Earlier this morning when I discussed the death of the Mormon church’s 17th president, Russell M. Nelson, I mentioned in passing one Elder David A. Bednar, who currently serves on the church’s Quorum of The Twelve Apostles and who is, as of the time this article was published, the fifth in line to assume the presidency, a slot that has already for all intents and purposes been assumed by Dallin H. Oaks. The deal is pretty much sealed based on past church history. Now it’s just a matter of paperwork.
I personally feel that Bednar is an arrogant, pompous, disgusting little man. And calling him a man is a stretch. On the other hand, he did make me church famous back in 2011 in Rome, New York. That’s when there was a huge conference involving that area’s stake, similar to a Catholic diocese.
That conference was to officially install a new stake president, similar to a Catholic bishop. Such matters require the presence of a high-ranking authority figure. For one reason or another, Bednar was that person. Two meetings occur in such situations. A Saturday evening session and then a Sunday morning session.
In the afternoon while waiting for the meeting that I really didn’t want to attend to begin, I happened to be in the hallway down from the stake president’s office. In the doorway was the outgoing president and Bednar. The president said something or other to me and motioned for me to come to the door, ostensibly to meet Bednar. Any church member would probably fall over themselves rushing to meet a so-called apostle.
Not me!
Bednar has a reputation for being arrogant and for being full of himself, expecting people to want to shake his hand. When I rebuffed a request to come meet him, he likely was offended. Good! Someone happened to see it as I walked away. She whispered that something must be wrong with me for walking away from an “apostle.” I shrugged and told her he’s a jackass and I don’t care to meet him. Her jaw dropped and I walked away with a smug swagger and grin.
But it was what happened at the Sunday morning session that made my day, my week and, yea, even my month. Bednar was presiding at the meeting and another authority figure was speaking to the sheep about something or another. I don’t remember because on that morning I was cranky about being woken up early to help direct people to where they needed to park as we rented out the auditorium of the city’s high school.
I did not want to be there and I found myself trying to not fall asleep. Well, folks, I failed. As the other person talked, and I forget who it was, I nodded off. The next thing I knew, my wife was elbowing me. I looked over at her as if to ask her what the hell her problem was. She pointed to the stage and that’s when I saw it. We were, by the way, in the second row so it was quite easy for Bednar to see me asleep.
There Bednar was, out of his seat and glaring at me with such anger that you would have thought I killed his puppy. He looked ready to pounce, to the point that I snapped into a defensive stance, ready to punch him in his arrogant nose. Unfortunately, I did not get the chance to kick his ass in the name of self defense. He sat back down, still glaring at me.
After the new stake president was formally installed and after the meeting, people came up to me and asked why an apostle almost jumped me. I shrugged and told them that I hurt his pride by refusing to come shake his hand and I also told him that I feel asleep while the other guy was talking.
The general consensus was that I was the arrogant jerk for insulting a guy who pretends to be an apostle. But a few people, when they learned what almost happened, came up to me to shake my hand and say that I was awesome for offending Bednar to the point that he almost leaped out of his chair to tangle with me.
Over the following week, word spread and on the next Sunday, I got glares, high-fives and respect. It seems that more than a few members of the church share my opinions on Bednar.
Now it should be obvious to all my readers that nothing about the Mormon church is true. The men who call them apostles are no such thing. The church claims that it was founded by Jesus Christ. Problem is, there’s only one church that can make that claim and be truthful in doing so. That is, of course, the Catholic Church, the faith that I joined in 2022, leaving the Mormons in my rear view mirror.
The apostles and the president who members think is a “prophet” hold no true authority. The Mormons, like any other religion on the planet, are merely playing dress-up. Nothing about any other faith is true. The Catholic Church holds the truth. All other churches, for the most part, are well-meaning but retarded and abominations.
Within the next week or so, Oaks will call two counselors (assistants). Rumors are that Bednar will be one of those men. All I can say is that Bednar and the LDS church deserve each other. And yes, if tradition holds, Bednar could very well assume the presidency within the next 10 years or so, assuming he lives that long.
Bednar has been waiting in the wings for a long time now. He doesn’t do anything to earn attaining the First Presidency. He just expects it. He’s that arrogant! If it comes to pass that he joins the church’s highest governing body, then the church is going to go down the toilet and it will do so with all due haste.
Time will tell. Will he be chosen to join Oaks and another counselor? Well he soon become the president of the quorum? No, Jeffrey R. Holland, who until last night was the acting president, will assume that title.
We’ll just have to wait and see what happens next. Once Nelson is buried, the church will then formally announce that Oaks has assumed the office of president and as the three men dramatically walk into a room in front of the media, we’ll know what the fate of the church will be.
So there you have it, folks. That’s how Bednar made me church famous! It may not mean much to you, but to me it means that I had the courage to shun a man who Mormons believe is an apostle. And while we’re on the topic of Mormons, I don’t feel one bit of sympathy for those who died in a Michigan meetinghouse killing spree.