I’m angrier than a Mormon who just found out that polygamy has been
banned since 1890 over this next one, people. I’m really pissed that,
though I usually don’t post over weekends, I was compelled to break out my laptop and
I authored this post on a Sunday.
You see, this weekend is one that millions of
members of the Mormon church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints) look forward to twice a year. This weekend was General Conference weekend.
Things get crazy during General Conference weekend. The ward secretary sent out an email message Saturday evening:
“Brothers and Sisters,
The Sunday Morning session of General Conference will be broadcast in
the Relief Society Room tomorrow from 12 to 2 for those interested.
Brother [REDACTED]”
Why
in the world would anyone want to leave their home for the church
building when they can watch it via YouTube, byuTV and other options?
Every conference weekend,
church leaders, typically the president of the church, announce the location of new temples. Their temples
are where Mormons do what they feel is sacred work, mostly work for the
deceased and for endowments and sealings (where marriage lasts for
eternity, they say).
General Conference got off to an interesting start when it was revealed
that the leader and so-called “prophet” Russell M. Nelson, was viewing
the proceedings from home. That is the same thing that past presidents
have done, days or weeks before their deaths. Is Nelson’s number almost
up? We’ll see. Also unusual is the fact that apostles will be
conducting most of the sessions over the weekend when that task is
usually given to members of the First Presidency.
Nelson slithered out from under his rock for the Saturday
afternoon session while one of his counselors in the first presidency
phoned it in, or rather spoke in a pre-recorded message.
Now to the point of this article. Moments ago, Nelson announced the new temples. One temple that thousands of people I know of were looking forward to being announced will not be. I wish I’d have been where people were viewing General Conference just to hear their sighs of disappointment and perhaps even tears. I really would have liked to hear members’ misery.
After months of what local leaders have
called “revelations,” and after members were compelled to say a prayer at
8:30 p.m. asking God for a temple in Albany, New York, members and leaders alike were left heartbroken because a temple in the area was not announced.
This proves that leaders in the church do not have “revelations,” or supposed messages from God Himself. All the daily prayers was for naught and it proves that God doesn’t listen to Mormons’ prayers. This makes me giddy, because even when I was a member, I knew that revelations were a big pile of bulldookie. The president of the church (also called a so-called “prophet”) supposedly talks to God in person and receives revelations from Him.
As of right now, the church has numerous temples
around the world. According to the church itself, 189 operational
temples with 52 under construction and 94 temples announced, but not
currently being built. That makes for a total of 335 temples. A temple in the Albany area sure would have helped the numbers.
You
can plainly see that there more temples being promised than actually
available. This means that members will have to wait a long time for
their precious temple to be open for business. Right now, members in the area have
to travel for several hours each way to Hartford, Connecticut or Boston,
Massachusetts. Philadelphia and Palmyra, New York, where the church was
founded in 1830, are also options that require time to get to. Members will continue needing to travel for hours on end for at least five years.
A temple was not announced because of one or several factors. First and foremost, local members didn’t step up to the plate. Clearly, they didn’t attend one of the other area temples. They also –and this is key– probably didn’t pay a full tithe.
Even though I left the church in 2022, I still enjoy it when they stumble and fall. Tears and misery are a plus. The Germans call it schadenfreude. I call it being a dick, but at least I admit that I am, in fact, a dick.
So much for their precious petitions to God for a local temple. So much for the “revelations” of local leaders. So much for leaders being “inspired.” Nope, God wasn’t listening. There won’t be a temple in Albany for quite a long time. This proves that God isn’t listening to the Mormons. Now, they will respond to this by saying it wasn’t His will that a temple be built in Albany. They won’t admit that the Mormon church is all smoke and mirrors.
Nope, Albany won’t be getting a temple after all the members thought they would. I can almost hear their tears falling to the ground. They are miserable. They are sad. They are heartbroken. And I don’t feel one bit sorry for them.
So sad, too bad, Albany Mormons! Maybe next time!
UPDATE at 6:28 p.m.:
A member of the stake had this to say on the Facebook page for the church’s Albany area:
“I
am dismayed beyond words that, despite the revelation, Albany will not
be getting a temple. How did this happen? Why? I thought our stake
leadership got a revelation? I’m crestfallen and I’m struggling to
understand why Pres. Nelson didn’t announce us!”
What a mess.