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=={{Criticism label}}==
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*Critics claim that the Church excommunicates or disfellowships scholars who publish historical information that is embarrassing to Church leaders.
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*It is often claimed, despite the fact that these disciplinary actions are carried out by local leaders, that they are in reality instigated by general authorities.
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*Critics claim that the Church is silencing honest people for telling the truth.
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*The Church is claimed to take a "dim view" of intellectuals.
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[[es:El Mormonismo y disciplina de la Iglesia/Eruditos]]
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==Sonia Johnson==
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[[pt:Mormonismo e Disciplina da Igreja/Estudiosos]]
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{{main|Equal_Rights_Amendment_and_the_Church#The_Excommunication_of_Sonia_Johnson|l1=Excommunication of Sonia Johnson}}
 
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==The "September Six"==
 
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Six individuals were disciplined by the Church in September 1993.  Supporters of those disciplined and critics of the Church have dubbed them "the September Six."  The six individuals were:
 
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*Lavina Fielding Anderson (excommunicated)
 
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*Avraham Gileadi (excommunicated, now back in full fellowship)
 
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*Maxine Hanks (excommunicated)
 
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*D. Michael Quinn (excommunicated)
 
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*Paul Toscano (excommunicated)
 
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*Lynne Kanavel Whitesides (disfellowshipped)
 
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Avraham Gileadi has never spoken publicly about the reasons for his excommunication, was never asked to retract any publications or statements, and has returned to full fellowship.  It is probably inaccurate to lump him in with the other individuals here discussed.
 
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The remaining five disciplinees have tended to claim that they were disciplined because of their writing and speaking on such matters as Church history, feminism, and abuses of power within the Church.{{ref|claims.sept5}}  Church leaders and officials rarely make the reasons or evidences presented at disciplinary councils public.  Thus, former members are able to claim whatever they like about  excommunication without contradiction from the Church.
 
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It is useful, however, to compare what these five individuals have said and done publicly, and what others have revealed about them, as we try to assess whether their excommunication was only about Church history or if other behaviors contributed to the unfortunate result.
 
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===Lavina Fielding Anderson===
 
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Lavina Anderson is the only former member who continues to attend LDS worship services.
 
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{{nw}}
 
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===Maxine Hanks===
 
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{{nw}}
 
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===D. Michael Quinn===
 
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Quinn claims that his excommunication was the direct result of his historical research on the origins of Mormonism. He refused to attend his own disciplinary council, telling his stake president that it was "a process which was designed to punish me for being the messenger of unwanted historical evidence and to intimidate me from further work in Mormon history."{{ref|hanks.1}}
 
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Despite Quinn's belief that his Church discipline was all about his history, his stake president wrote back on 11 May 1993, saying "There are other matters that I need to talk with you about that are '''''not''''' related to your historical writings. These are very sensitive and highly confidential and this is why I have not mentioned them before in writing."{{ref|hanks.2}}  On May 28, his stake president reportedly visited in person and "demanded that Michael explain the 'moral allegations' [he] had heard about him."  Lavina Fielding Anderson, another member of the "September Six," is critical of Quinn's stake president for later alluding to Quinn's sexual orientation.  Writes Anderson:
 
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:A week after his earlier letter, Hanks wrote another on 18 May alluding again to the "very sensitive and highly confidential" matters that were not related to Michael's historical writings. He scheduled an appointment two days later and "plead[ed] with you to come and let us resolve this." He added a ham-handed post-script: "Refusal to meet with me as a Priesthood leader is a very serious matter under these circumstances and could lead to further action, out of love and concern for your welfare." The allusion to Michael's sexual orientation, which Michael had not yet made public, was unmistakable.{{ref|hanks.3}}
 
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Lavina Anderson further writes:
 
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:Michael resigned from Signature [Book]'s board of editors in 1985 and simultaneously announced that he and Jan would be divorcing. I was deeply grieved. I wondered if Jan had found his absorption with Mormon history intolerable....He simply explained that it was a long-standing area of disagreement but one which they had handled so privately between themselves that the divorce had, in fact, caught the children completely off guard....
 
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:[After resigning from BYU] Michael called and wrote occasionally during his self-imposed exile in New Orleans and sent me some of the pieces he was writing. I particularly remember a vivid description of a Mardi Gras parade and a highly symbolic short story of two missionaries in Louisiana who were sexually attracted to each other and caught in a web of desire and violence, stalked by a religious psychopath....
 
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:When Michael moved back to Utah, there was a new peace about him. He came to dinner and talked with deep serenity about the work he had done in therapy to come to terms with the contradictions and silences in his family's past, in his personal past, and in the sense of acceptance he felt about his personal, ecclesiastical, and sexual paradoxes. He also said that he was through running and hiding.{{ref|anderson.1}}
 
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Anderson later observes that in New Orleans, "He was also trying to come to terms with his gay identity, including intensive work with a therapist. They were years spent in hiding, trying to heal from an emotional battering."{{ref|anderson.2}}
 
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Michael Quinn has claimed that he has been persecuted and excommunicated for being a "heretic."{{ref|quinn.1}}  "Heresy" has little role in LDS discourse&mdash;heresy is about belief, while apostasy is about actions.  Church leaders have an obligation to take action if behavior that is considered unacceptable comes to their attention.  Quinn had left BYU by his own choice in 1988, and by Anderson's  account was already well committed to his homosexual identity and behavior by September 1993.  Yet, his stake president is portrayed as pestering Quinn relentlessly about something which Anderson thinks is none of his business.  Quinn was put on formal probation, and again encouraged to meet with church leaders.   
 
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Quinn was eventually asked to appear to answer the charges "of ''conduct unbecoming a member of the Church'' and ''apostasy''."  Quinn claims that inside sources told him that the high council could not agree on the apostasy charge, and he was finally excommunicated for failure to meet with his priesthood leaders.{{ref|anderson.excomm}}
 
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Anderson tells us later that "Although [Quinn] is open to a relationship with a partner, this has not happened."{{ref|anderson.3}} Following his excommunication, Quinn "came out" as a practicing homosexual.{{ref|quinn.out}}  Quinn also wrote a book claiming that "the Mormon church once accepted and condoned same-sex relationships and that these relationships were practiced by church leaders."{{ref|quinn.2}}  Any doubt of Quinn's position is erased when one reads his announcement that he does not agree with the Church partly "because I claim that the mutual love of two men or of two women is as valid as the mutual love of a man and a woman."{{ref|quinn.mutual.love}}
 
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So this is a case in which an individual has criticized current Church leaders for supposedly altering a previously tolerant stance toward homosexuality. In addition, Quinn has also repeatedly attacked the Church and its leaders publicly.  For example:
 
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* he called BYU an "Auschwitz of the mind," and compared the Board of Trustees of BYU (which include the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve apostles) to Communist leaders under Stalin.{{ref|stalin.1}}
 
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* he compared his Stake President's desire to meet with him and possibly impose Church discipline to Saul's decision to stone the first Christian martyr, St. Stephen.{{ref|martyr}}
 
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* Anderson praises Quinn's "ability to find peace despite those who have wronged him in sometimes mean-spirited and bullying ways."{{ref|anderson.5}}  She mentions Elder Boyd K. Packer particularly.  This accusation ignores, however, Quinn's frequent manipulation of sources related to Elder Packer in his subsequent works.{{ref|quinn.packer}}  (For more information, see [[One_Nation_Under_Gods/Use_of_sources/Boyd_K._Packer_on_the_truth|Quinn on Boyd K. Packer]].)
 
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Because Quinn refused to attend his own disciplinary council, his claim that his excommunication was all because of his history work is conjecture &mdash; even favorable accounts, like those by Anderson, make it clear that there were more serious matters at stake.
 
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<!--Despite the claims about history, Quinn argues at length that homosexuality is not a sin, insists that the Church and its leaders are wrong to act as if it is, he repeatedly attacks leaders of the Church with ridiculous charges comparing them to Nazis and Stalinists, and he misrepresents the statements of some apostles to make another member of the Twelve (Elder Packer)look bad. NEED CITIATION -->
 
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Quinn's stake president's efforts are recorded with jaundiced eye by Anderson, who describes President Hank's efforts as "sounding plaintive and unjustly accused," "mildly phrased but...threatening," accompanied by "a ham-handed postscript."  For Anderson, at best Hanks "was probably sincere,".
 
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Quinn's letters, by contrast, are "temperate...even sympathetic," showing "a tone of genuine weariness," and he is filled with a "calm spirit of peace and comfort at the very center of his being. He crossed the last threshold of fear, the fear that he would not be able to bear what the church would do to him."{{ref|anderson.6}} 
 
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Despite Anderson's one-sided telling, even her account shows a leader trying for months to speak privately with a wayward member who sees only a conspiracy to suppress historical truth.
 
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Thus, the historical record tells a somewhat different story&mdash;even when filtered through the lens of another member of the "September Six."
 
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===Paul Toscano===
 
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* {{FR-6-2-15}}
 
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* {{FR-7-1-17}}
 
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===Lynee Kanavel Whitesides===
 
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===September Six: conclusions===
 
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==Next section==
 
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<!--
 
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:Another article that Buerger was preparing for publication apparently caught the attention of the First Presidency of the LDS Church, and he was asked once again to explain his personal religious views to ecclesiastical authorities (p. 7). After this incident, Buerger's ties to the church "became increasingly tenuous. When he presented his paper on the temple endowment ceremony at the August 1986 Sunstone Symposium, he had to borrow a temple recommend from a friend to, as he put it, 'ma[k]e me look like a card-carrying member.' Research became increasingly difficult [for him] when he was officially banned from entering the LDS Church Archives and Library in the summer of 1986" (p. 8). By 1987, the year that his article on the temple endowment was published in Dialogue, Buerger was losing his interest in Mormon history (p. 8). In 1992 he contacted LDS authorities and requested that his name be officially removed from the records of the church (p. 10). - {{FR-10-1-4}}
 
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One activity which often leads a member to be critical is engaging in inappropriate intellectualism. While it would seem the search for and discovery of truth should be the goal of all Latter-day Saints, it appears some get more satisfaction from trying to discover new uncertainties. I have friends who have literally spent their lives, thus far, trying to nail down every single intellectual loose end rather than accepting the witness of the Spirit and getting on with it. In so doing, they are depriving themselves of a gold mine of beautiful truths which cannot be tapped by the mind alone.
 
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{{Ensign1 | author=Glenn L. Pace | article=Follow the Prophet|date=May 1989|start=25}} -->
 
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======
 
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Janice Allred.  See:
 
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* {{FR-12-1-8}} <!--Novak-->
 
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=={{Endnotes label}}==
 
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#{{note|claims.sept5}} See, for example, {{Sunstone1|author=Paul Toscano|article=An Interview with Myself|date=December 1993|num=130|start=19}}
 
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<!--Anderson starts-->
 
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<!--Hanks starts-->
 
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#{{note|hanks.1}} D. Michael Quinn, Letter to Paul A. Hanks, 7 February 1993; cited in Anderson, "DNA Mormon."
 
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#{{note|hanks.2}} Paul A. Hanks to D. Michael Quinn, 11 May 1993; cited in Anderson, "DNA Mormon."
 
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#{{note|hanks.3}} Paul A. Hanks to D. Michael Quinn, 18 May 1993; cited in Anderson, "DNA Mormon."
 
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#{{note|anderson.1}} Lavina Fielding Anderson, "DNA Mormon: D. Michael Quinn," in ''Mormon Mavericks: Essays on Dissenters'', edited by John Sillito and Susan Staker (Salt Lake City, Signature Books, 2002), 329-364.
 
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#{{note|anderson.2}} Anderson, "DNA Mormon."
 
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#{{note|quinn.1}} {{CriticalWork:Quinn:Magic World View|pages=xiii}}
 
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#{{note|anderson.3}} Anderson, "DNA Mormon."
 
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#{{note|anderson.excom}} Anderson, "DNA Mormon," italics from the charges were in Pres. Hanks' original letter.
 
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#{{note|quinn.out}} {{FR-10-1-5}}, page 132-133. <!-- Hansen-->
 
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#{{note|quinn.2}} ''Publishers Weekly'' 243/45 (4 November 1996): 47; cited in {{FR-10-1-6}}<!--Mitton James-->
 
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#{{note|quinn.mutual.love}} Quinn, quoted in ''Sunstone'' (Dec 2003): 27.
 
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#{{note|stalin.1}} "'BYU officials have said that Harvard should aspire to become the BYU of the East. That's like saying the Mayo Clinic should aspire to be Auschwitz. BYU is an Auschwitz of the mind.' When an administrator asked Michael whether he had been quoted accurately, Michael not only confirmed it but added, 'Academic freedom exists at BYU only for what is considered non-controversial by the university's Board of Trustees and administrators. By those definitions, academic freedom has always existed at Soviet universities (even during the Stalin era).'" - "Ex-BYU Professor Claims Beliefs Led to Dismissal," Salt Lake Tribune (30 July 1988): B-1; and Quinn, "On Being a Mormon Historian," 94; cited by Anderson, "DNA Mormon."
 
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#{{note|martyr.1}} D. Michael Quinn, Letter to Paul A. Hanks, 19 May 1993; cited in Anderson, "DNA Mormon."
 
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#{{note|quinn.packer}} For examples see {{FR-9-2-16}}<!--Boyce-->  A more detailed examination of Quinn's treatment of Elder Packer's remarks can be found [[One_Nation_Under_Gods/Use_of_sources/Boyd_K._Packer_on_the_truth|here]].
 
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#{{note|anderson.6}} Anderson, "DNA Mormon."
 
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[[fr:Church discipline/Scholars]]
 

Latest revision as of 14:01, 13 April 2024


Church discipline of scholars


Jump to Subtopic:

Overview
Accuracy of Church History
Forgeries and folklore

Who are the "September Six"?

The "September Six" were six individuals who were disciplined by the Church in September 1993

Six individuals were disciplined by the Church in September 1993. Supporters of those disciplined and critics of the Church have dubbed them "the September Six." The six individuals were:

  • Lavina Fielding Anderson (excommunicated)
  • Avraham Gileadi (excommunicated—now back in full fellowship)
  • Maxine Hanks (excommunicated—now back in full fellowship as of 2012)
  • D. Michael Quinn (excommunicated)
  • Paul Toscano (excommunicated)
  • Lynne Kanavel Whitesides (disfellowshipped)

Avraham Gileadi has never spoken publicly about the reasons for his excommunication, was never asked to retract any publications or statements, and has returned to full fellowship. Maxine Hanks returned to the Church as of 2012.

What are the criticisms related to the "September Six"?

  • It is sometimes claimed that the Church excommunicates or disfellowships scholars who publish historical information that is embarrassing to Church leaders.
  • It is often claimed, despite the fact that these disciplinary actions are carried out by local leaders, that they are in reality instigated by general authorities.
  • Some claim that the Church is silencing honest people for telling the truth.
  • The Church is claimed to take a "dim view" of intellectuals.
  • It is claimed that the LDS Church penalizes members for "merely criticizing officialdom or for publishing truthful—if uncomfortable—information," and "shroud their procedures with secrecy."
  • The LDS Church prosecutes "many more of its members" than other religious groups.


Are the reasons for discipline ever made public?

Church leaders and officials rarely make the reasons or evidences presented at disciplinary councils public

Church leaders and officials rarely make the reasons or evidences presented at disciplinary councils public. Thus, former members are able to claim whatever they like about excommunication without contradiction from the Church.

D. Michael Quinn claims that his excommunication was the direct result of his historical research on the origins of Mormonism. He refused to attend his own disciplinary council, telling his stake president that it was "a process which was designed to punish me for being the messenger of unwanted historical evidence and to intimidate me from further work in Mormon history." [1]

Despite Quinn's belief that his Church discipline was all about his history, his stake president wrote back on 11 May 1993, saying "There are other matters that I need to talk with you about that are not related to your historical writings. These are very sensitive and highly confidential and this is why I have not mentioned them before in writing." [2]

<onlyinclude>

Statement by The Council of the First Presidency and The Quorum of the Twelve on Church Discipline

January 1994:

Statement by The Council of the First Presidency and The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints:
In light of extensive publicity given to six recent Church disciplinary councils in Utah, we believe it helpful to reaffirm the position of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. We deeply regret the loss of Church membership on the part of anyone. The attendant consequences felt over time by the individuals and their families are very real.

In their leadership responsibilities, local Church officers may seek clarification and other guidance from General Authorities of the Church. General Authorities have an obligation to teach principles and policies and to provide information that may be helpful in counseling members for whom local leaders are responsible. In matters of Church discipline, the General Authorities do not direct the decisions of local disciplinary councils. Furthermore, the right of appeal is open to anyone who feels he or she has been unfairly treated by a disciplinary council.

It is difficult to explain Church disciplinary action to representatives of the media. Considerations of confidentiality restrain public comment by Church leaders in such private matters. We have the responsibility to preserve the doctrinal purity of the Church. We are united in this objective. The Prophet Joseph Smith taught an eternal principle when he explained: "That man who rises up to condemn others, finding fault with the Church, saying that they are out of the way, while he himself is righteous, then know assuredly, that that man is in the high road to apostasy."[3]:156 Citations in this letter were within the text; FairMormon has moved them to endnotes to improve readability.</ref> In instructing His Twelve Disciples in the new world about those who would not repent, the Savior said, "But if he repent not he shall not be numbered among my people, that he may not destroy my people. . . ." (3 Nephi 18꞉31, see also Mosiah 26꞉36, and Alma 5꞉59.) The Prophet also remarked that "from apostates the faithful have received the severest persecutions."[3]:67 This continues to be the case today.

The long standing policy of Church discipline is outlined in the Doctrine and Covenants: "We believe that all religious societies have a right to deal with their members . . . according to the rules and regulations of such societies; provided that such dealings be for fellowship and good standing; . . . They can only excommunicate them from their society, and withdraw from them their fellowship." (D&C 134꞉10.)

Faithful members of the Church can distinguish between mere differences of opinion and those activities formally defined as apostasy. Apostasy refers to Church members who " repeatedly act in clear, open and deliberate public opposition to the Church or its leaders; or persist in teaching as Church doctrine information that is not Church doctrine after being corrected by their bishops or higher authority; or continue to follow the teachings of apostate cults (such as those that advocate plural marriage) after being corrected by their bishops or higher authority."[4]

The general and local officers of the Church will continue to do their duty, and faithful Church members will understand.

As leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we reach out in love to all and constantly pray that the Lord, whose Church this is, will bless those who love and seek divine truth.

Signed:

The Council of the First Presidency and

The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles [5]

Learn more about Church discipline
Key sources
Wiki links
Online
  • Dallin H. Oaks, "Sin and Suffering," Ensign (July 1992): 70. off-site
  • James E. Faust, "Keeping Covenants and Honoring the Priesthood," Ensign (November 1993): 36. off-site
  • M. Russell Ballard, "A Chance to Start Over: Church Disciplinary Councils and the Restoration of Blessings," Ensign (September 1990): 12. off-site
Navigators


Notes

  1. ↑ D. Michael Quinn, Letter to Paul A. Hanks, 7 February 1993; cited in Lavina Fielding Anderson, "DNA Mormon: D. Michael Quinn," in Mormon Mavericks: Essays on Dissenters, edited by John Sillito and Susan Staker (Salt Lake City, Signature Books, 2002), 329-364.
  2. ↑ Paul A. Hanks to D. Michael Quinn, 11 May 1993; cited in Anderson, "DNA Mormon."
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Joseph Smith, Jr., Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, selected by Joseph Fielding Smith, (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 1976). off-site
  4. ↑ General Handbook of Instructions, 10-3.
  5. ↑ "News of the Church," Ensign (January 1994) 75.
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