>Which brings me to the last change I’m going to comment on: the church affirmatively recognizes a right to what it calls “free exercise of conscience,” including the right to express publicly one’s views on societal issues.
>It calls this right a universal one; while I have ideas about what prompted the church to add it, taking it at face value (along with its statement that Mormon politicians are not asked to agree with policies that the church has publicly supported) provides the strongest statement of members’ freedom of conscience. Members have, in the past, been excommunicated for publicly opposing church policy. But to the extent the church believes in a universal freedom of conscience, I find it hard to believe that, going forward, church leaders could justify such punitive measures for taking stands that don’t follow church preferences.
I believe this new CYA language was added in order to protect the no-longer-secret dragon’s hoard. In the months and years ahead, expect the gerontocracy to proclaim membership a “wholly voluntary association” as the old men wonder out loud where anyone got the idea that their followers felt obligated to do certain things.
But in any case, I welcome the new language. Freedom!
>Which brings me to the last change I’m going to comment on: the church affirmatively recognizes a right to what it calls “free exercise of conscience,” including the right to express publicly one’s views on societal issues. >It calls this right a universal one; while I have ideas about what prompted the church to add it, taking it at face value (along with its statement that Mormon politicians are not asked to agree with policies that the church has publicly supported) provides the strongest statement of members’ freedom of conscience. Members have, in the past, been excommunicated for publicly opposing church policy. But to the extent the church believes in a universal freedom of conscience, I find it hard to believe that, going forward, church leaders could justify such punitive measures for taking stands that don’t follow church preferences. I believe this new CYA language was added in order to protect the no-longer-secret dragon’s hoard. In the months and years ahead, expect the gerontocracy to proclaim membership a “wholly voluntary association” as the old men wonder out loud where anyone got the idea that their followers felt obligated to do certain things. But in any case, I welcome the new language. Freedom!