Well, yeah - sorta:
....theological consistency is less important to Latter-day Saints than it may be for other Christians. This is an extremely important point, one that is relevant to the article that began this thread. The author of that article expresses frustration that Mormonism "is immune" to what he considers "fatal criticism" based on doctrine and beliefs.
There is a reason for that. Mormonism is not so much a system of doctrines as it is a way of life. In other words, to be a "Mormon" in good standing is more a question of conduct and attitude than theology."
-- LDS FReeper Logophile, from the thread Should We Stop Addressing Old Teachings and Non-Official Beliefs? -Mormon- (OPEN)
"Church Headquarters has been receiving an increased amount of correspondence from its members about doctrinal issues. Because of this influx of correspondence, the First Presidency reminded and encouraged LDS church members to utilize their local church authorities – bishops, branch presidents, stake presidents, etc — before resorting to contacting Church Headquarters.” In other words, the Mormon laity was told to quit bothering their church leadership on issues related to doctrine."
-- from the thread Quit pestering us, church leaders tell membership in letter
"It's not easy to learn a new culture, doctrine and terminology — just ask new converts to the LDS Church — one of whom was disappointed to learn that the fireside she'd been eagerly looking forward was not a bonfire. Or the one who showed up in tears at the office of Marleen Williams convinced that no Mormon man would want to marry her because she couldn't operate a hot glue gun....According to the study, members of the church can help new converts by being more open and by giving love and acceptance to them, especially as they struggle to learn LDS jargon and learn the difference between culture and doctrine."
-- from the thread LDS conversion is a process, study indicates
So, creating a Mormon culture keeps people distracted from actual mormon doctrine?
Wouldn't this lifestyle and culture be prone to corruption or turned into a cult like control over the congregation if they were not allowed to question the church?
The LDS Church has had some issues with determining what its doctrine is.
Bruce R. McConkie is one of the most frequently cited and quoted authorities on LDS doctrine. He was a General Authority of the LDS Church. In 1958, when he was a member of the First Council of the Seventy, he published a book called Mormon Doctrine: A Compendium of the Gospel, which was called "the first major attempt to digest, explain, and analyze all of the important doctrines of the kingdom," relying on LDS scriptures and the scriptures and recognized doctrinal authorities including, Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, Orson Pratt, John Taylor, and Joseph Fielding Smith.
One of the Apostles of the Church, Mark E. Petersen, said there were 1,067 errors in the first edition copy of the book. The first edition is the one in which McConkie called the Roman Catholic Church "the Whore of Babylon", the great and abominable church, and the great whore of all the earth, in LDS theology.
From there, things get muddy.
A Second Edition was published, with corrections. Prophet David O. McKay authorized it. However, although the McConkie family has handwritten notes authorizing the publication, the LDS church says that McKay was 92 and in ill health, and didn't consult his counselors.
Anyway, the book was published by LDS-owned Deseret Books and went through 40 printings. It was one of the most popular books ever printed by Deseret Books.
In 2010, Desert Books quietly ceased publication, claiming low sales - although Amazon and all other sellers claim that the book continued to sell well.
The one-year anniversary of 'quiet removal' of one of Mormonism's best-selling books got attention.
The Salt Lake City Tribute called it one of the most influential books on Mormonism of the last 50 years.
Some observers opined that the move was due to the book's uncompromising presentation of controversial Mormon ideas from which the Church is attempting to distance itself to seem more like mainstream Christianity.
So, if you want to know what LDS theology is . . . don't go looking for the principal source that's existed for that information for the last 50 years. It's been pulled from publication. And apparently an Apostle of the LDS Church didn't know what the theology of the LDS church was, or at least there was disagreement among the Members of the First Presidency.
Hecky FRAK!
We are told not to discuss the NEW ones!!
--MormonDude(So many changes; so little time to keep up.)
All together now...
DUH!