Objection!

      So my youngest brother introduced me to a series of lawyer/courtroom video games called Phoenix Wright, in which you play a defense attorney. I thought it sounded like a lame concept for a video game at first, but it’s actually really fun. It’s based upon the Japanese Criminal Justice system, which, when a case goes to trial is almost like “guilty unless proven innocent.” The main method of proving your client’s innocence is by finding instances where the witnesses’ testimonies contradict the evidence. When you find one, you get to yell a very satisfying, “Objection!” (which can also accomplished by pressing a button)

Finding those kinds of inconsistencies is also how Anne and I found our way out of the LDS church. Here’s an example: if you go to mormonnewsroom.org, and look at their frequently asked questions page, it has all kinds of things that are commonly asked. Two that caught my eye are right next to each other. Here’s a screenshot that I've highlighted, but in case you want to check it out for yourself to see that I haven’t altered anything but the colors, here you go.

Those statements blatantly contradict things that I was taught multiple times throughout the years I went to church. The FAQ claims that these were just a misrepresentation, misunderstanding, or speculation, trying to paint the picture that it was the local members who perpetuate these rumors and not the leaders/scriptures.

May I present exhibits A through H:


Exhibit A:

“Then shall they be gods, because they have no end; therefore shall they be from everlasting to everlasting, because they continue; then shall they be above all, because all things are subject unto them. Then shall they be gods, because they have all power, and the angels are subject unto them.”

   -D&C 132:20


Exhibit B: 

“God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens! That is the great secret.... It is the first principle of the Gospel to know for a certainty the Character of God, and to know... that he was once a man like us.... Here, then, is eternal life – to know the only wise and true God; and you have got to learn how to be Gods yourselves... the same as all Gods have done before you...”

- Joseph Smith, Jr., “King Follett Discourse,” Journal of Discourses, v. 6, pp. 3-4,
also in Teachings of the Prophet of Joseph Smith, pp. 345-346.
Source: http://scriptures.byu.edu/tpjs/STPJS.pdf


Exhibit C:

“The Lord created you and me for the purpose of becoming Gods like himself.”

- Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, v. 3, p. 93.


Exhibit D:

“That exalted position was made manifest to me at a very early day. I had a direct revelation of this. It was most perfect and complete. If there ever was a thing revealed to man perfectly, clearly, so that there could be no doubt or dubiety, this was revealed to me, and it came in these words: “As man now is, God once was; as God now is, man may be.” This may appear to some minds as something very strange and remarkable, but it is in perfect harmony with the teachings of Jesus Christ and with His promises.”

- Lorenzo Snow, Unchangeable Love of God, September 18, 1898, emphasis added.


Exhibit E:

“Man is a god in embryo and has in him the seeds of godhood, and he can, if he will, rise to great heights.”

-Spencer W. Kimball, The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, ed. Edward L. Kimball (1982), 28.


Exhibit F: 

Here’s one from lds.org's Gospel Principles manual:
Like before, only the colors were changed to highlight.

Exhibit G:

The Father has promised us that through our faithfulness we shall be blessed with the fullness of his kingdom. In other words we will have the privilege of becoming like him. To become like him we must have all the powers of godhood; thus a man and his wife when glorified will have spirit children who eventually will go on an earth like this one we are on and pass through the same kind of experiences, being subject to mortal conditions, and if faithful, then they also will receive the fullness of exaltation and partake of the same blessings. There is no end to this development; it will go on forever. We will become gods and have jurisdiction over worlds, and these worlds will be peopled by our own offspring. We will have an endless eternity for this.

 -  Joseph Fielding Smith Jr., Doctrines of Salvation, Vol.2, p.48, emphasis added


Exhibit H:

And finally, when asked about it in 1997 by TIME magazine, here’s what Gordon Hinckley had to say about it:

“I don’t know that we teach it. I don’t know that we emphasize it. I haven’t heard it discussed for a long time in public discourse. I don’t know. I don’t know all the circumstances under which that statement was made. I understand the philosophical background behind it. But I don’t know a lot about it and I don’t know that others know a lot about it.”

- “Kingdom Come,” TIME Magazine (4 August 1997): 56
[this is the original quote presented in its entirety. TIME omitted some of it with an ellipsis]


So as you can see, if the local members got that idea, it’s because the leadership was promoting the idea since the beginning. Trying to characterize it as non-doctrinal rumors spread by the lay people is clearly a case of blaming the victim. And instead of saying, "Yes, we teach that," the FAQ tries to weasel its way around so that it doesn't make the church look as "weird" and more mainstream.


The prosecution rests, your honor.

(authored by Joseph using Anne's blogger account)