I write today to the orthodox, believing members of the Church who, facing the increasingly insane world of vaccine mandates, lockdowns and mask mandates over a virus with a 99 percent-plus survival rate for most people, are upset at the Church’s endorsement of vaccines and masks.
There have been two very large Church developments over the last month, one regarding vaccines and masks, and the other President Holland’s pleading with BYU faculty and staff to support the Church’s policies on social issues.
I think it is fair to say that a very large number of Church members, at least in the United States and Canada, have been tested by these two events.
Here is my message to the orthodox, believing members of the Church: cling to the rod of iron so you can partake of the fruit of the tree of life.
What does this mean in practical terms? Ezra Taft Benson said it best in 1980:
“There will be times when you will have to choose between the revelations of God and the reasoning of men—between the prophet and the politician or professor. Said the Prophet Joseph Smith, “Whatever God requires is right, no matter what it is, although we may not see the reason thereof until long after the events transpire” (Scrapbook of Mormon Literature, vol. 2, p. 173).”
Choose the prophets. They have spoken regarding masks, vaccines and also regarding social issues like same-sex attraction and the situation at BYU.
Let me tell you who you do NOT want to be like: the left-wing woman I know about who left the Church noisily more than a year ago and was given nothing but love and support by nearly everybody in the ward. And there she was last Sunday crouched on the ground in front of the chapel writing anti-Church propaganda on the sidewalk in chalk for four hours. She was not friendly to any of the people who had been so kind to her for so many years. Her eyes were filled with hate and spite. In her mind she was so much more righteous than all of the people going to honor Jesus by taking the Sacrament, an ordinance she now refuses. In her mind the prophets hate gay people, and she is filled with love. In her mind she is some kind of hero, when the truth is she appeared to most people like Ophelia. It was a very sad scene indeed.
I have to say this to my orthodox, believing friends: some of you have reacted very poorly to the Church’s recommendations on masks and vaccines. Don’t go down that road. I have written before on this, and I feel a need to write about it again and add some additional thoughts. Two things can be true at the same time. It can be true that there has been a massive, unscientific overreaction to a virus that is relatively harmless to most people, but it can also be true that the Church has decided that the time is not right to challenge society’s response.
If you have the image in your head of the Brethren as watchmen on the tower it becomes easier to see that the Brethren can see things that we cannot. I believe that the Brethren see that worse times are coming. And if you stop and think about the over-the-top response to Elder Holland’s mild speech to BYU, it is easy to imagine the direction these bad times could take. I would like to credit regular commenter Bookslinger for linking this post, which got me thinking about the direction events could take in the coming years. Here is an excerpt:
It will eventually be impossible to hold these views [ie, the Church’s views on social issues and sexuality] & maintain a position as a doctor, a lawyer, a teacher, a manager – any position of authority or responsibility in which sexuality might become relevant (i.e. all of them). We’ll lose every member who is unwilling to say “the Church is right & every other Western authority is wrong”. Not only that, but without a compelling alternative epistemology, the sudden shock of losing everything that was solid & certain about the materialist worldview will drive some of our own people out into the schizo wilderness.
Sources whom I will not cite tell me that the Church is preparing for this with great urgency. (bold from the original)
They are disentangling themselves from gentile financial & tech infrastructure – building parallel systems & bringing functionality in-house. They’re preparing for BYU to lose its accreditation, and thus its power as an economic catapult for our cognitive elite (not that that will matter much if we’re unwelcome in elite professions anyway). They’re preparing to lose a tremendous amount of tithing income (both due to mass apostasy, & the destitution of the Saints) without interrupting the work in the temples. They’re buying lots and lots and lots of farmland.
I want to emphasize here that I do not necessarily endorse that this writer has “sources.” I am not saying that he does not (he seems like a good guy, and I am not saying he is lying), but I just want to make it clear that there have been many people saying “high-ranking Church officials have told me this and that” who clearly misunderstood what they were being told.
But basic common sense seems to indicate that one of three things will happen in the next decade or so. Either 1)society will back off from the transgender/pansexual/cancel culture nonsense or 2)the Church will change its position on sexuality or 3)the Church and its members will face increasing pressure to endorse the sexual revolution or be “canceled.” Number 3 seems the most likely.
Given the increasing control that the establishment/Big Tech/social media/mainstream media cabal are imposing on society, there will be increasing pressure to exclude people who do not accept the transgender/pansexual nonsense from holding private sector jobs or being in government. The bottom line: it may very well be that in a decade or so it will be literally impossible for believing members of the Church to make a living unless they are in the trades, or are farmers or work in conservative and/or religiously orthodox institutions that are separate from today’s dominant institutions. And those alternative institutions have not been built yet.
So, what we, the orthodox, believing members of the Church need, is time. We need time to build all of those alternative institutions so we can survive the coming inevitable anti-religious pogrom.
So, what the watchmen on the tower are doing is deciding not to fight about masks and vaccines (which are relatively unimportant in the grand scheme of things) while they prepare for the coming purge.
This does not mean that orthodox, believing members of the Church are wrong to question all of the fake “science” being promoted by the establishment. You are not wrong to point out that the science clearly shows that masks do not work against viruses. You are not wrong to point out that natural immunity is even better than being vaccinated. You are not wrong to worry about the hundreds of thousands of adverse reactions to the vaccines. You are not wrong when you point out that COVID is relatively harmless for most people.
But you can be right about all of these things and still acknowledge that the Brethren are looking out for your long-term interests and the long-term interests of the Church. And when you consider what is probably coming, there are even more reasons than ever to support our church leaders. Cling to the Iron Rod, people!