Rebuttal to "There is no such thing as Loyal Opposition"

[Anonymous]

Mette Harrison has a piece in the Huffington Post:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mette-ivie-harrison/the-loyal-opposition_2_b_11834652.html” class=”bbcode_url”>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mette-ivie-harrison/the-loyal-opposition_2_b_11834652.html

Mette has written a bunch of books including the fiction “The Bishops Wife”

[Anonymous]

I agree with just about everything in this article. It’s a quick read and makes some hard-hitting points fast and with clarity. Nice job to the author.

I want to alter what DHO said about there being no “loyal opposition” in the church. There IS a loyal opposition to the church, and it exists in many places — in the Tribune, in the bloggernacle, and sometimes even in Ward Council. Perhaps we should say “Public, ‘loyal’ opposition is not welcome in the LDS Church on certain topics” in stead of a zero tolerance statement for loyal opposition.

JR Holland made it clear you can have your own opinions, but try to take other people with you (as you might do in public opposition statements) is not well received. Loyal opposition that might be construed as activism is not welcome. Loyal opposition to certain core policies and principles, including erroneous ones like the November 2015 policy seem to fall into that category.

But scattered, unorganized, loyal opposition seems to have an influence on church policy. I believe that the trend to ward a kinder, gentler church prior to the November policy was a result of the bloggernacle. A mix of themes emerged across a wide variety of sites. At times I felt Uchdorft actually quoted stuff that has become shared culture from StayLDS and the bloggernacle.

Regrettably, there is an arrogance in the church toward its doctrine and policies, particularly as you climb higher in the church. I don’t fault the leaders necessarily — it is the talks and values from past ages that get reinforced in meetings. People assimilate them, and then perpetuate them. As the quality guru Deming said — 80% of the problems are with the system, not individual people.

But church attitudes and responses to open opposition comes off as arrogance nonetheless. I have seen it.

So, you have to let the leaders save face. Don’t oppose them publicly, post anonymously and encourage discussion about those things that are truly bothersome (and also not bothersome, and good) about the church,. Let those themes emerge so the brethren can learn about them, quietly consider them, and if they want, on their own schedule, make changes. This way, they can preserve the not-always-true mirage that everything is inspired and correct. They can make changes while saving face at the same time. Loyal opposition can exist in this format given the internet…

[Anonymous]

I agree with your comments SD, but it made me think of the question,

Quote:

JR Holland made it clear you can have your own opinions, but try to take other people with you (as you might do in public opposition statements) is not well received. Loyal opposition that might be construed as activism is not welcome.

Isn’t this just saying, “You can believe whatever you want in your head, just don’t DO anything about it”?

[Anonymous]

LookingHard wrote:

I agree with your comments SD, but it made me think of the question,

Quote:

JR Holland made it clear you can have your own opinions, but try to take other people with you (as you might do in public opposition statements) is not well received. Loyal opposition that might be construed as activism is not welcome.

Isn’t this just saying, “You can believe whatever you want in your head, just don’t DO anything about it”?

No, not quite. I think it’s code for “You can believe whatever you want, but don’t do things that encourage others to lose their faith, or quit the church”.

My last five years have been an exercise in doing something about my faith transition. Boundaries (between myself and the church, and myself and believing members who I don’t want to adopt my own, personalized beliefs), changes in my relationship with certain church imperatives, strategies that make me happy that also require tweaking administrative policies, carefully. There has been an awful lot to do, but none of it involved taking others with me down the path of faith transition….In fact, some of the things that have had to be done actually strengthened the faith of other people.

[Author]

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