Wednesday, March 28, 2018

Salt Lake Tribune Tripe #8


            Still using the present prominence of General Conference as a tool to increase visibility, in this latest piece of Salt Lake Tribune tripe, Peggy Stack seems to think her opinion of what should be talked about is desired by others: “With a new president and new apostles, Mormon General Conference is sure to make history, but will speakers touch on timely topics?” Well, no, we don’t care what topics Peggy thinks should be covered.

            She also quotes a couple of self-appointed spokespeople, eager to bring greater attention to their own opinions. Most of the people Stack quotes are unorthodox liberals or activists, often extremist feminists or academics looking to push for (undesired) change.

            In this case, most of the article is fairly innocuous, simply being Stack’s review of what SHE thinks will or should occur during Conference. And her quotations of the academic are not that troubling, but another of her (obviously activist feminist) sources of opinion seemed eager to criticize, and is what has earned this piece the genuine label of utter tripe:


Most Mormons aren’t counting on current headline-grabbing hot button issues being addressed, says April Young Bennett, a writer for the Mormon magazine Exponent II.

“Gun violence is important to a lot of people right now,” the South Jordan resident says. “As much as they want to hear about it, they don’t expect to.”

That may be because the LDS authorities are mostly “old white men, which is part of the problem,” she says. “Sexual assault and gun violence are topics of concern to youth, people of color and women of childbearing age, but they are not speakers we expect to hear from in General Conference.”

Speakers need to better represent the diversity of the LDS populations, Bennett says. “As long as they don’t, topics that people [in these groups] want to hear won’t be covered.”

            No—what speakers need to do is what they already do, tell members (and the world) what they have learned that the Lord wants them to know. Do we demand to have our ears tickled with what we want said, or, do we humbly plead to be told what the Lord would have us hear? You can go to any other church, and for your money, they will tell you what you want to hear. That is easy to find. What is unknown in this world outside of General Conference is being told what God would have you do.

Saying that old white men are the problem is offensive and ignorant. The Lord calls whom He calls to apostolic office; affirmative action has no place in the kingdom of God. We do not act like members of a civic or activist organization, club, political party, or other worldly group that does things by man’s standards and methods. We are disciples of Christ being directed by a prophet who receives revelations from Heaven. Somehow, this most basic of truths never seems to seep into the feminist activist mind. People who get their values, judgments, and conscience from modern society are always going to be at odds with church doctrine, policy and practice. There remedy is to push their warped, twisted, worldly value system on the church—Peggy Stack and her cronies modus operandi. It is Salt Lake Tribune Tripe, also known as fake news.

            The First Presidency and Twelve are very concerned about the physical, mental, and spiritual safety and wellbeing of members and missionaries; however, they do not allow themselves to be distracted from their ministries by the constant commotion of the world. They put safeguards and measures in place to the best of their ability to protect the saints and provide for their welfare (especially in emergencies and disasters), but they know we live in an increasingly contentious and tumultuous world where Satan holds great sway over his own. Brother Packer told a story that illustrates this point, and teaches a principle that social and political activists and other extremists are either angered by or cannot fathom:

I think the uneasiness [contention in the world], by and large, is there. . . . [in many] places, but I don't think you notice much great concern on the part of the Brethren. I recall not too many years ago riding to the office one morning and turning on the radio as they were excitedly announcing that the front doom of the temple had been "destroyed." Remember that? Most of you don't because it is just not that important-it isn't worth remembering. We were then using the parking lot north of the Relief Society building; and as I went to the office, I glanced across the street. There was a lot of action around the temple-people, police cars, fire trucks, and everything. But I was late to a meeting; so I had to resist the temptation to go over and see what was going on. I was in meetings with a combination of the Brethren all day. As I went back that night about 6:30 or 7:00, there was no one at the temple; but there were some big sheets of plywood over the place where the doors had been. And then it struck me that all day long in meeting with the Brethren, not once, for one second, was that thing ever brought up. It wasn't even mentioned. And why? Because there was work to do, you know. Why be concerned about that?

Sometimes I ask myself the same question: why be concerned about the fake news written by Stack and published by the Tribune? I guess the answer is that I want to use any influence I may have to expose their damaging nonsense before it affects the unwary negatively.

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