Russell Nelson wasted no time in his haste to throw his fellow prophet, Gordon Hinckley under the bus by reversing Hinckley's "pro-Mormon" campaign to Nelson's "no-Mormon" policy. Why?

My conjecture: Nelson never liked Hinckley, considered him lesser in mental capacity and just a church drone-lifer who by luck and brown-nosing rose through the ranks to the prophet and lived to be 97 years before finally giving others a chance at prophethood. Nelson had to wait several more painful years for Monson to croak before finally and gleefully accepting the mantle of the prophet. Remember his shit-eating grin during his coming out press conference.

Background: Nelson was called as an apostle by church president Spencer W. Kimball, to whom he had served as a personal physician for many years. Nelson was sustained as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles on April 7, 1984, during the church's general conference. He was ordained an apostle on April 12, 1984, by Gordon B. Hinckley. At the same conference, Dallin H. Oaks was sustained as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve. Kimball died November 5, 1985 (aged 90) which means that Spencer Kimball was too ill to even ordain his new pet apostle.

On July 23, 1981, Spencer W. Kimball appointed Hinckley as a counselor in the First Presidency.[46] After first counselor N. Eldon Tanner died in 1982, Kimball did NOT appoint a new counselor. As the 1980s progressed, more of the day-to-day affairs of the First Presidency fell to the healthier Hinckley. By 1984, Hinckley was the only publicly active member of the First Presidency. I surmise that Kimball demanded Hinckley to call and ordain Nelson into the Twelve but that Hinckley was not thrilled. Also, Kimball wanted Nelson called and ordained first with Dallin Oaks to be called simultaneously but behind Nelson in the seniority protocol.

So we have Russell Nelson, a take-charge type of fellow having to subject himself to Gordon Hinckley (now serving as a defacto prophet because Spencer Kimball is too invalid for the duty) and watching Hinckley's antics which included a PR campaign to promote "Mormon" as a cool brand and tag, dedicate all of the new temples and then be embroiled in and embarrassed by the Mark Hofmann - Salamander Letter fiasco.

Nelson, wisely laid low during the Hofmann debacle and admired his buddy, Dallin Oaks for the way he extricated Hinckley from the legal jungle by concocting that face-saving plea bargain for Hofmann. By cleverly protecting the reputation of the office of prophet Oaks preserved that cherished calling for Nelson and most likely himself for future occupation.

In an effort to buy more time, Hofmann began constructing bombs. On October 15, 1985, he first killed document collector Steven Christensen, the son of a locally prominent clothier, Mac Christensen.[45] Later the same day, a second bomb killed Kathy Sheets, the wife of Christensen's former employer.

In January 1987, Hofmann pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder, one count of theft by deception for forging the Salamander Letter, and one count of fraud for the bogus sale of the McLellin collection. Hofmann agreed to confess his forgeries in open court, in return for which prosecutors in Utah and New York dropped additional charges against him. He was sentenced to five years to life, but the judge recommended that Hofmann never be released.

Conclusion: With Hinckley and his less than stellar performance as a prophet (add in the 2002 Olympic Scandal, those goofy interviews with Mike Wallace on Sixty Minutes and with Larry King) in Nelson's rearview mirror, and Monson dead, it was indeed the time for Russell Marion Nelson's glory moment and to captain the sinking ship to safe harbor.

Irony: When David Bednar assumes the mantel, he'll toss all predecessors under the bus, especially the prideful Nelson.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/21/2019 09:26AM by cricket.

I think you may be oversimplifying Hinckley's reign. In the 2000s he was pushing away from Mormon and towards LDS. Then came the Warren Jeffs fiasco, when the media kept speaking of the FLDS and the LDS, which made it easy to confuse the two. So Hinckley shifted back towards "Mormon."

Nelson isn't rejecting Hinckley so much as returning to an earlier phase of Hinckleyism, perhaps with a bit more anal concentration. But this new attempt at nominal revisionism won't work either, since Mormon is Mormon because of, you know, history and the Book of Mormon!

The LDS church needs to do what the RLDS did. Rename the church to a short, friendly Christian name. Community of Christ works great.

I think the church will always be compared to fundamentalists and controversial parts of it’s history without a complete name change.

Bouncing back and forth between Mormon and Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints does not work.

Russ thinks like a surgeon. He’s more anal because in his former life of work making a mistake could cost someone’s life. Hinkley was more laid back because if something doesn’t work in Public Relations you try something else. Nobody dies as a consequence.

I talked to a friend who is currently serving as bishop. He says a lot of members of his ward are struggling with all the changes. Russ’ “You haven’t seen anything yet” is making some members nervous. The church is their emotional security blanket and they don’t like Russ messing with it.

Russ very well could be around another ten years. I had a great aunt who lived to 104. At 95 she was in as good of shape as Russ is. Chances are very good that Bednar becomes prophet at an age where he will be prophet for many years. Those will be fun times. Bednar has a dark side to him. Where most church leaders have empathy for people who have seriously ill family members Bednar likes to ask,”If your spouse dies of their illness will you stay loyal to the Lord and be thankful for the trial?” Bednar is quite a sicko in that regard. People don’t need to hear that kind of pompous crap. They need a caring hug and someone who shares their pain.

Nelson just turned 95, I wonder how many years he's going to have left, and if he's going to go quickly or just slowly fade and let Oaks and Eyring take on more of the public duties, as previous counselors have done with senile presidents.

Anything can happen. He could quickly go. Heart failure or pneumonia usually take people that old. He could last another ten years where he slows down and disappeared. Then we get the announcement he’s passed on. It will be no different than Kimball or Benson.

a "shit-faced grin." It sure ain't a smile.

I'm hoping he isn't around much longer.

I know I shouldn't care, but he and his spiritual wife irritate the hell out of me.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/21/2019 10:24AM by cl2.

Remember that Oaks and Eyring are no spring chickens either -- both in their late 80s I think.

So, either of them -- especially Eyring, who doesn't appear that healthy -- could go before Nelson or become senile as counselors before him.

I think we all recognize what a likely Bednar presidency will bring, but Holland or even Dieter are possibilities, too, before him -- and it's not as clear which way they (Holland or Dieter) would take things.

I think his disdain for Hinckley came from day one. He had to be subordinate to the whims of the Hinkster and Nelson truly believes that he is/was 1000 times smarter than the dolt. From what I've read over the years, newly chosen members of the board (what they really are, not APOSTLES in any sense) are assigned the grunt assignments (less visible, perhaps controversial, most improbable such as opening China for missionary work). Then there's the reality of junior board members sitting quietly at the table with the possibility that their two cents are neither wanted nor valued. We can only speculate that the Hinkster and his presidency routinely put Nelson (possibly Oaks too) in their place. I think there's been two or more factions within the board (think of the Supreme Court). However, they are told to keep their animosities undercover.

They're Hinckley and the Brain,
Yes, Hinckley and the Brain,
One is a genius, the other's insane.
To prove their mousey worth,
They'll overthrow the earth.
They're dinky.
They're Hinckley and the Brain, Brain, Brain, Brain, Brain.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/21/2019 04:25PM by babyloncansuckit.

I know Nelson was a doctor, but I think Hinckley was more intelligent. He was a smooth operator. They do, however, have very different takes on Mormonism. Nelson is much more a fundamentalist or orthodox. Nelson, to me, is dumb in self awareness. Either doesn't understand or give a shit about how ridiculous he seems. Hinckley was well aware of others' perceptions.

Sometimes I wonder if either Nelson or Oaks regrets trading in their private sector opportunities for the the church executive model. While the church offers comparable compensation, they have inherited a broken church; which they serve until death. I don't think that any of them realized 30 years ago that they are going to have to actually meet regularly to deal with church problems that aren't going away anytime soon.

There are different sorts of intelligence. Nelson may have been a great surgeon, but Hinckley was a great PR mind and a great tactician. I'm not sure either had a sense of where the world was going or how to deal with the problems that have subsequently arisen, but for my money Hinckley as more cynical, more devious, and more intelligent.

Lot's Wife Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> There are different sorts of intelligence. Nelson
> may have been a great surgeon, but Hinckley was a
> great PR mind and a great tactician. I'm not sure
> either had a sense of where the world was going or
> how to deal with the problems that have
> subsequently arisen, but for my money Hinckley as
> more cynical, more devious, and more intelligent.

The problem is the product is lousy. Hinkley did his best to polish a turd but just ended up with shit on his hands. Now Russ is saying the shit is God’s law. Then Russ says he can change the shit because the restoration is ongoing. Maybe Russ will have The Second Vision which nullifies the First Vision. Russ cleverly opened the door to do whatever he wants. It’s God’s law but a God can change it and he will inform his prophet of the changes.

In other words it’s all one big spin game.

Nelson was a renowned heart surgeon...with a God complex....as many surgeons...especially cardio-thoracic surgeons possess. They regard themselves as being superior to us mere mortals because they hold the power of life or death in their hands every day in the OR.

Russ is an egg head. He compares the gospel to physical law. Hinkley had a public relations background. He was looking for common ground. Hinkley’s motto was keep what you got and let us add to it. Russ’ motto is truth is truth. The problem is Russ fails to see his truth is another person’s fantasy.

Anyways, he will leave his mark. Home teaching is now ministering. That will be Russ’ biggest accomplishment.

I've had the chance to meet GBH, SWK and TSM. TSM was a moron. Not so Kimball or Hinckley. I've worked in a couple of Fortune 500 companies, and Hinckley impressed me as a smooth operator who could have climbed to the top of a business operation ( and he did for that matter).

is the OP suggesting that personal matters c/would interfere with Building the Kingdom / Doing the Lord's Work here on Earth?

IDK if I can process this correctly...

In This Headline Wendy summed it all up:


"It Is as Though He Has Been Unleashed": Sister Nelson on President Nelson's Role as Prophet

As published in LDSLiving, by Katie Lambert | Oct. 30, 2018


This begs the question: Q. "unleashed" by whom? A. His predecessor.

...it just means his garments have fallen around his ankles...

skid marked, one piece garments.

Unhinged

The idea these guys love and respect each other is asinine.

Mark E. Peterson referred to Spencer Kimball as "the Runt". No love lost there at all.

David O. McKay took to task Ezra Taft Benson a number of times over his political BS - and told him he could only run for Vice President on the George Wallace ticket if he resigned from his calling - and quit church completely.

A number of run-ins caused problems with many at odds with Boyd KKK a number of times.

If you had a pack of dogs like that, they’d mark everything in sight.

A former member of a stake presidency told me they had a meeting with Boyd K Packer. The meeting went really well and everyone was in agreement. Boyd K Packer admitted Quorum of the Twelve meetings could get quite heated. He said they regularly had disagreements.

I don’t think it’s any different than the ward or stake level. We have all worked with people in the church we disagree with and don’t like. It really must suck when they guy you hate becomes prophet.