MORMONS: If the Lord will remove a Prophet before he can lead the LdS Church astray then why have so many been incapacitated by senility?
[Steve] Benson said that his grandfather, whom he has seen struggle with encroaching senility during much of his seven-year administration, said "virtually nothing" the last time he saw him. Benson said, "He looked at me almost quizzically, as if he were examining me." On previous visits the aged prophet could manage at least a word or two (Salt Lake Tribune, 10 July 1993 p. E 1).
The policy of replacing the prophet at death by the senior apostle has created what the Salt Lake Tribune called a "strict apostolic succession [which has] fostered a gerontocracy." The Tribune article noted that "The four presidents before Benson averaged 88 years of age at death, and three were enfeebled for significant portions of their ministries." Steve Benson suggested that the present policy, which requires that the Prophet serve for life with no possibility of retirement, is "a system that obviously isn't working" (Ibid., pp. E 1,3).
When church spokesman Don LeFevre was asked to comment, he stated that the current system would require a revelation from "the Lord to his prophet" to change (Ibid.). LeFevre apparently did not see the logical fallacy in his proposed solution. Benson's inability to personally guide the church can only be solved if Benson personally guides the church in a new direction.
LeFevre also said that the Prophet's "counselors review major church decisions with the prophet at his home, where he must be tended around the clock. The younger Benson said the notion t...
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