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| Good morning everyone. How are your Independence Day celebration plans going? I can see by the sparse attendance that many people have their Independence Day celebrations underway. AND, before Bob calls me on the carpet, Happy Canada Day to you as well. And with that, Bob, will you give the opening prayer? Well, to get started, I want to relate a couple of personal experiences as it pertains to our lesson today, titled, "Be Not Deceived, but Continue in Steadfastness." Several years ago, I worked with a great guy, whose name caused me to chuckle. His name was Hearl Faulkner. I thought, "What were his parents thinking?" A name like Hearl would cause me to HURL. That is clue one. Yesterday, I received one of my favorite periodicals in the mail. It is called ACRES USA. In general terms, it is about ecological or biological agriculture. One of the articles that caught my attention was on a useful insect, the Dung Beetle. So what do these two things have to do with today's lesson? Anyone? They seem disconnected don't they? Here's the connection. This lesson has great potential to be interesting and useful, but the way in which it is presented in the manual made me want to HURL at the pile of DUNG that I was reading. How's that for an attention activity? With a lesson title like, "Be Not Deceived, but Continue in Steadfastness," what would you think the focus of the lesson would be? Yes, Sally, that is reasonable. It could be on the early leaders lying about polygamy publicly while practicing privately. Yes, Tom, I hadn't thought of that, but it could be about the current leadership's perpetuating half-truths regarding the events that took place during the Missouri period. The intent of the lesson is to cover apostasy. The words apostate and apostasy used to really trouble or even scare me. Today, I almost hold it as a term of endearment, right along with heresy and heretic. When you hear the word apostasy, what does it mean to you? Thank you Bev, a departure from orthodoxy kind of fits. I suspect I would say that is closer to heresy in my mind than apostasy. What about you, Karl? What do you think? A public renouncement or denouncement of institutional orthodoxy. That's pretty good. Surprisingly, the Bible Dictionary does not have a definition. Let's go to the online scriptural source of truth and knowledge, www. Dictionary.com. Here is what is says, "n 1: the state of having rejected your religious beliefs or your political party or a cause (often in favor of opposing beliefs or causes) [syn: renunciation, defection] 2: the act of abandoning a party or cause [syn: tergiversation]." So it relates to having rejected one's religious beliefs in the context of this lesson. It seems then that church leaders through history have used this word a little too loosely. Yes Lisa, Michael Quinn was excommunicated for apostasy, but he publicly maintains his belief in the church. So how is it that he was excommunicated for apostasy when he has not done what is definitionally required to be guilty of apostasy? Okay, let's get back to the lesson. The lesson gives six main reasons for people apostatizing. Not recognizing the prophet as the source of revelation for the church
We don't have a lot of time to discuss each on in detail, but let's try to give a little color to each one. While we are doing that, think about this list. There may be many things that are missing from the list, but there is one very obvious one that I would like you to help me identify. Let's start with the first one, not recognizing the prophet as the source of revelation for the church. When the church was started informally in about 1828, the term "prophet" had a fairly loose definition. It related to a person who prophesied. Many in the small group prophesied. Hiram Page was one of those who were called by the title prophet. He had a peep stone that he used like Joseph Smith used his. About six months after the church was formally organized, Hiram used his peep stone in the same way that he had been using it, to receive a revelation for the church. Apparently, in Joseph's mind, the act of formally registering the church organization with the local government changed the way in which revelations could be received for the church. Joseph had a revelation that stated he was the only one who could receive revelations for the church. How does that sound? Yes Tom, a little like your garage after a day of fishing. How about pride? I suspect pride could be a source of apostasy, but I don't know anyone who apostatized because of pride. The example given was Thomas Marsh. For some reason, upholding his wife's reputation is labeled as pride. The origins of his wife holding back the strippings from the cow is very suspect. I'll tell you, that if I were faced with a choice of believing my wife or believing the bishop, I would pick my wife every time, unless I had specific knowledge that she was not telling the truth. Perhaps I am guilty of pride for wanting to defend my wife's honor. The use of this story seems misplaced I just love the next one, being critical of leaders' imperfections. The example used here is hilarious. Someone's name was misspelled. So misspelling is an example of a leader's imperfection? That wouldn't even make my list. How about lying? How about breaking the law? How about adultery? How about using a church position to rule civilly? How about changing church doctrine when it is convenient? How about choosing to hide historical records so they cannot be researched? How about stating the church leaders' reputations are more important than honesty? Would these not be better examples of leaders' imperfections? Being offended is an interesting one. Do you know or have you heard of anyone in your lifetime that renounced the church because they were offended? I have heard rumor that some have stopped coming to church because they were offended. That seems mighty shallow to me, to lack of church attendance does not mean apostasy. Thank you Sandra. I appreciate the insight into your friend that started attending another church because her bishop told her it was her fault that her husband had committed adultery. Did she renounce the church or just start attending another church? In the Church Handbook of Instruction, it says that a person should not be excommunicated because they are members of another church in addition to our church. How about rationalizing disobedience? Do you know anyone who has done that? I know some people who do not follow the current church leaderships' interpretation of the Word of Wisdom, but they do not renounce the church. I know others who have renounced the church after much thoughtful consideration and who have started social drinking after the fact, but I have never heard anyone rationalizing leaving the church because they wanted to drink. Has anyone here heard of that behavior? That reminds me of Simon and Garfunkle, the Sound of Silence... The last suggested reason for apostasy is accepting false teachings of the world. Any idea what that might mean? As I was thinking about this one, it was obvious to me that this was a reason, but in my attempt to make sure I understand what I have internalized, I started wondering what this meant. Any ideas? Thanks Sally, evolution. Well evolution is taught at BYU, so I don't think that's it. Thanks Bob, tattoos. Well it is pretty well understood that there is some risk associated with getting a tattoo, but it is clear that there is the opportunity to make an informed risk decision. Agency covers this, so I see no conflict here. I think the only thing that I can recall that remotely fits this has to do with homosexuality. A former co-worker of mine had a brother who struggled in the church with homosexuality. Apparently, this man went through reparative therapy, along with years of guilt and self-loathing. He followed the advice of his bishop, praying, reading his scriptures, trying to become attracted to women, etc. After years of trying, he gave up. His father was in the Stake Presidency. His father accepted the scientific research that showed there were characteristics in homosexuals that indicated that the state was something with which a person was born. It was not a matter of sin or a matter of choice. He also knew that he loved his son and that his son was a shining example of Christianity and Christ's love. The Stake President told him that he had to choose between the church and supporting his son in his homosexual lifestyle. The father chose to love and support his son, just as the Savior would. The father resigned his membership in the church, just as his Stake President informed him he would have to do. He chose his son over the church. Perhaps this is an example of accepting what the church conveniently labels "false teaching of the world." Lastly, why else would a person apostatize? What is missing from the list? You've read my mind Sally. Almost everyone that I know that is apostate has arrived at that state through significant study of church history, the scriptures, and the teachings and positions of the current church leadership. This does not fit under any one of the categories listed above, but appears to be the most prevalent cause of apostasy. Well, we are out of time. Sandra, would you please give the closing prayer? Thanks. Just a reminder, next week's lesson is on The Priesthood: The Power of Godliness. Women, come prepared with your questions and insights into this patriarchal power structure. Men, think carefully about how you would feel if we celebrated a Mother in Heaven instead of a Father in Heaven and women held all of the priesthood authority. Also, think about your perceptions of the notion that a 12-year-old girl would hold more religious power in her little finger than you would ever hold as a mature adult male. Have a great Independence Day, and Canada Day! |