Dallin Hoaks

Let me explain something to you about Dallin H. Oaks: he is a prophet, seer, and revelator. Well, according to some. Millions of Mormons around the world sustain him as such in his position of Apostle in the Mormon Church. Determine on your own what it means to be those things, to hold those titles, but by my definition this person should be able to see, prophesy and reveal the word and will of God. Pretty important role this guy has.

All this makes it a little disconcerting when you realize Mark Hoffman, a forger and murderer, was able to make Dallin and other prophets, seers, and revelators believe documents from early Mormon church history he had produced were legitimate. Dallin even gave a talk explaining away some of the disturbing information Hoffman had brought to light, only to find out such explanation were unnecessary; Hoffman was discovered to be a fraud. But that is a story for a different time, I suppose.

For the purposes of this story, let me identify a few other guys who were also sustained by Mormons as prophets, seers, and revelators: George Albert Smith, Joseph Fielding Smith and Bruce R. McConkie (they have all passed away long ago). Well, these three had particular things to say about what it was like in the pre-existence, the time before any man was born on earth, when all the spirit children of God were assembled together.

George Albert Smith (as president of the church and leader of the first presidency of it, who released the following statement in 1949 about why people with black skin could not receive the Mormon priesthood):

"The position of the Church regarding the Negro may be understood when another doctrine of the Church is kept in mind, namely, that the conduct of spirits in the premortal existence has some determining effect upon the conditions and circumstances under which these spirits take on mortality and that while the details of this principle have not been made known, the mortality is a privilege that is given to those who maintain their first estate; and that the worth of the privilege is so great that spirits are willing to come to earth and take on bodies no matter what the handicap may be as to the kind of bodies they are to secure; and that among the handicaps, failure of the right to enjoy in mortality the blessings of the priesthood is a handicap which spirits are willing to assume in order that they might come to earth. Under this principle there is no injustice whatsoever involved in this deprivation as to the holding of the priesthood by the Negroes."

Bruce R. McConkie published the following in his book Mormon Doctrine:

"Those who were less valiant in the pre-existence and who thereby had certain spiritual restrictions imposed upon them during mortality are known to us as the negroes. Such spirits are sent to earth through the lineage of Cain, the mark put upon him for his rebellion against God and his murder of Abel being a black skin...but this inequality is not of man’s origin. It is the Lord’s doing, based on His eternal laws of justice, and grows out of the lack of spiritual valiance of those concerned in their first estate."

And Joseph Fielding Smith in his Doctrines of Salvation:

"There were no neutrals in the war in heaven. All took sides either with Christ or with Satan. Every man had his agency there, and men receive rewards here based upon their actions there, just as they will receive rewards hereafter for deeds done in the body. The Negro, evidently, is receiving the reward he merits."

Sounds pretty clear, but you know what? The church doesn't believe it. It has disavowed such statements. They aren't true and the church acknowledges as much. Again, confusing, how a prophet, seer, and revelator could say something so wrong, but whatever, I guess. The common excuse made by Mormons is that these men spoke things commonly believed at the time, you know, the ideas were somewhat the product of the thoughts and ideas of people in their era.

So let's fast forward to 2018 and Dallin H. Oaks, in a talk he delivered on Saturday, October 6:

"Gender is eternal. Before we were born on this earth, we all lived as male or female spirits in the presence of God." 

But you know what? He has been wrong before. And so have his predecessors. SPECIFICALLY about what it was like before we were born. And his current notions of gender being static are common at this time. Which makes me wonder:

Why should I accept what he says?