Why it is dangerous to throw away prophets you dislike

I have noticed a growing trend within my conversations with Church members. Many members disagree with the teachings or actions of various prophets and seem to simply discard the prophet and ignore him. For example, whenever I share a quote about freedom from Ezra Taft Benson, progressive Latter-day Saints lose their minds that I am quoting him. They slander and attack him and rationalize why they are justified in ignoring his teachings. I could share similar examples with Brigham Young and various other prophets.

But there is a problem with throwing away a prophet like Ezra Taft Benson or Brigham Young because you disagree with them; well, there are actually many problems, but I want to highlight just two major problems that come when you throw away a prophet.

1st. The example we are setting and the damage we are doing to our children.

Many members claim that they are active members of the Church but then disregard prophetic teachings when they disagree with them. They rationalize by saying things like, “Oh it was only Ezra Taft Benson who decried socialism, so I can ignore him.” or “That was 20 years ago! And not important anymore.” Or “That’s only their opinion! I prayed and I was told I am right.” And whereas these excuses to criticize the prophets are flawed, and each can be debunked (click here for a quote collection debunking of the claim about Benson), there is another danger that they pose, the example to our children.

We are setting examples to our families, and those young in the gospel, on how to act. When we disregard the prophet and his teachings, the message children hear regarding disobedience is loud and clear! Elder Richard L. Evans in the Oct. 1964 General Conference taught, “if a parent goes a little off course, the children are likely to exceed the parent’s example.” And in the April 2003 General Conference Elder Jeffrey R. Holland taught:

“No child in this Church should be left with uncertainty about his or her parents’ devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ, the Restoration of His Church, and the reality of living prophets and apostles who, now as in earlier days, lead that Church according to “the will of the Lord, … the mind of the Lord, … the word of the Lord, … and the power of God unto salvation.” In such basic matters of faith, prophets do not apologize for requesting unity, indeed conformity, in the eloquent sense that the Prophet Joseph Smith used that latter word. In any case, as Elder Neal Maxwell once said to me in a hallway conversation, ‘There didn’t seem to be any problem with conformity the day the Red Sea opened.'”

Parents simply cannot flirt with skepticism or cynicism, then be surprised when their children expand that flirtation into full-blown romance. If in matters of faith and belief children are at risk of being swept downstream by this intellectual current or that cultural rapid, we as their parents must be more certain than ever to hold to anchored, unmistakable moorings clearly recognizable to those of our own household. It won’t help anyone if we go over the edge with them, explaining through the roar of the falls all the way down that we really did know the Church was true and that the keys of the priesthood really were lodged there but we just didn’t want to stifle anyone’s freedom to think otherwise. No, we can hardly expect the children to get to shore safely if the parents don’t seem to know where to anchor their own boat.”

When we discard the prophets who are calling us to repentance, we are laying the foundations of the destruction of our own family. To drive home the point Elder Holland related the following story: “Not long ago Sister Holland and I met a fine young man who came in contact with us after he had been roaming around through the occult and sorting through a variety of Eastern religions, all in an attempt to find religious faith. His father, he admitted, believed in nothing whatsoever. But his grandfather, he said, was actually a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. “But he didn’t do much with it,” the young man said. “He was always pretty cynical about the Church.” From a grandfather who is cynical to a son who is agnostic to a grandson who is now looking desperately for what God had already once given his family!”

In April 2012 General Conference, Bishop Richard C. Edgley related a similar story highlighting the heartbreaking dangers of leading our children out of the gospel:

A few months ago after a meeting with new converts and less-active members, a reactivated gentleman about my age came up to me and said, “I am one who has been less active most of my life. I fell away from the Church early in my life. But I am back now, and I work in the temple with my wife.”

To let him know that everything was OK, my response was something like this: “All is well that ends well.”

He responded, “No, all is not well. I am back in the Church, but I have lost all of my children and my grandchildren. And I am now witnessing the loss of my great-grandchildren—all out of the Church. All is not well.”

2nd. You can’t stop at throwing just one prophet away.

Something you might not have realized is that the prophets and apostles sustain each other. They are servants of the same Master. Just because you disagree with one of the prophets does not change the fact that they are all intertwined. Ignorance of our history often causes you to think you can throw just one prophet to get rid of an uncomfortable doctrine or aspect of Church history, but you can’t.

For example, I recently talked with someone who wanted to throw away just Brigham Young. They were upset that while Brigham was the prophet the prohibition of blacks receiving the priesthood started. They hated him for this. The point I was making was we don’t understand the “why” the Lord did it and we should refrain from speculating. They were upset and said it did not come from the Lord, rather Brigham Young was simply a racist. It sounded simple enough! Brigham Young was the prophet, and he was the bad guy in their book. Use him as a scapegoat and then throw him and the issue away!

But there is a problem with their logic! Like most issues where people try to throw away prophets, Brigham Young was not alone. To this person I explained, that to believe that the policy of blacks and the priesthood was born out of racism, requires one to also throw away other prophets. For example, if it was only the racism of Brigham Young, then how do you explain John Taylor denying Elijah Abel’s request to be sealed to his family after Brigham’s death? If Brigham denied it because he was a racist, was John Taylor a racist too?

And then you have Heber J. Grant, George Albert Smith, David O. McKay, Joseph Fielding Smith, and Harold B. Lee all received letters from Black Africa requesting the Church send missionaries and that faithful black members receive the Priesthood. Those letters got the response that the time was not yet. Were they racist too? The excuse of racism will soon cause you to throw away the majority of the Latter-day Prophets. Are you willing to do that? There is another obvious choice, one can simply realize the truth. The prohibition came from the Lord. We don’t know why, but it did. Making up reasons or throwing away prophets to avoid the issue will not work.

We can follow the example of Anthony Obinna who was denied the gospel and the priesthood for nearly 20 years! But when Spencer W. Kimball received the revelation extending the Priesthood to all worthy members rather than reacting bitterly, Anthony Obinna wrote the following to the prophet regarding his revelation:

“Dear Brethren,

“All the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in this part of Nigeria have the pleasure to thank you and the Latter-day Saints throughout the world for opening the door for the Gospel to come to our people in its fullness.

“We are happy for the many hours in the Upper Room of the Temple you spent praying to the Lord to bring us into the fold. We thank our Heavenly Father for hearing your prayers and ours and by revelation. He has confirmed the long promised day, and has granted the holy priesthood to us, with the power to exercise its divine authority and enjoy every blessing of the temple.

“There is no doubt that the Church here will grow and become a mighty center for the Saints and bring progress enough to the people of Nigeria as it is doing all over the world.”

Story of a Nigerian Member By Anthony Uzodimma Obinna

I can’t even fathom the faith of the early Saints in Africa who not only held on to their testimony of the gospel during the prohibition but shared the gospel with their friends! Their faith inspires me to be a better member. Imagine the faith it would take to be a black person, sharing the gospel with your black friends, and explaining to them why they should join a Church that was denying you the priesthood and would deny them it also! But the miracle is that not only did they share the gospel, but it spread like wildfire. When the missionaries arrived in Black Africa there were thousands of unofficial members of the Church waiting for them.

While many white Saints in Europe and America struggle with Brigham Young and throw him, and the entire Church away, Saints in Africa love the prophets and share the gospel with their friends! There are now more members of the Church in Africa than in Europe! That is right! There are more Nigerian Latter-day Saints than there are British Latter-day Saints! They also have 16 temples in operation, under construction, or announced in Africa!

Find Safety with the Keys.

It is hard when the Prophet says something or does something we disagree with. But when we swallow our pride and humbly follow the Prophet we are blessed. Now am I saying that the prophets and apostles are perfect or infallible? No, but I am echoing the words of Joseph Smith who taught, “I will give you a key that will never rust, if you will stay with the majority of the Twelve Apostles, and the records of the Church, you will never be led astray.”

I testify that I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. And so was Brigham Young, John Taylor, Ezra Taft Benson, and others. They might say things I struggle to understand, but fidelity to truth means that I sustain them even when I don’t fully understand or agree with them for they are the key holders of the priesthood and the prophets on earth that Christ has given us in these last days.

In closing, I echo the words of our current prophet, Russell M. Nelson: “My experience is that once you stop putting question marks behind the prophet’s statements and put exclamation points instead, and do it, the blessings just pour.”