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Mormonism and Church discipline/Scholars: Difference between revisions
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==Criticism==
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*Critics claim that the Church excommunicates or disfellowships scholars who publish historical information that is embarrassing to Church leaders.
{{H1
*It is often claimed, despite the fact that these discplinary actions are carried out by local leaders, that they are in reality instigated by general authorities.
|L=Mormonism and Church discipline/Scholars
*Critics claim that the Church is silencing honest people for telling the truth.
|H=Church discipline of scholars
*The Church is claimed to take a "dim view" of intellectuals.
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|L1=Does the Church excommunicate scholars who publish historical information?
}}
{{:Mormonism and Church discipline/Scholars/Does the Church excommunicate historians}}
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===Source(s) of the criticism===
*{{CriticalWork:Ostling:Mormon America|pages=Chapter 21}}
*{{CriticalWork:Southerton:Losing|pages=207}}


=Response=


=Church discipline=
<!-- PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE ANYTHING BELOW THIS LINE -->


==What Church disciplinary options are available?==
[[es:El Mormonismo y disciplina de la Iglesia/Eruditos]]
 
[[pt:Mormonismo e Disciplina da Igreja/Estudiosos]]
Leaders of the Church have various options for discipline.  Bishops or stake presidents impose Church discipline, and do so after discussing the matter with the member, hearing from other witnesses (if any), and after prayerful consideration.
 
From most to least severe, disciplinary options include:
 
# Excommunication - the person is no longer a member of the Church.  They can participate in no ordinances, cannot speak or pray at meetings, cannot hold Church callings, may not attend the temple, may not wear LDS temple garments, and may not pay tithing.  Excommunicated members may continue to attend worship services if they are not disruptive or dangerous.
# Disfellowshipment - the person remains a member of the Church, but is not speak or pray at meetings, cannot hold Church callings, and may not attend the temple.
# Formal probation - {{nw}}
# Informal probation - {{nw}}
 
The last two penalties may be imposed by a bishop privately upon a member.  The first two penalties require a formal "Church disciplinary hearing," held by either the bishop and his two councilors, or by the stake presidency and stake high council.
 
The goal in every case of Church discipline is to have the member's altered status be temporary; the goal is to encourage them to reform and return to full activity and participation in the life of the Church.
 
Church discipline ''cannot'' impose any financial or legal penalties (see {{s||DC|134|10-12}}).
 
The remainder of this article will focus solely on disfellowshipment and excommunication.
 
==Purpose of Church discipline==
Church discipline has three purposes:
# To save the soul of the transgressor
# To protect the innocent (e.g., someone engaged in serious sin should not be able to portray themselves as members in good standing to other members, who might thereby become victims of further crimes)
# To protect the good name of the Church.
 
==Why might one be disciplined?==
Why might a member of the Church be subject to Church discipline?  Generally, discipline falls into two broad categories:
1) serious moral sins
2) apostasy
 
===Group #1: Moral sins===
 
Serious moral sins which could result in a Church disciplinary hearing include committing various felonies, such as: murder, rape, sexual abuse, theft, or fraud.  Other acts considered to be serious sins by the Church include: adultery, fornication, homosexual acts, and submitting to, encouraging, or performing an abortion except in cases where competent medical authority has determined that the mother and/or fetus' life is in serious jeopardy by a continued pregnancy.
 
Other acts contrary to Church teachings that would ''not'' result in excommunication or disfellowshipment include failure to pay tithing, failure to attend meetings, failure to observe the Word of Wisdom, failure to attend the temple.
 
===Group #2: apostasy===
 
The Church understands apostasy to be the repeated public teaching of ideas contrary to the doctrines, principles, or ideals of the Church.  Those who are "apostate" continue to teach or preach their ideas even after being cautioned by their Church leaders.
 
Apostasy is the ''act'' of trying to persuade or mislead others; it is not the fact that one disagrees with Church actions, policies, or leaders.  As President George Q. Cannon explained:
 
:We could conceive of a man honestly differing in opinion from the Authorities of the Church and yet not be an apostate; but we could not conceive of a man publishing these differences of opinion and seeking by arguments, sophistry and special pleading to enforce them upon the people to produce division and strife and to place the acts and counsels of the Authorities of the Church, if possible, in a wrong light, and not be an apostate, for such conduct was apostasy as we understood the term.  We further said that while a man might honestly differ in opinion from the Authorities through a want of understanding, he had to be exceedingly careful how he acted in relation to such differences, or the adversary would take advantage of him, and he would soon become imbued with the spirit of apostasy and be found fighting against God and the authority which He had placed here to govern His Church.{{ref|cannon.1}}
 
==The "September Six"==
 
Six individuals disciplined by the Church in September 1993 have been dubbed "the September Six."  Supporters of those disciplined and critics of the Church have dubbed them "the September Six."  The six individuals were:
 
*Lavina Fielding Anderson (excommunicated)
*Avraham Gileadi (excommunicated, now back in full fellowship)
*Maxine Hanks (excommunicated)
*D. Michael Quinn (excommunicated)
*Paul Toscano (excommunicated)
*Lynne Kanavel Whitesides (disfellowshipped)
 
Avraham Gileadi has never spoken publicly about the reasons for his excommunication, was never asked to retract any publications or statements, and has returned to full fellowship.  It is probably inaccurate to lump him in with the other individuals here discussed.
 
The remaining five disciplinees have tended to claim that they were disciplined because of their writing and speaking on such matters as Church history, feminism, and abuses of power within the Church.{{ref|claims.sept5}}  Church leaders and officials rarely make the reasons or evidences presented at disciplinary councils public.  We must remember, then, that former members are generally free to claim whatever they like about their excommunication, without much fear of contradiction from the Church.
 
It is useful, however, to compare what these five individuals have said and done publicly, and what others have revealed about them, as we try to assess whether their excommunication was "just" about Church history or related matters.
 
===Lavina Fielding Anderson===
 
Lavina Anderson is the only former member who continues to attend LDS worship services.
 
===Maxine Hanks===
 
===D. Michael Quinn===
 
Fellow member of the "September Six" Lavina Fielding Anderson wrote of Quinn:
 
:Michael resigned from Signature's board of editors in 1985 and simultaneously announced that he and Jan would be divorcing. I was deeply grieved. I wondered if Jan had found his absorption with Mormon history intolerable....He simply explained that it was a long-standing area of disagreement but one which they had handled so privately between themselves that the divorce had, in fact, caught the children completely off guard....
 
:[After resigning from BYU] Michael called and wrote occasionally during his self-imposed exile in New Orleans and sent me some of the pieces he was writing. I particularly remember a vivid description of a Mardi Gras parade and a highly symbolic short story of two missionaries in Louisiana who were sexually attracted to each other and caught in a web of desire and violence, stalked by a religious psychopath....
 
:When Michael moved back to Utah, there was a new peace about him. He came to dinner and talked with deep serenity about the work he had done in therapy to come to terms with the contradictions and silences in his family's past, in his personal past, and in the sense of acceptance he felt about his personal, ecclesiastical, and sexual paradoxes. He also said that he was through running and hiding.{{ref|anderson.1}}
 
It is difficult to avoid the impression that Anderson is here describing Quinn's eventual decision to follow his homosexual inclinations, especially when Anderson later observes that in New Orleans, "He was also trying to come to terms with his gay identity, including intensive work with a therapist. They were years spent in hiding, trying to heal from an emotional battering."{{ref|anderson.2}}
 
Michael Quinn has claimed that he has been persecuted and excommunicated for being a "heretic."{{ref|quinn.1}}  "Heresy" has little role in LDS discourse&mdash;heresy is about belief, while apostasy is about actions.  Following his excommunication, Quinn "came out" as a practicing homosexual.{{ref|quinn.out}}  Quinn also wrote a book claiming that "the Mormon church once accepted and condoned same-sex relationships and that these relationships were practiced by church leaders."{{ref|quinn.2}}
 
===Paul Toscano===
 
===Lynee Kanavel Whitsides===
 
===September Six: conclusions===
 
==Next section==
{{nw}}
 
<!--
:Another article that Buerger was preparing for publication apparently caught the attention of the First Presidency of the LDS Church, and he was asked once again to explain his personal religious views to ecclesiastical authorities (p. 7). After this incident, Buerger's ties to the church "became increasingly tenuous. When he presented his paper on the temple endowment ceremony at the August 1986 Sunstone Symposium, he had to borrow a temple recommend from a friend to, as he put it, 'ma[k]e me look like a card-carrying member.' Research became increasingly difficult [for him] when he was officially banned from entering the LDS Church Archives and Library in the summer of 1986" (p. 8). By 1987, the year that his article on the temple endowment was published in Dialogue, Buerger was losing his interest in Mormon history (p. 8). In 1992 he contacted LDS authorities and requested that his name be officially removed from the records of the church (p. 10). - {{FR-10-1-4}}
 
 
One activity which often leads a member to be critical is engaging in inappropriate intellectualism. While it would seem the search for and discovery of truth should be the goal of all Latter-day Saints, it appears some get more satisfaction from trying to discover new uncertainties. I have friends who have literally spent their lives, thus far, trying to nail down every single intellectual loose end rather than accepting the witness of the Spirit and getting on with it. In so doing, they are depriving themselves of a gold mine of beautiful truths which cannot be tapped by the mind alone.
{{Ensign1 | author=Glenn L. Pace | article=Follow the Prophet|date=May 1989|start=25}}
 
-->
 
==Endnotes==
#{{note|cannon.1}} George Q. Cannon, ''Gospel Truth'' (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1974), 493.
#{{note|claims.sept5}} See, for example, {{Sunstone1|author=Paul Toscano|article=An Interview with Myself|date=December 1993|num=130|start=19}}
#{{note|anderson.1}} Lavina Fielding Anderson, "DNA Mormon: D. Michael Quinn," in ''Mormon Mavericks: Essays on Dissenters'', edited by John Sillito and Susan Staker (Salt Lake City, Signature Books, 2002), 329-364.
#{{note|anderson.2}} Anderson, "DNA Mormon."
 
==Conclusion==
{{nw}}
 
==Further reading==
===FAIR wiki articles===
{{LyingWiki}}
===FAIR web site===
{{LyingFAIR}}
===External links===
{{LyingLinks}}
===Printed material===
{{LyingPrint}}

Latest revision as of 21:01, 13 April 2024


Church discipline of scholars


Jump to Subtopic:

Overview
Accuracy of Church History
Forgeries and folklore

Who are the "September Six"?

The "September Six" were six individuals who were disciplined by the Church in September 1993

Six individuals were disciplined by the Church in September 1993. Supporters of those disciplined and critics of the Church have dubbed them "the September Six." The six individuals were:

  • Lavina Fielding Anderson (excommunicated)
  • Avraham Gileadi (excommunicated—now back in full fellowship)
  • Maxine Hanks (excommunicated—now back in full fellowship as of 2012)
  • D. Michael Quinn (excommunicated)
  • Paul Toscano (excommunicated)
  • Lynne Kanavel Whitesides (disfellowshipped)

Avraham Gileadi has never spoken publicly about the reasons for his excommunication, was never asked to retract any publications or statements, and has returned to full fellowship. Maxine Hanks returned to the Church as of 2012.

What are the criticisms related to the "September Six"?

  • It is sometimes claimed that the Church excommunicates or disfellowships scholars who publish historical information that is embarrassing to Church leaders.
  • It is often claimed, despite the fact that these disciplinary actions are carried out by local leaders, that they are in reality instigated by general authorities.
  • Some claim that the Church is silencing honest people for telling the truth.
  • The Church is claimed to take a "dim view" of intellectuals.
  • It is claimed that the LDS Church penalizes members for "merely criticizing officialdom or for publishing truthful—if uncomfortable—information," and "shroud their procedures with secrecy."
  • The LDS Church prosecutes "many more of its members" than other religious groups.


Are the reasons for discipline ever made public?

Church leaders and officials rarely make the reasons or evidences presented at disciplinary councils public

Church leaders and officials rarely make the reasons or evidences presented at disciplinary councils public. Thus, former members are able to claim whatever they like about excommunication without contradiction from the Church.

D. Michael Quinn claims that his excommunication was the direct result of his historical research on the origins of Mormonism. He refused to attend his own disciplinary council, telling his stake president that it was "a process which was designed to punish me for being the messenger of unwanted historical evidence and to intimidate me from further work in Mormon history." [1]

Despite Quinn's belief that his Church discipline was all about his history, his stake president wrote back on 11 May 1993, saying "There are other matters that I need to talk with you about that are not related to your historical writings. These are very sensitive and highly confidential and this is why I have not mentioned them before in writing." [2]

<onlyinclude>

Statement by The Council of the First Presidency and The Quorum of the Twelve on Church Discipline

January 1994:

Statement by The Council of the First Presidency and The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints:
In light of extensive publicity given to six recent Church disciplinary councils in Utah, we believe it helpful to reaffirm the position of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. We deeply regret the loss of Church membership on the part of anyone. The attendant consequences felt over time by the individuals and their families are very real.

In their leadership responsibilities, local Church officers may seek clarification and other guidance from General Authorities of the Church. General Authorities have an obligation to teach principles and policies and to provide information that may be helpful in counseling members for whom local leaders are responsible. In matters of Church discipline, the General Authorities do not direct the decisions of local disciplinary councils. Furthermore, the right of appeal is open to anyone who feels he or she has been unfairly treated by a disciplinary council.

It is difficult to explain Church disciplinary action to representatives of the media. Considerations of confidentiality restrain public comment by Church leaders in such private matters. We have the responsibility to preserve the doctrinal purity of the Church. We are united in this objective. The Prophet Joseph Smith taught an eternal principle when he explained: "That man who rises up to condemn others, finding fault with the Church, saying that they are out of the way, while he himself is righteous, then know assuredly, that that man is in the high road to apostasy."[3]:156 Citations in this letter were within the text; FairMormon has moved them to endnotes to improve readability.</ref> In instructing His Twelve Disciples in the new world about those who would not repent, the Savior said, "But if he repent not he shall not be numbered among my people, that he may not destroy my people. . . ." (3 Nephi 18꞉31, see also Mosiah 26꞉36, and Alma 5꞉59.) The Prophet also remarked that "from apostates the faithful have received the severest persecutions."[3]:67 This continues to be the case today.

The long standing policy of Church discipline is outlined in the Doctrine and Covenants: "We believe that all religious societies have a right to deal with their members . . . according to the rules and regulations of such societies; provided that such dealings be for fellowship and good standing; . . . They can only excommunicate them from their society, and withdraw from them their fellowship." (D&C 134꞉10.)

Faithful members of the Church can distinguish between mere differences of opinion and those activities formally defined as apostasy. Apostasy refers to Church members who " repeatedly act in clear, open and deliberate public opposition to the Church or its leaders; or persist in teaching as Church doctrine information that is not Church doctrine after being corrected by their bishops or higher authority; or continue to follow the teachings of apostate cults (such as those that advocate plural marriage) after being corrected by their bishops or higher authority."[4]

The general and local officers of the Church will continue to do their duty, and faithful Church members will understand.

As leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we reach out in love to all and constantly pray that the Lord, whose Church this is, will bless those who love and seek divine truth.

Signed:

The Council of the First Presidency and

The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles [5]

Learn more about Church discipline
Key sources
Wiki links
Online
  • Dallin H. Oaks, "Sin and Suffering," Ensign (July 1992): 70. off-site
  • James E. Faust, "Keeping Covenants and Honoring the Priesthood," Ensign (November 1993): 36. off-site
  • M. Russell Ballard, "A Chance to Start Over: Church Disciplinary Councils and the Restoration of Blessings," Ensign (September 1990): 12. off-site
Navigators


Notes

  1. ↑ D. Michael Quinn, Letter to Paul A. Hanks, 7 February 1993; cited in Lavina Fielding Anderson, "DNA Mormon: D. Michael Quinn," in Mormon Mavericks: Essays on Dissenters, edited by John Sillito and Susan Staker (Salt Lake City, Signature Books, 2002), 329-364.
  2. ↑ Paul A. Hanks to D. Michael Quinn, 11 May 1993; cited in Anderson, "DNA Mormon."
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Joseph Smith, Jr., Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, selected by Joseph Fielding Smith, (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 1976). off-site
  4. ↑ General Handbook of Instructions, 10-3.
  5. ↑ "News of the Church," Ensign (January 1994) 75.
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