"...attracted hundreds of thousands of curious visitors to marvel at its grandeur...
...to be dedicated to serve its purpose as a house of the Lord.
...will be dedicated with a cornerstone ceremony on Sunday with the help of none other than an indirect descendant of Joseph Smith, founder of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints."
marvel at its grandeur? house of the Lord? none other than?
I'd be put off if the article was about, say, the (US) President dedicating a major library.
From what I understand, there are no authenticated JS descendants...? There has been much speculation among the various girls and women he bedded, but no verified descendent.
If I have this right, few or none of JS's direct descendants are now affiliated with tCoJCoLdS (Salt Lake), having affiliated with other post-JS latter-day-saint factions. Hyrum Smith, and thus his descendants, stayed with BY and are thus more available for offices such as "Ribbon-Cutter of the Month."
Perhaps there are JS descendants affiliated with the SLC church, but none came forward for the Pocatello ceremony.
I think in the immediate aftermath, none of JS's family went with the BY/LDS group, but with the RLDS.
The article linked below says:
"Kennedy said he and Jones have found almost 1,500 living descendants. Of those, 130 to 140 are Latter-day Saints with various degrees of church activity."
and
"While some Smith descendants are still part of the Community of Christ, those numbers are shrinking, he said, estimating that 'less than 5 percent' of descendants are now part of that faith."
It's not clear if "Latter-day Saints" includes only LDS, or if "various degrees of church activity" includes other branches too. Logically, it must include nearly inactivity (or member in name only), otherwise there would be no need to consider "degrees" of activity.
5% of their known descendants are still members of the RLDS/CoC, while 9% have some sort of church activity, presumably LDS.
In spite of the Des[p]eret News spin, the CoC is a much smaller group, so having 5% of JS's descendants as members is more significant (and long-term organic) than TSCC having recruited 9% over time, especially if through their awkward spinmeistering it really means 4% + the CoC's 5%. And it certainly means that some of them are not really active (typical LDS number manipulation). I'm surprised they don't just mail all 1500 copies of the Ensign and then claim them. ;)
There have been 2 huge hemorrhaging of members in CoC(aka RLDS) which involved giving women full participation status and acknowledging homosexuality wasn't a sin.
The descendants of JSJr didn't go west with the Brighamites. Several became leaders in the RLDS. Hyrum's spawn generally stayed mormon so they became more well-known (like the Ballards).
This is a Desperate News piece, but it presents a general overview -
I'm always surprised that this isn't more of a wake up call to Mormons, that Emma and the kids went with a different group, and that another group owns the special spot in Missouri, and that courts have sided against the LDS with these other groups (as the true beneficiary of what was Joseph's Myth).
"Michael Kennedy's wildest dreams could not have foreseen that dead ancestors would consume his life one day."
That's because he didn't grow up Mormon, otherwise being consumed with dead ancestors would have been no surprise at all! ;)
"Emma does not want sympathy," Kennedy said. "Empathy, maybe, but not sympathy."
So, before converting he had no idea who these people were, and now he presumes to know what Emma Smith wants (in the present tense). Does he speak to her in the temple? Good grief. I want to vomit.
The real irony here is that he's reaching out to the RLDS, when if they have found him first, he'd probably have joined them instead.
Speaking of dead ancestors, the notion of non-living GA's above has given me an idea!
Imagine augmenting the missionaries and senior missionaries with a new category: Deceased Missionaries! Man, no food or lodging costs. Just a little more temple work to get it going.
For me this brings up a question. Does Rusty ever entertain? Have dinner parties? Does his schedule allow for private parties where he can show people his lighted pen?
Direct Descendant: a biological descendant of a person.
Indirect Descendant: a blood relation, but not a biological descendant of a person. Used by some people because it sounds better than "third cousin, twice removed" or similar relationships
This descendent seems to be able to be less stalwart.
"“I have been called ‘less of a Mormon’ multiple times over my life. Mormonism is in my blood. It’s who I am. I will always advocate for it to be better. I am Joanna Smith because I’m a literal descendant of Joseph Smith,” she said. “Religions in the US should not be interfering with legal proceedings. A statement like this puts the prophet above the law… Our prophet doesn’t need to be telling us when we can tell the truth and who can we tell the truth to.”" https://www.fox13now.com/news/local-news/fox-13-investigates-lds-church-urges-leaders-to-not-participate-in-any-type-of-court-case