This was not what I thought I was going to write about today, but the sudden news story does relate:
https://www.sltrib.com/news/politics/2023/09/15/rare-public-rebuke-lds-church/
In rare public rebuke, LDS Church condemns Tim Ballard’s ‘morally unacceptable’ behavior
I am glad something was said, and hopeful that it can undo some of the damage that has been done.
I worry that it won't.
So many members were so enamored of Tim Ballard and so thrilled with the movie, that I am concerned they might have a hard time giving that up.
I think this might be a time to re-examine those feelings, and try to come up with something better.
First of all, a desire to protect children is good.
Children are vulnerable. They don't generally have money or political power or physical strength. There is an expectation that their parents will protect them, but sometimes parents do not have the ability, sometimes they do not have the desire, and sometimes parents are the threat.
Children are also still developing, where their experiences can have a more profound influence on them than similar experiences would have on an adult.
Children should be nurtured and protected, and it is good to know that and want to help.
Next, examine that mania for Tim Ballard and Operation Underground Railroad.
The first question may be whether you had ignored previous signs. There were many articles indicating not only that the organization was misguided on how best to help trafficking victims but also that Ballard himself was not a reliable source of information.
This includes Ballard recently being asked to step down from OUR, and that much of the information that led to the public rebuke came from a criminal investigation.
It would be possible to decide Ballard was a good man but misguided, or that the organization was still good even if Ballard was flawed, but it is probably not a coincidence that the flawed person, the flawed mission, and the flawed organization all go together.
There may be room here to look at what sources of information you are using, and what frame of reference you have for taking in that information. That is a much bigger topic.
It would certainly also be possible to decide that this is persecution due to political correctness; denial seems to be the route Ballard himself is taking:
https://www.fox13now.com/news/local-news/tim-ballard-responds-to-condemnation-from-his-own-church
I hope that church members will respect the words of acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve, M. Russell Ballard over a man who has been let go by the organization he started, but I worry.
Threatened patriarchy's primary tool are pride and anger. They don't leave one full of charity and sensitive to the Spirit.
I have often thought that maybe the reason the church never openly condemned Trump was because so many people would choose Trump and leave the church, whereas maybe if they stayed those messages about welcoming immigrants and the worth of souls and not hating would touch their hearts.
Except they were spending more time listening to messages that hardened their hearts. Instead, many of the people who knew the hate was wrong became alienated.
I don't have answers for everything; that is not my role.
On an individual level, I can recommend searching the heart, and seeing what love you find in it. If you keep finding anger and condemnation of others, you are probably on the wrong track.
If you keep feeling more love, and you are getting answers for ways to serve better and to make things better, then that seems like a good position, and you will be able to find ways to help.
Those ways will probably not involve the armed storming of compounds or a lot of fistfights. More likely it will involve a listening ear, encouraging words, and making sure that people have food and clothing and shelter. Making sure children have enough to eat is a huge way of helping them and the world.
If at some point it is right for you to get into a fistfight, that's just a bonus.
Related posts:
https://preparedspork.blogspot.com/2023/07/the-sound-of-distraction-sound-of-hype.html
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