My father was social, friends with a few church big wigs, the grandson of an apostle, and willing to obey at any price.

Why didn't he climb their ladder?

I've thought about this a lot. My mother practically banked on my father climbing the ranks and she was disappointed. Sometimes I wonder if her confessed anger at him molesting their adopted daughters was more about him losing the highest rank he got at the time he was caught. He was a MTC branch president because he personally knew the guy over the MTC.

My mother displays his paraphernalia from his time at the MTC.

Sad, but I think I've gotten a hold of what it is about Mormon leadership that is different from the Joseph Smith cult and the evangelicals with the mega churches.

The patriarchy of the Mormon church is so corporate that it mirrors any other corporation in the sense that middle managers climb to the top. The money isn't just sitting there waiting to be pillaged. It is a sign and symbol of the patriarchy. Like market share, market capitol, or even coolness in the market is for other corporations. Mormons have their men in black.

In thinking about how my father didn't fit in I recall how he wasn't one of the boys. He didn't have some overarching need for validation in a hierarchy. He was not a team sports player. He always marched to his own drum but filled those goose stepping priesthood boots as well as he could.

I know imagine LDS corp a little boys club with no girls allowed and a 100 billion jar in that club house that not many could steal from because it is all about the corporation and not the corporate soul no matter how powerful he is.

No Joseph nor Brigham coming back to mingle the gods billions into billions of their own.

No one steals from their club, not even once.

You are correct, it is nothing more than a club. My mother went on and on about the club when I was growing up. But as I got into my late teens, it became obvious.

Every ward I was part of, I could list the group, and like clockwork, it just rotated between the auxiliaries. And when the golden family would move in, you just added them to the list.

I was told that I could not be a High Priest (when it was still around), because I did not have the right attitude. But I did service projects, installed floors, fixed various things, drywall, electrical, replaced baseboards at my expense, etc, etc. I also was known to buy groceries for families in need. One time I donated my laundry appliances to one family who was in dire need, and more than once a sofa or bed here and there. At that time, I was still attending and had perfect attendance. But did a single "inspired" priesthood holder show up at my house while I was in the middle of dealing with my wife's cancer?

So yea, unless you do that Mormon smile, talk softly, do that fake earnest handshake, and goose step to every command of your bishopric.......you are not worthy.

My Mission President climbed the LDS Leadership ladder in the late 1990s. I know that the top leaders took notice because he was promoted to the Q70, then abruptly released- I don't think he and 5 others had served their full term.

So maybe he wasn't a team player.

I actually suspected that maybe others noticed that he drank too much of the Mormon Kool Aid.

As MP, he really brow-beated missionaries for questioning apostles meeting Jesus in the temple, the authenticity of the BoM and other doubts.

While I loathed his use of fear and intimidation tactics, I will state that he was a true scripture-master in looking up verses and using prayer.

My conclusion is that he believed "too much" in the Mormon folklore and was a poor fit for future upward mobility. Maybe he did his church assignments too darn well.

What could get messier than an Apostle believing he had the power to heal people?!  I think the church knows better than to let people like that run around loose...

I really don’t care what people believe as long as their beliefs don’t negatively impact others. When my wife and I were first married we rented a house. Our neighbors were Hare Krishna’s. We found them strange but they were great neighbors. Always polite and nice. They took good care of their property. We got along fine.

I believe in free agency. People need to choose their own beliefs. The problem I have with the LDS church is they preach free agency but don’t practice it. It’s not an easy organization to wiggle out and away from.

I have no problem with church’s that want to study the Bible, do some charity and have some activities. I get wary of church’s who say their leaders are Prophets of God and only they have the truth and everything else is a fraud.

I can find fault with any organization. I can make arguments that Christmas and Easter are pagan holidays. But I enjoy Christmas and I love the big Easter egg hunts that are a family tradition.

The world ain’t perfect but have some fun and accept some of the flaws. Have a sense of humor. I've been hearing people complain about the same problems my whole life and those problems still exist. But in that time I have made friends and had great relationships and had a lot of fun. Is the world any better than it was 50 years ago? Not really. It just changed. Some things got better. Other things got worse.

As long as the waters flow
and indoor toilets are a go,
I'll love life just fine.

But if waters don't flow
and I can't dependably go.
we'll be no better than swine.



Imagine having chapel cleaning duty and fighting over who has to clean the outhouses ~ ~ ~