There is so much to be said about this topic. Yes, follow the prophets, but be sure that you obtain your own assurance from the Lord regarding their counsel. Brigham Young worried aloud on several occasions that the saints would just give their agency away to the church leaders and not confirm counsel themselves. It is our responsibility to make conscious choices, confirmed by the Holy Ghost. Also it is very important to remember that the prophetic counsel we should heed is that coming from the prophets alive today, not those from years ago. Things change. As an example, one of the other commentators referred to the Equal Rights Amendment--while the Church opposed it in the 1970s, it had been supported by the Church when it was originally proposed in the early 20th century. Something obviously changed. Were it to be re-introduced today, it is possible that we would get different counsel than in the 70s (or not). What Pres. Kimball said in the 70s is interesting (and sounds so much like him! ), but we should not assume that Pres. Nelson would say the same nearly 50 years later.
William BakerJuly 1, 2019
This is an important topic for latter-day saints. We need never doubt the prophets, and the nearer we come to Christ, the more we will agree with prophetic declarations and understand the "why" behind those declarations.
Nadine AndertonJuly 1, 2019
When rhe Equal Rights Amendment was very controversial in Church circles, I was very conflicted. In the late '60s I was a divorced mother of two young children. My former husband only paid me child support when his current wife's ex-husband paid the support he owed her, which evidently was not regularly. It had been difficult for me to find a job at all, in Utah, because single women were not considered to be a good risk because they might get married and leave the work force. Even in California, I kept having to justify my minimum-wage job because I was "taking a job away from a man who had to support his family." WHAT? I had a need to support MY family! So the equal protection of some rights was important to me. However, knowing that I was out of sync with the Prophet and other leaders of the Church was troubling to me. After much prayer, I finally felt that although I had the agency to support the amendment, I was out of step with God's revealed word. I believed that asking questions was a good thing to do as long as the purpose was was to get answers by personal revelation. That answer for me was that I should continue to pray to understand why the amendment was not supported by God and his prophets and that I should wholeheartedly follow their leadership. I am thankful for my agency to make my own choices, but I know that I when my initial instincts lead me in a different path from prophetic leadership, I had better pray until my feelings are in line with God's revealed word. We will not be led astray!
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KateJuly 4, 2019
There is so much to be said about this topic. Yes, follow the prophets, but be sure that you obtain your own assurance from the Lord regarding their counsel. Brigham Young worried aloud on several occasions that the saints would just give their agency away to the church leaders and not confirm counsel themselves. It is our responsibility to make conscious choices, confirmed by the Holy Ghost. Also it is very important to remember that the prophetic counsel we should heed is that coming from the prophets alive today, not those from years ago. Things change. As an example, one of the other commentators referred to the Equal Rights Amendment--while the Church opposed it in the 1970s, it had been supported by the Church when it was originally proposed in the early 20th century. Something obviously changed. Were it to be re-introduced today, it is possible that we would get different counsel than in the 70s (or not). What Pres. Kimball said in the 70s is interesting (and sounds so much like him! ), but we should not assume that Pres. Nelson would say the same nearly 50 years later.
William BakerJuly 1, 2019
This is an important topic for latter-day saints. We need never doubt the prophets, and the nearer we come to Christ, the more we will agree with prophetic declarations and understand the "why" behind those declarations.
Nadine AndertonJuly 1, 2019
When rhe Equal Rights Amendment was very controversial in Church circles, I was very conflicted. In the late '60s I was a divorced mother of two young children. My former husband only paid me child support when his current wife's ex-husband paid the support he owed her, which evidently was not regularly. It had been difficult for me to find a job at all, in Utah, because single women were not considered to be a good risk because they might get married and leave the work force. Even in California, I kept having to justify my minimum-wage job because I was "taking a job away from a man who had to support his family." WHAT? I had a need to support MY family! So the equal protection of some rights was important to me. However, knowing that I was out of sync with the Prophet and other leaders of the Church was troubling to me. After much prayer, I finally felt that although I had the agency to support the amendment, I was out of step with God's revealed word. I believed that asking questions was a good thing to do as long as the purpose was was to get answers by personal revelation. That answer for me was that I should continue to pray to understand why the amendment was not supported by God and his prophets and that I should wholeheartedly follow their leadership. I am thankful for my agency to make my own choices, but I know that I when my initial instincts lead me in a different path from prophetic leadership, I had better pray until my feelings are in line with God's revealed word. We will not be led astray!
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