Ii is common practice nowadays for Mormon Church General Authorities who are contacted by inquiring LDS members about, say, doctrinal questions, to instead tell these members to contsct their local bishop or branch president for answers to their concerns.

In other words, these GAs are simply demonstrating that they're Specisl Wimpnesses for Christ.

That is what the Spencer W. Kimball First Presideny eventually did to me.

Rather than directly answering my questions that I had specifically put to Kimbsll in a series personal correspondence to him on the official Mormon Church position on organic evolution, the Kimball First Presidency did an end-around by contacting my local bishop on officisl Church letterhead, directing him to answer my questions for them.

My bishop subsequently called me into his office, showed me (and then gave it to me for my possession) that First Presidency Profile in Buck-Passing, confessing to me that he didn't know enough about the subject to render an informed opinion.

So, I asked my bishop if I could write the First Presidency and repeat my questions that I had most recently asked of them, telling them by way of preface that my bishop had recommended that I write the First Presidency one last time in seeking answers from the First Presidency to my questions.

My bishop agreed, so I dispatched a final letter to The Big Three.

The uninformed, unequipped and uninspired First Presidency answered me . . . with deafening silence. to put it in Mormon lingo, "Abinadi went bye-bye."

It, put another eat, "Stupid is as stupid does."

That is no excuse for us to do the same.

I urge others with questions they want answered to directly confront the Mormon Church its highest levels and to not be discouraged by LDS Inc.'s persistent ducks and dodges.

LDS Church members and critics alike must continue to pressure the cowardly LDS High Command That Won't Take a Stand, as it preferring to squat in their isolated sanctuaries high atop the Mormon Church power pyramid where they refuse to be held personally accountable to Church members for explaining official Mormon doctrine to them.

How to smoke 'em out?

Answer: Be prepared, be pointed, be persistent and, if necessary, be be willing to go public.

I caution those interested in contacting the bloviating Blue Suits of Mormonism not to get sidetracked into the weeds of whatever books various GAs may be peddling at Mormon endorsed and/or funded bookstores.

and don't buy their line that "This is not necessary for your salvation." If it's not necessary for your salvation then why when the hell was it made official Mormon doctrine in the first place? In your searches for answers, stay focused like a laser on, and confine your sources to, Mormon Church statements that represent officially constructed Mormon Church pronouncements--as these official stamps of approval come from any of the following sources:

(1) statements from the First Presidency, speaking as a body;

(2) statements from the past and present presidents of the Mormon Church, made when these fellas were the actual Mormon Church president; and

(3) joint statements issued in simultaneous concert by the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve, speaking together, and specifically on the matter at hand.
_____


If you cannot locate such statements and/or pronouncements, ask in your letter to the targeted GA the following:

(1) Do, in fact, such statements/pronpuncements exist?;

(2) If they do exist, where can they be found, where can they be accessed, what exactly do they say that can be correctly concluded to be the officially-stamped doctrinal position of the Mormon Church?; and

(3) If these statements do not exist, why not?
_____


If the GA with whom you are corresponding cites canonized Mormon scripture back to you, ask him:

(1) if those scriptural referemnces represent the present, standing official position of the Mormon Church on matters of doctrine; and

(2) if that is the case, where that fact can be verified, through available sources, as having been so described by past or present presidents of the Mormon Church who made such affirmations of other official declarative status when they were president of the Mormon Church.
_____


If you have canonized scriptures of your own that you would like to cite to the GA, then do so while asking:

(1) if these scriptures that you quote do, in fact, represent the current official position of the Mormon Church on your particular topic of focus; and

(2) if not, why not?
_____


Be polite, prepared, steady, specific, reasoned,
tenacious--and don't take a personal GA testimony as an answer.

In other words, think of maybe saying something along these lines:

"Show me the meat. Don't give me the milk. I'm not playing games here. Give it to me straight and in full because:

"1) I've done my homework;

"2) paid my tithing;

"3) attended the temple;

"4) worn my garments;

"5) filled my callings:

"6) said my prayers;

"7) read my scriptures;

"8) obeyed all the commandments I know of:

"9) studied your General Conference talks and those of your colleagues: and

"10) expected to be blessed for my efforts.

"So, dammit, bless me. i've done my part. Now you do yours: Produce the goods like a good prophet, seer and revelator should.

"Oh, and a warning: If you don't, I'm going to the media, where your garments won't protect you."








Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 12/02/20

Excellent points, Steve. Ask for direct answers and settle for nothing less. I got less and I left.

A comment on milk over meat: It ain't the meat, it's the motive.

... which leads to individual independence and action when people discover that the milk is shallow, disingenuous, designed to misdirect and ultimately worthless.

The meat that the Mormon cult hides are the facts about its folk magic invention and its racist, masonic, misogynistic, patriarchal, homophobic, anti-individualistic, anti-science, and anti-intellectual doctrines.


Mormon meet is for mindless, manipulable meatheads.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 12/04/2016 07:12AM by steve benson.

Good article Steve. I agree 100% about the need to hold mormon leaders accountable. At first, I didn't notice your name as the OP on this one. At first, when I read that the church leaders in Salt Lake sent your local leaders a request on church letterhead that they address your questions, I was shocked. Generally speaking, the church just doesn't do that unless they want a Bishop or Stake President to excommunicate someone, and then it's probably not done in writing. If you hadn't been the grandson of the prophet or soon-to-be prophet at the time, your request would have been ignored as the rest of us would have been. But as Mormon royalty (whether or not you wanted that title), a potential apostacy of you, was a big public relations risk for the church. The leaders in Salt Lake needed to prepare your local leaders to prepare to excommunicate you if necessary, to contain the damage if you went public with anything that could diminish their credibility. I am sure they had at least one discussion with your grandfather on the topic at the time too. You beat them to the punch by resigning before giving them a good enough reason to excommunicate you.

Although you are correct in wanting to hold the church leaders accountable. It's like watching the old Perry Mason episodes. When they finally trap the perpetrator in court, he jumps up and says "yes, I did it, and I am glad I did it", except in real life, it never works that way. In real life, the perpetrator always goes down with his ship, clinging until the end that he is innocent. Neither the truth nor real absolute proof is even relevant to them. But the value in holding them accountable is in publicly discrediting them, to help others from believing in their lies.

The letter from the First Presidency to my bishop is in my possession. Below is the text of that letter along with related correspondence to that letters, all of which I previously posted on RfM:

--First Presidency letter to My Bishop

“The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Office of the First Presidency
Salt Lake City, Utah 84150

"September 22, 1980

"Bishop David L. Allen
Lehi 5th Ward
Mesa Arizona Lehi Stake
447 West Sunset Circle
Mesa, Arizona 85201

"Dear Bishop Allen:

"Enclosed is a copy of a recent letter from Brother Stephen R. Benson, who it is understood is a member of your ward.

"As you will see, Brother Benson inquires about the attitude of the Church toward organic evolution. We shall appreciate it if you will contact Brother Benson and discuss this matter with him. To assist you in your discussion, we are enclosing herewith a copy of the statement issued by the First Presidency which appeared in the Improvement Era, Volume 13, pp. 75-81, on the subject of the origin of man.

"Brother Benson has given permission for a copy of his letter to be sent to you.

"Sincerely yours,

"[signed]

"Spencer W. Kimball
N. Eldon Tanner
Marion G. Romney
The First Presidency”
-----

After nearly two years of playing mail tag with Kimball, I was back to square one. The Kimball First Presidency had sent to my bishop, without guidance or explanation, the 1909 First Presidency statement—the same one that I had originally sent, at his request, to Kimball after he told me he wasn’t familiar with it.

When my bishop received the letter from the First Presidency, he didn’t know what to do. He told me he didn’t know enough about organic evolution to give me any advice and wasn’t sure on how to properly interpret the 1909 First Presidency statement that Kimball and Company had sent along to him to aid in his consultations with me.

So, he suggested I write Kimball one last time:

“November 7, 1980

"President Spencer W. Kimball
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
47 East South Temple, #102
Salt Lake City, Utah 84111

"Dear President Kimball:

"Thank you for the First Presidency letter, sent through my bishop, regarding the attitude of the Church on organic evolution (22 September 1980, to Bishop David L. Allen, Lehi 5th Ward, Mesa Arizona Lehi Stake).

"The following request for clarification of certain points in that letter is made on the recommendation of my bishop, with whom I discussed the letter at length. The bishop also recommended that this be my last inquiry (for which, no doubt, you are understandably grateful), and that I abide by whatever counsel you may see fit to give. This I am quite willing to do, knowing that your time is valuable and there are other topics of more importance to salvation that deserve our respective attentions. I will, therefore, be as brief and, yet, as specific as possible.

"Thank you for enclosing in your reply a copy of the 1909 statement by President Joseph F. Smith and his counselors, entitled 'The Origin of Man.' I have read it often and believe it to contain many beautiful and eternal truths. Please do not interpret this as a spirit of boastfulness, but I have been aware of the 1909 statement for some time and, as you may recall, provided you with a copy of its complete text, as you requested, in February 1979.

"Much of the discussion among Church members concerning the official Church position on the theory of organic evolution has centered on this very statement. Many divergent views have been expressed as to what allegedly is or is not the official Church position on the theory and to the connection between that position and the 1909 statement. Some members, for instance, claim that the 1909 statement definitely condemns organic evolution as false. Others say that it does not. Whatever claim is correct, such interpretations seem to be to be based largely on speculation.

"Since the reply from the First Presidency to my bishop contained no explanation as to the proper interpretation to be applied to the 1909 statement, I remain, in all honesty, confused. Without an attendant explanation of how the 1909 declaration should be viewed, it is my feeling that it remains subject to the same kind of private and, perhaps, inaccurate interpretation that has often been the source of disagreement among Church members.

"May I emphasize here that the above observations are mine alone and certainly may be subject to error. I do not wish to appear to be telling the First Presidency what to put in their letters or to be calling into question the wisdom of their replies. I simply feel that I have traveled ‘full circle,’ so to speak, without having obtained in my own mind a clear picture of the official Church position on the theory of organic evolution. Only for this reason have I sought additional insight.

"My bishop has acknowledged that I appear to be in somewhat of a dilemma. In our discussion, he told me that, in his opinion, many topics, including organic evolution, are speculative in nature, due to an absence of complete revelation from the Lord and that, therefore, such topics can be argued for or against, depending on which side, and even on which scriptures, one chooses to base a particular viewpoint.

"Nevertheless, the bishop emphasized that these represented only his personal opinions and, therefore, thought it would be of value for me to approach you this one last time. I must admit that I agree with him on taking this step. So many individuals, President Kimball, have told me their various, and often contradictory, versions of what supposedly is or is not the official Church position on organic evolution, each invoking their own scriptures and Church authorities, that my attempts to sift fact from fiction have, more often than not, led to frustration and disappointment.

"Would it be proper, then, for me to ask candidly if the 1909 statement should be regarded as officially condemning the theory of organic evolution, as some Church members claim it does, or is there perhaps some other conclusion that might be drawn? I would not even be disappointed to learn that, as a Church, we simply do not yet know the answer to that question, if such be the case. (In posing these questions, I am assuming, based on the First Presidency’s letter to my bishop, that the 1909 statement remains the official position of the Church. Enclosed for your reference, however, are copies of statements made since 1909, by President Joseph F. Smith in 1910 and 1911 and by the Grant First Presidency in 1925, all of which deal with the Church view on evolution).

"I sincerely want to avoid any inaccuracies in my conclusions and would very much appreciate clarification on these points, if and how you see fit.

"Thank you for your indulgence. May the Lord continue to bless you in your work, and I hope your legs feel better.

"Respectfully, your brother,

"[signed]

"Stephen R. Benson
1455 North Alma School Road, #7
Mesa, Arizona 85201

"enc/srb”


(Kimball did not reply).
-----

--My Sixth and Final Letter to Kimball

I waited for three-and-a-half months for a reply. Hoping against hope that perhaps Kimball hadn’t answered because my letter had gotten lost in the mail, on 24 February 1981 I sent him another copy of it with the following note:

“Dear President Kimball:

"This inquiry is simply a follow-up to a letter mailed to you on November 7, 1980. Having received no response to that letter, I fear that perhaps it may have never reached your desk. If not, then this correspondence will serve as a substitute. If, in fact, you did receive it and have thought it best not to respond, please forgive me for sending yet another letter.”


(No reply).

Kimball died five years later.
-----

Source: http://www.exmormon.org/mormon/mormon198.htm


*P.S.--

I do not agree with your assertion that I would have been excommunicated from the Mormon Cult prior to my 1993 voluntary resignation from it. The historical record during this time period bears me out.

Like it or not, family connections within the inner circle of the Mormon Cult's presiding hierarchy have been and are, a very important reality and play a very significant role in how these so-called "elite" family members of the so-called "royal ruling class" are treated and benefitted in terms of high level acceptance, tolerance, treatment, deference and, in the end, protected status.

During the time I was corresponding with Kimball and Company about the Cult's official position on organic evolution, my grandfather was president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. As such, he was actively encouraging me to write Kimball asking for explanation and clarification of the Mormon Cult's certified stance on the theory of organic evolution. In fact, my grandfather helped facilitate my communication with Kimball bypersonally passing on to Kimball my first letter to him.

While my grandfather was LDS president, I was openly and harshly criticizing the Mormon Cult for the way it was lying and otherwise misrepresenting the actual deteriorating state of my grandfather's mental and physical condition. I expressed that opposition to the LDS Cult's deception through the media, as well as personally chided LDS PR spokesman Don LeFevere for deliberately not telling the truth. His response to me was, "This is a difficult job."

My criticisms of the Mormon Cult in this regard received wide press coverage both locally and nationally. In response, many members of the Mormon Cult angrily contacted me to condemn what I was doing. Many said I should be excommunicated or otherwise punished.

On another front, msny Mormons were also upset with my public criticisms of then-Mormon governor of Arizona, Evan Mecham, who was eventually impeached, convicted and removed from office by the state legislature for high crimes and misdemeanors.

Some of them wrote my grandfather's Salt lake office, demanding
that I be hauled before an LDS disciplinary council. They demanded, at the very least, that I be removed from all of my positions of authority and responsibility within the Mormon system of leadership. A couple of especially wacky Mormon activists inform my grandfather's office that if it did not move to punish me, they would do so in local LDS ecclesiastical court.

The Mormon Cult refused to act.

Accusing me of mocking the sacred symbols of the LDS Cultb and misusing my "God-given talents," my stake president at the time eventually removed me from my position on the High Council--after receiving a personal phone call from General Authority, H. Burke Peterson, who was inquiring of him about my anti-Mechsm cartoons and how they were affecting Arizona Mormons. Truth be told, in some fanatical LDS circles they were causing an uproar. The stake president insisted that the GA's personal phone call to him had absolutely nothing to do with his decision to remove me from the High Council. I told him I didn't believe him and informed him that if I had the chance to do the same cartoon in the future, I would do so.

Again, the excommunication Alex did not fall.

The stake president later said, after he had booted me from the High Council--that my cartoons were getting better. I responded by reminding him that he wasn't my boss. All said, he never made any move to warn me about possible ex-ing if I didn't repent and certainly never acted to do so.

Despite the brouhaha created by my cartoons in Mormon Land, neither was any action taken by LDS Cult headquarters in Salt Lake City. This despite the fact that I criticized Mormon governor Mecham for using his religious faith in pursuit of his personal political agenda.

My grandfather, in fact, called me directly from home base SLC asking me, "How is our man doing?" I replied that he wasn't doing very well and over the next 30 minutes explain why in detail. My grandfather did not criticize me; rather, he quietly thanked me for the information and hung up.

I later learned from my father that my grandfather had said that Mechan was his own worst enemy and that he was damaging his credibility by personally attacking his political opponents.

My grandfather's personal office manager, Gary Gillrspie, also called me to inform me that certain Arizona Mormons asked my grandfather to take disciplinary action against me. The office manager could not believe, he said, how loony these Motmons were acting in making the Mormon Church look foolish.

In an unrelated matter, my grandfather both phoned and wrote me to complain about a cartoon of mine lampooning the Mormon Cult over its dishonest mishandling of the Mark Hofmann bombing scandal. I was told that my grandfather had been made aware of this cartoon through a possible Boyd K Packer bringing it to his attention. My grandfather subsequently told me to "go easy on the Church," but he never threatened to excommunicate or otherwise punish me.

That was also the case with regard to another concerned bishop, who went so far as to ask for an outdoor meeting with me, but once we got together he just beat around the bush.

A different stake preseidrnt (who had been my younger brother's mission president and Wh o later became a GA assigned overseas) was upset over my public cartoon commentary advocating for equal rights for Mormon women. He compared me to Korihor in a personal meeting he had with me at his request in his home office, and warned me that if I did not straighten up and draw right, I would be taken down by Satan and subjected to the same spiritual destruction that befell the trampled-to-death Korihor. He never threatened to excommunicate me, though.

A locally-based Mormon regional representative invited me to lunch, where he accused me of being like radio-broadcasting Christian evangelical enemies of the Mormon Cult who were exposing the secrets of the LDS temple ceremony.

But it was all talk and no action. He didn't threaten to have me excommunicated, eitherr.

I was not the only member of the Benson clan to receive special hands-off treatment. One of my relatives confessed to having engaged in serious moral sins and acknowledged that he was responsible for initiating the offenses that involved another consenting Mormon. This namesake relative told his stake president that he deserved to be excommunicated.

In response, he was assured by the stake president that no relative of us Ezra Taft Benson would be excommunicated. Ironically enough, this relative told me of this experience in the parking lot of the stake center on the day of my grandfather's funeral.

Based on the above facts, there was no way in Mormon heaven or hell yhat I would have been excommunicated from the Mormon Cult. I was too much of a public figure for the PR-obcessed Mormon machine to forcibly jettison my butt to Kingdom Come. I could--and did--avail myself (rightly so) of media redources because I was a member of the media, not to mention the oldest grandchild of the president of the Mormon Cult.

Due to the accident of birth, I was deliberately treated with kid gloves.



Edited 6 time(s). Last edit at 12/04/2016 12:16PM by steve benson.