So just because a quote is older means that it is wrong or outdated?
Wrong? not necesarily. “outdated?” Well, that IS the general definition of ‘older,’ yeah. Especially considering that people are having some difficulties providing newer quotes. Believe me, I have no difficulty whatsoever in coming up with anti-Mormon quotes by Catholics and Protestants made–yesterday. I find it more than a little–looking for the appropriate term here and not finding it–that all those quotes against Mormonism made yesterday are being justified by the same five to seven quotes made a hundred and fifty years ago.
Well then. We better get rid of all writtings and talks from past leaders. There goes D&C, all the sermons and talks, discourses and perhaps even the scriptures themselves!
Goodness me. I wonder why it is that you think more of the writings of our early leaders than we do? WE do not equate them with scriptures, you know. By the way, you notice that we are NOT 'throwing them out." I just happen to be pointing out that those few statements by a few early LDS leaders made over a century and a half ago are–statements made by a very few LDS leaders made over a century and a half ago. The fact that you HAVE to go back that far to find something to be aghast over should be telling you something.
–and the fact that I’ll only have to go back about five minutes to find anti-Mormon stuff written by Catholics—and proudly published by them–should also tell you something.
I’ve seen quotes from over 1000 years ago used on this forum to defame the RCC and that seemed just fine. These quotes came from the general authority of the lds church, some even from the prophet. You can’t have it both ways; some things that the prophet said are great and others he just didn’t mean or don’t count.
See, here’s the thing; we are quite aware that our leaders are men; mere men, who have opinions of their own and are allowed to express them. Some of those opinions can be, and are, wrong. The opinion that the Catholic church is the 'whore of Babylon" is an incorrect opinion…and unlike many evangelical fundamentalist Protestant Christian types, is an opinion that is rather sharply corrected by the church if a leader expresses it. McConkie, when he wrote it in his 1958 version of “Mormon Doctrine,” was told to knock it off and change that in all future editions, because saying that was too far off the line of actual “Mormon Doctrine.”
That must have been rather embarrassing for Bruce R. McConkie, y’know. It was a rather public correction, after all.
So what do you want? Did some of our early leaders say this? Yes. Were they correct to do so? No. Does our saying they were incorrect prove that our church is false? No. All it proves is that the CoJCoLDS doesn’t think that the Catholic church is the whore of Babylon, no matter how much you guys want to think we do; that our leaders are quite capable of having opinions, expressing them, and being wrong; and that when they ARE wrong, the church is quite capable of telling them to fix it.
Oh, and that we don’t go burning everything that any of our leaders have said if it turns out that their words could possibly embarrass us.
In other words, sir, get a grip. You do NOT hold the high road on this one, no matter how much you want to invent one.
