harmony wrote:Nehor, quoting the D&C to me is useless. I consider very little of it to be God-breathed, and the vast majority of it to be manufactured revelation based on expediency at the time. Give me Bible or Book of Mormon.
If the church does not fit a secret combination, then why is so much of it secret? Please tell me why are these reasons not valid:
1. Joseph closed the temples in order to hide his polygamous marriages from the public, the members not involved in polygamy, and his wife. There is no reason for them to be closed now, except the Brethren refuse to change a policy the reason for which disappeared several generations ago. To maintain this policy is simply a matter of selfishness and cruelty.
2. The books were closed in 1957 to hide fiscal malfeasance on the part of some of the Brethren. There is no reason to maintain this policy unless there is still something to hide.
3. Disciplinary councils are secret to protect the church, not the person being discliplined.
You may consider the D&C useless but the Church as a whole has sustained it as canon. We can't violate it with impunity.
I think you're confusing secrecy with secret combinations. There are secrets in the Church. God has secrets. He talks about how to get them revealed to you in the Book of Mormon. They are usually referred to as 'mysteries' there. God has told me things that he placed an injunction of secrecy on me never to tell another soul. Does this make my prayer relationship with God a secret combination because it is secret?
1. The Temples are closed for the same reason Jesus threw the money-changers out of the Temple....or do you really think the Temple could remain a house of prayer if the Temple and General Conference Protestors had free access? We've admittedly not done a perfect job of this. Still, the Kirtland Temple was mostly open but the conspirators in Kirtland looking to supplant or murder Joseph did some of their plotting there.
2. I don't pretend to know their reasons. That something is secret is not proof that there is something sinister going on.
3. Considering that the critics use every disciplinary council they know of as a weapon against the Church I hardly see how secrecy is defending it. Again this is in line with LDS canon whether you accept it or not.
The final point I would make is that secrecy does not a secret combination make.