The church that claims to be in the latter-days, there must at some point be a time when the church will sit back and think, hmm, no second coming, this is odd isn't it? I think we actually already past that time long ago as the church was preparing for the second coming around Brigham Young's time, or shortly thereafter. So what happens in the year 2300 when still no second coming? So much for the latter-day aspect of the church? If you ask mormons 150 years ago when they thought the second coming would happen, they would have said any time soon. Lately (in the last 50 years) we were thinking logically it would be around the turn of the century (2000 or so), although no man knoweth the exact time. But come on, even if armaggedon does happen (as a result of a big war) and some of us make it to a post apocalyptic world (like in the movies), do you think Jesus will suddenly appear and make everything all better?

When it stops being profitable.... and not before.

Lou

+100000

That is exactly right. As long as someone can get power or money from it the church in some form will continue to exist. However, I think it will be mostly dead in two maybe three generations.

Didn't Thomas Monsoon, or one of the GA's tell the people that the second coming in not imminent? Does anyone have a link to that?

Hmmm? Does this recantation have anything to do with building a mall for the future and electing Romney for the president to lead us into the future?

I firmly believe that Mormonism will survive as a money-making, MLM-type diversified business, until foreign countries buy up all the real estate, and people stop eating beef, and stop eating candy and Coke and Beer and other foods that require sugar, and tourists boycott Salt Lake City and its malls, and until there's an alternative fuel source to gas and oil, and until the government clamps down on tax exemptions, and until people can't be duped into blind donations and free slave labor anymore....



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/07/2012 06:55PM by forestpal.

I don't have a link but I do recall the comment being made...

The church is here to stay...While they may suffer losses and may not be able to sustain positive growth there will always be a "Church" in one form or another. They will slowly adapt and will always have a core of loyal supporters.

As long as they have a missionary program that will commit a young man to a lifetime of loyal service and young women to idolize them and give them children the church will live.

"Sometimes you might be tempted to think as I did from time to time in my youth: 'The way things are going, the world’s going to be over with. The end of the world is going to come before I get to where I should be.' Not so! You can look forward to doing it right—getting married, having a family, seeing your children and grandchildren, maybe even great-grandchildren."

http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2011/10/counsel-to-youth?lang=eng

would having all the top LDS Inc execs / leaders put in prison for fraud, you know, the way that they really should be, speed up the process?

Is it safe to say the Jewish community is still waiting for something ? Joseph Smith predicted if he lived to reach the age of 86 he would see the second coming, 1891 would have been the year. OOop's . And how many converts were told to gather to Missouri for the return of the Lord ? How many women were lied to and controlled during the Utah period so the old "Prophets ,Seers and revelators" could troll the train station to look for fresh-young meat, or steal other men's wifes so she could enjoy the great privelege of marrying "up' to maybe even a Apostle.

The LDS corporate leadership will run this sucker into the ground before they ever utter a breath of truth or honest insight. They intend to pattern their con after, as time goes by, other very succesful scams like the Roman catholics and the hard line Likud Jews.

Notice that some wealthy Mormons are starting to fund "Mormon Studies" programs at the university level (which I know is oxymoronic) and all statements and policies are set by Public Relations people and not the Prophet nor the 12. Let any employee at BYU even whisper the truth and you can watch the corporate machine in action that will do anything needed to protect the brand, regardless if it destroys a human life or not. Religion for the wealthy and powerful is not made up of humans outside of the inner court, it is made of their friends, thier families, and their power . As long as there is a penny left in the Ponzi scheme that is Mormonism it will not die.

To ask about the future of the Mormon church is to ask about a criminal syndicate that is pulling in the money, has incredible power and controls the judges and the police if they ever do get caught.

"...you can watch the corporate machine in action that will do anything needed to protect the brand..."

Stripped of all its facade as a church, that's what's left! Good call.

in 50 AD. Christianity hasn't given up yet -- neither will Mormonism.

The Christians are still waiting for nearly 2000 years.

Well we don't believe in Greek or Egyptian Gods anymore, do we. It will happen some day.

Short answer: as soon as all the dumb asses die off.

I still believe in one of the Greek gods.

Never

They have already given up. Who would vote for a Mormon politician who belongs to a church actively preparing for the Apocalypse? Someone who believes it's inevitable?

What kind of a negotiator is that representing America in the Middle East?

As I keep saying, all topics lead to the Great and Abominable Mall. It points to the fact that they don't believe in a Second Coming at least until their investment breaks even.

2100?

Anagrammy

My Patriarchal blessing said it will happen in my lifetime. So anytime in the next 50 years so be ready.

Really? Awesome. Was your patriarch high when he gave you your PB? Because when it doesn't happen in your lifetime, someone will say, the Lord really meant your next this life time.

LOL

Your (stake) Patriarch skipped one word in the blessing:


My Patriarchal blessing said it will happen in my NEXT lifetime.

Giving up making profits?

Not even remotely possible.

To answer the question it was specific this lifetime and I would be taken in the twinkling of an eye and see my grand kids raised during the millennium. I thought I was pretty special until I read my sisters who had hers 6 yrs before me by the same patriarch and it was almost word for word.

Maybe if it gets to be 2500 or so, they'll begin to say it was only symbolic.

Mormonism always has an 'out.' If something says it's in this lifetime, they include the Millenium as being part of your lifetime.

The LDS Church will never offically fold. It is a for-profit-corporation hiding behind a church. Eventually the business and investment sides will overpass the Church, but blueblooded mormon families want to stay in and control the corporation..

I anticipate that in 150-500 years religion in general will shift to be considered more allegorical than literal. Mormonism will be one of the latter hold outs but will eventually cave in about 30 years after it gets to the point that it is clearly hurting the church more than it helps it to be literal.

The shift is already happening to some degree within the LDS church. More and more people are, mostly quietly, looking at it more as a metaphor - enter the NOMs

I think the church will just slowly morph into being a commercial enterprise. It will basically be a holding company.

Either the day will come when it's no longer profitable to continue the whole dog and pony show of rallying the troops and operate the system because the tithing revenue doesn't support it and they will just scrap it and run the business arm exclusively...

Or they will pull a Community of Christ and come clean but still function as a real church for once.

The internet has given a voice to the injured, educated, and missing. We are not the chirpy happy bunch the mormons wish we were.

It will be interesting to see where the chips fall. There are many members that are fed up and feel abused and lied to. They need support and encouragement. I think there are going to be members leaving in the droves. My kids generation has no fear of researching anything and everything. The church has been outed.

Many people ask me why I went back 10 years after I was ex'd . It was for lack of information. I didn't have the information that can be had at the click of a button. If i'd known then what I know now, I never would have went back.

When I went back, I didn't know about the BoA, the true history, or how manipulative, controlling, and vicious the church can be. I was raised mormon, and was treated like A second class citizen by my family. I hoped that going back would also give me the approval that I wanted from them. That didn't happen.

Then I went online and learned the whole story. I'm done. My kids are done. I will not have mormon grandkids. The buck has stopped here.

It may exist on some level forever but I have a feeling it won't stick as well for the next American generations. Will probably get its continued zeal more from South America and Africa. There are so many stories of people leaving. Mass resignings etc. the Aussies and Canadians also seem to be getting a bit bored riding on the merry go round.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/08/2012 01:37AM by suckafoo.

basically American church that has strong roots in it's history. There is nothing to give up. It fits the needs and wants of many people.

Never!

I wish people would see that it is a church based off of false Native American claims, Masonry practice, and fear of not going to the celestial kingdom.... denying the holy ghost wohaa... I just got back from a trip up to UT,ID,MT- where most of my family lives. It all seems to be flourishing and brainwashed haven is bubbled up around my family(thank goodness two of my siblings are with me out of the 7). There are new budding recruits as well in my hometown that are dating and marrying prominent members. I got a lot of we are so sorry and disappointed looks. My fiancee came with me for the first time and I am not about to back down, I get a lot of negative energy from people but I am stronger than they know. I don't care anymore, it's not about me, it's about the younger generation and not living with a bunch of lies and feeling guilt over simple mistakes that you are simply supposed to learn from and grow into a better person. It was a weird paradox to be there.

The Mormon church will continue to evolve to survive, like it always has done. Nothing is off limits with regards to changing revelation.

I suspect the Mormon church of 2112 will be barely recognisable from the one we know today, let alone the church of the 1800s. Even the 1912 church was a very different beast.

As long as people are paying, and others are profiting, then the Mormon church will be around in one form or another, though I agree with others that it is unlikely to be as large in the future.

As others have said, LDS will evolve. The elite needs power, and they will mainstream to maintain it. I suspect temple ritual will change to reflect growing unease; I suspect the awkward parts of the Pearl of Great Price may be given a quiet funeral.

In those parts of North America where mormons have established large communities, I suspect 'cultural mormonism' along the lines of Dehlin/Joanna Brooks will assume greater importance.

I think in places like the UK it will be much harder. Wards are becoming greyer, and new converts are often recent immigrants with fewer shared cultural connections to established members.

Yup. In the UK the core members of any ward are the 2nd, 3rd and even 4th generation Mormons. They marry other generational Mormons and make up 80-90% of the tithepaying, TR card carrying, leadership Mormons in the ward. The rest are recent missionary converts, often with financial or social needs. They mostly only hang around until they get a better offer, socially or financially. Admitedly some hang around for quite a long time, but they seldom have the ability to retain their offspring in the cult, usually losing all of their children into inactivity, whilst the core members are generally successful in this area.

There is a very easy argument that since this is the dispensation of the fulness of times that the 2nd coming shouldn't come until 1000 years after the church was restored...

I see the church shifting to being metaphorical instead of literal long before that 1000 years is up.

Yes, "latter-day" is clearly relative. Relative to the age of the Earth, a billion years could be considered "latter!" Relative to the age of man (as understood by Mormons) a 1000 years is not unreasonable.

(Of course it sucks that former Prophets have "prophesied" that it will be much, much sooner..)

Everyone, even TBMs, know that what former prophets have prophesied are meaningless...TBMs hardly bat an eye no matter how crazy what a past prophet has said. "It's in the past."

Yes, I've found the same. Mormons never really seem that bothered about what past prophets say. It'll take the current prophet to say something like that to get people worried, but if a past prophet has said sometime like that, a lot of mormons don't seem to care, or have "It was important back then, it isn't now" attitude.

About the dispensation things. In seminary, I was always taught each one would be "about" 1000 years, and that there would be 7 in total, one after the 2nd coming, 4 that happened before the first coming, and then two after the first coming, but before the 2nd coming. I think pretty much everybody agrees we should be in the 6th one by now, and I agree that I can see mormons starting to teach that the start of 6th one was about 200 years ago, when the church was restored, which would mean 800 years to go (possibly more than that, since the 5th one lasted almost 2000 years ago).

So I think, whatever happens, the church will have some excuse or some way around it. At least, in our lifetimes, we won't be seeing people panicking about the 2nd soming not having happened yet. I think the church will have become "extinct" before a long time before then.

I thought they already did give up, and are now focusing on how to make money at the expense of the members.