>https://newrepublic.com/article/146589/mormonisms-crisis-faith
Looks like Mormons are having themselves a little bit of a crisis.
>Long criticized for its problematic positions on civil rights, a crisis of attenuating membership offered—and still offers—an opportunity to adapt to changing attitudes and project a fresh, more compassionate image. Instead, under the guidance of Monson, who died last week at 90, the church in the past ten years has doubled down on exclusion. In 2015, it announced a new policy barring the children of same-sex couples from receiving essential, saving ordinances like baptism. It also declared members of the church who are in same-sex marriages—even loving, monogamous ones—apostates subject to excommunication. Later the same year, it reaffirmed its policy excluding women from entering the priesthood. While it’s true that some conservative religious sects in America are growing, the overall trend hasn’t supported the notion that stricture and rigid tradition are an effective antidote to declining religiosity.
>There are no elections in the Mormon church. Though its members may fiercely disagree, it is, in effect, a dictatorship. The very existence of the church is predicated on the principle of divine revelation. Its president is ordained not only as the one true living prophet for the church, but for the entire world. He is the only man on earth with the power and authority to speak on behalf of God regarding doctrinal matters. And what’s more, church members have been promised that they will never be led astray by their prophets. When a Mormon prophet speaks, it is as if God himself is speaking. And his words are recorded and regarded as scripture just the same as if it were Moses or Isaiah standing behind the pulpit. This is why Mormons, by and large, have ultimate faith in the pronouncements of their leaders.