Please, please, please don't let this GC be about gay marriage

[BlueK]

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

Historically we have seen people change for the better as President. Something about the mantle and responsibility changing people. I don't know that I can really say that about President Monson. He wasn't some loose cannon that had to be reined in. He just doesn't seem to have the same mental vitality that he had before.

But looking at someone through the lens of General Conference is deceptive. It's a presentation. Best foot forward. People reading prepared remarks. It doesn't necessarily tell us what a person is like.

And someone could be pretty impaired and still be able to read a teleprompter.

There was the controversy about President Benson and his mental state. His grandson was the one who fanned the flames of that.

Then on the secular side there was President Reagan.

The interesting thing about that with Pres. Benson was that most of the grumbling was coming from the extreme conservatives in the church rather than the liberals, if I remember right. And Steve Benson's comments I'm pretty sure were made after the fact. I don't think he said anything or left the church until after Benson died. His deal was something along the lines that God wouldn't allow the prophet to get to that state, or something like that, so his grandfather couldn't have really been a prophet, so the church isn't true. Politically however, Steve Benson remained pretty conservative after leaving the church, so not really a typical "liberal" reaction to LDS stuff.

The problem some of the hyper mullahs had after ETB became the president is that he suddenly stopped saying anything politically controversial. That took the wind out of the sails of the extreme conservatives who were waiting to hear their political views finally preached from the pulpit by THE prophet, rather than by Elder Benson the apostle. Most of the church just took it to mean God was more interested in having him talk about the Book of Mormon than about political stuff. Then he got sick and there were some folks grumbling that President Hinckley was holding him back so he couldn't say the political stuff.

[MikeWaters]

If you are so far mentally gone that you can't protest not being able to speak in GC, then you probably shouldn't speak in GC.