“Prophets are rarely popular. But we will always teach the truth!” -Russell M. Nelson
So was it truth when Brigham Young taught the Adam-God theory? (Deseret News, June 18, 1873) Or was it truth when Spencer W. Kimball denounced it? (October 1976 General Conference)
Was it truth when Joseph Smith claimed he didn’t practice polygamy? (History of the Church, Vol. 6, Chap. 19 p. 411) Or was it truth when the church now acknowledges that Joseph had at least 34 wives-several of whom were underage or were married to other men? (Plural Marriage in Kirtland and Nauvoo, 2014)
Was it truth when Brigham Young taught the doctrine of blood atonement? (Journal of Discourses 4:53-54) Or was it truth when it was denounced by the leaders of the church? (Deseret News, June 18, 2010)
Was it truth when Joseph Smith said the Book of Abraham was translated from scrolls that were written by Abraham himself? (Book of Abraham, introduction) Or is truth when the leaders of the church today admit that the scrolls Joseph had do not match the translation from the Book of Abraham, and weren’t even from Abraham’s time? (Translation and Historicity of the Book of Abraham, 2014)
Was it truth when Brigham Young taught that polygamy was essential to obtaining exaltation? (Journal of Discourses 11:269) Or was it truth when Gordon B. Hinckley said that polygamy was not doctrinal? (Larry King Live, September 1998)
Was it truth when Brigham Young banned black people from receiving the priesthood (and more importantly from entering the temple), and when he and other leaders taught that black people would only enter the celestial kingdom as servants (Mark E. Peterson August 27, 1954) taught that a white person who married a black person would be killed on the spot (Journal of Discourses 7:290-291; 10:110), taught that black people would be the last of God’s children to receive the priesthood (Journal of Discourses, 7:290), and taught that black people were less valiant in the preexistence? (Statement by the First Presidency, August 17, 1949) Was it truth when for over 100 years every prophet from Brigham Young to Harold B. Lee upheld these racist teachings and policies? Or was it truth when the ban was lifted? Is it truth when today’s leaders “disavow these theories?” (Race and the Priesthood, 2013)
Was it truth when Harold B. Lee taught that people with disabilities were less valiant in the preexistence? (Decisions for Successful Living, p. 165) Or is the truth that we are much more than our disabilities and our temporary afflictions? (Jeffrey R. Holland, Like a Broken Vessel, October 2013 General Conference)
Was it truth when Boyd K. Packer taught that someone couldn’t have “inborn tendencies” (aka: be born gay) because God wouldn’t do that to his children? (Boyd K. Packer, Cleansing the Inner Vessel, October 2010 General Conference) Or was it truth when leaders taught that same sex attraction wasn’t a sin but acting on it was? (M. Russell Ballard, The Lord Needs You Now!, Ensign Sep. 2015)
Was it truth when the leaders implemented a policy in 2015 that children of same sex couples should be prohibited from being baptized? Or was it truth when only 4 years later “God” changed his mind and the policy was reversed?
Truth is truth. But I’m not sure if the LDS leaders know what truth is. Don’t take my word for it though, I’m just one of those “disaffected” members who certainly can’t be a source for truth. - Kylie Woollard
