Criticism of Mormonism/Books/One Nation Under Gods/Use of sources/The LDS as Mindless Followers

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A FAIR Analysis of: Criticism of Mormonism/Books/One Nation Under Gods A work by author: Richard Abanes

The Anti-Mormon Articles of Faith

Chapter 18, Cover-Ups, Conspiracies, and Controversies: The LDS as Mindless Followers

The Quote

One Nation under Gods, page 413-414 (hardback)

Some of the most disturbing instructions about blind obedience came from LDS president Ezra Taft Benson in his "Fourteen Fundamentals in Following the Prophet" speech. His fundamentals for living a righteous Mormon life left little room for independent thought (see this endnote for transcript).39

The Reference

Endnote 39, page 609-610 (hardback)

39. Ezra Taft Benson, "Fourteen Fundamentals in Following the Prophet," February 26, 1980, online at http://www.xmission.com/~country/authority/14_fund1.htm. Excerpts from this speech:

"To help you pass the crucial tests which lie ahead I am going to give you today several facets of a grand key which, if you will honor, will crown you with God's glory and bring you out victorious in spite of Satan's fury . . . . Here then is the grand key: follow the prophet. And here now are fourteen fundamentals in following the prophet, the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . . . . First: The prophet is the only man who speaks for the Lord in everything . . . . Second: The living prophet is more vital to us than the standard works [i.e., Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price] . . . . Third: The living prophet is more important to us than a dead prophet . . . . [T]he most important prophet so far as you are concerned is the one living in our day and age to whom the Lord is currently revealing His will for us. Therefore, the most important reading we can do is any of the words of the prophet contained each week in the Church Section of the Deseret News, and any words of the prophet contained each month in our Church magazines . . . . Beware of those who would pit the dead prophets against the living prophets, for the living prophets always take precedence . . . . Fourth: The prophet will never lead the Church astray . . . . Sixth: The prophet does not have to say "Thus saith the Lord" to give us scripture . . . . Said Brigham Young, "I have never yet preached a sermon and sent it out to the children of men, that they may not call it scripture" [JOD, vol. 13, 95] . . . . Ninth: The prophet can receive revelation on any matter - temporal or spiritual . . . . Fourteenth: The prophet and the presidency - the living prophet and the First Presidency - follow them and be blessed; reject them and suffer." Benson's lecture also included this remarkable anecdote: "Brother Joseph turned to Brother Brigham Young and said, 'Brother Brigham, I want you to take the stand and tell us your views regarding the living oracles and the written word of God.' Brother Brigham took the stand, and he took the Bible, and laid it down; he took the Book of Mormon, and laid it down; and he took the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, and he laid it before him, and he said: 'There is the written word of God to us, concerning the work of God from the beginning of the world, almost, to our day. And now,' said he, 'when compared with the living oracles those books are nothing to me; those books do not convey the word of God direct to us now, as do the words of a Prophet or a man bearing the Holy Priesthood in our day and generation. I would rather have the living oracles than all the writing in the books.' That was the course he pursued. When he was through, Brother Joseph said to the congregation: 'Brother Brigham has told you the word of the Lord, and he has told you the truth'" [See Conference Report, October 1897, 18-19).

The Problems

This endnote is actually at least three citations rolled into one. The first citation, which refers to the original speech given by Ezra Taft Benson, and the date the speech was given, is fine, as it is the primary reference. The problems begin with the second citation, which is a reference to an Internet site purporting to have the text of the speech. The final reference to the speech is an "in-depth" analysis to be found on yet another Web site, the Utah Lighthouse Ministries site run by Jerald and Sandra Tanner. The author has thus directed the reader willing to plow through the endnotes to two Web sites critical of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which smacks of bias, and in the process the author directs the reader to an analysis of, or commentary on, the speech, rather than let the reader develop his or her own opinion about the piece. This is only the beginning of trouble with this endnote.

Pages 412 to 414 of One Nation under Gods comprises a section of Chapter Eighteen called "Thinking is a Sin," and the author's use of President Benson's speech is an effort on his part to show that LDS are blindly, even unwillingly, led down a slippery doctrinal path by the Church's general authorities. The end of the quote by the author (above) promises that the reader only need "see this endnote for transcript." What the reader really discovers in the endnote, following the proper citation and the first of the spurious references, are "excerpts from this speech" followed by a vastly condensed presentation of Benson's words.

There is a fundamental rule used when citing any reference material, that the final condensed quote still retains the meaning intended by the quote's author. The author, in his Tanneresque use of ellipses, conveniently ignores this essential rule and then butchers several pages of text down to one extended paragraph, which in the final analysis says something that barely resembles what Ezra Taft Benson actually said. The author pays no attention to the structure of the speech, save that the disparate quotes he draws from it are taken to some extent in the order he found them, and pastes them together with his trademark ellipses, thus making his condensed version difficult to follow. A final insult to the reader is that the author offers up not the fourteen fundamentals that Benson laid out, but only seven of them, with just enough of the speech's text to twist the meaning into something more pleasing to him.

At first flush it seems strange to relegate an entire speech to an endnote. If the author truly intended to discuss this speech, he could easily have done so in the text of Chapter Eighteen, or he could have put it in an appendix where he could have given it special treatment. He makes no effort to do so, and those portions of the speech he offers up for scrutiny do little to support his assertion that LDS are not allowed to think. The title of the speech should have been a clue for the author, or for anyone actually reading it: "Fourteen Fundamentals in Following the Prophet" (emphasis mine). Were the speech entitled "Fourteen Fundamental Ways the Prophet Leads the Church", the author might have had a stronger case. Benson, of course, was teaching how to follow, which is something else entirely.

As previously mentioned, the author has to alter the text of the speech in order to build his argument. Consider, for example, this excerpt from Elder Benson's original talk:

Third: The living prophet is more important to us than a dead prophet. The living prophet has the power of TNT. By that I mean 'Today's News Today.' God's revelations to Adam did not instruct Noah to build the ark. Noah needed his own revelation. Therefore the most important prophet so far as you and I are concerned is the one living in our day and age to whom the Lord is currently revealing his will to us. Therefore, the most important reading we can do is any of the words of the prophet contained each week in our Church magazines. Our marching orders for each six months are found in the general conference addresses, which are printed in the Ensign magazine.

I am so grateful that the current conference report is studied as part of your religion classes--the course entitled 'Teachings of the Living Prophets,' number 333. May I commend that class to you, and suggest that you get a copy of the class manual at your bookstore, whether you're able to take the class or not. The manual is entitled 'Living Prophets for a Living Church.'

Beware of those who would pit the dead prophets against the living prophets, for the living prophets always take precedence.

The author renders this excerpt thusly:

Third: The living prophet is more important to us than a dead prophet . . . . [T]he most important prophet so far as you and I are concerned is the one living in our day and age to whom the Lord is currently revealing his will to us. Therefore, the most important reading we can do is any of the words of the prophet contained each week in our Church magazines . . . . Beware of those who would pit the dead prophets against the living prophets, for the living prophets always take precedence.

Gone are the instructions of an Apostle, and now the reader is given a command and a warning. Compliance with the mandates of the prophet now becomes mandatory. The context of the quote is not only ignored, but the quote has been raped and pillaged. Little is left of actual worth, and the meaning has changed dramatically. Yet for all that, he doesn't show how this reference supports his assertion that thinking is a sin in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

It seems the author had no actual intention of picking apart Ezra Taft Benson's speech, almost as if he recognized that his own argument was weak. Far easier it was to put part of it in the back of the book, where most would ignore it. His two Internet-based references are subject to question not only because they are secondary, but also due to the volatility of Internet addresses. Will the reader be able to find the references on the Web in five years? The author glosses over this reference with little thought of its importance. He barely offers his own opinion, but leaves the reader to find the opinion of another anti-Mormon writer. One wonders if the author actually read the text of the speech itself, since he offers little evidence that he has. Benson's Fourteen Fundamentals become just another reference to bolster the author's illusion of scholarship.