In answer to a request for information made on this board recently, I am quite confident that my Uncle Reed (ETB's oldest child) had a hand in writing the "Fourteen Fundamentals in Following the Prophet" BYU devotional sermon attributed to ETB.

Before presenting my reasons for that conclusion, first some background on the firestorm that erupted in the wake of ETB's incendiary sermon--a controversy which pulled the First Presidency into the fray via an officially-attempted skinback and which ultimately resulted in ETB being required to explain himself before a meeting of all the General Authorities.

It is a matter of record that ETB's “Fourteen Fundamentals in Following the Prophet” sermon was not well received by the Mormon Church's highest levels of hierarchy.

As historian D. Michael Quinn writes in his book, “The Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power”:

“. . . [A]t BYU [in February 1980] he [Benson] delivered a 'devotional talk' which proclaimed that right of the LDS prophet to speak and act politically. The First Presidency immediately issued a statement that Benson was misquoted. However, it was difficult to finesse his words for the capacity BYU audience in the 25,000-seat Marriott Center or for the thousands of other Utahns who listened to the broadcast on radio and television of Benson's 'Fourteen Fundamentals in Following the Prophets.' To most observers, Benson's 1980 talk at BYU was an announcement of his own future intentions as Church president.

“On 5 March the First Presidency released a statement 'reaffirm[ing] that we take no partisan stand as to candidates or political parties and exercise no constraint on the freedom of individuals to make their own choices in these matters.' The Church's spokesperson claimed that 'there is not connection between this [First Presidency] letter and a speech by Apostle Ezra Taft Benson to Brigham Young University' a few days before. Those connected with LDS Church headquarters knew otherwise.

“Kimball's son [Edward L. Kimball] affirms that the Church president [Spencer W. Kimball] bore no will feeling toward his long-time associate but 'was concerned about Elder Benson's February 1980 talk at BYU.' The president wanted 'to protect the Church against being misunderstood as espousing ultra-conservative politics or--in this case--espousing an unthinking 'follow the leader' mentality.

“A General Authority revealed that although President Kimball asked Benson to apologize to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, they 'were dissatisfied with his response.' Kimball required him to explain himself to a combined meeting of all General Authorities the following week.” [Quinn writes in footnote 353, p. 469, that “[i]n 1980 a General Authority reported to George T. Boyd the apologies which Kimball required of Benson. Boyd's letter to me (Quinn), 24 September 1992, requested that I not identify his source. Boyd--an in-law of Spencer and Camilla Kimball--also reported this conversation to BYU professor Duane Jeffery early in 1980”].

Quinn reports further on the ETB-caused furor:

“The entire Benson family felt anxious about the outcome of this meeting [the one where President Kimball was requiring ETB to explain himself in front of all the Mormon Church's General Authorities). They [the Benson family] apparently feared the possibility of a formal rebuke. Benson's son [and my father] Mark (the Freemen Institute's 'Vice President in Charge of Development') wrote him a note that morning: 'All will be well--we're praying for you and KNOW all will be well The Lord knows our heart' [original emphasis].

"The meeting went well for Benson who 'explained that the had meant only to reaffirm the divine nature of the prophetic call.' Benson's biographer [Sheri L. Dew] indicates that the most effusively supportive General Authority in attendance was Apostle Boyd K. Packer: 'How I admire, respect and love you. How could anyone hesitate to follow a leader, an example such as you? What a privilege!'

Dew, however, conveniently leaves out critical elements of the controversy which led to the negative reaction of the First Presidency to ETB's BYU sermon. Instead, she attempts to explain it away by writing that “[w]hile the talk generated a great deal of publicity, for his part President Benson had intended it to simply underscore President' Kimball's prophetic call.

Dew goes on to faithfully report:

"During the April 1980 monthly meeting of the General Authorities, President Benson explained that he meant only to reaffirm the divine nature of the prophetic call. It was a faith-building, emotional experience. His family was aware of his concerns and had been praying for him. When he returned to his office that day, he found a phone message from Reed and a brief letter from Mark: 'All will be well—we're praying for you and KNOW all will be well. The Lord knows your heart. There was also a brief message from Elder Packer: 'How I admire, respect and love you. How could anyone hesitate to follow a leader, an example such as you? What a privilege!'"

(Sheri L. Dew, “”Ezra Taft Benson: A Biography," in Chapter 22, "The Expanding Church" [Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book Company, 1987], p. 469)


Quinn adds a Benson-Bircher connection that Dew fails to mention:

“A few months later Benson wrote to his 'Dear Friends' at the Birch national headquarters.” [Quinn notes in footnote 355, p. 469, that this ETB letter to the Birch national headquarters “was in response to a get-well card with messages from each Birch staff member”].

(D. Michael Quinn, “The Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power,” in Chapter 3, “Ezra Taft Benson: A Study in Inter-Quorum Conflict” [Salt Lake City, Utah: Signature Books, in association with Smith Research Associates, 1997], pp. 110-11; and p. 469, fn 349-355)
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Now, back to why I think Reed was involved in the putting together of that "Fourteen Fundamentals" talk of ETB's:

--First, Reed was very close to his father ETB and was a regular, tight and trusted political advisor to him. Reed was at one time a high-ranking official in the John Birch Society, having established its Washington, D.C., chapter and also having served in its Utah organization leadership ranks. Reed's influence on my grandfather's political views were obvious, given that he (ETB) told me in personal correspondece that the John Birch Society was second only to the Mormon Church in battling worldwide Communism--and recommended/subscribed me to Birch Society magazines for what he regarded as my political benefit.
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--Second, from my own experience with Reed, he (Reed) was known to use a phrase that actually appears in the "Fourteen Fundamentals" talk. It shows up under the point in the sermon where ETB/Reed is declaring that the living Mormon prophet of God can speak for the Lord on politics or any other matter, for that matter.

That phrase is "Hit pigeons flutter."

I remember one night standing outside the then-Provo river bottoms home of Reed, where he urged me to fight the good fight in my editorial cartoons and not to worry about the negative reaction and criticism I would receive for expressing "the truth" in my points of view.

In dispensing that advice, Reed told me to remember that "hit pigeons flutter."

That same phrase appears as follows in the "Fourteen Fundamentals" sermon:

"Seventh: The prophet tells us what we need to know, not always what we want to know.

“'Thou hast declared unto us hard things, more than we are able to bear,' complained Nephi’s brethren. But Nephi answered by saying, 'the guilty taketh the truth to be hard, for it cutteth them to the very center' (1 Nephi 16:1, 3). Or, to put it in another prophet’s words, 'Hit pigeons flutter.'

"Said President Harold B. Lee:

"'You may not like what comes from the authority of the Church. It may contradict your political views. It may contradict your social views. It may interfere with some of your social life. . . . Your safety and ours depends upon whether or not we follow. . . . Let’s keep our eye on the President of the Church.' (in 'Conference Report,' October 1970, pp. 152-53)

"But it is the living prophet who really upsets the world. 'Even in the Church,' said President Kimball, 'many are prone to garnish the sepulchers of yesterday’s prophets and mentally stone the living ones' ('Instructor,' 95:257).

"Why? Because the living prophet gets at what we need to know now, and the world prefers that prophets either be dead or mind their own business. Some so-called experts of political science want the prophet to keep still on politics. Some would-be authorities on evolution want the prophet to keep still on evolution. And so the list goes on and on.

"How we respond to the words of a living prophet when he tells us what we need to know, but would rather not hear, is a test of our faithfulness.

"Said President Marion G. Romney, 'It is an easy thing to believe in the dead prophets.' And then he gives this illustration:

"'One day when President Grant was living, I sat in my office across the street following a general conference. A man came over to see me, an elderly man. He was very upset about what had been said in this conference by some of the Brethren, including myself. I could tell from his speech that he came from a foreign land. After I had quieted him enough so he would listen, I said, “Why did you come to America?” “I am here because a prophet of God told me to come.” “Who was the prophet.” I continued. “Wilford Woodruff.” “Do you believe Wilford Woodruff was a prophet of God?” “Yes, I do.” “Do you believe that President Joseph F. Smith was a prophet of God?” “Yes, sir.”

"'Then came the sixty-four dollar question. "Do you believe that Heber J. Grant is a prophet of God?" His answer, “I think he ought to keep his mouth shut about old age assistance.”

"'Now I tell you that a man in his position is on the way to apostasy. He is forfeiting his chances for eternal life. So is everyone who cannot follow the living Prophet of God.' (in "Conference Report," April 1953, p. 125]'"

(to read the sermon in its entirety, see Ezra Taft Benson, "Fourteen Fundamentals in Following the Prophet," devotional address, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, 26 February 1980, at: http://speeches.byu.edu/reader/reader.php?id=6751)
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--Third, my uncle Reed and his wife May had a history of helping to write ETB's sermons, behind the scenes. A clear case of that was ETB daughter-in-law May's ghost-written production of ETB's "Beware of Pride" talk, delivered by then-First Presidency counselor Gordon B. Hinckley in behalf of an ailing ETB at the Saturday morning session of the Mormon Church's 159th semi-annual General Conference on 1 April 1989.

(For the entire sermon, see Ezra Taft Benson, "Beware of Pride," at: "BYU David O. McKay School of Education," under "Education Leadership and Foundations," Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, at: http://education.byu.edu/edlf/archives/prophets/bewareofpride.html)


Not only was that talk written by someone else (namely, ETB's daughter-in-law May), the evidence indicates that what was produced for ETB in this regard was noticebly lifted from the writings of Christian apologist C.S. Lewis, as found in Lewis' book, "Mere Christianity"--specifically the chapter, “The Great Sin."

A line-by-line comparison of the text of both documents provides clear and convincing evidence as to the source of Ezra Taft Benson's pride sermon. The talk borrowed heavily--and without careful, proper and clear attribution, both in terms of wording and concept--from Lewis’ earlier work.

Examples of these plagiarisms are listed below, by topic:

--Pride is the Ultimate Vice

*Lewis

"The essential vice, the utmost evil, is Pride." (p. 109)

*Benson

"Pride is the universal sin, the great vice."


--Competitive Nature of Pride

*Lewis

"Pride is essentially competitive--is competitive by is very nature . . .” (p. 109)

". . . Pride is essentially competitive in a way that other vices are not." (p. 110)

"Pride is competitive by its very nature." (p. 110)

“Once the element of competition has gone, pride is gone. That is why I say that Pride is essentially competitive in a way the other vices are not.” (p. 110)

*Benson

"Pride is essentially competitive in nature. . . .

"Our will in competition to God’s will allows desires, appetites, and passions to go unbridled."


--The Proud See Themselves Being Above Others

*Lewis

"A proud man is always looking down on things and people; and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you." (p.111)

*Benson

“Most of us consider pride to be a sin of those on the top, such as the rich and the learned, looking down at the rest of us.”


--The Proud Also Look From the Bottom Up

*Lewis

“When you delight wholly in yourself and do not care about the praise at all, you have reached the bottom.” (p. 112)

*Benson

“There is, however, a more common ailment among us and that is pride from the bottom looking up.”


--Pride Equals Enmity

*Lewis

"Pride always means enmity--it is enmity. And not only enmity between man and man, but enmity to God." (p.111)

*Benson

"The central feature of pride is enmity--enmity toward God and enmity toward our fellowman."

“Our enmity toward God takes on many labels, such as rebellion, hard-heartedness, stiff-neckedness, unrepentant, puffed up, easily offended, and sign seekers.”

“Another major portion of this very prevalent sin of pride is enmity toward our fellowmen.”


--Pride and Self-Value

*Lewis

"You value other people enough to want them to look at you." (p. 112)

*Benson

"The proud depend upon the world to tell them whether they have value or not."


--Pride vs. Humility

*Lewis

"The virtue opposite to it [pride], in Christian morals, is called Humility." (p. 109)

“ . . . if you really get into any kind of touch with Him you will, in fact, be humble—delightfully humble, feeling the infinite relief of having for once got rid of all the silly nonsense about your own dignity which had made you restless and unhappy all your life. He is trying to make you humble in order to make this moment possible . . .” (p. 114)

*Benson

"The antidote for pride is humility . . . "

“Choose to be humble. God will have a humble people. Either we can choose to be humble or we can be compelled to be humble.”


--Pride Not Admitted in Self

*Lewis

"There is one vice of which no man in the world is free; which every one in the world loathes when he sees it in someone else; and which hardly any people, except Christians, ever imagine that they are guilty themselves." (pp. 108-09)

*Benson

"Pride is a sin that can readily be seen in others but is rarely admitted in ourselves."


Only once in ETB's sermon was proper credit given to C.S. Lewis as a source:

"The proud make every man their adversary by pitting their intellects, opinions, works, wealth, talents, or any other worldly measuring device against others. In the words of C. S. Lewis: "Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next man.... It is the comparison that makes you proud: the pleasure of being above the rest. Once the element of competition has gone, pride has gone" (C.S. Lewis, "Mere Christianity" [New York: Macmillan, 1952], pp. 109-10)."


Here's the background on the research and writing of ETB's sermon on pride:

Some years ago, I visited with May Benson in her and Reed's home in Provo, Utah, during which time the subject of ETB's sermon on pride was a topic of conversation--both prior to the public delivery of ETB's sermon by Gordon B. Hinckley in the April 1989 General Conference and then again after the speech.

May said she had very strong feelings about the subject of pride. She was especially offended and concerned with what she regarded as the Benson family's own problems with pride. (In fact, she had gotten up in disgust and walked out of a wedding breakfast for my sister, when one of the daughters of ETB, while listening to the father of the groom make some remarks to the assembled, leaned over and whispered self-righteously, "Well, we know which family was blessed with the spirituality").

May further noted that she had put together quite a few thoughts on the subject of pride that she hoped someday to compile and publish in a book.

However, May reported that after ETB's pride sermon was delivered, she no longer felt it necessary to publish her hoped-for book.

Why?

Because, she said, her husband Reed had spoken with ETB about her research on the topic. May was clearly indicating that her information and study efforts had been used in ETB's sermon on pride.

I was later informed by a very reliable Benson family source with insider informaion that May herself spent several weeks in St. George, Utah, working on the "Beware of Pride" sermon that was eventually delivered by Gordon B. Hinckley in Ezra Taft Benson's name--and for which ghost writer May Benson has never received credit.
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So, the record is clear: Ezra Taft Benson's "prophetic" sermons would not have been possible without help from speechwriters who produced them for him. "His" two talks, "Fourteen Fundamentals in Following the Prophet" and "Beware of Pride" have the fingerprints of others all over them.

As another aside, I was also informed that Reed was, for all intents and purposes and by and large, cut out of the writing loop in composing the Deseret Book Company-published "Ezra Taft Benson: A Biography" [1987]. Sheri L. Dew was given that task and, according to my source, was significantly assisted in the effort by a granddaughter of ETB, not by a reportedly perturbed Reed. While Reed is mentioned in Dew's "Preface" [pp. ix-x] as one of "President Benson's children [who] . . . submitted to lengthy interviews and assisted in other ways," Dew writes that "[s]pecial mention must be made of Flora Parker, a granddaughter of President and Sister Benson, who played a crucial role. I do not overstate the facts to say that, had it not been for her thousands of hours of painstaking research, as well as for her assistance in so many other ways, this book would very simply not have seen the light of day").

I would venture to guess that if Reed had written the book, it might well have not seen the light of day, either.



Edited 33 time(s). Last edit at 09/03/2011 09:10PM by steve benson.

Your honesty is blunt and welcome, Steve. I'm gonna have to rely on the words of the living Benson.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/03/2011 08:15PM by steve benson.

The “RIGHTeous” hate the left, because lefties know you do not need profits to govern your life. Our lives belong to us to live, not to profits.

The lowly masses on the bottom are not proud, but are perfectly capable, and that’s what scares them.

Theocracy or monarchy or oligarchy, etc. are not compatible with a fair consensus of the people.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/03/2011 11:05PM by atheist&happy:-).

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/03/2011 08:33PM by steve benson.

Thank you Steve I've always wondered about how the 14 Fundamentals came about. I appreciate you doing this very much. :-D