Ties that Bind?

(Recent questions from troubling observations.)

That through my providence, notwithstanding the tribulation which shall descend upon you, that the church may stand independent above all other creatures beneath the celestial world; (Doctrine and Covenants Section 78:14, bold emphasis added)

How independent are we IF:

1. we bow to Scouting rules, regulations, and policies in order to run youth programs where “inspired” callings must be vetted through secular law enforcement?

2. we team up with retail partners like Taubman Centers, Inc. as in the City Creek Center? How do we reconcile that high-end “profit” center, its ads/billboards, etc., with Isaiah, Jeremiah, the Gospels, the Book of Mormon, etc.?

3. we team up with media affiliates to fill our air time (as in KSL-TV)?¹

4. we own and/or invest in businesses and properties principally for their money-making potential?

5. we hire lobbyists to pursue advantages, favors, and prestige?

Why did God tell us to stand “independent” “notwithstanding tribulation”? Where have we seen before (deja vu?) the tragedies of church “dependence” and intermingling? What is the history of state churches? What was the condition in Christ’s day?

Do we really think we are immune from the contagion of latter-day entanglements?

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1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deseret_Management_Corporation

Pressure Points

(To the man with the trembling voice; et al)

WHAT IF:

▫ you were invited into a quorum?
▫ you were a soul of sensitivity and insight?
▫ your first press-court felt contrary to your nature; scripted by expectation and briefing?
▫ you became enmeshed in conformism and unrelenting contradiction?
▫ you felt compelled against conscience and agency?
▫ you were elevated to staunch your questions?
▫ obligatory loyalty sapped your soul?
▫ perks seemed unseemly?
▫ you could not speak of what you saw, felt, heard?
▫ you yearned to escape but had no precedent, no courage, no adequate “sin,” no place to go?

Has the agony surpassed the ecstasy?
How long the days, nights, years of weeping and wandering?
Can the inner man became more precious than the outer?
What might one finally do with the dissonance to save oneself, et al.?

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See also: http://dejavu-times.blogspot.com/2009/07/to-loyalists-everywhere.html