I had to laugh at this and didn't want to derail the thread.

"It also shows the church does not trust it’s members."

https://www.exmormon.org/phorum/read.php?2,2393601,2393640#msg-2393640

The church is one of the oldest modern day cults is not the oldest and by the distance to Kolob the richest.

Cults in my opinion inherently don't trust their acolytes regardless of how many generations they have been ones.

Cults create circles within circles in a person ascending to the top of the cult's pyramid. Every point in the ascension is only passed via loyalty tests administered from leaders.

Tom Phillips is a mystery to me. Here is a man who ascended but did so without I believe understanding the language used (passive aggressive testing I think.)

He wasn't earmarked for higher leadership but seems to have done a lot of work at some of their higher levels without being properly vetted. I guess one can get a Second Anointing without being thoroughly vetted by the highest leaders.

But Tom is also an example of someone they put misplaced trust in from just the work he did and people he influenced and not some friend of a friend vouching for them and passing interviews with upper echelons.

I once read here that Gordon Hinckley had an intense dislike for the rag tag run of the mill membership. I think if this is true it is indicative of Mormonism's distrust and dislike of regular people. Maybe Mormonism has passed some point where it is now as accepted as Catholicism by most people. That would be sad. It is as much a cult today in my opinion as when Joe Smith decided to attempt flying to Kolob. He trusted people like William Law but also Bennett and Rigdon both of whom were bent on outshining Joe at his own game.

So trust isn't in the picture for authoritarianism and that probably includes all cults. Maybe there are kinder and gentler ones but not Mormonism. It is a strong rule by a strong man and any littler men who can't be belittled into submission are replaced. And all of the people below them are seen as marks more than members.

Well if you ran a cult/company that had that much money and power, wouldn't you wish for a higher grade of followers? Someone on the level of sophistication that you assume you have? What you got are the people you are duping. Who wants to hang with them?

Done & Done Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Who wants to
> hang with them?

Obviously not Hinckley. He want to Germany during a big erection and said this.

“well brethren, you aren’t much to look at, but you’re all the Lord’s got!”
http://latterdaysaintmag.com/article-1-13655/

Insightful comment.

When you are running a long con you N E V E R trust the mark

The last time I gave a talk in Church it was a talk about the life of Jesus
After the talk I had 5 members independantly tell me it was the best talk they had heard in years.
I believe the reason was that I actually had something to say as opposed to reading the last conference talk of a GA.
I find that most of the talks that I have heard in recent years are a direct plagiarism of somebody elses thoughts.
Doesn't anybody think anymore?
(yes due to housing arrangements I still have to put up a front and attend)



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/13/2021 12:40PM by thedesertrat1.

The fact the church has a handbook to dictate member behavior, norms and expectations is a good indicator of what it thinks of its volunteers.

I think it was Ballard or Packard who stated that missionary communication - the phone call (when it was only twice a year- Xmas and Mothers day) should be LIMITED to no more than 10 minutes.

Correlation and those SS, RS, PH handbooks guide the lesson so members only go through the approved church message.

Inspired leaders create inspiring programs which produce inspirational people. I don't think it has worked out much of my life.

When I was younger I could see inspiration easier. Now it amounts to having been able to talk to my kids weekly on their missions and a reduction in time at church.

If they don't trust the members, then they know they are lying.

Yes, but when the most important person to lie to is you...well.

Although . . . I have to admit that I don't trust the church's members either.

While we are on the topic of trust. I don't trust myself. I think the Second Anointing is designed to make people trust themselves as if they were their own God.