The year was 1837; just a few years ago the Mormon Saints in
Kirtland Ohio had experienced what many had likened to the day of Pentecost (Grant 1844). Many saw angels; others spoke in tongues (Smith 1978, 2: 378-436), and even felt
inclined to say, “That day strikingly demonstrated that [Joseph Smith] was,
indeed, a prophet of God raised up for the deliverance of Israel. (Grant 1844, 8,9)”
Yet
somehow, just a few years later those same saints, who had seen angels, were
calling Joseph Smith a fallen prophet (Smith 1978, 2:529). No exact account of how many left the church
is available, however estimates put it at about 13% of the church membership, including
a third of the general authorities and all of the witnesses to the Book of
Mormon (Backman 1989). Hundreds,
particularly leaders, left the fledgling church they had been so supportive of
just years before.
Never
in the history of the church has there been such an exodus of members, until
now. On January 31 2012 Reuters
reported on a discussion about the statistics of the church led by Marlin
Jensen the LDS church historian.
According to the article a woman asked Jensen if the Church leadership
was aware that people are “leaving in droves” from the church. To which Jensen
replied, “We are aware and I'm speaking of the 15 men that are above me in the
hierarchy of the church.” He also said,
“Not since a famous troublespot in Mormon history, the 1837 failure of a church
bank in Kirtland, Ohio, have so many left the church.” This
exodus has been highlighted by events such as the mass resignation which took
place in Salt Lake City in June of 2012. Further evidence of the exodus is
in the explosion of sites for former members such as exmormon.org and postmormon.org.
Why the exodus? In many ways the
reasons are similar to those of the Kirtland saints in 1937-38. Doubts about
the legitimacy of Joseph Smith’s prophethood, secular and monetary pressures
and lives not in accordance with church standards have likely all contributed
now as then. Young members and some not so young have found out more of the
truth behind the history of the church and felt deceived by the stories told
them their whole lives. Joseph Smith’s wives, changes in the Book of Mormon and
Doctrine and Covenants, details about the manuscript of the Book of Abraham,
and more. Quickly they begin to doubt the faith they have grown up with, loved,
lived in, and in many cases preached. “Everything’s out there for them to consume if
they want to Google it.” Marlin Jensen stated, “My own daughter has come to me
and said, 'Dad, why didn't you ever tell me that Joseph Smith was a polygamist?’”
Members
and on-members alike have dug into church statistics and found some disturbing
trends. Showing that not only is the church no longer the fastest growing
religion, but in many ways is struggling to maintain its current membership,
with fewer births per person, fewer baptisms per missionary, and more people
leaving per congregation*.
And so where do we go from here?
What is in the future? Perhaps looking back to the time of 1837 would be
helpful. The apostasy of Kirtland was followed by one of the greatest
explosions in doctrine and liberalization since the founding. The endowment,
plural marriage, and the work for the dead all began to unfold in their
fullness.
What do I expect from the church in
the 21st century? One of the greatest expansions of doctrinal
understanding in the history of the church, and nothing less. A talk given on a
Sunday night to the youth is a clue. It was not coincidental that it was to the
youth, as the future leaders of a less-dogmatic, more-open, and more-liberal
church.
The talk entitled What
Is Truth? is destined to become a classic. President Uchtdorf addressed
the reasons many are leaving the church, pointing to the same ones I and others
have seen, just giving different explanations behind them. Though he does rest
some of the blame on “the advisory” for “[spreading] seeds of doubt” he also
recognizes much of it is because of our own culture and deliberate attempts to
not fully seek for truth and the whole truth.
A common accusation against the
church is that members claim belief as knowledge. This has caused outsiders to
criticize and some insiders to become outsiders. Uchtdorf acknowledged the
error of this way of thinking. “We too often confuse belief with truth,” he
said, “thinking that because something makes sense or is convenient, it must be
true. Conversely, we sometimes don’t believe truth or reject it – because it
would require us to change or admit that we were wrong. Often, truth is
rejected because it doesn’t appear to be consistent with previous experiences.”
He continued “when the opinions or
‘truths’ of the others contradict our own, instead of considering the
possibility that there could be information that might be helpful and augment
or complement what we know, we often jump to conclusions or make assumptions
that other person is misinformed, mentally challenged, or even intentionally
trying to deceive.” This is counsel needed for Latter-day Saints.
Another common accusation against
the church is that its members often accept what their leaders say on blind
faith without ever questioning. This is, unfortunately, something characteristic
of too many Latter-day Saints. President Uchtdorf acknowledges this and condemns
it. “Latter-day Saints are not asked to blindly accept everything they hear. We
are encouraged to think and discover truth for ourselves. We are expected to
ponder, to search, to evaluate, and thereby to come to a personal knowledge of
the truth.”
He used some classic quotes from
early church leaders to support his argument about the importance of truth in Mormonism. Quoting Brigham Young, “I am … afraid that
this people have so much confidence in their leaders that they will not inquire
for themselves of God whether they are led by him. I am fearful they settle
down in a state of blind self-security. … Let every man and woman know, by the
whispering of the Spirit of God to themselves, whether their leaders are
walking in the path the Lord dictates.” Most non-members would not believe that
this quote comes from a Mormon prophet, many inside the church might ask “Is it
really not part of our religion to blindly follow our leaders?”
Pres. Uchtdorf also used one of my
favorite quotes from Joseph Smith “Mormonism is truth. … The first and
fundamental principle of our holy religion is, that we believe that we have a
right to embrace all, and every item of truth, without limitation or… being … prohibited
by creeds superstitious notions of men.”
The idea that Mormons embrace truth
from Hinduism, Buddhism, and even humanism seems so hipster, so liberal, so
modern, so contrary to what people think about dogmatic Mormonism. Yet there it
is as “The first and fundamental principal of our holy religion.”
Youth hearing this, will not
readily forsake it. They will be leaders who seek truth in all its forms. What
will we see in the 21st century church? Well I am no prophet, but I
believe we will begin to get a glimpse of what Joseph Smith meant when he said,
“truth without limitation.”
We will see liberalization in
homosexual policy (as already being seen), on understanding and working with
other faiths, on women in the priesthood, on our own history. Will women get
the priesthood? I doubt it (but who knows!), however will women be able to give
blessings again as they did during earlier times in the church, perhaps. Will
we see a re-introduction of polygamy? I extremely doubt it. However I do expect
a much more openness about the history of church involvement in the practice.
Church history in general will become increasingly open (as we are starting to
see in many ways) as will be necessary with an increasingly open world. This
increased openness was seen when Gordon B. Hinckley recommended reading of Rough Stone Rolling by Richard Bushman
and will continue and accelerate. Will
some future prophet suggest we read D. Michael Quinn’s Mormon Hierarchy? Maybe not. But the openness that allowed the
creation of many of D. Michael Quinn’s books will be restored and even expanded.
Perhaps we will finally get a few
new additions to the Doctrine and Covenants, embracing those words of Joseph
Smith that God “will yet reveal many great and important truths.”
I believe we are about to embark on
an era of truth seeking akin to Joseph Smith’s original search for truth and
perhaps even greater, where we will no longer rely on “the statements of Elders
as much as we will the searching of our own heart and conscience.” There will
be more questioning, more understanding, and more knowledge coming forth. To
put it in a slightly more controversial terms, I believe the future will hold a
lot more Holland and Uchtdorf.
The new generation will live the
words of President Uchtdorf, “[by accepting] the responsibility to seek after
truth with an open mind and a humble heart, you will become tolerant of others,
more open to listen, more prepared to understand, more inclined to build up
instead of tearing down, and more willing to go were the Lord wants you to go.”
And that can only be a good thing for a church that is far too often too eager
to ignore, too quick to judge, and too confident to question.
If you are one of those considering
leaving, I would ask you to reconsider, as you may be missing a most
interesting ride.
Works Cited
Backman, Milton V. Jr. "A Warning from
Kirtland." Ensign, April 1989.
Grant, Jedediah M. Collection of Facts, Relative
to the Course Taken by Elder Signey Rigdon in the States of Ohio, Missouri,
Illinois, and Pennsylvania. Philidelphia: Bicking & Guilbert, 1844.8,9
Smith, Joseph. History of the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2d. ed. rev., 7 vols. . Salt Lake City:
Deseret Book Co. , 1978.
see also
Coltrin, Zebedee. Minutes
of High Priest Meeting, Spanish Fork, Utah, February 5, 1870
*Church statistics are an interesting topic. This analysis
by Joanna Brooks is far from sufficient. Others who actually know something
about statics have done better analyses, however a more complete study would be
extremely interesting and I believe beneficial for the church. I am guessing
the church actually has most of these numbers, they just don’t release them to
the general public.
