Helmut Huebener: I had forgotten about
 

him.

A remarkable young man during a horrific time.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helmuth_H%C3%BCbener

A truly poignant part of the link:

"Owing to his political activities, Hübener was excommunicated by local German authorities of his own church (who were out of contact with church leadership in the US at the time), but posthumously reinstated some years after the war.
A youth centre and a pathway in Hamburg are nowadays named for Helmuth Hübener. The latter runs between Greifswalder Straße and Kirchenweg in Sankt Georg.
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Quotation

"German boys! Do you know the country without freedom, the country of terror and tyranny? Yes, you know it well, but are afraid to talk about it. They have intimidated you to such and extent that you don't dare talk for fear of reprisals. Yes you are right; it is Germany — Hitler Germany! Through their unscrupulous terror tactics against young and old, men and women, they have succeeded in making you spineless puppets to do their bidding." — from one of Helmuth Hübener's many pamphlets, subsequently also published in When Truth Was Treason: German Youth against Hitler, Editors Blair R. Holmes and Alan F. Keele."

Thanks for that link. I had never heard of him before.

I read a book about Huebener and his 2 cohorts. I was amazed at their courage but in the end I had to say it didn't seem worth it. The Nazi response was incredibly over the top (Execution for Helmut and prison then conscription for the other two) when all the teens did was distribute a relatively few pamphlets. In addition, the two survivors were placed on the front lines as the Russian army advanced at the very end of the war. One of them was captured and spent another 5 years in a Russian prison. Very courageous teens/men. I really felt for them.

Huebener violated the 12th article of faith, and I believe that was the basis for his excommunication.

It just goes to show that sometimes the moral thing to do is to FIGHT oppression and not stand with it.

I read Hubener vs. Hitler last year.

Wasn't that impressed with the book, but very impressed with Hubener himself. Great man with undaunting courage.

Huebener is an interesting case study. On one hand, it shows the naivete of youth and youth's courage.

OTH, it shows the Church in a negative, yet pragmatic light. By virtue of being run by businessmen, who usually are not courageous, but rather look to the bottom line, the Church as dictated by the leaders will not place its organization on the line.

I understand and agree with the 12th Article of Faith, but Huebener's excommunication disturbs me.

And it got me thinking, there are many instances of LDS members showing courage, but there is almost never an instance of the organization showing courage. Why is that?

It seems the good of the many is always paramount to the good of the one, and the one is always expendable.

that is one thing that bothers me about the church expending so much effort on the gay issues.

what about all the other moral issues in the world?

Is the gay issue so important to the Lord that it overrides every other moral question of our times?