Why? Let us count the ways (meaning the ways that the Mormon Church doesn't want their faithful sheep to know). My grandfather:

1) had had two major cerebral bleeds,

2) had had a heart attack,

3) couldn't talk,

4) couldn't cogitate,

5) was incapable of finding or using the phone,

6) had a tube up his nose,

7) was spoon-fed by his 24-7 domestic nurses,

8) was pushed around in a wheelchair,

9) was kept out of public view and

10) was dying from congestivel heart failure.

Of course, in the quaint little world of the robotic Mormon mindset. none of those realities kept ETB from continuing to run the Mormon Church by receiving prophetic revelation an by continuing to make key administration decisions in behalf of the entire Mormon Church, not to mention the world.

Nor did it keep the Mormon Church PR department from lying about ETB's failing mental, as well as physical, condition by falsely persisting in insisting that he was functionally running the Mormon Church and that no decisions were beng made without his approval. (Behind closed doors in the Church Administration building, Apostles Dallin Oaks and Neal Maxwell were admitting to me otherwise, while telling me to keep quiet about it).

None of this was being acknowledged by the Mormon Church--that is, until I publicly outted it on its deliberate deceptions, based on my own direct observations of, and interactions with, my grandfather.

Remember: Never trust ANY institution that withholds information from you that is needed for you to make rational, informed decisions for you own life.

If the Mormon Church had any compassion or conviction, it would openly admit that Monson is through. Since it has neither, that won't be happening.

_____


An ironic P.S.: Monson, along with then-fellow First Presidency counselor Hinckley, had power to run Mormon Inc. secretly transferred from ETB to them via an AUTUOPEN programmed to fake my grandfather's signature--a sleight-of-hand manuever unbeknownst to my grandfather (not to mention the rest of Mormondumb) and without either ETB's presence or permission.

Who's going to be doing the same thing with Monson this time around? Heh.



Edited 9 time(s). Last edit at 01/12/2015 01:53PM by steve benson.

In a wheelchair?...tube up his nose?...spoon-fed by nurses? Can't be! I saw the cover of this month's Ensign. He looks just fine...rather cool in his fedora.

. . . the nose tube, the spoon and the wheelchair.

...is there something odd about the role of LDS Hospital(now Intermountain Healthcare) in all of these "end of life scenarios?" It was weird enough when Harold B. Lee took the gas pipe over there...or is still a "respected medical institution?"

. . . unsuccessfully attempted to persuade the Benson family gathered at the hospital to take his professional advice and allow her to die as Nature was trying to let her do:

http://exmormon.org/phorum/read.php?2,1483289,1483289#msg-1483289



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/12/2015 04:33PM by steve benson.

Did you mean congestive heart failure?

Laughing out loud for real. Good one, Steve.

I e-mailed you at an old address to point it out, but I doubt you check that one. The address is reminiscent of comedy basketball.

These are all good points. Of course, it didn't start with ETB. I remember David O. McKay, Joseph Fielding Smith, Harold B. Lee, Spencer W. Kimball, and Howard W. Hunter also being incapacitated by old age. Never a word issued by the Morg, though.

I like your reminder to never trust an institution that withholds information. I might also add that we should never trust an institution that has no financial transparency, hides historical documents in secret vaults, and will not respond to member questions.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/12/2015 01:52PM by steve benson.

Where can I send Monson an extra large bedpan signed by an apostate for this time in need? May this bedpan serve you as much as you have served those old ladies all these years. Wiggle wiggle you bastard.

I remember when you went public about this. The SS teacher went off on you, clucking her tongue about supporting church leaders no matter what.

I did stick with me that the man who signed my mission call didn't even recognize his own grandson, let alone have inspiration as to where to send me on my mission.

Steve,

I remember the day you went public with your grandfather's failing health and cognitive impairment. The Primary President went batsh*t crazy on you. I had no idea who/what she was talking about. The Mormon Profit's ill health wasn't exactly front page news here in Florida. I had joined the church as an adult convert and, other than the fact that ETB was your grandpa, I didn't know anything about you or your journalism career. So whatever you did to upset the PP so badly was largely lost on me. It took me years to piece together the whole story.

I thought you were probably a bit of a whack job at the time. I mean who goes around trashing their own grandpa publicly??

However, I remember one thing that the PP said that stuck with me for years. She asked, in the middle of her frenzied rage, "Don't you all believe that Gawd can wake President Benson up if he has to?" Everybody else was shaking their head "yes" except me. "NOOOOOOOOOOO!" I shouted in my head. "That's not medically possible." I knew it then, and I know it now.

Monson's not going to suddenly wake up either with some spectacular spiritual prophecy. Nope, not gonna happen. Steve, your announcement that day was the first crack in my shelf.

;o)

I recall when Steve outed the Morg on the lies about ETB. My
favorite apologetic reaction was someone who said, "The Lord
could bring ETB into lucidity and have him give a revelation if
it were needed."

So, in that guy's mind at least, ETB still was a "functioning
prophet."

The little wooden puppet sits lifeless on the shelf until everyone goes to sleep for the night. Then the Blue Fairy floats in the through the window, sprinkles magic fairy dust on Pinocchio the Prophet, whereupon he wakes up, talks, walks, starts uttering revelations from God and gears up to become "a real boy."

And Mormons wonder why they aren't taken seriously:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENQXPOHgFWA


(A further inconvenient complication for this LDS fantasy tale: The Blue Fairy never woke up Ezra Taft Benson).



Edited 6 time(s). Last edit at 01/12/2015 03:41PM by steve benson.

The circumstances of my life have shielded me from personally knowing a friend or relative who died a lingering death.

But I was once close to a woman who had a favorite uncle whose mental health declined. This was long ago, before dementia was all the rage. Apparently his mental age retreated from his 80-something years to 17. This was made evident by his new trick of laying in wait for the opportunity to grab boobies. I went with her to visit him once and even she wasn't safe.

Whenever I think of the aging apostles, I ponder how wonderful it would be if one or more of them would move along to this condition.

I was once close to a woman who had a favorite uncle whose mental health declined. This was long ago, before dementia was all the rage. His mental age retreated from his 80-something years to 17. This was made evident by his new trick of waiting for the opportunity to grab boobies. I went with her to visit him once and even she wasn't safe.

Whenever I think of the apostles, I ponder how amusing it would be if one or more of them would move along to this condition.

Thank you Steve for sharing your compassionate reminisces of a sensitive and tender moment.

I know I'll never forget you and your family's kindness to my sister and me when we lost our 96 year old Mom back in 02.

As a newbie on the board, the condolences from everyone on RfM back then was especially a source of great comfort.

Is this information about Monson's health on any news media? I looked at sltrib and deseret news online, and couldn't find anything.

Or is the information being leaked?