Church whitewashing and hiding history

[Bob Crockett]

On 9/20/2017 at 2:26 PM, JLHPROF said:

If you think I am criticizing the Church, you have missed my point.

Dismissing the existence of a Church narrative concerning both history and doctrine that is adhered to by the majority of members strikes me as naive.
If we acknowledge the existence of a Church culture, of Church policies, of Church beliefs, of Church structure, then recognizing a Church controlled narrative is just common sense.

And so, consistent with your post, what somebody says in a graveyard about Brigham Young's wives is proof a Church-controlled narrative.  'I see no evidence a "church controlled narrative" as you claim.  Indeed, "controlled narrative" is just another form of meaningless jargon (like "transparency") with which to browbeat the church.

Why wouldn't instead the church-controlled narrative be better evidenced from Joseph Fielding Smith's Essentials in Church History, or Orson F. Whitney's "History of Utah," or James Allen's book (published by BYU) about the history of the church whose title I have forgotten?  Or Leonard Arrington's American Moses?  Or the Encyclopedia?

In terms of Church manuals, specifically the priesthood manual dealing with the teachings of Brigham Young (I've never read it; I've worked in the YM's organization for many years), it does not purport to be a manual of all of his teachings, including the doctrine of plural marriage. So, the "controlled narrative" as to what we should be taught about church doctrine can obviously be found from these manuals, but there is no reason for example for a manual to spend an entire chapter instructing the Saints to gather to Salt Lake City.  That teaching no longer is relevant.  I don't imagine that in the primitive Church once Peter received his revelation about taking the Gospel to the Gentiles he spent any time telling members the Gospel is limited to the House of Israel.  So thus would the "controlled narrative" be deceptive if somebody in a Roman graveyard told a bunch of Christian Jews, "we only take the Gospel to the Jews."  "Controlled narrative" is such an offensive and meaningless phrase.  To paraphrase John Kenneth Galbraith, to claim that one is relying upon conventional wisdom is to be an idiot.

Edited September 21, 2017 by Bob Crockett