Elder Kyle McKay, the Executive Director of the Church History Department asks a rhetorical question. He asks during a devotional address (A Sure and Certain Foundation) in which he attempts to bolster testimonies by teaching how to believe. He absolves church leaders of mistakes by basically countering that “you couldn’t do any better.” He suggests that this would make us see things differently if we considered having to do it ourselves.
And what about you? If the truthfulness of this Church or the truthfulness of or your beliefs were judged by your errors, would anyone ever believe what you believe? Would there have been fewer mistakes, fewer messes, if God had only restored His Church and gospel through you?
BYU-Idaho Devotional: A Sure and Certain Foundation, Elder Kyle S. McKay, April 25, 2023
https://www.byui.edu/devotionals/elder-kyle-s-mckay
What more obvious red flag for unrighteous dominion could you ask for, than men insisting that they’re immune to it merely because of the specific calling that they happen to hold? Nice to see church leaders after that take it as proof that because God Almighty hasn’t struck them down, they must be doing everything right.
Just because we are here, is no evidence or proof that it’s true.
Disregarding that the whataboutism he’s using here is faulty logic. Let’s take him as his word.
Would there have been fewer mistakes, fewer messes, if God had only restored His Church and gospel through you?
Elder Kyle S McKay
Well, since you asked, yes!
Yes. For instance, I can keep it in my pants.
Goldang
Comment
byu/wasmormon from discussion
inexmormon
Can you name what you may have done better than the church leaders? It’s an easy list to start, just list the things you wouldn’t have done and you’ll be well on your way.
- No racist priesthood ban
- No polygamy
- No concealing church history
- No polyandry
- No sending men on a mission and marrying their wife
- No treasure digging
- No rock in a hat
- No rock in a hat coverup
- No made-up first vision, or at least no waiting decades to write or share it.
- No made-up priesthood restoration
- Don’t call people witnesses if they only saw things with their “spiritual eyes”
- No mountain meadows massacre
- No Danites
- No Kirtland Anti-bank
- No $100+ Billion Investments
- No Using Tithing Money for Business
- No stealing Masonic rituals for use in the temple
- No Fake Book of Abraham
- No purchasing any Hoffman forgeries
- No Blood Atonement
- No Adam-God
- No trying to sell copyright to the Book of Mormon
- No Lost 116 pages
- No embedding my father’s dream into a book of scripture
- No Temple Penalties
- No destroying printing presses
- No Ambiguous Word of Wisdom
- No Victories for Satan
- …
It boils down to not starting a church based on things you pull out of your hat. The trick is, fewer mistakes and fewer messes is what most of us have already done. We haven’t started false churches, because we are honest. We haven’t favored faith promoting stories over the truth, because we deconstructed through the spiritual manipulation and have come through on the other side.
What else? What could you have done better had you been called and chosen to restore the true church of God? Asking for a friend. Were any of these issues stumbling blocks or shelf items for you in your faith transition? Consider sharing your faith transition story at wasmormon.org.
More reading: