Elder Ballard spoke on 9/11/2016 to a multi-stake conference. My family attended, warning, this post is going to get a bit more personal.
The Audio is here: http://www.mormonstories.org/m-russell-ballard-regional-broadcast-9-11-2016/
My Transcript of key items and the time they are said is below
Now Elder Ballard is a grown man, and can speak where and when he wishes, but a quick fact check shows that this is mostly bullshit.
First of all he re-iterates that people who leave the church are misled by satan. He echoes that one can prevent apostasy from scripture, prayer, temple attendance, regular sacrament attendance, etc. that I am hard evidence against. I was reading scriptures like a madman, serving as an elder’s quorum instructor, engaged in family and personal prayer when my shelf came crashing down.
People don’t leave the church because of being offended, sinning and forgetting to read a book. They leave because their trust is compromised. My trust was compromised when I caught a temple president lying to the patrons in the temple; and then he blamed my brother for telling me the details I needed to know to bust him. That was the start to my hard-core investigation that lead to this blog
Secondly; he claimed:
The Church is dedicated to transparency and has published precious resources to provide even more context to the story of the restoration. Through the JSPP website, and the gospel topic essays and on LDS.org
Mr. Ballard, please open the financial books for transparency
Mr. Ballard, please open the vault for historians if you believe in transparency, specifically the McLellin papers and Oliver Cowdery’s diary and papers, but I’d love to see the “Mormon Erotica” stored in the vault as well
Mr. Ballard, you are giving a talk on September 11th. Do you remember what happened on September 11th? No no, not the planes. That’s right, the massacre
That’s right, when LDS members followed their stake president’s orders to “Do their duty” and slaughter 120 men, women and children. In 2007, the Ensign finally admitted that it wasn’t the Piute indians who committed the act, which is MORE transparent, but to say “Committed to Transparency” means you need to do even more. You need to admit that the religion deceived members in official materials like the Seminary Manual I learned from. You need to change the article and remove “Militia” and put the word “Stake Activity” in its place. You need to be transparent; which means not misdirecting the reader to believe this was a Bundy-style land takeover that Brigham was unaware of; but rather that discussions were made with Brigham and his final order not to do it arrived too late; but he thought about having the people massacred at least. You need to admit that the church prevented justice for those who committed the heinous act and that Gordon B. Hinkley lied about it in 1999.
Do you see the degree of Hypocrisy of giving a talk on September 11th claiming full transparency and blaming those who leave the church for being lazy or deceived by Satan while you lie to the faithful?
Well, Mr. Ballard, my family had a talk about your lies afterwords, and my children were offended. Not offended as in they will leave the church (who leaves because they were offended really) no, offended that you’d lie to them so brazenly. Offended they didn’t know about the Mountain Meadows Massacre and that the church covered up so much about such a tragic incident.
Mr. Ballard, what I’m going to say next may sound harsh, but I’m just quoting scripture.
It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones.
“the tail is the prophet, the lying teacher” Isaiah 9:15
- 1:55 – He states he is giving his own Epistle. That’s like saying this is canonized scripture, right?
- 4:55 – Lord has blessed you
- 6:33 – reminder that sanitation and entertainment is great for us… (no mention of how religion did not contribute to such things)
- 6:44 – Shout out to Farms
- 7:20 – Prospering in the land (yay for prosperity gospel)
- 7:53 – Recommendations for spiritual health
- 8:20 – Scriptural reference to apostates and those who would pervert the gospel of Christ
- 9:00 – Reminder that life is black and white, good and evil
- 9:40 – False prophets mentioned
- 9:56 – “You have witnessed some of the very elect being deceived”
- Random discussion of trees
- 11:55 – “All appearances of being tall and erect in faith, die in faith”. Interesting discussion as he implies the trees shifted away from the water, when in his example the water was poisoned. “Dying trees may imply a rotten water source” could have been the title, and the same example used by exmormons
- 12:55- old fallacy that reading scriptures, fasting, temple work and praying will protect from apostasy. “Real Intent, without hypocracy and full purpose of heart” no true scottsman fallacy invoked
- 14:10 – Failing to Work with the poor mentioned as a cause of apostasy… might be that a church that fails its poor is in apostasy too, no?
- 14:20 – Satan invoked as the reason people fall away; along with “sin and guilt cloud the mind”
- 15:00 – “Individuals who don’t stay focused on the simple doctrines of the gospel will eventually listen to false teachers and self-declared prophets”
- Evils listed:
- Wealth and Entertainment,
- viewing podcasts and internet sites that raise questions and doubt without being intellectually honest enough to present fully and adequately the lord’s perspective
- 16:00 – “There is nothing wrong with asking questions about our history, doctrine or practices.”
- Bishops, Stake presidents, parents, auxiliary leaders – don’t brush the question off, or doubt his dedication to the lord.
- 17:00 – I’m concerned about people who ask sincere questions being treated as though they are faithless. This is not the Lord’s way
- We need to do better in responding to every question
- 17:40 – We may not be able to answer every question about our history, doctrine. We can answer those who are sincere
- 18:02 – We may not always find satisfying answers to our questions. “Still a place in a religion for faith”.
- The lord does not require his saints to have advanced degrees in history or doctrine.
- 18:46 – Even among the first presidency and quorum of twelve apostles there are those who have very different backgrounds and training
- When I have a question I cannot answer, I often turn to those who can help me.
- 19:10 – The church has trained scholars who have devoted a lifetime and have come to know our history and the scriptures. These thoughtful men and women provide context
- 19:44 – The Church is dedicated to transparency and has published precious resources to provide even more context to the story of the restoration. Through the JSPP website, and the gospel topic essays and on LDS.org
- 20:34 – Casual of listening to and following the Lord’s servants due to proximity to church headquarters
- Missionary Farewells are a problem
- 21:50 -We hope also that elaborate open houses will not prevail. No public reception
- 22:55 – Live beyond their means in an attempt to keep up with neighbors
- 23:48 – Turn off the social media (to spend time with family)
- 24:00 – Hold family council.
- 24:17 – Pokemon Go. He doesn’t understand it, don’t ask him about it, but it causes people to look down at their phones rather than view the beautiful creations of God’s world
- 25:05 – Tying it to lack of men getting married
- 25:20 – History filled with persecution.
- Missionary work emphasized
- 28:25 – Unprecedented access to educational opportunities. – Caution about learning
> 15:00 – “Individuals who don’t stay focused on the simple doctrines of the gospel will eventually listen to false teachers and self-declared prophets”
Didn’t seem to bother them when the preppers started up last year.
Or Glen Beck!
Christ taught the Gospel in simple terms. It is man that has plagued it with their own interpretations, just as I am reading here.
If Christ taught the sky was blue, this site would argue that blue is not truly a color in the light spectrum, as it is composed of some combination of light waves that trick the eye into seeing blue. In doing so, it would accuse those that believe the sky is blue of covering up the truth of how our eyes have been deceived. But we are to place great prestige and thanks upon those of this site that seem to know more than Christ Himself and have helped clarify a simple teaching by complicating it so much it can confuse anyone.
I am a Mormon, I enjoyed this talk and found nothing that contradicts any of God’s Gospel as taught by His Son Jesus Christ or his Prophets and Apostles. Don’t over complicate the Gospel. It is not meant to be full of secret meanings and hidden symbols as the DaVinci Code would have some believe. The Gospel is meant to be understood by the simplest of minds.
Says a person who goes to a building to perform secret ceremonies.
Nice straw man.
Keep pushing people to FARMs, Russ. Their obvious logical problems, excuses, finger-pointing, etc. was what led me to start reading MormonThink in 2011. MormonThink answered my questions, FARMs was the equivalent of throwing their hands up in the air and saying “Uh… pray, read your scriptures, go to church, because we don’t know.”
I also didn’t leave because I was offended, I left because I had some very real questions and the answers led me down a rabbit hole of knowledge that made it abundantly clear there was a cover-up involved. So far, family in St. George hasn’t said anything about this talk, but I know they heard it. I don’t give one corny crap about what Russ thinks of me, but every time one of these men gets up and tries to sway the opinion of my family members into believing what boils down to a strawman argument – creating a caricature of apostates and citing non-existent reasons why I left – it just makes me want to be more public about how happy I am without organized religion in my life.
The fact that the “brethren” are mentioning podcasts and issues with history must mean they are feeling the impact of those who leave. Fortunately it seems that the more they talk about it, the more it occurs.
The concept of podcasts and alternative voices has been around a long time with BYU Studies, Dialogue, and Sunstone, not to mention the works of the “Swearing Elders” and others who were expelled as teachers from BYU. However, his framework regards something much broader, to include the smaller “alternative voices.” The references to prosperity theology and other false teachers does not name anyone, but I will venture a guess to followings for Denver Snuffer, Wayne Dyer, Bob Procter, Tony Robbins, Louise Hay, Robert Kiyosaki, David Hawkins, and the whole slew of modern “prophets” who sell luck and prosperity and enlightenment for money under the banners of HayHouse, Nightengale-Conant, and others. While their ideas titilate and even excite the mind, they also divert attention away from Christ by clearly not referring to him or referencing him other than an interesting philosopher along with Rumi and Buddha, often seen as an axial age remnant if not a nice mythological figure. The modern philosophy sees Christ as a “consciousness” that we all may obtain, in fact dematerializing Him. So, Ballard has a very strong observation which can easily be vindicated. The fact he doesn’t mention names shows he refuses to offend anyone ascribing to these new-age philosophies or the merchants of these ideas themselves. The keynote commentary that heads this thread is a knee-jerk hostility toward anything formalized coming from the Church and is riddled with pre-disposed venom without seeing the honest intent producing these commendations, blessings, and warnings. Bitterness will not heal bitterness. But open-mindedness despite prejudice and rancor will be most beneficial to the critique and those who read the critique.
>, they also divert attention away from Christ by clearly not referring to him or referencing him other than an interesting philosopher along with Rumi and Buddha
I think Denver Snuffer talks a lot about Christ. A Lot more than Ballard did, actually. Ballard says to follow the organization, “The Church”. He equates “The Gospel” with “The Church” and himself and apostles as leaders, whereas Snuffer focuses on Christ.
I think he is more directly referring to John Dehlin of Mormon Stories, however, who runs the largest podcast and who was excommunicated recently enough, with enough influence that it is likely the focus. His podcast was very much about Christ.
You’ve built a nice straw man.
> The keynote commentary that heads this thread is a knee-jerk hostility toward anything formalized coming from the Church and is riddled with pre-disposed venom without seeing the honest intent producing these commendations, blessings, and warnings.
Ah yes, I’m engaging in knee-jerk hostitily…that’s it. It’s not that Ballard lied (he did, its verifiable), it’s not that the category includes almost all of the General Authorities provably lying at one time or another… it’s not that the Book of Mormon tells us that Satan is the father of lies…
It’s not that a general authority told my kids that I’m devil-led… no, it’s my own personal bias. You’ve nailed it. bravo you. You’re the clear vision in this world that distinguishes between truth and error.
>But open-mindedness despite prejudice and rancor will be most beneficial to the critique and those who read the critique.
Forgive me that I openly laughed at the concept that “Open-mindedness” is what I lack, while you; the effervescent defender of an organization that I show elsewhere on this blog to be openly robbing the widows mite to ensure they get first-class airplane tickets, have the truly open mind.
I stand all amazed at your dizzying intellect.