Some previous church presidents ... at least pretended to care about individual members & try to make things right when mistakes were made; Uchtdorf's 'admission' about church mistakes gave me false hopes that might be done in the future, but Didn't / Hasn't happened.
We observe therefore that either:
Church errors aren't important, and/or
Leaders don't have the integrity to reverse or correct them.
Their authority is given to them by the members with no accountability. How would your thinking change if your boss let you do whatever you wanted? And fawned over you no matter how much you screw up?
It’s against the members’ own self-interest to have their church run by incompetent know-nothings. But the management structure practically demands it.
I would like to know how this coup of authoritarian nut jobs occurred.
to their logical conclusion, following the prophet is the ONLY thing that really matters.
If the prophet says he wants to marry your under-age daughter and boink her...JUST FOLLOW. You will be rewarded in the next life.*
If the prophet says go on a mission to the Republic of Diptheria and you go and within 2 weeks of living in horrific housing, arranged for you by a corrupt mission president who has been embezzling money, and contract a series of debilitating, chronic illnesses that will plague you for the rest of your life...JUST BE GLAD THAT YOU FOLLOWED. You will be rewarded in the next life.**
++++ Ultra-ultra microscopically small small-print disclaimer:
* Neither the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the "Church"), nor its officers, prophets, presidents, directors, apostles or other representatives or agents (collectively, the "Church Managers") have any responsibility for the "Next Life Rewards Program". The Next Life Rewards Program is managed as a wholly owned subsidiary of Elohim Industries. No contractual or other obligations of Elohim Industries to supply any rewards under the Next Life Rewards Program to any individual have been given and none are implied. Promises of next-life rewards made by the Church and/or any of the Church Managers are intended purely for religious entertainment purposes only. No legally binding warranties, guarantees, assurances or other commitments as to the actual existence or value of any rewards in the next life have been or ever will be given to any individual by the Church or by any of the Church Managers, notwithstanding any public or private statements purporting to expressly do so. All individuals/consumers of the religious entertainment provided by the Church and the Church Managers shall be solely responsible for the consequences of any reliance on any statements or promises made by the Church and the Church Managers. "Follow the Prophet" is a trademark owned by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. Unauthorized use is prohibited.
I can see that you are now beginning to more fully understand the Gospel. Joseph Smith and Brigham Young showed the way, but most of the flock were not spiritually ready to see and live the truth. ;o)
The Gospel is a racket. Your choice is to (a) play the racket, (b) be played by the racket, or (c) get out of the racket.
I had enough of a grasp on reason, logic and historical knowledge to see that I had to reject (b). My conscience and lack of a desire to exploit other humans made it impossible to choose (a). So my only real choice was (c). Most of my TBM friends and relatives have chosen (b), albeit on a nearly unconscious level in many cases.
Recoiling at these words, follow the prophet, was usually my reaction to this phrase. From my abusive home circumstances, I became an independent thinker, grasping some of mormonism to help me find a plan for happiness but disregarding much of it. I was young, in my teens and early twenties, when I "found" the mormonism that worked for me and it did not include "following" an old, old elderly man whom I very much hated the sound of his insincere humdrum voice and arrogant attitude. I'm sure that my attitude on the infallibility of "authority" had been colored and doomed by my fallible parents which made me have the perception and then the strength to question this doctrine of the church.