive any revelations.

[moksha]

Achilles list included most items that came to my mind in this subject, although I can think of one more that will eventually bite the Church in the behind on a gradually increasing basis. That is the insistence that the LDS Church is either all true or all false. This is especially short-sighted and hubris based. The only way around this is for members to grow some apologetic tumor.

[jfro18]

Achilles list included most items that came to my mind in this subject, although I can think of one more that will eventually bite the Church in the behind on a gradually increasing basis. That is the insistence that the LDS Church is either all true or all false. This is especially short-sighted and hubris based. The only way around this is for members to grow some apologetic tumor.

That's actually a good point, although I don't think TBMs see it that way. But at the end of the day, the church making everything so literal and black/white is a really stupid idea. Joseph Smith of course didn't know that science would show there was no "great flood" or that the Tower of Babel was a myth, but the leaders to this day leave no wiggle room for it because it undermines their entire religion.

[Rob4Hope]

1. The position of the church to defend prior leadership at all costs, even at the expense of throwing God under the bus.
2. The position of the church to use attrition and silence to allow damaging practices and doctrines to die out rather than saying "they were wrong".
3. The lack of accountability that the church has for #2, including but not limited to the refusal to apologize.
4. The careful and methodical policy to hide history, stamp out that which "doesn't promote faith", and the use of purging tactics to silence those voices that are heard (September 6, John Dehlin, Kate Kelly, possibly Bill Reel soon,...etc).
5. The insistence that the BoM is the "most correct book on earth" when there is overwhelming evidence that refutes it from MANY angles.
6. Polygamy and Polyandry, including the lies about it.
7. The superiority complex that is part of the culture and even leadership. These guys feel like they are on God's side, so they are justified in what they do, even at the exclusion of the law (Council of 50, Oath of Vengeance, Blood Atonement, massacres, and the general haughtiness and hubris).
8. Shaming tactics. You can't leave the church with your dignity intact--BECAUSE of the church. "Where will you go?"...sounds like an abusive husband who won't let his wife go because she obviously is a failure and must stay so he can protect (and abuse) her...
9. Racism. There were lynchings in Utah just like other places. Not only is the PH exclusion racially based, but the utter disregard for human worth and decency was culturally inculcated by LDS Leadership. I just learned that BY was in FAVOR of slavery!
10. Political collusion. Its still going on at massive levels.
11. Hiding money and lying about it! $ $ $ $ $ $ $ .... "oh, we make that information available to members" (Paraphrased from GBH).
12. Murder being justified. JS did it with Boggs and probably others, BY did it and blamed the Indians and others like John D. Lee, and probably others.
13. Telling lies to get women, while promising them eternal life if they comply and open their legs, and damnation for eternity if they don't. Pure, subtle, and destructive misogyny.

[deacon blues]

This is the root of the problem.

"They have taken authority as the truth, rather than taking truth the as authority." Gerald Massey

[Palerider]

This is the root of the problem.

"They have taken authority as the truth, rather than taking truth the as authority." Gerald Massey

This is a great quote. And as a bonus it's chiasmatic so we know it's true and probably being channeled by Massey from some lost papyrus of ancient scripture.

I love how revelation works.

[Hagoth]

4) Willie and Martin Handcart Co.

But you've got to hand it to them for managing to turn it into one of the most inspirational pieces of Mormon history in most members' eyes. That is some gold medal information manipulation right there. Like Joseph's request for Heber Kimball's wife. Somehow that has also become an inspirational story (shrugs and scratches head).

[dogbite]

Secrecy, of money, of doctrine, of history

Literalness of the modern revealed/restored scripture depends on an exactingly literal Bible, both old and new testament that is not evidentially supported in all cases from the Bible nor the modern scripture.