What I don’t understand is this: Why do mainstream Mormons apologize for the FLDS? If some cult of sedevacantists were doing something evil, I, as a Catholic, would hardly be trying to justify their actions.
Well, when a people decide they're going to live by new "revelations" and new "prophet" manifestos, then they die by them as well. What we see from LDS is a sort of, "Uh...well, you see, the fLDS didn't get the 1890 memo and they're just living on past 'revelational' fumes...whereas we go direct to the source...OUR 'prophet.'"
Because of this, there's a sense of family embarassment. fLDS, you have to remember, are Mormons heritage-wise, they're Mormons family blood wise, and they're Mormons theologically. Yet, family-image conscious mainstream Mormons treat the fLDS like they're the crazy aunt they need to keep locked in the basement closet downstairs. And why is that? (Well, that goes back to what I just said in post #14):
Among the initial first camera images was the daguerreotype process of the 1820s, which took eight hours of exposure time. I mention that because that's a good "image" to think about upon observing the fLDS. The fLDS are a lingering "exposure" portrait of what the LDS were like in the 19th century. [See my tagline]