NOM

I was listening to the prophet Warren Jeffs talk about "perfect obedience" and I figured out what the brethren are really saying when they emphasize obedience:

Brethren: "Obey!"
Us: "Obey who?"
Brethren: "Why obey God of course!"
Us: "How will we know what God wants us to do?"
Brethren: "We are the only ones authorized to tell you what God wants you to do."

So translated and simplified:

Brethren: "Obey me!"

Simplified version is clear as a bell. Ironically, obedience by itself is usually good, except in its extreme form. When I think of Athens and Sparta, and the contrasting mindsets, it seems the church has more of a Spartan mindset. Athens was more humanistic, Sparta was more militantly authoritarian.

This works the same for the Joseph Smith is a prophet narrative:

Joseph Smith: "I'm a prophet"
Us: "Says who?"
Joseph Smith: "Why God of course!"
Us: "How will we know that God called you to be the prophet?"
Joseph Smith: "I'm the only one authorized to tell you who God called to be the prophet."

So translated and simplified:

Joseph Smith: "Im the prophet because I said so!"

When Joseph Smith drank a bottle of wine the night before he was martyred, was he being obedient?

When Brigham Young ordered coffee to be in the list of items required for pioneers heading for Utah, was he being obedient?

When Heber J. Grant told Lowery Nelson that the priesthood was doctrinally restricted by race, was he being obedient?

When Spencer Kimball purchased fake documents from Mark Hoffmann, was he being obedient?

Corsair wrote:When Joseph Smith drank a bottle of wine the night before he was martyred, was he being obedient?

When Brigham Young ordered coffee to be in the list of items required for pioneers heading for Utah, was he being obedient?

When Heber J. Grant told Lowery Nelson that the priesthood was doctrinally restricted by race, was he being obedient?

When Spencer Kimball purchased fake documents from Mark Hoffmann, was he being obedient?

They were each being obedient to the prophet.

Corsair wrote:When Joseph Smith drank a bottle of wine the night before he was martyred, was he being obedient?

When Brigham Young ordered coffee to be in the list of items required for pioneers heading for Utah, was he being obedient?

When Heber J. Grant told Lowery Nelson that the priesthood was doctrinally restricted by race, was he being obedient?

When Spencer Kimball purchased fake documents from Mark Hoffmann, was he being obedient?

They were obeying as men, not as prophets...

#gaslighttheworld

Pretty sure Jesus invited us to follow His path rather than issuing a command. Obedience is the first rule of slavery, rather than a religious dictum. The call for obedience was issued by men who benefit from this obedience such as slave masters and the top rungs of an earthly hierarchical command. It is unfortunate that the concept of obedience has gotten mixed in with our religious thinking, but we do our beliefs no good by continuing to embrace such an idea.

moksha wrote:Pretty sure Jesus invited us to follow His path rather than issuing a command. Obedience is the first rule of slavery, rather than a religious dictum. The call for obedience was issued by men who benefit from this obedience such as slave masters and the top rungs of an earthly hierarchical command. It is unfortunate that the concept of obedience has gotten mixed in with our religious thinking, but we do our beliefs no good by continuing to embrace such an idea.

Good points, Moksha.
I've pointed out to some TBMs that worshiping people - GA's - is wrong and even scriptures say they'll fail us.
Scripture (Jesus) also says that the greatest commandments are to love God and love others - " on these 2 commandments hang all the law & the prophets." In other words, don't ever worship prophets as if infallible. Yet they insist. Why? I think it's because they cling to childhood need of parental figures.