What are the worst LDS quotes about obedience?

"When the Prophet speaks, the thinking has been done."

"Obedience is the first law of heaven."
This one is especially stupid, because if you believe in Mormon Doctrine and believe that there was a war in Heaven, than shouldn't being able to willfully choose rather than simply "obey" be the first law? I mean agency caused a damn war, not obedience, you would think it would be more important.

Seems to me I've seen this as "When the brethren speak. . ." also.

But the concept of "The thinking has been done" was BRUTALLY offensive to me the first time I heard it, and remains so. That's just coming right out and telling people, "Our brains are better than YOUR brains, so don't even bother putting yours in gear."

What an insult!

Who has the source for the 'thinking has been done' quote? I've seen it used a lot, but haven't been able to trace it back to the original talk. I don't even know who actually said it.

It is from N Eldon Tanner in 1979

https://www.lds.org/ensign/1979/08/the-debate-is-over?lang=eng

Thank you!

"To obey is better than sacrifice" from the Old Testament somewhere, but I am too lazy to look it up at the moment.

Yeah, but this scripture comes in handy as a missionary because some missionaries will work you to death, saying you have to sacrifice. You can pull out this scripture to make them get you home and in bed by curfew. I knew a girl (different mission than mine) whose comp made her stay up til 2:00 a.m. cleaning their apartment at least once a week. My friend said "You have to make sacrifices for your comp" and seemed chagrined when I pulled this scripture out about how obeying the mission laws and schedules is more important than sacrifices.

PS I don't really believe you have to obey the mission laws unquestioningly. I'm just saying there were times when you could use the idea of obedience in your favor.

I agree CA Girl.

I had one comp who desparately wanted to stay out tracting until 9:30 PM because our MP said we could be out if we were busy. Tracting after about 6 to 7 is just pain and misery, so I pulled out the white handbook at least once a week to show him we should be home BY 9 if we had no lessons and not a second later.

https://www.lds.org/ensign/2010/06/things-as-they-really-are?lang=eng

Get off the internet! I command you!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/23/2014 05:53PM by deco.

'When obedience ceases to be an irritant and becomes our quest, in that moment God will endow us with power.' Ezra Taft Benson



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 03/23/2014 06:08PM by lenina.

"Only when you agree to become a slave will you have freedom and power"

Definition of slave: a person who is the property of and wholly subject to another; a bond servant.
2. a person entirely under the domination of some influence or person.

Synonyms for 'slave':
captive laborer serf servant victim worker chattel drudge help menial star peon star retainer skivvy thrall toiler vassal workhorse bondservant.

Antonym for slave = Master

Antonyms for slavery:
amusement, autonomy, dalliance, dallying, decompression, diversion, dormancy, ease, emancipation, enfranchisement, entertainment, freedom, fun, idleness, inactivity, independence, inertia, inertness, leisure, liberation, liberty, loafing, lolling, lounging, manumission, play, recreation, relaxation, repose, rest, self-government, sovereignty, sport.

Things that masters do.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/24/2014 03:47PM by AmIDarkNow?.

I don't know the exact quote , but the one about doing what your leaders say, even if they're wrong, you'll be blessed.

... from the "Doctrine and Covenants and Church History Seminary Teacher Manual" [2013]):

"'"... [A]lways keep your eye on the President of the Church, and if he ever tells you to do anything, and it is wrong, and you do it, the Lord will bless you for it." ... "But you don’t need to worry. The Lord will never let his mouthpiece lead the people astray"'...."

https://www.lds.org/manual/doctrine-and-covenants-and-church-history-seminary-teacher-manual-2014/section-7/lesson-153-official-declaration-1-and-the-continued-development-of-temple-work?lang=eng

I remember a quote I heard once in a chutch publication of some sort.

The point being made was "Its better for one to obey blindly like a robot than to excersise their agency and make the 'wrong choice'".

The context was relating to how some members are so sheltered that they have no basis for commiting "sin". They are essentially like naive sheep locked into their innocent reality.

Those who are acquainted with the world and have options besides their own ignorance, are less likely to abstain from what the church labels as wrong and "worldly".

They want to breed a sheltered sheeplike following is what I took away from it.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/23/2014 06:08PM by hypnosisplz.

Matthew 22:35-40
22:Then one of them which,was an lawyer,ask him a question,tempting him, and saying
23:Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
24: Jesus said unto him,Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
38: This is the first and great commenmdment.
39: And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself,
40: On these two commandments hang all the law ans the prophets.

So much for obedience as the first law of the gospel!!!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/23/2014 06:41PM by thedesertrat1.

I came of age in the 60's. I have a lot of Irish in me too. Obedience is over-rated.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/23/2014 06:42PM by rationalist01.

I am ROTFL. These are hilarious. Having just broke free I am def going through the stages of grief/whatever. My stage today- laughter! Everything I read makes me crack up. (Wiping away tears)

"Because I said so."

--Dad

But my mother certainly was. That was her favorite reason for turning down virtually everything I begged for.

There was a Hallmark Presentation (in color!) showing Gilbert and Sullivan's "The Mikado" on TV when I was in 4th grade. Watching it (so we could write a review) was a class assignment Teachers sent home letters to our parents, letting them know about this assignment, and hoping that it wouldn't be too much of an inconvenience for our families. It ran from 7:00 until 8:00 on a Sunday night.

My mother wrote back that I would only be watching the first half, since my bedtime was 7:30 on school nights.

(BTW, my father's family had been raised with G&S musicals and were all major fans too.) My teacher actually CALLED my mother and tried to convince her to let me stay up and watch the musical because I was such a good student and she wanted to read my interpretation. Nothing worked. Why? BECAUSE I SAID SO.

I wrote the best report I could based on the first half of that sparkling gem of a musical (and got an A, based on the circumstances.) But I'll never forget the resentment I still feel, nearly 60 years later. That was SO unnecessary!

Yes, some people have no idea how their actions can ripple down through the years. Especially unnecessary cruelness to children. It doesn't go away, people.

Haha, thanks, everybody. Does anyone have any about obeying the counsel of leaders? A lot of the "obedience" quotes I found have to do with obeying God, or obeying the commandments, which any TBM would find very reasonable. The trick is, they conflate obeying God with obeying the prophet, the apostles, the Bishop, the stake president, the Ensign, and all the Mormon cultural expectations. Basically, obedience to God means obedience to anyone in "authority" over you. They still claim not to be obeying blindly, though...

"I think, therefore I am". If we check our brains at the door, we cease to exist as human beings.

How about "Doubt Your Doubts" ?!!

Because I'm the Patriarch of the family. - My father.

"The Prophet can always be trusted."

"Mormons, do your duty!"

Bishop John D. Lee, Sept. 11 1857

"The submission of one's will is really the only uniquely personal thing we have to place on God's altar. The many other things we 'give' are actually the things He has already given or loaned to us.”
― Neal A. Maxwell

I tried to be a good little mormon but that talk really chafed at my soul. I remember asking other members how they dealt with this "replace your will with God's will" kind of stuff and never really getting any satisfactory answers. Based on experience, I was well aware that my local leaders didn't necessarily know what God's will was all the time.

Its hard to look back on what a brainwashed person I was. I felt so incredibly guilty for not being willing/able to vaporize my will and replace it with "God's" (whatever the hell that was). It just gave me such an uneasy, sick feeling.

But Mormonism isn't a cult. And I should never feel anger towards those abusive, manipulative, power hungry, nice guys who are just trying to help other people and make the world a better place.