Excommunication For Teaching LDS Essay Doctrines?

A lot of news on John Dehlin. When I was called in for disciplinary court in Sept 2012, John and I spoke on the phone for about an hour. He counseled me to play nice with the church. I responded by having Mormonthink remove content containing the temple ceremonies and other allegedly controversial material. It was to no avail. They told me that there was nothing I could do to avoid disciplinary court. When I went to the media, I received an email from my leaders postponing my court indefinitely.

John didn't get that indefinite postponement. Despite the media attention, the LDS church took its action against Dehlin. I have to give them kudos for carrying it through.  Perhaps they don't have a US presidential candidate ringing for them, so it's easier to excommunicate with media attention than when I was in the news about Romney.

There is no doubt that with as much media attention as was given, and that the LDS Newsroom posted, which issues most of the LDS Church policy these days, the Dehlin disciplinary court was managed from the top.


Kate Kelly, the Ordain Women excomminicated, said it humorously:

"Love how the Mormon PR machine somehow magically whipped up this simultaneously dishonest AND judgey press release in 30-seconds-flat after finding out the decision from John bc, of course as they consistently insisted, only his *LOCAL LEADERS* were involved."

Indeed, they were ready the moment Dehlin went to the press with their counter statement, from the top, and it's telling that the top was guiding the show.

Yes, John Dehlin asks a lot of questions in his podcasts at Mormonstories. He himself rarely "preaches" or even advocates much of the issues, from what I can tell. 

John has, however, advocated for same sex couples and women's rights. But on the doctrinal and historical issues, Dehlin usually leaves most of his personally voiced content in questions. Are questions so offensive that they should be disciplined?  The Church had been increasing its "attack the questioner" angle until Dehlin.  But he is the most public questioner of all, and the media attention is making them squeamish. 

The management was caught in a big problem. If they opposed Dehlin on his views and support of same-sex couples, they would appear very bigoted in the news. If they disciplined him for questioning (even as publicly as he does in podcasts) would that create shock waves among the hundreds of thousands of members who currently have unanswered questions?

They couldn't admit to either. So they ginned up charges, it would seem.

Here are the official charges, per LDS Newsroom.

1. Disputing the nature of our Heavenly Father and the divinity of Jesus Christ.
2. Statements that the Book of Mormon and the Book of Abraham are fraudulent and works of fiction. 
3. Statements and teachings that reject The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as being the true Church with power and authority from God.

On (1), interestingly, Gordon B. Hinckley has disputed the nature of the Mormon God in national press interviews. When asked if Mormons believe humans can become gods and if god was once human, he replied famously, "I don't know that we teach it." (Time, August 4, 1997)   

The LDS essay on Becoming Like God reiterates the very idea that Hinckley, then prophet, hemmed on teaching.

Quote:

" Human nature was at its core divine. God “was once as one of us” and “all the spirits that God ever sent into the world” were likewise “susceptible of enlargement.” Joseph Smith preached that long before the world was formed, God found “himself in the midst” of these beings and “saw proper to institute laws whereby the rest could have a privilege to advance like himself” and be “exalted” with Him. "

I don't know what they claim Dehlin specifically taught that disputed the "nature of our Heavenly Father" but...

 if a prophet can deny one of the most profound claims of the LDS faith about the nature of God, the one that separates it more from traditional Christianity than anything else in its quiver of Smithisms, then how come Dehlin got singled out for something of lesser nature?

On (2) again, I don't know specifically what they claim Dehlin taught that stated the Book of Mormon and Abraham are fiction. However, the LDS topic essay on The Book of Mormon and DNA goes at length to show that the DNA studies showing early Amerindian migrations do not disprove the Book of Mormon. The essay admits that there were humans living in America before the time that LDS teachings claim Adam and Eve lived, according to the prescribed timeline in their own bible and Doctrine and Covenants. The essay also admits:

• "The Book of Mormon provides little direct information about cultural contact between the peoples it describes and others who may have lived nearby."
• "One reason it is difficult to use DNA evidence to draw definite conclusions about Book of Mormon peoples is that nothing is known about the DNA that Lehi, Sariah, Ishmael, and others brought to the Americas."
• "Book of Mormon record keepers were primarily concerned with conveying religious truths and preserving the spiritual heritage of their people."

That is:  There is no evidence (DNA or otherwise) for the people of the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon does not directly discuss (identify) other people. The Book of Mormon is primarily about religious/spiritual teachings and events. The multitude of wars elaborated in the Book of Mormon are, apparently, not the primary concern, even though the book is very full of their descriptions.  Evidence of these wars is lacking in the actual archaeology record (and in the DNA of dead warriors, which counters the drift and dilution arguments the LDS essay makes).

The B. of Mormon essay summarizes by quoting Apostle Oaks as saying, “It is our position that secular evidence can neither prove nor disprove the authenticity of the Book of Mormon.”

The definition of fiction is "literature in the form of prose, especially short stories and novels, that describes imaginary events and people." 

This is their position:  Secular evidence can never prove the authenticity of the Book of Mormon.  There's nothing science can do to help them.  Do you see this?  If the people and events have and will always have zero evidence, then how does one differentiate the contents of the Book of Mormon from fiction?

Oak says you can't. He may not have called it fiction, but his "position" statement is effectively admitting to it.

How then do they discipline Dehlin for saying basically the same thing an Apostle says?

On (3) again, I don't know specifically what they claim Dehlin stated, but the LDS essays have admitted the LDS prophets have no authority in many matters.

There is no more important authority to the LDS Church than its priesthood, and in an essay on the priesthood, regarding denying it to a whole race of humankind, the LDS church states:

"[T]he Church disavows the theories advanced in the past that black skin is a sign of divine disfavor or curse, or that it reflects unrighteous actions in a premortal life; that mixed-race marriages are a sin; or that blacks or people of any other race or ethnicity are inferior in any way to anyone else. Church leaders today unequivocally condemn all racism, past and present, in any form."

They had 11 prophets that continued racism policies. The LDS Church tacitly admits that their statements in the official scripture of OD-1 (D&C), that the Lord won’t allow a prophet to lead the members astray, is false. For nearly 150 years the prophets have led the people astray with racist policies and the current prophet administration does not know why this happened, they just know firmly, racism is wrong. That repudiation of the former policy, of hundreds of statements made by Brigham Young, Wilford Woodruff, John Taylor, Bruce McConkie, and many more effectively opens the gate to an understanding that the current administrating prophets could be absolutely dead wrong on policies they have in place currently.

If the LDS church essay can teach their prophets were horribly wrong on such a serious issues as their own authority and priesthood, then why are they singling out Dehlin?

They must do this. They can't have Dehlin thumb his nose at the LDS church leaders and continue to dare ask his many questions in public. They had to excommunicate him because he destabilizes their political economy--which depends on hoodwinking temple going full tithers.

LDS doctrine is Jello.  And Dehlin tried to use nails to solidfy it, so they nailed him.

Their own essays and statements condemn them for the same reasons they condemn Dehlin. But they are above their own laws.