In another thread, RfM poster "dot" asked the following:

"[A] question for Steve Benson:

"Why didn't you just ask your grandfather, ETB, as head of the quorum of the twelve, for an official statement regarding evolution? Why go to McConkie at all? Just curious."

("Re: Bruce R. McConkie and Reid Bankhead were right about evolution," posted by "dot," on Recovery from Mormonism" bulletin board," 7 December 2011, at: http://exmormon.org/phorum/read.php?2,359306,359650#msg-359650)


I responded:

Man, do I have a story to tell about that (which I will someday here, in more detail).

My grandfather. Ezra Taft Benson (who was then president of the Quorum of the Twelve), was in 1979-80 working behind the scenes in his own personal efforts to convince Mormon Church President Spencer W. Kimball to issue an official and public Mormon Church statement on organic evolution--one that would be released to coincide with the upcoming sesqui-centennial anniverasy of the LDS Church's founding.

I was, during that time, trying to wrap up an undergrad BYU resesarch paper on that subject. I had wanted to correspond with Kimball on the matter and my grandfather thought that this would be a good idea. (In fact, he personally had my initial letter to Kimball delivered to Kimball's office).

In the course of my investigations, I had been in contact, via letters, with Kimball; had had a phone conversation with First Presidency secretary Arthur C. Haycock; had had correspondece with LDS Apostle Mark E. Petersen; had personally met with LDS Apostle Bruce R. McConkie at his home; and had corresponded with Church Director of Correlation Roy W. Doxey.

My grandfather told me that one of my letters to Kimball making inquiries on the official Mormon Church position on evolution had subsequently been passed on to McConkie for his review and comment, with McConkie eventually putting together a 42-page paper on the issue which he then privately presented to Kimball and one of Kimball's counselors. (Part of that paper McConkie then used in his "Seven Deadly Heresies" speech delivered at BYU in June 1980. I wrote to McConkie's office, asking for a copy of that paper but his office never responded to my request).

During this time, my grandfather was personally confiding to me that he (ETB) was confident that Kimball would issue an official statement in 1980 on the LDS Church's position on organic evolution.

ETB was clearly pushing for such a statement to be released, hoping that it would be helpful, in particular, to the young people of the Church. He encouraged me to keep up my research and, in fact, asked for me to share with him my findings so that their details could be used to answer Mormon member questions that were periodically received at Church headquarters from inquiring Latter-day Saints. (My grandfather, in fact, asked me to draft a letter for him containing those points of fact, which I did. He never, however, used the letter to answer member questions and when I later asked him why he did not, he told me that the subject was too controversial).

Eventually, however--and all of a sudden--my grandfather informed me (without going into any explanation other than to say that the subject of organic evolution was not necessary for my salvation and to advise me not be concerned about it), that Kimball would not be issuing an official Mormon Church statement on organic evolution.

It was a complete course reversal.

End of story (with, as mentioned earlier, more to come later).



Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 12/08/2011 04:30PM by steve benson.