I used to think it was Bednar. He seemed smug and a little sweaty/smarmy. But now I think he is merely irritating and benignly psychopathic.

When I ponder it, I feel in my heart (which means it must be true) that Dallin Oaks is the most likely to lie and to demand that others lie too, the most likely to punish truth-tellers, the most anti-gay, anti-ordain women, etc.

I know Boyd K. Packer is much maligned, but I feel you at least know where he stands (which, by the way, is firmly on the side of Stan).

Oaks is older than the Oort cloud, but still strikes me as powerful and influential in the decisions the quorum makes.

Just a feeling, but as we know Feelings are Facts.

I think Bednar is pure evil and a young Boyd K. Packer, who is also a big mess. But the one that gives me the worst vibe is Jeffry Holland. I think he is seriously on the verge of some sort of breakdown because he is the one who cares the most about God and Jesus. Isn't he one of the only ones that has any sort of degree relating to being a religious leader rather than a medical or law degree? He knows he's not the "called of God" apostle he claims to be, he obviously knows the church is a hoax but, unlike the others, he seems like he honestly cares about serving God. This dark side of his career v. the light side of his persona seem at war and many of his talks and interviews give me the impression his personality is splitting over the diametric opposites of what he has to do v. who he is. He scares me because of what Mormonism is doing to him.

Holland transferred to Brigham Young University (BYU) where he graduated with a BA in English. He received an MA in Religious Education from BYU, while also teaching religion classes part-time. After earning his master's degree, Holland became an Institute of Religion teacher in Hayward, California. He worked as an institute director in Seattle, Washington. Holland attended Yale University and earned a second master's degree in American Studies, and later a Ph.D in the same subject. At Yale, Holland studied with American literary scholar and critic R. W. B. Lewis and authored a dissertation on the religious sense of Mark Twain.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_R._Holland

Thanks - I know it probably isn't the same as an ordained priest or minister get but it's a whole lot better than the other big shots in the Quorum of the Twelve.

That PhD is just a smidge (and only a smidge) more significant that getting a PhD based on Fat Albert.

Dallin Oaks. Prolonged eye contact could be hazardous to your health. He exudes evil.

Oaks. I was at BYU when he was prez. To me,it's all about the voice. Sanctimony must be contaigous because I heard a man give a talk at conference who I had grown up with. Nice guy, but when he opened his mouth, he sounded NOTHING like I remembered him. He had that sing-songy "I know best" voice. It was scary. They must require a class in how to talk like that. Sanctimony 101?

Thoughts of the 15 never enter my mind...

All the others molest people's minds. Bednar does that, and physically molests. Remember the video where he has that young boy in his tentacles.

Yes

Family background is academic scientists, and his initial degree is in physics but he pushes a church that believes in Kolob. I wonder if he switched to business for his masters because he knew he couldn't continue in physics in case he might have to find Kolob or Kokaubeam.

I have met most of them and David Bednar is the one that gives me that icky feeling, WAY MORE than the others, even Oaks and Packer. He is younger than most of them and will drive TSCC to its knees in myopic, dogmatic thinking. If he becomes profit, it will be a nightmare for our TBM family and friends.

The first time I saw Bednar I got the strong feeling that he'd be the last prophet. That was before my enlightenment and I figured my feeling came from the notion that he'd usher in the millennium. Now I understand why I got that feeling. He's the dude that will make TSCC implode.

BTW I used to think I was tuned into the spirit. Now I know that I simply learned to read people because I grew up with an abusive alcoholic dad. I could walk in the front door and immediately sense the tension level.

No mention of the Silver-Tongued Fox Uchtdorf?

He could take your wives at any time, just by asking!

Yeah, I doubt he'd need an angel with (or without) a flaming sword to get a woman in the sack.

You know, I always thought Neil Andersen was fairly benign until this past October conference. He may have been keeping a low profile to this point because of his relative newcomer status to the Q12.

But his talk last October really grabbed my attention. Anyone that can get up there and lie so brazenly really bares watching.

Conversely, if the cult has any hope of transforming itself into a benevolent organization that actually helps people rather than exploiting them, I would look to Christofferson, Eyring, and Uchtdorf.

Honestly though, I ain't holding out much hope of that. I think the whole thing is an irredeemable mess. The moderates that could possibly reform the church have mostly been driven out. This is true for both the leadership as well as the general membership.

I have seen Neal Andersen tell children after a stake conference to get out of his way. They were my children that wanted to shake his hand. We have never liked him since then. That was in 2010. He was walking in the hallway by the SP office.

Scott. He's the king of guilt. Always making people feel shame and regret.

Yes, the eerie way he stares into the camera always gave me the creeps, even as a TBM.

Uchtdorf

Possible Gestapo mentality.

The way that Bednar squeezed and frightened that boy angered me. I'd like to put Bednar under a pile of rocks and press the evil out of him like they did in Salem. I'm in a dark mood today, and I don't feel like playing nice.

If I had a time machine, every Mormon man who ever bullied me would suffer a beat down from a mysterious stranger. I would use my powers for vengeance, not money or property.

My father, a devout Mormon, is the worst enemy I've known. I have met men in jail cells and Army barracks who had more character.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/01/2014 03:41PM by donbagley.

I feel really bad every time I watch a video of Oaks speaking. And whenever I read anything that he writes. I can't get over the feeling that he is only and always out for power and control. And that he knows fully how dishonest he and TSCC are, and doesn't care. As long as he is in control.

That makes him the scariest to me.

Bednar is a close second, but I have this queasy feeling that he might actually believe what he teaches. In some ways, that's scarier, but in others, it sort makes me pity him a little. Very little.

Oaks --- no pity, just bad, bad vibes.

Oaks. He was president of BYU when I was there and they were torturing the gay kids with electroshock therapy. He has no conscience. The others are selfish pricks but he knows what he's doing. If there were a Satan I'm sure Oaks would be his idol.

This must be quanlified as hearsay, but I knew people who had meetings with him and he made it clear the school's reputation was all that mattered and individual students were expendable. Good reputation gets good donations. I look at his face and I see sociopath.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/01/2014 03:48PM by blueorchid.

I really dislike Packer and Oaks.

But... Packer is just a feeble, grumpy old man at this point. I can't imagine he'll live long enough to do much more damage.

Oaks is definitely power hungry, incredibly judgmental, and very condescending to the lowly membership (who happen to pay his generous "living allowance"). He is the one I can't stand to listen to anymore. Really tired of his legal-speak explaining how priesthood power works and how gay marriage will cause our entire civilization to collapse. He's a far cry from being the servant of the Lord he claims to be.

Bednar's a little more unsettling if you ask me, he just always has a look like, 'I know infinitely more than you and i'll enjoy watching you burn in hell... sorry, spirit prison'



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/01/2014 03:59PM by secularhumanguy.

Robert D Hales looks like Senator Palpatine.

The last time I watched Bednar talk, his eyes just looked like two black holes. No emotion behind them at all. He truly looked like a psychopath, just like OP said.

Elder Richard G. Scott gave me the worst feeling when he pinched my bosom so hard it stayed red for several minutes. I thought that would be the last time, but it happened again when I visited him after the last General Conference Weekend to help him unwind he said, I didn't think it would be to twist my nipples so hard. Elder Scott, stop it I said, but he just said, bow your head and say YES!

He did that to you too? That guy needs to be exposed for the nipple twister he really is. And that look in his eyes and soft voice while he does it. Ugh.

But, but, but!!! According to my TBM niece who is in the MTC: <quote> "I feel especially spoiled because guess who came and spoke to all the MTC's in the world last night?!?!? Elder OAKS!!! I think that was the first time in my life that I heard a General Authority speak live and I saw them in person. It was so cool. When he walked in the room the spirit was like boom, heavy. My body got all warm and I started to cry and it was just so overwhelming. I was like OK I get it. He's an apostle of Jesus Christ here in the flesh and how awesome is it that I get to hear him speak at the MTC." <end quote> Makes me want to slap her upside the head and knock some sense into her...but she will get plenty of that once she gets to her Dutch speaking mission, lol.

Personally, Oaks and Bednar tie for the most evil burning in the bosom. I've seen both of them in person. Oaks at the Provo temple with a very elitist assitude towards the average members. Bednar was the former stake president in NW Arkansas before we moved there and would humble himself to come back and occasionally speak at stake conferences...also an elitist assitude. Both gave off very evil vibes.

Oh, wow, eunice. Your quote, from the TBM niece is definitely cringe-inducing...The confirmation bias is sickening.

I remember meeting Oaks and he impatiently asked me where the 'Head of the institution' was at. He clearly had no interest in talking to lowly 'middle-managagment me'. The Head guy arrived and Oaks was super friendly with him, while totally ignoring me.

I was TBM still...Major cog dis moment.

Something about M. Russell Ballard rubs me the wrong way.

Spent some time with Bednar once and he was actually pretty nice. (Though I hear plenty of other people have had a very different experience).

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is an entity of momentum, ritual habits, see-what-your-neighbor-thinks, vote Republican, live the gospel fully Sunday and Monday and share leftovers with the poor, if convenient, or if others are watching.

Imagine being an Mormon Apostle today, knowing full well that Joseph Smith was a leech: the most hypocritical man of his generation. And at the same 2-hour meeting forced to testify of his noble nature. Or to sit still, appearing that all is well, while listening to this tripe. If such fails to incite complete indignation in you, nothing else will.

To countenance pure folly, thick, solid and layered fraud and mere gains at the expense of thoughtless memes, brainwashed from birth, no matter how clean and well-pressed, hard working and well-meaning...is a mockery of all that is good in man.

The church will collapse, and soon. Be far from the angry mobs when it does. Some men don't take being fooled intergenerationally well. To disgrace millions again and again is so dastardly, so atrocious and so vile that there is no longer any virtue whatsoever in the suits that sit so honorably, as servants of the Most High God.

Smite is the only proper response, unless God is also a fake, and enjoys the praise of the blind conformers, ad nauseum.

My deepest terror is that God is a Mormon. If so, I will burn forever. I will thirst as no other, eternally. Such is His love for me, if this church is true and if Joseph and Brigham were His very best, to lead us.

To follow a pervert to Hell seems a prank only Satan could pull off.

And angels...with swords? Flaming swords?

Freedom, indeed!

Packer, because of personal experiences with him and some of his family members. Their lies and manipulations ruined my life. I'm actually afraid of these people, so I remain anonymous on this board. People sense evil in Packer, for a good reason.

Everyone one of them are creepy in their own way - it's part of the reason I stopped going. But the creepiest, in my opinion, is Russell Nelson. I mean who would ask a woman to bare ten children for him, and then, when she died, marry another woman in the temple to replace her? What an emotional, abusive insult to his adult, living 10 children! I can't tell how many creepy social and family boundaries this tramples on. ECK!!!

I have two on my list. Holland and Oaks. I don't trust either one of them. I get the feeling they both know the church is a hoax.