LDS leaders may be seeing the erosion of their traditional power

In the past week, I’ve watched with interest as some Latter-day Saints, especially conservative ones, have resisted the church’s advice to embrace COVID-19 vaccinations. These are rumblings, not open rebellions, but they come on the heels of other recent pushback from conservatives.

Like when top leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints publicly congratulated Joe Biden for winning the presidential election: It should have been a pro forma news release, but the anger from disappointed Donald Trump supporters was swift and severe. Despite having no evidence of fraud or wrongdoing, they believed the election results should be overturned and were also angry when the church reminded members earlier this month of President Dallin Oaks’ General Conference statement about accepting the results of peaceful elections.

Open discussion of, and even resistance to, church guidance is hardly new. Liberals have been doing it for decades (and some of us have the hate mail to prove it). What’s new is that I see this coming from some of the church’s most ardent follow-the-prophet supporters in the U.S.

What’s at stake when orthodox Latter-day Saints begin to see following the prophet as a matter of individual conscience on an issue-by-issue basis?

Read more: https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2021/01/30/jana-riess-lds-leaders/