Last week, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also known by the outdated term the “Mormon” church, lost its longtime leader, Russell M. Nelson. Nelson died shortly after turning 101. His cause of death hasn’t been officially been released by the church, but two sources have told me that the death came about as “causes incident to old age,” a phrase used to explain the deaths of previous leaders.
Nelson was considered by more than 18 million people around the world to be a “prophet.” I question that title, but that’s for another day. Full disclosure here: I was a member of the church from 1987 to 2024. I joined the Catholic Church in 2022, but remained a member of the LDS (Latter-day Saint) church in order to keep the wife happy.
I could go on and on about why I left, but that’s not the point of this article. The point is to share a link to a tribute video that was released by the church earlier today. That video shared Nelson’s story and showed that no matter how wacky the LDS faith is and no matter how awful its “apostles” are, he was a respected and beloved man, first as a heart surgeon known throughout the world and then as a church leader.
Nelson devoted pretty much all of his adult life to the church, something that should be respected no matter how insane the religion is, and let’s face it, except for the Catholic Church, any other faith is downright insane. Sorry, sorry, I know, that’s for another day. I couldn’t resist.
The video is well-produced and honors a man who deserved at the very least a little respect. I may no longer believe what they believe, and even when I was in I had a hard time believing what I was taught, but I always considered Nelson to be a man who devoted his life to the service of others.
Nelson’s time and accomplishments as a heart surgeon saved countless lives, physically. In 1951, he was part of a team that performed the first open-heart surgery. For that, he should be honored and respected no matter how kooky his religious beliefs were.
As a church leader, there is no doubt that he saved countless lives in the spiritual sense, or so he and they believed. No, he never had any true authority, bless his heart (no pun intended), but he definitely affected the spiritual lives of people who believe what it is that they believe.
No, Nelson was absolutely not a prophet. Not even close. When he held the office of apostle, he was absolutely never an actual apostle. The only apostles who were truly called by Jesus Christ Himself were the ones who formed the Catholic Church, the only true religion as it is the only Church founded by Christ. The LDS church makes that claim, but the Catholic Church is the only faith that can make that claim and do so honestly.
Despite the fact that Nelson never held any true spiritual or religious authority apart from those ignorant enough to believe that he did, his heart was in the right place. See what I did there?
Nelson, like every one of the 16th presidents before him, is easily replaced and will almost certainly be succeeded by his former counselor (assistant) in the First Presidency. His funeral will be held next week, just days after the church’s general conference, a twice-yearly event that is broadcast around the world. This means that for the first time since the 1950’s, a general conference will be held without a church president, or as those people believe, a supposed “prophet.”
If I remember my church procedure correctly, President Dallin H. Oaks, who now leads the Quorum of The Twelve Apostles (twelve men who play apostle but really aren’t apostles), will preside over the conference and, a few days later, he will formally be named the church’s new top dog.
Oaks is pretty much the leader now. He’s running the show due to his position in the quorum so now it’s just a matter of formality and paperwork. And yes, for the moment, there are technically fourteen so-called “apostles.” That issue will resolve itself when Oaks formally takes over and chooses two counselors to serve alongside him.
Of course, there is the possibility that Oaks could choose one or both men from outside of the quorum, but I don’t believe that that has ever happened in the church’s history, at least not in recent history.
None of this matters, however, until Nelson’s funeral is held. It will be a first-time experience for many members of the faith to participate in general conference without a president (or so-called “prophet”) in place. But again, the church’s leadership is intact with Oaks at the helm, where he will remain until his death.
Nelson is remembered around the world for his good, but spiritually ineffective deeds. The only true thing that he accomplished was all that he did in the realm of heart surgery.
Though Nelson was revered by many for being a “prophet” and by virtue of his church office, you might notice in that video that I linked you to, there weren’t very many people who attended the memorial, which was open to the public. There were a lot of empty seats. Maybe more people than I thought realized that the only honest thing about him was his valiant efforts in the area of literal matters of the heart. All those empty seats sure tell a tale, don’t they?
Despite the fact that Nelson held as much spiritual authority as a cockroach, I do recommend that you watch the video. It tells his story and if you know someone who has had open-heart surgery, they owe their life to Nelson and the team he worked with.