In a surprising and very public sideswipe at Church leaders, the wholly LDS Church owned Deseret News has this to say:
Finding leaders willing to go into hard places is increasingly difficult. Far too many leaders prefer to stay in the safe and sanitized spaces where consultants and staff can control everything and prevent the leader from having an uncomfortable or potential gaff-producing moment.
It is time for leaders and citizens to not only “go where they’re not welcome,” but to go where they might be most uncomfortable. Solutions and understanding on issues including immigration, integrity, religious liberty, LGBT rights, addiction, homelessness, health care, national debt, terrorism, truth, hate speech, teen suicide and a host of others will require all of us to go into new spaces. It may be the road less traveled, but it is the best road to understanding and influence and the only way forward for the nation and its communities.
A powerful rebuke when seen in the context of President Nelson and his fellow board members refusal to go and meet with Sam Young. And from their own newspaper no less.
“When we are confronted with evidence that challenges our deeply held beliefs we are more likely to reframe the evidence than we are to alter our beliefs. We simply invent new reasons, new justifications, new explanations. Sometimes we ignore the evidence altogether.” (Mathew Syed 'Black Box Thinking')
Truth should be declared boldly — meaning with confidence, passion and energy. The nation is at its best when principles and policies compete in the marketplace of ideas.
Truth, even when not popular or counter to the whims of society, can be shared nobly — meaning with great humility and in the spirit of understanding.
Truth must also stand independent — free from prejudice, malice, bias or contempt. Independent truth, based on a rigorous examination of the facts, is the foundation for maximum influence.
These are nice platitudes but don't apply when looking at the church's truth claims, unless "truth" is defined as whatever the brethren tell the group to think.
"Religion is about providing human community in the guise of solving problems that don’t exist or failing to solve problems that do and seeking to reconcile these contradictions and conceal the failures in bogus explanations otherwise known as theology." - Kishkumen