Thomas S. Monson: New President

Well to no body's surprise, Thomas S. Monson is the new President and presiding Prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

To read a brief history on Monson, see the Wikipedia article: HERE.

Unknown to many Latter Day Saints, Monson has a few skeletons in his closet, which I will be helping to divulge in this article. Here it goes ...


THE VALUES INSTITUTE

During the midst of a second major purge of homosexuals at BYU in the 1970's, the "Institute for Studies in Values and Human Behaviour" was formed; in short it is known as the 'Values Institute'.

The idea was proposed by Dallin Oaks at a meeting (of the Boards of Trustees at BYU, and the Unified Church Educational System) on September 1, 1976.

The purpose of the Values Institute was kept a secret from the general public, but generally comprised of: combating homosexuality, doing research on homosexuality, fighting homosexuality within the church, and writing a book to verify the LDS church's position on homosexuality.
The public was only told that it would conduct "research that would assist in preventing and changing problem behaviors which lead people away from eternal life." The Values Institute was to be provided resources and assistance from LDS Social Services.

The first main goal of the Values Institute was to produce a manuscript "which would set forth significant empirical evidence in support of the Church's position on homosexuality." The book was to be written by Bergin and Victor L. Brown Jr. (of LDS Social Services), approved by a General Authority, published by a popular Eastern Press, and have no appearance of a connection with the church. Then the book was going to be used as "secular evidence" to back up LDS Church claims on homosexuality.

Other goals of the Values Institute were:

1) Reviewing homosexual "indoctrination" created by public gay protest and opposition.

2) Anti-gay papers & rebuttals.

3) Supporting research to vindicate LDS Church positions on homosexuality.

4) Creating church policies to combat homosexuality and 'sexual misconduct'.


Over the course of time, the Values Institute members worked on writing the book, other articles, researching, and collaborating. (There is too much to condense on this subject)

On November 17th, 1978 a two hour presentation was made before the First Presidency, and then after that was made before all the General Authorities and BYU president Dallin Oaks - concerning the manuscript for the 'anti-gay' book.

In March of 1979, Marion G. Romney asked Thomas S. Monson to get a concrete budget for the Values Institute. (Which they did, and I might add that all of the money to fund the Values Institute and its projects were received directly from tithing funds paid by LDS members).

Values Institute leaders met with Thomas S. Monson (and unknown others) on August 9, 1979 to ask formal approval to write an 'anti-gay' book for publication, and related articles. Monson and the committee agreed with the proposal and recommended it to the First Presidency on August 10, 1979 - where it was formally approved.

As time passed and things went sour with the Values Institute -- Dallin Oaks wrote to Thomas S. Monson on September 3, 1979 to explain the many problems and his irritation. And so, in 1980 the Values Institute was disbanded, after spending $150,000 of tithing funds from LDS members.


"AVERSION THERAPY AT BYU"

I won't get into it in extreme detail, as that is for another day -- but as early as the 1960's, aversion "therapies" were conducted at BYU, which continued on for several decades, and were notably in practice in the 1970's when the Values Institute was operational.

BYU professor D. Eugene Thorne oversaw the therapies.

Some examples of the "therapy" practices were:

• Electroshock Therapy (electrodes attached to head, hands, arms, and legs which shocked the patient with electricity)


• Pornography (homosexual and heterosexual pornography which was used in conducting tests, and to try to "cure" the homosexual behavior)

In addition to the Values Institute and the Aversion Therapies conducted at BYU, there were also anti-homosexual purges done at the school, and even sting-operations to catch and weed out homosexual students. I could go on at length about this as the corruption is appalling (this article makes it seem mundane compared to what it was) ... but there simply isn't enough time as that would fill volumes.


MONSON PARTICIPATION ...

I had an irate Mormon write to me regarding one of my YouTube videos ("Images from Mormon History") because at one point I showed a photo of Thomas S. Monson and wrote that he "helped to found the Values Institute" at BYU. This man took issue with this, claiming he had never heard of the Values Institute, nor did he know of any Monson-connection.

Let me make this perfectly clear:

The Values Institute is WELL-DOCUMENTED and is factual. It did exist, and we know all about it; we have documents, memos, testimonies, etc.

The Aversion Therapies done at BYU for decades are WELL-DOCUMENTED (for all of the reasons I just mentioned above).

And thankfully, we have evidence of connections in all this disgusting corruption and inhumanity, because memos and documents have survived. Some of these link to certain individuals, with Thomas S. Monson being one of them!

So what evidence do we have of Thomas S. Monson's involvement in these scandals?

• The Values Institute was proposed by Oaks at a 'combined meeting' (BYU Trustees and Unified Church Educational System) which would have come to Monson's attention. Even if we assume that it didn't ...


• Monson was present for a 2-hour presentation which outlined the Values Institute and its agenda, including: writing anti-gay material, and publishing a book which was to be used as "secular evidence" to affirm the Church's position (even though it was written by church members) ... dishonestly fooling LDS members, and the general public at large.

• Marion G. Romney wrote to Monson to request funding for the Values Institute.


• Values Institute leaders met with Monson to get formal approval for the anti-gay book and other related projects.


• Monson recommended the Values Institute book and projects to the First Presidency himself, in 1979.


• Dallin Oaks wrote specifically to Monson regarding problems with the Values Institute.

* There's also a history of many other things as well (which are too much to relate), and we know that Thomas S. Monson, Gordon B. Hinckley, Victor L. Brown, Boyd K. Packer, and Kenneth H. Beesley all met for a meeting in response to the infamous "Payne Papers".
That also shows us that Monson was aware of everything that was going on at BYU because he knew about the Payne Papers (a student written paper distributed school wide in defense of homosexuality), he knew -- as General Authorities were made aware-- of the Chipman case and other activities and scandals that were occuring at the school.
There can be no doubt that Thomas S. Monson knew all about BYU's treatment of homosexuals, which included: aversion "therapies", sting-operations, purges, suicides, police investigations, harrassment, student-on-student spying, and more!
We have documents linking him to the Values Institute and approving its related projects, and a BYU Executive Committee Meeting Minutes document relating to a church response (including his personally) to the Payne Papers, etc.
*** Everyone please research about: the history of BYU's treatment of homosexuals; all its scandals, the Values Institute, Evergreen International (currently operational), shock-therapy, the Payne Papers, the Chipman case, the suicides, etc. ***

CONCLUSION
I can only imagine what other cookie jars Monson has dipped his hands into, and what other skeletons lie in his closet. We would never have known about his connection to all of this if we didn't have the documents, memos, and other evidence linking him to it.
Otherwise it would be flat out denials from his camp, and Mormons crying afoul about how ex-mormons are lying and have no evidence, etc.
Any thinking and compassionate person should be outraged at Monson's treatment of gays -- especially within the LDS Church-- and of his previous support in: harassing them, purging them, therapies for them, driving them to suicide and social ruin, helping to found and fund the Values Institute, and supporting unscientific, undocumented, bigoted and hateful rumors, and unsubstantiated theories about homosexual people.

We have discovered what the "S" in Monson's name stands for -- Shocktherapy!
From now on, let us all dub him:

THOMAS "SHOCKTHERAPY" MONSON.

Hey Monson, when are you going to apologize for your hateful and cruel treatment of gay people? We're all still waiting! Don't think people have forgotten about all you've done! We'll be dragging the skeletons out of your closet one by one for everyone to see ... PREPARE YOURSELF!
Resources:

"The Abominable and Detestable Crime Against Nature": A Revised History of Homosexuality & Mormonism, 1840-1980: BY Connell O'Donovan
[Documentation, footnotes and references confirming and validating the statements written in this article can be found numbered throughout the book, and listed at the end of the website.]
*Please Note: The above book was published by Signature Books, but is viewable for free via the link above. It is an EXCELLENT book that I cannot recommend enough, which covers a large history of homosexuality in the LDS church, and specifically at BYU, etc.
Specifically (for more current events) I recommend the sections:
Commie Pinko Queers: The "Boys of Boise" and Salt Lake Scandals
"The Lord's Program": Kimball and Petersen Attack (followed by:)
"Hope for Transgressors" & "New Horizons for Homosexuals" (later aka "A Letter to a Friend")
ANTI-HOMOSEXUAL POLICIES AT BYU (1957-1980) (followed by:)
The Suicides of 1965 & The "Witch Hunts of 1968" & The "Witch Hunts of 1975"
The Values Institute
Shocking Events at the Y
The 'Payne Papers' and Prologue
The David Chipman Case
Oaks' 1979 Memo to Monson
1977 BYU Executive Committee Meeting Minutes memo
An online article about 'Evergreen International': CLICK HERE.
Wikipedia article on "Homosexuality and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints" (conspicuously missing is any mention of aversion therapy at BYU).

Gordon B. Hinckley - Deceased.

Wow, thanks to Samuel the Utahnite for cluing me in to this big Mormon news.

Here is a video clip about the life and death of Gordon B. Hinckley:



Some basic Hinckley FACTS:

Gordon B. Hinckley was born on June 23rd, 1910, in Salt Lake City Utah. He graduated high school and then attended the University of Utah. He served a mission in England (based in London), during the Great Depression.

After returning he served many positions and functions in the church, he was married in 1937 in the Salt Lake Temple, and later had five children.

In 1958 he became a General Authority, and in 1961 he became a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. In 1981 he became a member of the First Presidency: Second Counsellor.

In 1985 Hinckley became First Counsellor as Ezra Taft Benson became President; and in the early 90's became President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles through seniority.
Hinckley became President of the LDS church in 1995, after the death of his predecessor Howard W. Hunter who only lived nine months.

Gordon B. Hinckley was best known for: being the oldest living prophet of the LDS church, building numerous temples and churches, being "media-accessible", his "The Family: A Proclamation to the World" statement, the Perpetual Education Fund, and his constant travelling.

He died on January 27th, 2008 in Salt Lake City, Utah, at age ninety-seven.

To read more about Hinckley: CLICK HERE.

Now I really urge all readers to check out the Exposing Mormonism Tribute to Gordon B. Hinckley, which includes the videos below (watch them all!) :

Hinckley distorting the facts on Larry King Live/montage:

 In it, Hinckley tries to act as though the LDS church simply "adds a little goodness and another testament of Christ" to already existing churches, and as though Christians can be 'saved' without Mormonism. This is of course, blatantly false as anyone who ever has been Mormon knows. The LDS church teaches it is the only true church on earth, with the only priesthood authority, the only living prophet, a "restoration" of true Christianity, and that one must accept Mormonism in order to be saved in the Celestial Kingdom. This and many other lies ... err ... "gentle explanations".

Hinckley speaks out against Racism in the LDS church:



Now I put up the previous video just to showcase the sheer hypocrisy of it all. Hinckley says no racist man can consider himself a disciple of Christ, which is interesting when we look back on statements by Brigham Young that were pro-slavery, and showed hatred of African-Americans (cursed with dark skin, disobedient people will turn black, anyone who marries a black person will die on the spot, this will always be so, etc). In addition, we can add the many racist statements of other prophets, with John Taylor coming particularly to mind.

Then of course, there is our modern day. Is it any wonder there is racism in the LDS church? It does teach after all that Black-skinned people are in fact cursed from Cain (Pearl of Great Price), the descendants of Cain, they were only allowed the priesthood in 1978 (not long ago), and that Natives were once white but cursed with dark skin-- and denies their true history and modern DNA evidence in favor of white supremacist religious ideologies.

To top that off, Utah is one of the most racist states in the US, was one of the last to accept Martin Luther King's national memorial day, and unlike other states will still gather for political functions on his holiday.

Hinckley: "Flicks of History" & "It's in the Past"

Two favorite lines of Hinckley's whenever being questioned with anything difficult, including Polygamy and Racism in the LDS church or its history - were to say that those issues are "flicks of history" and "in the past; behind us now". It's amazing to hear considering the immense suffering that Blacks and non-whites endured previously in the LDS church, and the incredible, undeniable suffering of women in polygamy then and now, thanks to Joseph Smith and official Mormon doctrine.

As the video above shows, it is pretty damning. Of course, this coming from "God's One True Church on Earth" and God's 'inspired prophets'!

Hinckley twists and distorts the truth; LIES about Polygamy!


The video title says it all, and the video speaks for itself. What amuses me especially is how Hinckely condemns polygamy and says it is 'not doctrinal' when it is in the Doctrine and Covenants, and previous prophets said it was ESSENTIAL to salvation and godhood.

Hinckley on Mormon Homophobia & Bigotry
   

Hinckley states: "we're not anti-gay, we're pro-family" but then in the next sentence goes on to say that gay people "have a problem" and the church is "helping" them. He admits he doesn't know if they're born that way or choose to be that way, and says he's 'not an expert' -- despite being the Prophet of God on earth, and leader of his True Church and receiving direct revelation.

Despite "not" being anti-gay, the LDS church has meddled in US politics, supporting bills (politically and financially) that ban gay marriage and equal-rights for homosexuals.
Hinckley doesn't mention the at least 40 or more documented gay & lesbian suicides in the LDS church since 1984, including 3 men in 2000 who committed suicide over the church's involvement in trying to pass Proposition 22: Clay Whitmer, DJ Thompson, and Stuart Matis. He also of course, doesn't mention BYU's history of shock therapy and pornography "treatments" for gays, and other things.

Hinckley gets a BUILDING as a Birthday gift!


It's a good thing that Mormon prophets "don't get paid"! No, they only live the jet-set lifestyle, bought and paid for by LDS Church funds. And apparently if you're really good and live to be 97, you get your own building! That, and the Prophet of the LDS church is also the head of all LDS corporations and businesses (from LDS members' money, without public accounting), and no one knows exactly how much he receives from those. It doesn't hurt of course when a Prophet is white, already wealthy or comes from a long-line of Mormons.

For more on Hinckley's LIES, check out THIS GREAT POST. Give it a read.

Galatian's Note:

Gordon B. Hinckley's run as Prophet will always hold special significance for me because he was the President when I joined, the years I was an active member, and when I left the LDS church.

Probably what I will remember most about Hinckley are his media interviews and attempts to reach out to the press and obtain favorable publicity for the Church. I'm always astonished when I watch his interviews on prominent programs and see him outright lying about Mormon history, doctrines, modern beliefs and church practices. It simply boggles the mind that any true-believing-mormon (TBM) could watch these things and somehow justify them ... but with Mormons it's always "milk before meat" and "lying for the Lord" ... so what if we have to lie to obtain members? If they join and accept "the truth" they'll be thankful later on - won't they?

There's also Hinckley's involvement, and in my opinion - attempted cover-up and damage control, of the Mark Hofmann forgeries and murders. To learn more about Hinckley's dealings in that situation, read "Tracking the White Salamander" and research more in-depth.

It's somewhat sad to me when I reflect on what affection I used to have for the man. As a member I nearly cried one year as we sang songs for Hinckley's birthday at General Conference. Here I thought this was a prophet of God!

Now I only see a frail, elderly man at the end of his life, leading a dishonest organization and pretending to be God's representative on earth. It's difficult for me to respect Hinckley, because I am not even certain he was 'honest' in his faith.

Having grown up in the church and served it all his life, it would be easy to assume and believe that he must be deceived and somehow deluded into believing he speaks for God - and that his dishonesty comes from that.

However, I find it hard to accept that a man with that much experience in the church, knowledge of it, and moderate intelligence -- would not have realized it was a fraud and sham by this point. Being the President, having access to the LDS church archives and restricted documents, having dealt directly with Mark Hofmann and knowing all he does (that regular members do not) I can't quite say that I don't believe he knew it was all a lie but carried it on anyway. Why stop now, after a lifetime of devotion? Being in charge and having people hail you as a 'prophet of God' and treat you like a rock star - why stop it? Having billions at your disposal, flying private jets around the world and meeting with politicians and important figures - why turn it down?

I do feel badly for Hinckley's family because it's always a personal tragedy for people to lose a father, grandfather or loved one. And this is no exception because dishonest or not - he was human and had people who loved him and will miss him.

At the same time however, I can't help but reflect and feel badly for all the families and friends of Mormons who committed suicide due to the destructive teachings and policies of Hinckley and the LDS church. I feel badly for all the missionaries who have died on their missions in the last few years -- all in vain. I feel badly for all the people's lives who have been destroyed by Mormonism during Hinckley's tenure as Prophet.

The man will be praised by Mormons, and perhaps he's done some admirable things in his life; yet I also think of the damage perpetuated by the LDS cult, and Hinckley at the head of it all these years.

On an end note, there is some irony in his death. I generally believe that his life is now over and his body will naturally decay in the earth and go through all the processes which happen biologically. I mean no disrespect by this, I just literally figure that is the case. But even supposing I am wrong and he is 'elsewhere' in some unknown metaphysical place -- I can confidently say that I am CERTAIN he will be discovering that Mormonism is a fraud and that he led a destructive worldwide organization all these years.

So much for speaking on behalf of God ...