Posted by:
messygoop
(
)
Date: August 13, 2020 11:15PM
Part of the endowment script (post 1990) had the charge to avoid loud laughter, light-mindedness and speaking ill of the leaders.
So was this part of the endowment ceremony with the pantomimes and death oaths-penalties or was it added as a way to scare members to refrain from being critical of church leaders' stupidity?
I did a quick G search of this topic and the top of the list is a talk titled "Criticism" by Oaks from 1986. I'm not surprised because the church was embroiled in the Hoffman scandal at the time and I'm sure the average member was wondering about this special priesthood power of discernment that FAILED!
Two interesting things from his talk. First, he expanded on B Packer's quote about the truth. “The fact that something is true is not always a justification for communicating it.” Secondly, 90% of his quotes were from extremely ancient church leaders from the 1930s and 40s. This suggests that this topic had rarely been addressed until the his talk in 1986. (Speaking ill has been a HUGE topic of church talks in the 2000s).
One last question: What is a student association fireside?
That was his target audience.