Here are excerpts from an oldies but goodies Conference talk by Vaughn J. Featherstone:

"I would like to talk tonight about a need for a self-inflicted purging in every single priesthood holder so that we might be pure in heart. I told a group of Aaronic Priesthood holders out in the congregation tonight, if they are pure in heart, they may sleep through my talk, because my talk is directed to those who are not pure in heart.

"I believe that we have a need beyond the light-wired job, just a little bit of power; I believe it is time, as one great leader has said, to have the full conduit with all of the powers of the priesthood open to come to those who bear the priesthood. I believe there is a need to do some things. I am going to use a visual aid tonight. But we don’t have one, so, in your mind’s eye, wherever you are across the far corners of the earth, would you picture a huge scroll sliding down from the ceiling? On it are listed the names of those who purchased pornographic literature. The list is large enough so that all may see. Is your name on the list?

"Did you buy some pornographic literature?

"Now suppose those names are removed, and the names of all those who attended or viewed x-rated movies are presented so that all who are in the congregation may see. Again, is your name on the list?

"Now, my young friends, and I am sorry to say, many adults, how about all those of you who have a masturbation problem? If the names of those who had the problem were projected across this big, huge scroll, would your name be there, or would you be able to sit back confident and pure in heart?

"And, in a few cases, what if we had the names of those who had a homosexual problem? What if their names were on this huge scroll? Their names removed, then what if we had those who are adulterers, who are serving in priesthood positions, unbeknownst to many, unbeknownst unto anyone except themselves and the partner in sin?

"Again let us talk about a self-inflicting purging. My young friends, how about all of you who have committed fornication? Or have been involved in petting? Suppose their names were on this huge scroll, so that all may see. Now, I can tell you this, I bear my solemn witness that if you do not self-inflict a purging in your lives, the time may well come when there might not be a scroll, but it will be as though there were. It may be as though it had been shouted from the tops of houses. People cannot hide sin. You cannot mock God and hold the Lord’s holy priesthood and pretend to propose that you are his servant.

"I know of a great man who held his dead son in his arms, and said, “In the name of Jesus Christ and by the power and authority of the Holy Melchizedek Priesthood, I command you to live.” And the dead boy opened up his eyes.

"This great brother could not have possibly done that had he been looking at a pornographic piece of material a few nights before or if he had been involved in any other transgression of that kind. The priesthood has to have a pure conduit to operate.

"President J. Reuben Clark gave me great light many years ago on a great tremendous subject. He said (and these are my words, not his) that the sex urge does not have to be satisfied, that Satan’s old lie is that it does have to be satisfied.

"I am sorry to tell you that there are men in high places who have some fairly major moral problems, even as youth have the same problems.

"We shouldn’t have a problem with masturbation. I know one fine father who interviewed his 11-year-old son and he said, “Son, if you never masturbate, the time will come in your life when you will be able to sit in front of your bishop at age 19, and say to him, ‘I have never done that in my life,’ and then you can go to the stake president when you are interviewed for your mission and tell him, ‘I have never done that in my life.’ And you would be quite a rare young man.”

"The father again interviewed the young man, who is now 18 years old, and he asked the son about masturbation. The son said, “I have never done that in my life. You told me, Dad, that if I didn’t do that, I would be able to sit in front of the bishop and stake president and tell them I had never done it, and I would be a rare young man, and I am going to be able to do it.”

"I believe, brethren, we have the willpower. We don’t have to buckle under Satan’s temptations. That urge does not have to be satisfied. It has to be transmuted to other things."
What do we learn?

1. Featherstone thinks public shaming is a good motivator.

2. God lets children die if their fathers masturbate.

3. You can live your entire life without satisfying your sexual needs. In fact, that's what God wants from you. Only Satan teaches that sexual needs are actually needs.


http://www.lds.org/ensign/1975/05/a-self-inflicted-purging?lang=eng


Or so it seems to me...

(article noted above with courtesy & credit to author: "Substrate")

I am reat disappointed in Vaughn. I knew him all the years I grew up as he lived in my home ward in Sandy. He and his wife Merlene were staples in my life and warm and fun people in my experience.
Of course I never attended priesthood meeting (wrong anatomy) and I had no idea the kind of things he espoused.

Written in 1975 and almost 40 years ago. I do think based on talks and chats with him that he grew up, had real life experiences, and softened his stance on public shaming as a scare tactic to get kids to toe the line.

But regardless, I am in no wy defending him. His talk is just cringe inducingly awful.

How's this gem: And what a valuable thing a covenant in our lives can be, if we will let it guide us. Another problem: an overweight girl from Ogden went to see her bishop. In the purity and goodness of charity, trying to help the girl, he counseled her that it might be a good idea to lose a few pounds. Pitifully heartbroken, she went home and told her father. It had cankered her soul. The father, of course, negative toward the Church all of his life, waiting for something like this, sprung like a cat on the bishop’s back, and they came down to see me and wanted their memberships transferred out of the bishop’s ward. I asked them why, because I didn’t know all this background, and they said, “Well, our bishop suggested to our daughter that she might lose a few pounds and make herself a little more attractive.” Now I want you to know that I defended that great bishop. I said to this family, “You are wrong. That sweet bishop, out of purity and love for your daughter, felt and did that which he was impressed to do. I am sure it was a message from God to your daughter, and she let it canker her soul. The strange thing is that she was probably up in her bedroom the night before praying, ‘Heavenly Father, I am lonely. I need someone. Please help me. Help me to find someone so I won’t be so lonely.’” And yet oftentimes we are offended because a sweet bishop gives us some instruction which is hard for us to live.

Good god. That's hard to read.

I had Featherstone as a stake president. Along with a bishop named Seth Redford who made Featherstone look like a liberal.We also had a young second concilor K.G who I caught in the park sitting in his car looking at porn with his pants down to his knees. I would like to thank all of these men for helping me never regret leaving the tscc.

Brilliant. They're humans, after all, it might appear.

Too bad cell phones with cameras weren't around at that time. You could have had a field day with that photo.

Feather stone was an asshat. I had to deal with him on a regular basis in the scouts. I wrote about it on another thread.

He was one of the many general authorities (kneel before general Vaughn!) who all my non Mormon scout associates would get pissed about. The dude treated everyone like they were his servants. He was a huge joke in the scouts where I worked.

Sorry, but I had to vent cus I truly despise the guy.

Was my MP.
Struck me as benign sincere and verrrry anxious.

Disappointing if indeed he turned into a silly puffed-up mushroom like the other "General Authorities."

But, can't see how he could avoid it.
The cult is seductive.

Well, I knew him during the early and mid 90's. At the time I was just a teen and it was really hard for me because I was a TBM at the time.

Okay, fits then.
He indeed became a puffed-up mushroom.

Man, that is just so sad.

Again, linking masturbation with homosexuality.

So masturbation leads to homosexuality huh???....not spending your entire youth with boys in clubs for boys, go on a mission with other young men, trying desperately to withhold the natural urge to masterbate. Learn your WHOLE life that true friendship and companionship comes from your fellow Aaronic and Meld. PH buddies and mission buddies...and then get a wife for the sole purpose of using her to masterbate and not learning to became her companion and best friend?????? Spend all your adult life in the mens' PH groups......



yeah, them Mormons are right, you go gay because you beat off. not for those other "frivolous" reasons I noted.......

Well, Spencer W. Kimball said it was so, and he was a PROPHET! And horribly frustrated little closeted gay man.

I heard that talk when it was given, and it made me feel worthless. I had forgotten that it was Vaughn Featherstone, but who cares? I thought I was doomed.

There was no way I could ever be like the boy who never did it. I felt like I'd failed everyone, including God.

Now I know that the worthless thing was the message I was hearing, from one of the leaders of a fraudulent cult. Not me.

I too remember this talk. I was a young deacon, and the threat of having my "sins" broadcast to all the world had the impact on me that I think he was going for. I had forgotten about these talks. I thought porn was a more recent issue with the internet, although I had a copy of Nancy Friday's book back then.

SWK's remarks I think were even worse. He laid out the guilt to any PH leader who did not appropriately punish those in sin.

"Too often a transgressor is forgiven and all penalties waived when that person should have been disfellowshipped or excommunicated. Too often a sinner is disfellowshipped when he or she should have been excommunicated.

Remember that President Taylor said you will have to carry that sin yourself. Are you willing to do it, brethren?

Do you remember what was said by the prophet Alma? “Now,” he said, “repentance could not come unto men except there were a punishment.” (Alma 42:16.)

Ponder on that for a moment. Have you realized that? There can be no forgiveness without real and total repentance, and there can be no repentance without punishment. This is as eternal as is the soul."

"I know of a great man who held his dead son in his arms, and said, “In the name of Jesus Christ and by the power and authority of the Holy Melchizedek Priesthood, I command you to live.” And the dead boy opened up his eyes

Who was this great man!?!? And why if God had seen fit to allow the boy to die, would a person who hasn't been looking at porn been able to change god's mind?

What if the boy had been looking at porn, would that have negated the effects of the blessing? If it had negated the blessing, and the boy had died -taking with him the knowledge of his porn lookery- would the father have forever felt unworthy, and question his own power?

Bishop: Heathen, do you have any problems with masturbation?
Heathen: Nope. Works every time!


I wish I would have had the cajones to actually use that line.

"Methinks thou dost protest too much" I have no doubt that Featherstones name would have been all over that scroll too. Along with Boyd KKK Packer.

I thought The Masturbation Scroll might be like an Honor Roll of high quality and creative methods of doin' it....

First Name on the Scroll... Vaughn J. Featherstone

Ahh, good ole' VJF. Homeslice was the Area Authority in my mission. He came and did a whirlwind speaking tour of Zone Conferences while I was a Zonie.

I had a particular missionary under my watch (and apparently others) who couldn't seem to figure out how to take care of business without getting caught. It became quite the running joke. One Polynesian elder caught him mid-wank and told us "It looked like he was husking coconuts!"

So we're all in Zone Conference with VJF. He's HUGE on the Gift of Discernment™ and considers himself one of the most gifted recipients. He relates a story of a missionary who came to him when he was MP and wanted to know why he hadn't been called to leadership. In a subsequent interview he admitted that he wasn't worthy because he masturbated too much. (zenjamin, do you know this guy? ;D)

VJF pauses dramatically mid-story and gets a very discerning look on his face. He proclaims, "and I get the very distinct impression some of you have this same problem. All I can say is STOP." Really? You're in a room full of young men in their early 20s. Of course "some" of us masturbate.

After he makes his statement everyone, and I mean everyone including the sister missionaries, turn and look at Elder Coconuts. I felt sorry for the poor guy, but I'd be lying if I didn't say it was pretty hilarious.

VJF concluded his tour with an impressive headcount. I don't know the exact count, but through the Gift of Discernment™ he found and sent home several missionaries. Too bad he missed the guy that was orally pleasuring his companions in their sleep.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/29/2014 01:22PM by The Holy Spearmint.

Thanks for the laugh! Elder Coconuts, love it.

Damn, my name is all over that scroll with all the masturbating and fornicating I did in my teens. Be it known that whoever partooketh of the body of Christ in Northglenn 2nd Ward circa 1984-1990 has ingested bread soiled by my filthy "spank hands". I'm not sure of the doctrine, but you may need to repent. For those of you brethren with the power of discernment who let this dastardly deed continue for so many years, SHAME ON YOU!!!

The Holy Spearmint Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> (zenjamin, do
> you know this guy? ;D)

So there was ONE coconut husker!?

If the church could get all the missionaries who masturbate to husk actual coconuts instead they wouldn't need tithing because of all the husked coconut they'd have to sell.

Holy Spearmint!!!!

:))

I was fortunate to never have listened or read anything from Featherstone or SWK. I was just coming to my senses and was far too occupied with raising children to read the morg literature. TBM fanatics (sister and others) gave me SWK's Miricle of Forgiveness and pushed Vaugn's talks, etc to me. I simply recoiled but I didn't know why. I just couldn't partake.

Featherstone came to a stake conference. I just felt "nothing" even though everybody else is sitting, standing in awe of the grand Poo-Bah. He chilled me. I didn't know why. Had I seen or heard this bull$hitt back then I would have chosen to permanently make my exit. It was hell waking up as it was. Somehow, with the help of DW and kids (and DM) I hung in there. So glad I did and am still taking it a day at a time. I am looking forward to the collapse of the evil empire - the morg.

Fine then -- Let Mr. Featherstone open his massive scroll for all the world to see! Let's insist on it!

Right at the top there would be none other that the greatest sexual predator of all time:

Mr. JOSEPH SMITH Junior!

And not far below Horny Joe would: Brigham Young, and John Taylor and ... and ... and ...

All these men were racking up women by the DOZENS using fake marriages in phony "God-approved" temple ceremonies stolen from the Masons. And some of these women already had living husbands (who were conveniently away on missions)! And some women were still in their early teens!

If Mr. Featherstone was so righteous about exposing the truth to everyone, he should be forced to wear that scroll around his neck for the rest of eternity!

Masturbation is bad. What we need is a self-inflicted purging.

Uh huh huh huh... He said...

My last few months at church I was a Stake Exec Sec. and had lunch with him in between sessions of conference. He was easy enough to talk to, but his talks were obsessed with homosexuality and male sins. His priesthood session was nothing but gay bashing, and the way he described gays was so outdated and bigoted. He sounded like Archie Bunker describing gay sex.

The problem with his punishment is that it relies on shame. Do I masturbate? Um, I have a penis! Anyone with a penis who doesn't is either lying or has no sex drive. Have I looked at porn? I have an Internet connection, so yes. Am I gay? I took my bf with home with me for Xmas.

So, now that is out there, what else are you going to try to shame me with?

"Have you bought some pornography?"

No, it is free now via the net. And, the actresses now days are model hot, not like the 70's full bearded chicks.