Posted by:
cludgie
(
)
Date: June 25, 2013 01:11PM
When I was a youth, I loved apostle Hugh B. Brown. He was extremely funny and grandfatherly. But he was a liberal, a damned Democrat, and while he was a member of the Quorum of Twelve, he was not well-liked by his quorum members because they practically considered him a hippie. Anyway, to study him is to study what the church could have been if the Twelve surrounded themselves with others like him. Here's a HBB quote I love:
"I admire men and women who have developed the questing spirit, who are unafraid of new ideas as stepping stones to progress. We should, of course, respect the opinions of others, but we should also be unafraid to dissent--if we are informed. Thoughts and expressions compete in the marketplace of thought, and in that competition truth emerges triumphant. Only error fears freedom of expression... This free exchange of ideas is not to be deplored as long as men and women remain humble and teachable. Neither fear of consequence or any kind of coercion should ever be used to secure uniformity of thought in the church. People should express their problems and opinions and be unafraid to think without fear of ill consequences. ... We must preserve freedom of the mind in the church and resist all efforts to suppress it."
Notice how he went all Thomas Paine in his quote. What a threat the dear old guy must have been to his brethren in the quorum. They broke the mold when he passed away, and never replaced any of the GAs with the likes of him. More of his kind could have saved the floundering and foundering Mormon church, now bobbing in the sea as if without an anchor, Captain Peter "Wrongway" Peachfuzz at the helm.
(NOTE: Sorry for the obscure naval reference. You'd have to know your Rocky and Bullwinkle.)