an absence of trustworthiness

“‘There’s just something not right about this election.’ That’s what my relatives say. They’re life-long Republicans, the kind of people who cry and pray over school shootings. They voted for Trump, twice.
 
“They won’t admit it.
 
“They remain strategically silent because they know it might cost them access to their grand kids. It’s not about difference of opinion or shared values anymore. We simply don’t know if we can trust their judgment in the world that’s coming, or the one that might already be here.
 
“If you want a dose of reality, consider that while 61 percent of Americans accept the election results, 72 percent of Republicans don’t.”[1]
 
There is much to think on and talk about in this brief quote. For example, according to Pew Research, American Mormons are around 75% Republican. From a personal standpoint, this means that 150 Mormons with whom I share a pew from Sunday to Sunday (at least in non-pandemic times) are Republicans. Now, I have comfortably shared a pew with Republicans my entire life. I tried not to think about it too much, and certainly tried not to put a face on the statistics. I am sorry to say, however, that those days are past. You see, the stakes are higher than they once were. Data suggests that I share a pew with 125 Mormons who voted for tRUMP. Furthermore, data suggests that I share a pew with 135 Mormons who believe tRUMP’s lies about voter fraud and a stolen election, and perhaps a slightly smaller number who believe COVID is overhyped and thus refuse to practice responsible social distancing and mask wearing.
 
So, as I read Jessica Wildfire’s piece, I kept coming back to these two sentences in which she muses: “It’s not about difference of opinion or shared values anymore. We simply don’t know if we can trust their judgment in the world that’s coming, or the one that might already be here.”
 
My children are grown and have their own children. My parent children will have to make some hard decisions about their children and whom they will trust in influencing their children. I will have no say in such decisions. This is as it should be. But, for myself, decisions about whom I will trust to influence my spirit are simple. Unlike Wildfire, I am not uncertain.
 
Jesus once scolded his religious leaders as follows,
 
“When it is evening, ye say, ‘It will be fair weather: for the sky is red.’ And in the morning, ‘It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowring,’ O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?”[2]
 
The “signs” indicating what type of man tRUMP was and is have been as clear as a summer cloudless sky. The “signs” of what kind of leader he is have been clearer than a full moon on a clear night. The “signs” that the words that come from his mouth are nothing but lies have been as clear as Satan is evil. The “signs” of the reality of the pandemic are as clear as COVID’s nearly 400,000 corpses that have now begun their disintegration and moldering into dust. The “signs” that the 2020 American election was absent any significant fraud are as clear as tRUMP’s hair and skin are orange.
 
Yet, 7 in 10 of those with whom I am to share a pew, could not discern such simple and obvious “signs.” How am I supposed to trust the spiritual discernment of the 7 in 10 who could not or would not discern such obvious and temporal “signs”? What do such untrustworthy witnesses possibly have to say or teach me about the far more difficult questions about God, about his character, and about the character that he asks us to adopt?
 
No, I am unlikely to ever trust them again. If I listen with even half an ear to what they have to say, it will be some kind of miracle.
 
Make no mistake about it. These untrustworthy witnesses are responsible for their undiscerning choices. But, they have gotten precious little help from those they consider spiritual leaders: bishops, stake presidents, apostles, and prophets. Indications are that these shepherds are in some cases slightly more discerning than the sheep. But, these shepherds have been largely silent and absent, leaving the sheep to fend for themselves as ravenous wolves attacked the flock. No tax exempt statis is worth the slaughter that their muteness has allowed to take place among the sheep.
 
As we have noted before, the Book of Mormon contains in the man, Amalickiah,” a near perfect “type” of America’s tRUMP. In its description of Nephite response to Amalickiah, we have a near perfect “type” of the American right’s response to tRUMP: “they were led away by Amalickiah to dissensions.” However, at this stage the type breaks down, for we are informed that the Nephites were lead away by Amalickiah “notwithstanding the preaching of Helaman and his brethren, yea, notwithstanding their exceedingly great care over the church, for they were high priests over the church.”
 
It is certain that this latter will not be written concerning America’s “Christian” leaders. They have been at the point of the spear, leading the charge in support of America’s mad Caligula. Sadly, it is doubtful that what the Book of Mormon reports concerning the “great care” of “Helaman and his brethren” will be written of current LDS church leaders. And while the next line of the sacred text will surely be written concerning today’s church—“And there were many in the church who believed in the flattering words of [tRUMP]’—I suspect that the one following will not: “therefore they dissented even from the church.”
 
Am I suggesting that there will not be any great dissent from the Church on the part of tRUMP’s followers? I am. Why do I suggest that they will desist from dissent? Because they and their delusions will go unchallenged. Those who have ridden the tRUMP train will go right on, comfortable in their blasphemous delusions, because their leaders will continue to stand mute in the face of tRUMP’s blasphemy, just as they have from the start. They will not call their members to repentance—if they do decide to attempt it, it will be done in such delicate and diluted ways as to make it possible for the delusional to remain comfortably delusional. For this reason, “the affairs of the people” will continue to be “exceedingly precarious and dangerous.” [3]
 
Having deemed the sheep to be untrustworthy, I’ll have to decide how much more trustworthy I deem the mute and absentee shepherds to be.
 

[1] “Donald Trump Isn’t Going Anywhere Anytime Soon,” Jessica Wildfire, medium.com
[2] Matthew 16.2-3
[3] See Alma 46.6-7