Spencer W. Kimball, former President of and Prophet to the Mormon Church wrote:

Apostasy often begins with criticism of current leaders. Apostasy usually begins with question and doubt and criticism. It is a retrograding and devolutionary process. The seeds of doubt are planted by unscrupulous or misguided people, and seldom directed against the doctrine at first, but more often against the leaders.
The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, Pg. 462

Oft times, people confuse the Socratic method of learning as question, doubt and criticism. To a very large extent, a questioning mind is a healthy mind.

I would like to remind the leaders of the Mormon church that not all criticism is bad or unhealthy in a God fearing society. There is constructive and destructive criticism. Giving someone, anyone a free reign void of even the right to question is contrary to the advise of you own successor to Joseph Smith, your second President and Prophet, Brigham Young. It is but one step away from the Communist totalitarian rule found in Russia between 1917 and 1990 or that which currently exists in China and Cuba. Constructive criticism or the right to question, is beneficial to all concerned and keeps both parties honest and humble. Can a prophet error? (see Can a Prophet Error? in these Journals of Discourses) The Prophet Jeremiah gave man a couple examples of the prophets of ancient Israel who committed adultery, and walked in lies and strengthened the hands of evildoers. Jeremiah said quoting God, 'they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah."

It is rather the zealots and fanatic devotees who dangerously influence and lead a church into apostasy. Case in point: Section 89 of your own Doctrine & Covenants entitled "The Word of Wisdom" begins:

¶ 1 A word of Wisdom, for the benefit of the council of high priests, assembled in Kirtland, and the church, and also the saints in Zion --

¶ 2 To be sent greeting; not by commandment or constraint, but by revelation, and the word of wisdom, showing forth the order and will of God in the temporal salvation of al saints in the last days --

However, by the Mormon Church's own admission buried deep in bureaucratic double-speak, the Church's own records shows in the "Encyclopedia of Mormonism, Vol. 1, DOCTRINE AND COVENANTS," it starts off perpetrating the disingenuous doctrinal error in an effort to psychologically manipulate the reader when it says,

The revelation prohibits three things: tobacco, strong drinks, and hot drinks (verses 5-9).

Absolutely and unequivocally false! The revelation never prohibited anything. Read it again! "To be sent greeting; not by commandment or constraint, but by revelation, and the word of wisdom." Quite the contrary it says, "not by commandment or constraint."

Besides a constraint or a commandment is anathema to the use, promotion or free exercise of wisdom, it has a very deleterious affect on the exercise of the freedom of choice once all the facts are known. God would that there were no commandments only intelligence, knowledge and the dissemination of truth. As I have long maintained, Man is to "Educate not legislate!"

I appreciate Joseph and Emma Smith's concern at the time with having to clean the quid-littered floor but his words merely attest to his humanness regardless of his worthiness before God.

Joseph Smith said no member "is worthy to hold an office" who has been taught the Word of Wisdom and fails "to comply with and obey it. (TPJS, p.117, fn.).

Again, it behooves man to educate by persuasion and building a consensus, not prohibit by legislation!"

The "Encyclopedia of Mormonism, Vol. 1" goes on to say,

"Strong drinks" were understood as alcoholic beverages; "hot drinks" were defined by early Church leaders as tea and coffee. Church leaders have traditionally confined relevant worthiness requirements to the prohibited items.

Today, there is a plethora of everyday items and foods far more harmful to the body not prohibited under your redefinition of Section 89 but I guess those are okeh since they aren't specifically banned. You say, "You're to use wisdom in all things!" When did the Mormon church finally become a beleiver? Before or after they sought to redefine God's words of wisdom as a commandment?

The "Encyclopedia of Mormonism" goes on to say,

The revelation also recommends the prudent use of herbs and fruits, the sparing consumption of meat, and the use of "all grain," but especially "wheat for man" (verses 10-17). Saints who obey the admonitions are promised health and strength, wisdom and knowledge, and protection from the destroying angel (verses 18-21).

The Word of Wisdom was an inspired response to specific problems or paradoxes within the Church and to pressing social issues in contemporary American society. Brigham Young recalled in 1868 that Joseph Smith was bothered by the seeming incongruity of discussing spiritual matters in a cloud of tobacco smoke and that Joseph's wife, Emma Smith, was bothered at having to clean the quid-littered floor. It is also probable that the Prophet was sensitive to, and supportive of, the widespread temperance sentiment of the 1830s. As was his custom, the Prophet went to the Lord for instructions, and section 89 is distinctive in the sense that it is a divinely approved code of health.

Then "Encyclopedia of Mormonism" identified the fact that man changed the Revelation from that of a "greeting" or "word of wisdom" to that of a constraint or commandment contrary to the will of God, by later admitting,

There was no known specific revelation that brought this about.

However, the Mormon Church continued with its disingenuous psychological manipulation,

Interpretations and applications of the Word of Wisdom have gradually changed through the years. In part, this change is consistent...

Which part?

...with the Church's belief in continuing revelation through living prophets. With regard to this particular section, the varied interpretations also reflect some ambiguity in verse 2, which states that the revelation was given "not by commandment or constraint." Since verses 1-4 were part of the introduction to this section in the 1835 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants, through the years there have been differences of opinion as to whether the Word of Wisdom is a commandment in the sense that observance is obligatory to enjoy full Church fellowship as well as whether observance implies abstinence or merely moderation.

Rather than to educate and persuade, it is man's nature as members of any organization, always to try to set themselves up as better than those who are not members by establishing special rules or standards which set them apart from the others.

In the mid-1830s, many Church members felt that abstinence from alcohol, tobacco, tea, and coffee was a criterion for fellowship. The one possible exception to this otherwise strict interpretation was wine, which some early Church leaders may not have considered "strong drink." Even so, the early statement gradually gave way to an emphasis on moderation. President Joseph F. Smith later taught that the Lord did not insist on strict compliance in these early years in order to allow a generation addicted to noxious substances some years to discard bad habits.

This sounds reasonable but where is it written that, that was the mind of God. It is the mind of God to educate and persuade as opposed to restricting.

This early pattern of moderation, observable by the 1840s, continued throughout the nineteenth century. President John Taylor initiated a reform in the early 1880s in which he stressed that all Church officers should abstain from the prohibited items, but his efforts were cut short by the social disruption caused by federal antipolygamy (sic) raids. While Church leaders did not require abstinence in the nineteenth century, they stressed moderation, counseled strongly against drunkenness,...

They "counseled" and rightly so!

... and opposed or carefully regulated the establishment of distilleries and grog shops. The numerous observations by visitors in Utah Territory attest to the prevailing orderliness and sobriety of Mormon communities and evidence the effectiveness of such preaching.
The path leading to the present position on the Word of Wisdom began with the Presidency of Joseph F. Smith (1901-1918) and culminated in the administration of Heber J. Grant (1918-1945), who, more than any other Church leader, preached strict compliance with frequency and fervor. By the early 1930s, abstinence from alcohol, tobacco, tea, and coffee had become an established test of Church fellowship.

Rightly or wrongly, the Mormon Church admits this was strictly, as a result of social and peer pressure, not revelation.

There was no known specific revelation that brought this about.
It resulted from Church leaders' long-term concern over the deleterious physical and spiritual effects of alcohol, tobacco, tea, and coffee on both individuals and communities. National and local agitation over prohibition and the mounting scientific evidence attesting to the harmful effects of certain substances intensified that concern.

Regardless of the reason, man must guard against Satan's attempt to curtail his ability to exercise his freedom of choice. That is why the war in heaven was bitterly fought and why a son of God, the Son of the Morning, was cast out and became Satan!

As a result of overriding the will of God, the apostasy of the Mormon Church began in 1840 and continues to this day! REPENT for the hour is nigh at hand!
 
 

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