Well, congratulations, guys, you made Runnells a martyr.
It's baffling to me sometimes the way the church operates. Though the CES Letter is still discussed frequently in apologist and ex-Mormon circles, it's my understanding that its initial buzz has died down considerably—until this business about a possible excommunication. I did a little messing around with Google Trends, and I may be wrong about this. Apparently searches for "CES Letter" have been generally trending upward over the last couple of years, but searches for "Jeremy Runnells" just hit their highest spike ever, so I'm declaring my limited research to be inconclusive.
But regardless of whether or not the CES Letter's circulation is rising, why would the church keep Runnells in their news cycle by holding a disciplinary council so long after the fact? Wouldn't more of the same "be careful what you read on the internet" and "some truths are not useful" help members avoid a letter they might not know about? Isn't threatening its author with discipline and keeping him in the news raising the CES Letter's public profile? As glad as I am that the church continues to make awful PR moves, it bothers me that the possible rationales behind them are unfathomable.
I have a ton of respect for Jeremy. I think he handled himself with poise and I wish all the best for him and his family during what must be a strange and troubling time.
Also, why would they deny Runnells an interpreter given that he is hearing impaired?
ReplyDeleteUnless the outcome had already been pre-determined.
Yes! An excellent point! I mean, even if the outcome were pre-determined, just for courtesy's sake....
ReplyDeleteApparently members with questions don't deserve courtesy.
I watched the Video and have listened to his other interviews and I have to say that he was very well spoken, got his point across and made the higher ups at his Church Court look foolish. They already had their minds made up. They didn't even try to answer his questions. I think they were stunned that he was as prepared as he was. They were not. I think most of them think that if it gets to that point of a Church Court the person will grovel and give in. I am so glad that people are taking a stand against that. Congrats to Jeremy. The SP surely should have let him have his interpreter.
ReplyDeleteI would agree that the church tends to expect groveling. But trying yo drive someone to the point of groveling doesn't seem very Christlike to me. Which is why it was cool that Jeremy said he excommunicated the church.
DeleteJeremy is awesome. I hope more TBMs become aware of his questions and the church's inability to answer them.
ReplyDeleteI think it's the church's inability/refusal to answer them that's more important. I think a lot of members know about a lot of problems with the church, even if it's stuffed back in a corner of their psyches. But apostles keep assuring us that there ARE answers and I think Jeremy's repeatedly failed attempts to GET those answers might cause a few people's gears to start turning.
DeleteI also wish him well.
ReplyDeleteGoing in, he had to have known what the outcome would be. He had to know that none of them would have read the letter, because they didn't want to risk losing their testimonies and standing in the church, as well as potentially their wives, children, and eternal salvation.
As Jeremy said, to the church, this disciplinary council leads to spiritual execution. You would think he could know the exact charges in advance so he could prepare an answer to them. Despite that, I think he did a really good job of presenting his case. Isn't it amazing that one man with a few questions can cause so much damage to a big, powerful organization?
Now that it's over, I hope he'll get back to finishing his new website and book that he promised in his Mormon Stories interview to have up and going in March 2016.
"He had to know that none of them would have read the letter, because they didn't want to risk losing their testimonies and standing in the church, as well as potentially their wives, children, and eternal salvation."
DeleteThat might be one of the saddest parts about all this, to be honest.
Yeah, I also thought that when they have a church court, 6 of the high counsellors are supposed to be assigned to help the accused. How can they at all be effective if they know nothing of the case. Plus, in this case, he had nobody. He was on his own. Either they didn't get to that part of assigning people to speak for him, or they didn't follow proper procedure. I think he resigned before getting to that part, but like I said, there's no way they could've been at all helpful knowing nothing of his case.
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