It is now 6 months since Dieter Uchtdorf's Landmark Speech dubbed DDD given at the October 2013 General Conference. It was hailed with Great Enthusiasm as well as Skepticism. So what difference has it made in a practical sense ? Pr Uchtdorf has continued to pursue this message in academic circles, but have the relationships for conflicted members become easier and more accepting in the last 6 months ? The transparency of the LDS church is nowhere near comparable to that in the Christian world and Dieter is certainly not Pope Francis. If he is a reformer at heart then he still walks a tight rope. Say 90% old style party line, 10% Mormon spring ! Lets move to the 10% spring content in his speech.
Have you noticed a change of thought & practice in LDS Families, Wards and Stakes ?
- President-Uchtdorf at BYU April 2014 (DDD not mentioned)
- Sltrib.com/church-history-lds-uchtdorf March 2014 (DDD)
- Dieter-uchtdorf-says-church-has-made-mistakes October 2013 (DDD)
- Mormoncurtain.com/topic_dieteruchtdorf_section1.html (DDD is Delusional)
- The wizard of Oz - Pay no attention ! (Made me laugh - Mormon Dilemma Solved 110 secs)
Uchtdorf citations from SLTRIB
"Truth and transparency complement each other, we always need to remember that transparency and openness keep us clear of the negative side effects of secrecy or the cliché of faith-promoting rumors." Still, he maintained that the teachings of Jesus Christ are "the most practical of all truths" ."It is my conviction that those who disregard the reality of heaven will ultimately find themselves on the wrong side of history. That is true for any issue, even the issues we are struggling with today."
Comments
Richard Bushman, a historian and author of "Rough Stone Rolling," was struck by the leader’s emphasis on transparency."Church members are divided about how far to delve into our history when it sometimes brings up disturbing matters," he said. "President Uchtdorf advocates openness. … He is saying we need not fear so long as we heed his advice and remain patient and open."
My own take on the above citations is that Dieter Uchtdorf has inaugurated a strategic retreat and silently given up on the LDS sole Truth claim by defending a minimalist position of basic Christianity instead. A belief in the Afterlife, Divine love, Practical matters of principle and character as well as some sort of Heaven (and even hell) is most widely accepted and most easily defendable and pretty much immune against attacks by Atheism, Darwinism and Science.
The wizard of Oz - Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain This made me laugh as it reveals a profound hidden truth. Joseph Smith and the Mormon Dilemma explained in 110 seconds. As the Mormon curtain lifts Smith is still revered as a good man, just a bad wizard. And the LDS Top 15 keep building Monuments to him. A bit of laughter alleviates the pain of having been deceived at my baptism in 1972. They did not tell me that they knew at least since 1970 that the Book of Abraham was Myth and the Papyri Pagan. Hence the Foundation of the Nauvoo Temple was a Pagan Egyptian Jewish Midrash called a Revelation of Jesus Christ and dressed up Christian. In 2012 we had reached 100 Years of doubting your doubts, starting with BH Roberts findings in 1912. For me it was my 40th anniversary, because I always had doubts since the day of my baptism in the Mormon Church.