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I am not trying to be an advocate of anyone, but I do look back on the years when David O. McKay ran things, and wonder where it all went.
As Mormon church Presidents go, it did not get any better. He was, by Mormons standards, quite remarkable.
For starters, he was kind. He liked people, and he cared about the church members. Kindness has been at a premium of late. You just don't find it in the days of the Dark Prince Packer, or the cold eyes of Dallin Oaks.
He was not dogmatic, and not particularly full of the vindictiveness that came later. You didn't have the huge battles with the "intellectuals," and the efforts to pop off several bad souls at once. Many who left the church still speak of him very fondly.
Of course, I might be glossing things over, but if I am , its not by much.
The man fought Bruce McConkie over his dreadful, book, and did not discount evolution.
In fact, his counselors, and those they picked were "liberals," and purged when he died. His soft and kind brand of Mormonism did not appeal to those who came later
In fact, when a battle was raging at BYU--between the science people, and the so-called religion department, McKay went to Provo, and started his speech by saying "How nice it is to be here, beneath the mountains. We don't know how old they are. . ."
When people complained about some girls in the July 24th parade being in swimsuits, and "not dressed appropriately, McKay said, "I didn't see anyone who wasn't beautiful."
He read literature, went to plays at the U of U, and even wrote about the poems of Robert Burns. I have one of his books I acquired as a missionary, and it was full of references to literature, and history. He was quite literate.
When he died, we got the sniveling Joseph Fielding Smith, the most unimpressive and impossible to like leader the church could ever come up with. It never really got much better.
Maybe McKay was Mormonism's last chance to be really "mainstream." I do not know. But its interesting to look back, and see how far--downhill--we have come.
| John W. Taylor and Mathias F. Cowley resigned from the twelve while in hiding under federal subpoena to testify against Joseph F. Smith and the continued practice of polygamy after the Woodruff manifesto.
McKay was important for helping the Mormon Church to become far more mainstream than the 19th century version was. Though reigning in the excesses of some of his subordinates, he also was an extremely vain person, working hard to develop a personality cult around himself. McKay is interesting because he became President at a relatively young age due to the apostolic turnover that occured after the post-manifesto fiasco and the frequent deaths of older, Mormon pioneer apostles.
Keep in mind that David O. McKay was the man who called the current President, Gordon (I don't know we believe that) Hinckley as an apostle. He also was divinely inspired to call such losers as Boyd K. Pecker and Alvin R. Dyer to positions of prominence.
I will say that his nephew, Gunn McKay, served well as a Congressman and his neice Fawn was a notable historian. It is true that the church has descended to greater depths since he was profit, but the people he called to positions of authority are now the same guys we now castigate for their lack of inspiration.
David O. McKay was the first prophet I remember. However, in the overall scheme of things, he was most forgettable.
|  | Like A Deer In The Headlights--The Mckay Biography
Article Archived: Dec 18, 2006, at 09:58 AM
Stored Under Topic: DAVID O. MCKAY
Outside Link To Article: RIGHT CLICK - COPY LINK LOCATION
Original Author Of Article: lightfingerlouie |  | |
I am not trying to beat the subject to death. I have felt like I was "gutshot" the past few days. Reading the McKay biography has been incredibly "revealing."
This book actually hit me harder than "Mormonism: Shadow or Reality," or the Grant Palmer book. You knew what the point of those books was. Yes, there were many things I did not know, and they were a shock. But the McKay book hit me harder--and I have not been in the church for 30 years.
I guess the McKay book hits hard because its current history, things that happened in my lifetime, and time in the church. The authors, who had great access to documents, wrote a biography of David O. McKay. They believe he was divinely inspired. They keep pointing that out throughout the book. But that is not the feeling a reader gets.
I did not really realize how "human" the brethren were. They were not just human, they were political in a corporate sense. I worked for a crooked California HMO about 22 years ago, and was shocked at what went on. Manipulation, conniving, twisting facts, stabbing people in the back--and lots of sex with secretaries, consultants, etc.
Take away the sex, and you have the McKay biography. Maybe that is the "moral distinction." If so, its not enough.
The church was full of rivalries, fights over turf, stabbed backs, jealousy, and treachery.
Ernest Wilkinson lived by being "tall enough to reach David O. McKay's pockets," but when the spy scandal at BYU broke, Wilkinson managed to pass the blame for the spying off on McKay. It was a stunning bit of treachery, pulled off on a man who could not understand it fully.
Harold B. Lee hated Wilkinson deeply, but managed to bide his time-- like a cat watching a bird. When McKay died, Lee took Wilkinson's job away. They both deserved each other. Lee was every bit as petty, treacherous, and cunning as Wilkinson. You cannot feel any affection, respect, or warmth for either of them. Two scorpions in a bottle.
Bruce McConkie waited until McKay was too old to know better, and then had him "sign off' on a reprinting of the dreadful "Mormon Doctrine." A truly deceitful act, like getting an old person to sign away their estate. Now, I understand the George Pace attack. This is the way its done.
And then there is "Correlation," the vehicle which raised Lee and Packer to power. It has gone on for years, and has been opposed every inch of the way. In the end, it prevailed, and the decline in church membership has been one of the results. Correlation sucked the humanity out of Mormonism.
Lee and Henry Moyle were friends, great friends. But as soon as Moyle was raised to the "First Presidency," Lee became bitter and jealous, and ended the friendship. It all hinged on place and power.
On and on it goes, leaving me stunned. I did not know the church was this bad. I thought that it had gained more humanity than that. Brigham Young was awful, and the modern leaders are not as vicious. But they are not anyone to follow, listen to, or be inspired by.
This book is stunning.
| | | From The Mckay Biography--The Rise Of Bruce Mcconkie, "Mormon Doctrine," And Masturbation
Article Archived: Dec 18, 2006, at 12:03 PM
Stored Under Topic: DAVID O. MCKAY
Outside Link To Article: RIGHT CLICK - COPY LINK LOCATION
Original Author Of Article: lightfingerlouie | | |
I have learned a bit more about Bruce McConkie, and it does not surprise me.
When he first wrote "Mormon Doctrine," McKay was disturbed by it. He had some of the "brethren" go through the book and find "errors." They were there by the hundreds. Some were found on every page.
Additionally, when the book came out, the Catholics were deeply hurt and offended by the reference to the Catholic Church as the "Church of the Devil."
McKay heard about it from the Catholic leaders themselves.
The book was pulled, and McConkie made a change or two. He removed the reference to the Catholic Church.
When McKay way dying, slippery old Bruce pulled out the tome again, and ran it by the weakened and senile McKay. Then, he had it published.
Here is the kicker. The authors say that because of McKay's ill health, and inability to resist McConkie, "Mormon Doctrine" became the basic foundation of the church--its writings were taught and accepted as true doctrine.
None of this means much to me now, but I recall my father having his stupid volume of McConkie handy.
As a kid, I masturbated and was deeply troubled. I felt guilt, and was convinced God would strike me down. I dared not talk to anyone. I cried about it, and even looked it up in Dr. Spock's book on child raising--funny that would be in the house with McConkie's book.
Finally, I determined to ask my father. Who else was there? Not the asshole Bishop.
I went to Dad, and told him "I have a problem. " He asked what it was. After tears, and fidgeting, I coughed it up "Masturbation," I said.
He exploded. "Who taught you how?" "Its a sin," he yelled, and rushed for McConkie's volume on the bookcase.
He pulled it out, read about masturbation, and ripped into me again. "You will not be able to go on a mission," he roared. "You must stop now, you are sinning. " It destroyed me. It really did. I never talked to my father about personal things again, and I realized that I was a wicked, wicked person.
Old Bruce had a real impact on the church--and those in it. He was an evil man. There was no real good in him.
|  | President David O. Mckay's Plagiarisms: A Case Study In The Uninspired Rip-Offs By Mormonism's Desperately Destitute "Prophets"
Article Archived: May 21, 2007, at 07:59 AM
Stored Under Topic: DAVID O. MCKAY
Outside Link To Article: RIGHT CLICK - COPY LINK LOCATION
Original Author Of Article: Steve Benson | | |
Ample evidence has been offered to show, from the record, that uninspired Mormon "prophets" are so hard up for sermon material that they are relegated to ripping off non-Mormon sources without attribution.
Cases in point include the non-original writings of Mormon president Ezra Taft Benson, incoming BYU president and General Authority Merrill J. Bateman and Mormon apostle Bruce R. McConkie:
http://www.mormoncurtain.com/topic_br...
http://www.mormoncurtain.com/topic_me...
http://www.mormoncurtain.com/topic_ez...
But wait, there's more.
Now comes the case of Benjamin Disraeli disguised as Mormon church president David O. McKay.
McKay (1873-1970) is perhaps best known for his oft-quoted little couplet (which, come to find out, wasn't his after all):
"No other success can compensate for failure in the home."
(quoted on an official LDS website, from J. E. McCullough, Home: The Savior of Civilization [1924], 42; Conference Report, April 1935, p. 116.)
http://www.lds.org/churchhistory/pres...
http://www.timesandseasons.org/?p=225...
McKay had, in fact, infamously ripped line off that famous line from Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881), a renowned British politician, novelist and essayist who said:
"No success in public life can compensate for failure in the home."
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Benjamin...
**"No success can compensate for words that aren't my own
| | | David O. Mckay And The Rise Of Modern Mormonism By Gregory A Prince And Wm Robert Wright
Article Archived: Dec 17, 2007, at 07:46 AM
Stored Under Topic: DAVID O. MCKAY
Outside Link To Article: RIGHT CLICK - COPY LINK LOCATION
Original Author Of Article: lightfingerlouie | | |
David O. McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism by Gregory A Prince and Wm Robert Wright (Hardcover - Mar 9, 2005)
I have been learning, from others, that the David O. McKay biography has a huge impact on the reader. Many pick it up with eager anticipation, fully expecting to find a heart warming bit of fluff about McKay.
Once they begin to read it, they get an enormous shock. This is real biography, and it is hardly faith promoting.
The more they read, the more they learn about deceitful people like Bruce McConkie, Joseph Fielding Smith, Harold B. Lee, and Ernest Wilkinson.
They get a real feel for the depth of racism in the church, and how much the "leaders' loathed "the Negro."
They also find that the men who ran the church were, to a very huge extent, conniving, scheming, and grasping bastards, with hardly any real kindness or goodness in them. They used McKay's age against him, and got him to sign off on things he did not understand he was signing. They manipulated and lied to him.
McKay, himself, comes across as a wishy washy fellow who could not make up his mind. He was in constant turmoil, and afraid to offend anyone. His decision making abilities were rather pathetic. It is almost sad to read about how poorly he ran things.
If you want to read a book about a man made, and man run institution, the McKay book is ideal. I have seen it hit people harder than the Tanners or Palmer. Sometimes some straightforward biography is shocking.
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