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February 17, 2015 Dear Brothers and Sisters, In my quest to convince the LDS church to practice a few concepts that they preach, but don’t practice, it’s time again for another postcard. All my postcards are available online at www.aaronmcmillan.com, in case you want to refresh your memory. And, again, because my address list is outdated, it’s possible you’re receiving this, and yet, are not a member of the LDS church. If this is the case, please pardon me. You might be wondering, “why am I interested in making sure the church practices what it preaches?” Well, could it be that I’m inspired of God to stand up for his teachings? And, aren’t we supposed to “stand as witnesses of God in all things and in all places?” Course, I’ve been told by a few church members, that I’m not able to be led by the Holy Ghost at the present time, for this, they say, was taken from me when I was excommunicated. But, what if I was wrongly excommunicated, would the Holy Ghost leave me? About eight years ago, prior to my excommunication from the church, Bishop Clausen pulled me aside and threatened that he would shut off the microphone if I spoke over the pulpit about my concerns regarding the divine validity of a church position. This was an interesting response to my questioning about this church position. I would think a man of God would rather say to me, “please come to my office where I will answer whatever concerns you might have regarding the divine validity of this church position.” But, this kindness wasn’t shown to me, rather, I was threatened with church discipline and eventually condemned by excommunication as an apostate because I wouldn’t accept this position without question. In fact, I’ve regularly begged and still beg church leaders to please work with me to abide by that which is commanded of God in D&C 50:7-25, to achieve the required mutual understanding and edification from the Spirit in regards to this church position. But, my pleas continue to fall on deaf ears, as church leaders continue to insist that I’m to receive church teaching without question, that I’m to blindly trust what I’m told to do, or else. But, as you know, I’m not going to do that, because I know, by the Holy Ghost, and it’s also stated in D&C 50:7-25, that it’s “not of God” to receive ideas unless I’m enlightened by the Spirit, for myself, to know they’re of God, for it’s possible to be led into hell if we blindly trust, as stated in JST Mark 9:40-48. And, what if I could prove to you that church leaders are, in fact, leading you into hell? Would you continue to follow them? In Moroni 10:5, we’re taught that by the power of the Holy Ghost, we may know the truth of all things, but how many of you actually know, exactly how to discern the voice of the Holy Ghost, where you could explain it to others, that they would know truth, just as you know truth, by that power? Recently, a friend of mine and his wife prayed to know if God wanted their marriage to continue or end. My friend received the answer that they should stay together, but his wife received the answer that they should part ways. Were they both right? Is God divided? In fact, conflicting answers to prayer is so common, that it’s my belief the church has given up on the idea of discerning truth by the power of the Holy Ghost, where now, rather, they simply encourage members to “follow the prophet.” Back when I was a full time missionary for the church, I remember thinking it was so awesome that God had provided a way for us to discern all truth for ourselves, so I began a quest to figure out how to discern all truth for myself. Then, several years later, that journey led me to discern a church position that wasn’t in harmony with the Spirit of truth, which led me to seek for church leaders to explain it, which led me to being excommunicated from the church for not accepting it blindly. So, how are we to discern truth? Are we to blindly follow the prophet, or are we to figure out how to accurately discern truth by the power of the Holy Ghost, where we all get the same answer? In science, when a discovery is made, the experiment can be repeated by other scientists, who when they get the same result, it proves a scientific truth. In theology, shouldn’t it work the same way? Church leaders haven’t come to me in regards to this church position, explaining how they came to know that it was true, so that I could follow the same path to arrive at this knowledge for myself, because they only know to blindly follow the prophet. Well, would you be interested to know how to accurately discern all truth for yourself by the power of the Holy Ghost, or are you content to blindly follow the prophet? There’s one all-encompassing law of God, that if prayed about, and obeyed, always proves divine in the minds and hearts of those who exercise faith in it. In fact, those who obey this law are so in tune with the Spirit of God, that they’re able to discern all other truth, accurately, by the power of the Holy Ghost. The law of God I’m referring to, is the Golden Rule. Truth is found in the Golden Rule. In Matthew 7 and 3 Nephi 14 Jesus taught, “all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them, for this is the law and the prophets.” As I’ve stayed away from the church for over seven years now, as I’ve sought to be governed, not by the dictates of church leaders, but only by the Spirit of God, my understanding of the significance of the Golden Rule has increased to a point that I’m certain it’s the Lord’s perfect path. And, it’s come to my attention, spiritually, that while in the church, my acceptance of the Golden Rule was restricted, due to the fact that church leaders violate this rule, and lead others astray from it. For instance, in the church, members are influenced on a regular basis to place their trust in the dictates of church leaders. Hence, they’re led to disobey the Golden Rule, for they’re doing unto others as they’re told to do, rather than as they “think” they would have done unto them. Basically, if Jesus wanted us to obey our leaders, he wouldn’t have given us the Golden Rule. If Jesus wanted us to obey our leaders, he would have told us to do unto others as our leaders tell us to do. So, when people tell me they obey the prophet, I know they’re not obeying the Golden Rule, for they’re doing unto others as they’re told to do. To obey the Golden Rule, we’re required to “think” and be inspired for ourselves about how we’d want to be treated, and then do unto others likewise. We’re taught in 2 Nephi 32:5, that the Holy Ghost will show us “all things” we should do. Notice that Nephi didn’t say to his people, obey me, for I’m your prophet, and I will tell you what to do. In Romans 8:14, it doesn’t say that the sons of God are those who are led by church leaders, but that “those who are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” Yet, church leaders will continue, with unrelenting firmness, to assert that we’re to be led by them, that we’re to do unto others as we’re told to do, which denounces the divine validity of the Golden Rule. Well, after multiple decades of actively participating in the church, and after seven years of thinking about that experience, it’s now clear to me, that the church has strayed from obeying the commandment of the Golden Rule. And, as a result, people are getting different and opposing answers to prayer, when seeking to discern truth by the power of the Holy Ghost. In governing the church, leaders regularly disobey this commandment, including the prophet, who speaks evil of others, but commands in the temple that others not speak evil of him. When speaking evil of others, the prophet isn’t doing unto others as he would have them do unto him. And, this hypocrisy, according to D&C 50:7-8, is so against God’s wishes, that it warrants his excommunication from the church. Also, this hypocrisy is replicated by every other priesthood leader who follows the prophet, for they speak evil of others just like he does, using his same words of judgment. So, the church is led by hypocrites, where its leaders judge, condemn, and discipline, which is outside of the realm of doing unto others as they would have done back unto them, and yet they claim to be inspired of the Holy Ghost in all this, but that’s just impossible. In fact, proof of this hypocrisy is also outlined in the prophecy of Ezekiel 34, where it was predicted that in the latter days, the Lord’s leaders would, against his wishes, resort to ruling with force and cruelty. There are, really, only two ways to lead. Either we judge and condemn others, or we inspire and teach them, although judging and condemning doesn’t really qualify as leadership, but is rather, bullying. Course, church leaders can use a calm tone when judging and condemning, so it may seem like kindness, but in reality, it’s no different than a criminal calmly threatening, that their victim will suffer grave consequences, if they don’t render unquestioning obedience to their dictates. So, I propose a change, I propose that church members and leaders, including the prophet, would consider abiding by the Golden Rule, rather than continuing to judge, condemn, and discipline. And, I testify, that just like Jesus said in John 8:31, to those who believed him, if we continue in his word, and obey the Golden Rule, then we’ll be his disciples indeed, and we’ll know the truth of that commandment, and it will set us free. It will set us free, because the Golden Rule instructs us to be led by the Spirit of God, rather than by any other voice, which sets us free from dependence on any other voice, for to fear any other voice, is bondage. Also, I propose that you think twice before sustaining another church leader, for all are violating the Golden Rule, so long as they’re following current church policy and procedure. Church leaders judge, discipline, and dictate what you should do, but in this they’re not doing unto you as they would have you do back unto them, for they don’t want you to judge, discipline, and dictate what they should do. In essence, they’re only seeking to control you, to establish themselves as authorities over you, rather than considering themselves as your equals. So, if you believe that we’re to be controlled by authorities, then by all means, continue to sustain your leaders, but if you believe we’re to be free, equals with leaders, and all led by the Spirit of God, then please oppose the sustaining of church leaders who violate the Golden Rule. In my opinion, church leaders should put aside their judgmental approach, and rather, teach members how to be completely governed by the Spirit of truth, for this is what our Lord and Savior intended. In fact, it’s as easy as they instructing us all to abide by the Golden Rule. And, if you’d like further clarification about all this, please read the letter that I recently sent to President Bohne, which is available online at www.aaronmcmillan.com/15-02-01. Also, as you experiment with obeying the Golden Rule, please realize, that the years of habits formed, where you sought to obey church leaders, rather than thinking for yourselves, will take time to unravel, but as habits are formed in being inspired for yourself, you will come to know a joy, peace, and sureness surpassing anything you’ve experienced before. By obeying the Golden Rule, you’ll come to know God and Jesus Christ, which is life eternal according to John 17:3, and your answers to prayer will match answers to prayer given to others who obey the Golden Rule. But, don’t take my word for it. This experiment of obeying the Golden Rule is completely duplicable, just like scientific experiments, where everyone who does it, will get the same result. Best wishes to all of you, Aaron McMillan |