In 1994. Boyd K. Packer stated,

Not too many days ago, in a moment of great concern over a rapid series of events that demonstrated the challenge of those within the Church who have that feeling of criticism and challenge and apostasy, I had an impression, as revelations are. It was strong and it was clear, because lingering in my mind was: “Why? Why—when we need so much to be united?” And there came the answer: “It is permitted to be so now that the sifting might take place, and it will have negligible effect upon the Church.”

--Religion 370, 471 manual On churchofjesuschrist.org and the Gospel Library under Institute

"it will have negligible effect upon the Church.”

Isn't this just proof positive that he is a false prophet?

and then proceeded to talk about his impression as though it really was a revelation.

The more I read and hear about these guys talking about their "revelations," the clearer it becomes that at some point (I'd guess beginning with Joseph Smith), they simply redefined the word "revelation" for themselves in a way that literally means that any thought that pops into their head can be labeled a "revelation" if they decide they like that thought.

When you get down to the real substance of it, all it means is that the quality of their "revelations" are on par with a truck driver getting an impression that instead of pulling into the next truck stop to take a dump he should keep driving for another 60 miles to get to that cleaner truck stop that he has always liked...where he can then take a dump. And if, by chance, he just happens to meet Betty at the coffee counter there, then it will be an extra super-special "revelation".

The Gerontocracy always find a way to make it your fault; attribute it to your weakness.

Like the big "Sifting" right now. My TBM family sees the people leaving the church in droves as a fulfillment of the prophecy that a great many would fall away in the last days--fooled by Lucifer of course. The sifting inspires them to double down on their faith. There is no fact or reason you can sling at them that would ever fell their great faith.

Sometimes winning the game at all costs become more important than the integrity with which you play.

me: I still wanna know if the 1978 african male thing was a "revelation" or not ('policy change')

He weighed pros and cons, gave the matter some thought, discussed it with colleagues, got some impressions in his mind as to what the best course of action would be and finally reached a conclusion.

The conclusion was then and has ever since generally been referred to as a "revelation". This revelation is now part of scripture (i.e. the "standard works"), having been officially added to the Doctrine and Covenants as "Official Declaration 2".

Were any angels involved? No. Did the Holy Ghost provide a vision that added any profound and valuable knowledge or information on the subject? No.

The decision-making process was no different than the type of decision-making process that executives of Pizza Butt would rely on when deciding whether to introduce a new type of pizza crust. "You loved our cheezy-butt cheese crust! Now, you're going to go crazy for our peanut butter & super cheezy-butt cheese crust!!"

God didn't appear to Spencer. Jesus didn't appear to Spencer. Spencer didn't see any messages coming through the peepstone.

I'll tell you what was revealed to Spencer. Statistics. Statistics showing that the fastest growing and perhaps most important mission and growth area for the church (at that time) was Brazil. And virtually everyone who joined the church in Brazil had some African ancestry. Another thing revealed to Spencer was the advice of lawyers and public relations consultants concerning the increasingly adverse effects on the Church's image and goodwill if the ban was not cancelled.

Notice that Spencer's revelation didn't actually reveal anything. Nothing was explained. No confusion was cleared up. It was simply a matter of "well for 150 years or so we created this whole narrative about Africans being descended from Cain and being cursed and not being worthy of going to the temple or holding the priesthood because their spirits were not valiant in the war of heaven, but from June 9, 1978 onward, none of that matters anymore. We can forget about it. It's in the past. Who knows why it ever even was? Let's just focus on the future. "

All Mormon revelations are pathetic. Impressions. LOL.

Here's my impression...my impression of a Mormon prophet getting a revelation: "Oooh...oooh...look what I just pulled out of my butt! Why, I do believe it's a revelation!"

Sifted? Maybe grifted.

We are all the sifted,
Happy are we!
Happy are we!

So revelations are merely impressions ?
The bar continues to be lowered.

Sifted=Defloured

When I see the word, "sifting",I picture in my mind the times when I used my hand cranked little flour sifter to make cakes or pancakes. The sifter's purpose is to make the flour more refined and better than it was before being sifted. I'm glad to have experienced the process because now I feel like my common sense is better now. And all of us here are mighty fine people! :)

I think the leaders have had nothing but grief from members and I think that it's great! The church leaders have not had a smooth ride, but have had to deal with member and PR nightmares. Gone are the days when they could blame disaffected members for having a faith crisis. Now they have to accept that many members expect answers to their crappy church policies.

Shafted is more like it.

Ha!

Not too difficult to predict that there would eventually be some fall out for all the lies they covered up for so long.

Basically, the church lied and didn't totally get away with it. That's spinned as sifting.

The most gullible people are still in the church. The least gullible people are out of the church.

I think that, as sifting processes go, this sifting has been very effective.

When I sifted out all the sand, all that was left was Shiz ;)