The death knell in Mormonism
What no informed believer or apologist is saying and seems to intentionally be avoiding is that if the first presidency headed up a well planned deception that involved this degree of dishonesty and violating laws that compromised their integrity, they couldn’t possibly have had the companionship of the holy ghost. And certainly they couldn’t have had the second comforter of Christ and certainly could not have open channels of revelation.
Add onto that their continued effort to hide their sins and not repent only compounds the problem.
Hence for at least 20 years from Hinckley to Monson through Nelson (Faust, uchtdorf, Eyring, oaks) that by measuring their now admitted (SEC report) compromised integrity against their very own teachings and doctrine, the LDS church has been led by leaders void of the spiritual gifts necessary to run the “true church”. And every person aware of such and willing to say so should never move from this point until an adequate answer is given. (See quote below). This should be the response no matter what any believer of the faith says to defend the church. And need not move to responding to any other issue.
The only path to even pretend the church is true is for the first presidency (and others who were connected) to resign and for those remaining (excluding uchtdorf) to say that such was needed and to move forward without any leader who was involved.
Otherwise all 15 are guilty and the church has no leader with even the appearance of integrity at the helm and hence we all in or out can either be naive or believe the church isn’t what it claims
The church has finally given you the smoking gun
Dishonesty leading to the loss of the companionship of the Holy Ghost is One of the only unchanging doctrines in the church
“If we lie, steal, cheat, or neglect to give the full amount of work for our pay, we lose our self-respect. We lose the guidance of the Holy Ghost. We may find that we have damaged relationships with family members and friends and that people no longer trust us”
“Being honest often requires courage and sacrifice, especially when others try to persuade us to justify dishonest behavior.”
“When we are honest in all things, big and small, we experience peace of mind and a clear conscience. Our relationships are enriched because they are based on trust. And the greatest blessing that comes from being honest is that we are able to have the companionship of the Holy Ghost.”