I love it when Mormon leaders trot out quotes from Brigham Young, Joseph Smith and others that show how Mormons are expected to think for themselves. And of course, they must also obey regardless of what they think. So why are we surprised that most Mormons don't think critically about their beliefs? What is the point if you can’t act as a result of your thinking, not to mention the common Mormon advice in recent years that says, ‘Don’t think, or read, or talk about anything that might cause you to question’. And, obedience is what is covenanted in the temple. And members must not ‘speak evil of the Lord’s anointed’ which means in effect not questioning Mormon leaders in public or private so that legitimate concerns circulate and answers are demanded instead of quietly dying in a divided and conquered populace. This is a system similar to that which despots from time immemorial have created, and to which Mormons have simply agreed. This, in my view, is evidence of the kind of mythological evolution people like Joseph Campbell talk about. Mormonism has come up with a mythology related to its leadership authority that makes superficial sense in a scientific thinking world. We are small herd animals by evolution and instinctively cling to our dominant social group. Hence, it does not take more than superficial sense to keep us there most of the time. Anonymous, board post 24th October 2005, ‘The Problem With Mormon Authority’
Don’t you think it odd that people who have had this so-called ‘special witness’ have taken oaths not to talk about any details of it? What kind of witness is that? Did Paul take an oath not to talk about his special meeting on the road to Damascus? Isn’t bearing witness the whole purpose of being a ‘witness’? And by that I don’t mean going around saying, ‘I witnessed something really special, but I’m not at liberty to discuss it with you.’ Much of the post-resurrection accounts in the New Testament (whether you believe in the book or not) is based on the Apostolic witnesses describing in detail their special ‘meeting’ with the resurrected Jesus. They didn’t write, ‘Well, after Jesus died, we had a special meeting and we are special witnesses, but we took oaths not to say anything about it’.
Ridiculous. Con-artists. Charlatans. Peep Stoner, board post 16th January 2006, 'Apostles Have Been Using ‘Special Witness Meetings’ For a Long Time’
The Mormon Church does not micro-manage its members. Dr David Wright, Mormon apologist, Calgary Herald
Senator Dubois: Have you received any revelations from God, which has been submitted by you and the apostles to the body of the church in their semi-annual conference, which revelation has been sustained by that conference, through the upholding of their hands?
Joseph F Smith: No, sir; none whatsoever ... I have never pretended to nor do I profess to have received revelations. Reed Smoot Hearings US Senate 1904
We believe that as we are now God once was. George F Richards, apostle, general conference April 1913
The Negro is an unfortunate man. He has been given a black skin. But that is as nothing compared with that greater handicap that he is not permitted to receive the Priesthood and the ordinances of the temple, necessary to prepare men and women to enter into and enjoy a fullness of glory in the celestial kingdom. George F Richards, general conference April 1939
Hitler enjoyed at least as much popularity among German Saints as he did among the population in general. His apparent dynamism and self-confidence seemed to show a way out of the chaos and weakness of the Weimar years. Moreover, as ‘good Germans’ the Mormons were acutely aware that Hitler had risen to power through legal channels. Keel & Tobler, The Fuhrer’s News Clothes: Mormons in the Third Reich, Huebner, viz Sunstone Magazine @ vol 5 no.6 pp.20-29
Some Church members even saw Hitler as God’s instrument, preparing the world for the millennium. Superficial parallels were drawn between the Church and the Nazi party with its emphasis on active involvement by every member. ibid.
The vital importance of ‘Aryan’ ancestry gave new significance to genealogical research. And the Fuhrer himself, the non-smoking, non-drinking vegetarian who yielded to no one in his desire for absolute law and order, seemed to embody many of the most basic LDS virtues. ibid.
Superficial parallels were drawn between the Church and the Nazi Party, with its emphasis on active involvement by every member. The women’s auxiliary of the Party and the Hitler Youth were regarded by some as secular equivalents to the Church’s Relief Society, MIA, and the Scouting programs. ibid.
[S]ympathy was apparently shared by some members of the [Mormon] Church leadership. The Church’s German magazine Der Stern reminded its readers in 1935 that Senator Reed Smoot had long been a friend of Germany, and this attitude seemed to receive official sanction during President Grant’s 1937 visit. The message to the German Saints was clear: Stay here. Keep the Commandments. Try to get along the best you can, even under some limitations. We want to keep the Church intact and the missionaries working. ibid.
The German Saints were not eager for a confrontation with their national government and they were happy to follow President Grant’s advice. By and large, the Mormons and the Nazis coexisted comfortably. ibid.
In their eagerness to coexist with the government, American officials of the German Church resorted to public relation efforts ... Probably the clearest example of this tendency is an article by West German Mission President Alfred C Rees entitled ‘In the Land of the Mormons’. [viz Der ‘Volkische Beobachter’ 14th April 1937]. ibid.
[The Mormon] policy of appeasing the Nazis worked well until the war broke out. Despite the classification of Mormonism as a sect ‘dangerous to the state’ ... according to Gestapo reports, the Church was not summarily dissolved as many others were. The missionaries remained; the Church continued. Even during the war, Mormon life was disrupted more by bombing raids, supply shortages, and travel restrictions than by official harassment. By and large, the German Saints lived through the Thousand-Year Reich much like the rest of their countrymen. ibid.
In December of 1933, a newspaper article was written in the Church News section of the Deseret News. The title of the article was Mormonism in the New Germany. This article praised the new regime of Adolf Hitler and sought to compare the glory of LDS teachings with the new doctrine of Nazism that was spreading across the German nations. The article’s author, Dale Clark, was not the only Mormon to openly praise Hitler and Nazi Germany. Many other Mormon publications, including The Millennial Star, were used to compare and contrast Mormonism with Nazi Germany.
The first correlation of the LDS church with Nazism centered on the dynamic leader of Germany, Adolf Hitler. He was charismatic, strong, dedicated to his beliefs, a great orator, and was widely viewed as a savior figure to the Fatherland. Many Mormons could appreciate the qualities of a figure like Hitler, as these characteristics were the same ones valued in a General Authority of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Mormonthink online
The rise of the Hitler movement in Germany caused a great many to fear that religious activity and missionary work would meet with disastrous opposition. Since the National Socialist party have come to power a few sects have been prohibited or restricted, but activities in the ‘Mormon’ church have been carried on about the same as before. As a matter of fact, a number of interesting parallels can be seen between the church and some of the ideas and policies of the National Socialists …
There is another noticeable trend in the ‘Mormon’ direction. It is a very well known fact that Hitler observes a form of living which ‘Mormons’ term the ‘Word of Wisdom’. He will not take alcohol, does not smoke, and is very strict about his diet, insisting on plain and wholesome foods, largely vegetarian.
As a specimen of physical endurance Hitler can easily take his place along side the athletes who are usually taken as classic examples. His 14-year struggle which brought him the power in Germany put him to a terrific physical strain. Besides the great responsibility there has been trials and conflict, and campaigning so strenuous that it has required the attention night and day, many times making it necessary for him to travel great distances by auto or plane, catching up on his sleep underway to fit him for the multitudes who would gather to hear him wherever he had time to stop …
Many of those who felt the greatest anxiety about being able to carry on their religious activities are finding that at least one branch of their church work has received its greatest boon since Germany’s adoption of Hitlerism. Church News section of Deseret News, article ‘Mormonism in the New Germany’, 1933
The leaders of the Church tried to maintain good relations with the Reich government. The president of the East German Mission, Alfred C Rees, accomplished a lot in this respect. On April 14, 1939 an article written by President Rees appeared in the Völkischen Beobachter (Nationalistic Observer), the official Nazi newspaper. The article was without a doubt advantageous for the Church at the time, but when considered today, it contains passages which are both shocking and shameful.
The degree to which the Church was identifying itself more and more with the Nazis went too far even for the Party. When the previously mentioned article by Rees was published as a brochure, with a swastika prominently displayed along with the name of the Church, the brochures had to be recalled, because the Party was against having the Church’s printed materials appear with a swastika. The Party took offense, because someone could have thought that the Party was approving of some American religious sect …
They tried to reconcile the Nazi salute with the teachings of the Church, and to prove that the Nazi Party was organized according to the way the Church was organized.
They said that the Fuhrer was like the president of the Church, and we should obey him. The SS was compared with the Melchizedek priesthood, and the SA (brownshirts) with the Aaronic priesthood.
The Gau leaders were compared with stake presidents, district and neighborhood leaders with home teachers, etc. It was good that Brother Kayser was there. He did not let himself get converted to National Socialism, but rather held to the iron rod and finally was able to get the brethren to leave him alone and let him lead his branch in the right way. hlt.ch, viz Steven Benson ‘All in Favour So Manifest’ by Sieg Heil; viz also New Order Mormon ‘The Church in Nazi Germany’