I'm a history addict. I'm not on a 12-step program; I'm NOT a friend of Bills.

so; I was doing a bit of armchair research regarding the 'position' of ChurchCo regarding (get this) WWII.

I found a book about it, 'saints at war'.
IMO, it's typical LDS propaganda, it's a series of sketches about LDS military members in WWII...

Remarkable? the book explains how LDS leaders decry war as a way of handling disputes, bemoans the costs, human & financial. DOMckay is quoted in a church publication as saying (para) War is Bad.

If you care to see my review (and RfM allows it):
http://www.amazon.com/Saints-War-Experiences-Latter-Day-World/product-reviews/1577349474/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1

This should be compared/contrasted with the ABSENCE of unambiguous, unequivocal statements regarding Korean Viet Nam, Iraq, etc.

Memo to ChurchCo: WAR IS HELL, regardless of whether/not you agree with it! (GASP) people get KILLED & Injured, lives of individuals & families are disrupted; some people get RICH, most suffer. I think... ChurchCo gave WWII their 'seal of approval' because it was started by others; we were defending our own territory, etc.

O.K., I got it. Keep in mind, this is written from the U.S. perspective (DUH); I didn't see any mention of Helmuth Huebner and his 'problem' with being against Hitler & Facism...Oops!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/07/2011 02:42AM by guynoirprivateeye.

Why would the only organization on earth that is led by the one and only truly authorized spokesman for the almighty creator of the universe and heavenly father of each and every one of us...ever have anything to say about such trivial things as war and industrial scale death and wholesale destruction of nations?

Surely, you must realize that there are higher priorities to be attended to. There's a shopping mall that needs to be built in downtown Salt Lake City, there are children and relatives of General Authorities who need to be placed in secure and prestigious jobs, there are young people getting tattoos and ear piercings. More importantly, some men are still not wearing white shirts on Sunday. And as if that is not enough to convince you of how trivial your concern is, get this...some people are drinking green tea and don't even realize that God doesn't want them to.

Well, I'm pretty sure you feel chagrined now. Bringing up your little war issue when there are so many more important things for God's Prophet to be concerned about.

After he went to DC to listen to Bush about the coming Iraq invasion, the Hinkster said in GC that he didn't know what was coming, or how long "it" (everyone knew we were going to bomb Iraq) would last. And then he launched into an anecdote about a loyal patriotic young member who enlisted for his family's freedoms' sake, and how noble and heart touching (Heartsell tm) such military service is. ("Did I do good, George?")

Hardly a condemnation of the war, the war industry or it's fake wars.

Guys like Hinckley and Monson were/are big fishes in the little pond of Mormonism (ChurchCo), but are little fishes in the big lake of KleptCo.

KleptCo is like Yum! Brands Inc., which owns Taco Hell, KFC and Pizza Butt. In turn, each of the major subsidiaries of KleptCo have their own subsidiaries. For example, in this analogy, if Pizza Butt represents the religion subsidiary of KleptCo, ChurchCo is a small regional subsidiary within the Pizza Butt group.

;o)

I recall reading Quinn's "Extensions of Power" where Heber J. Grant was critical of the draft. More though to prevent impressionable Mormon men from being removed from Zion than anything else.

I remember before I was deployed to Iraq with my guard unit we had a fireside where a local leader actually bragged about how he had once joined the same National Guard Unit we were in during the Viet Nam War so he wouldn't get drafted.We were impressed. I remember Hinkley stating during a conference just after the invasion of Iraq that all LDS serviceman needed to be sure not to "cheat" on their wives while they are gone....Truly a visionary.....They sent me in the mail a DVD about some RM that got activated to go to Iraq. His uniform was worn wrong and he clearly looked as though he had never been in uniform.

It has been my experience that the Mormon world is very patriotic but fighting is best left to non-Mormons and the "less active". Not the sort of work to be performed by the "Lord's Chosen People".

My mission president is interviewed in Saints At War. I would believe only half of what he said. He's the German. He'd loved to twist the truth and break the law. While he was a mission president he and an AP started a business selling BMW's to Mormons in the military. It was illegal for us to buy or have members buy for us American food from the commissary...yet a member of my district at a conference walked over to his car to ask a question and the trunk was full of American groceries. He slammed the trunk closed when the missionary saw the goods. Asshat.

IIRC, J. Reuben Clark (1st counselor to President Heber J. Grant) was a firm isolationist and opposed to any involvement of the U.S. in the war. Until Japan attacked.

Spencer W. Kimball also decried war in an Ensign article, stating that we are a war-like people.

The gist of his talk was that a nation should only go to war after having sued for peace repeatedly.

Hinckley was a slimy stooge for not speaking up in his capacity as a prophet.
Did he really think Christ would be ok with bombing a nation for oil? Would we have gone to war if Iraq produced carrots instead of oil?

That's why he looks like a scared-shitless deer in the headlights all the time. He keeps wanting to re-create his "Grampa Tommy" image with his audiences and is rattled when it just doesn't come off anymore. It's because he's supposed to be the prophet now. People don't want to hear his BS stories anymore, they want LEADERSHIP. Monson doesn't have it (not worthy enough, I suppose), its obvious.