Obedience is the First Law of Heaven
I was so sure that the church wasn't going to excommunicate Sam Young. He's so devout. He's such a good guy. He doesn't doubt anything. He just wants to see a specific practice stop. The church can simply disagree with him and continue to try to ignore him. They've already listened and made some small steps. His fast is over. Why not just leave him alone?
Because this is about obedience. "Obedience is the first law of heaven." We owe at least lip service to the leaders of the church. You can doubt all you want as long as you don't talk to the media about it. Or mention it in church meetings.
I remember so clearly a time when I believed in this. I remember defending Kate Kelly's excommunication in 2014 as "the only thing the church could do" to maintain its boundaries and authority. I shortly afterward (when The Bishop's Wife was published) began to wonder who was going to be next, and suspecting that it was going to be me. I thought I could live with it. I catalogued all the things I'd lose and nodded, believing that I would be able to survive that. But the truth is, I always believed that my closest friends and family members, if given the choice, would choose me over their loyalty to the church. I didn't expect them to resign or even stop attending, but I did believe they'd give me the benefit of the doubt and believe I was still a good person, that we could simply disagree about Mormonism. I was wrong. That isn't how it shook out, how it is still shaking out.
I watch the current scandals of Catholicism and I remember in my childhood and teen years when the Catholic church was called "the whore of the earth" in Mormon Doctrine by Bruce R. McKonkie and in the Book of Mormon. I watched with satisfaction as so many priests were revealed to be child sexual predators because I thought this would just prove Mormonism was the one true church. But that's not what's happening as I see it.
Instead, I look at the Catholic bishops and archbishops who are so bitterly fighting against Pope Francis's kinder, more liberal voice about LGBT people and divorced people and I think--can anyone Mormon imagine this happening? Can we imagine a 70 speaking openly against the prophet to the news media? Can we imagine a member of the twelve talking openly about the disagreements in that quorum? No, we can't. Because obedience is the first law of heaven.
Because this is about obedience. "Obedience is the first law of heaven." We owe at least lip service to the leaders of the church. You can doubt all you want as long as you don't talk to the media about it. Or mention it in church meetings.
I remember so clearly a time when I believed in this. I remember defending Kate Kelly's excommunication in 2014 as "the only thing the church could do" to maintain its boundaries and authority. I shortly afterward (when The Bishop's Wife was published) began to wonder who was going to be next, and suspecting that it was going to be me. I thought I could live with it. I catalogued all the things I'd lose and nodded, believing that I would be able to survive that. But the truth is, I always believed that my closest friends and family members, if given the choice, would choose me over their loyalty to the church. I didn't expect them to resign or even stop attending, but I did believe they'd give me the benefit of the doubt and believe I was still a good person, that we could simply disagree about Mormonism. I was wrong. That isn't how it shook out, how it is still shaking out.
I watch the current scandals of Catholicism and I remember in my childhood and teen years when the Catholic church was called "the whore of the earth" in Mormon Doctrine by Bruce R. McKonkie and in the Book of Mormon. I watched with satisfaction as so many priests were revealed to be child sexual predators because I thought this would just prove Mormonism was the one true church. But that's not what's happening as I see it.
Instead, I look at the Catholic bishops and archbishops who are so bitterly fighting against Pope Francis's kinder, more liberal voice about LGBT people and divorced people and I think--can anyone Mormon imagine this happening? Can we imagine a 70 speaking openly against the prophet to the news media? Can we imagine a member of the twelve talking openly about the disagreements in that quorum? No, we can't. Because obedience is the first law of heaven.
Obedience is the first law of a man made heaven.
ReplyDeleteShe's quoting the D&C, you genius.
ReplyDeleteDo you have the exact section and verse?
DeleteI found a reference attributing the phrase to Joseph F. Smith in 1873 and claiming he "borrowed" it from Alexander Pope's "order is heaven's first law." On lds.org, a quote from Bruce R. McConkie came up in a lesson manual (Doctrines of the Gospel Chapter 17): "“Obedience is the first law of heaven, the cornerstone upon which all righteousness and progression rest. It consists in compliance with divine law, in conformity to the mind and will of Deity, in complete subjection to God and his commands” (Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, 539)" I don't believe the phrase appears in the Doctrine and Covenants.
ReplyDeleteIt's surprising what ISN'T scripture.
ReplyDeleteWhoever thinks obedience is the first law of heaven has never been there.
ReplyDeleteAnd might never find themselves there. Is there a Pharasaical kingdom?
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