I am sure that many know about Margaret Toscano. A lady that was born into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Due to her position on free speech and her enthusiasm toward women’s issues as a scholar and within the Church, Margaret Toscano faced excommunication in the year of 2000.
I wanted to read more about her thoughts and beliefs to determine for myself where she stands, in a spiritual sense, so I searched the Internet for reputable articles of what Margaret says and believes. I found a good one at the PBS website where a transcript of a PBS interview exists. After reading that transcript I could write pages about what she has said, but I needed to focus on one important topic for this blog entry.
When reading the words spoken by others about this Church and about their experience with this Church, I search for the spiritual validity of what they say and how much in line they are with gospel teachings and principles. I did the same with what Margaret said in that PBS interview.
Far down the transcript I read the following words from Margaret,
… One of the things that I hope for is that, just like in Christianity, if you look at second century and third century and fourth century and so forth, that you’ll have a time where the Saints from Spain or the Saints from Africa or the Saints from the Middle East, that they will bring a new energy into the church that infuses it with new life and kind of takes it out of a narrow-mindedness. I think we’re going to see that in Mormonism.
… I’m hoping that the LDS Church can finally come to a stage where, rather than kicking out all of its dissenters, that they can become an energizing force that infuses the LDS community with not only more spirituality, as St. Francis did, but also new ideas about how LDS is not just one thing.
( http://www.pbs.org/mormons/interviews/toscano.html#4 )
During the time of the early Christian Church, the Apostles and government of God’s Church was inundated with “infusion” from the culture of the Pharisees, the Greeks, the Pagans (to name a few) and every whim of a person who wanted to be outspoken. Paul the Apostle struggled with these infusions that affected the Lord’s doctrine and practices. Eventually that infusion won out and the early Christian Church fell into apostasy. Suffice to say that all the original writings from Paul and the other Apostles were lost or destroyed in the name of the status quo called “worldly opinion and culture” which lead to the Christian Creeds, the abominations God spoke of in the First Vision with Joseph Smith. Is this what Margaret wants the Church of God to resort to? The very “life” that respresented false doctrines and doctrines of men, having no value toward salvation and repentance?
This spiritual apocalyptic event in the early centuries sent Christianity into the dark ages where mankind lost 2000 years worth of correct spiritual evolution. The restoration was an absolute need and it was Joseph Smith that God chose to restore his gospel and his Church, with the original priesthood, to this earth. This is where the division between the pleasing things of the world and God’s will and ways comes into the picture.
The Lord’s Church was not restored by current trends and infusions, the Lord’s Church was restored by it’s original spirit, organization and doctrines. It is how and what God accepts and condones. It was not and never will be what we think is best. Historically, what we, as mortals, think is best, in truth turned into the making of divers doctrines and practices which corrupted the word of God and his ordinances. This is where many of the other Christian churches currently reside and this was due to the “infusion of life” that Margaret speaks about. These divers doctrines and practices caused Christians to spiritually trip. What we think, spiritually speaking, will always be much less than what God knows is good for us.
The key word is “spiritual”.
At no time will God’s Church succumb to infusions just because the world or mortals think it is best. It is the other way around. It is more important that people get infusion from the Spirit, not from worldly cultures. A person in the world has to seek the Spirit to gain infusion into his/her life and establish themselves within the ways of God. This is part of God’s glory.
No matter what part of the world a person hails from, it is his/her responsibility to submit to God and to change to his/her mold. This is the sacrifice that each person must accept and do. God is perfect and we are not. We are the corrupted, he is not. It is within his mold that God teaches a person as to what is acceptable as cultural and harmless to a persons individual spirituality and salvation. The key word here is salvation.
What if Margaret’s views were prevalent with all spirits during the time of Lucifer’s rebellion? Would she and all of us take sides with Lucifer instead of the side with God the Father, because we wanted to impose our personal ideas into the Father’s plan? Mormon’s all know that story of the premortal where those spirits who sided with Lucifer ended up, all because they wanted to basically do the same thing, impose their own ideas.
What I speak about is faith, not about pleasing unreasonable idealistic ideas. Faith is the accepting of God’s chosen ecclesiastical authority before ourselves and despite our personal ideas, abiding in his assigned authority. Lucifer refused and look what it got him. The Human tendency to sway from God with personal ideas and beliefs are high. It is a weakness in all of us and that is one of the main attributes found in people who feel it important to contend with the Church.
In my experience, contending with Church authority was a useless task and I found that God’s help was not present during that struggle, I was on my own. When I humbled myself, opening myself to learn what was really happening, what I was really doing, I found that God told me I was wrong. Yes, Church authority won out and had God’s favour. I hope that Margaret Toscano some day realizes this.
When I realized my error, I relented to the Spirit instead. Why did I do this? It was because that was the best thing to do for my salvation and it was the only way that I was going to learn how to deal with my concerns within the Lord’s Church. Pushing an issue is clearly not God’s will and way.
This is where I ask about Margaret Toscano. Where is her salvation going to come from? Can she obtain full salvation and entrance into the Celestial Kingdom through her beliefs of infusion or through any other church? What does this infusion have to do with God’s plan of Salvation and his principles of personal righteousness?
This is where I see that she has fallen and has gone offline.
I believe the salvation question should always be a very crucial question and concern for all in the Lord’s Church. If Margaret Toscano believes that personal salvation and repentance is not important and not crucial, then that proves to me and to others who care about their salvation and repentance, of where her heart and mind sits, and that is with the world and not with God. She would then be a detriment to others in the Church. It is the salvation of people that matters, not whether someone personally believes that some infusion should happen to please ideas and untempered idealisms.
A person who cares less about their salvation and more about their personal viewpoints is a person that does not support God’s true Church, his doctrine and salvation and has clearly lost the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Still, let us take a different angle to this.
For many centuries the Jews were slaves before Moses freed them and when they were freed, how many resorted to apostate beliefs and behaviour, ignoring the commandments and rules of God? This is where I see the serious error in Margaret’s thinking. Worldly speaking, she would be a advocate for diversity, which we all see happening in many of the other Christian churches, the “infusions” she professed are important, but is that “infusion” a good thing if the same occurred in God’s true Church? The answer would be “No” and this is the reason that God has for keeping his status quo in this, his true Church.
A scholarly person can debate to the end of days about this Church and it’s policies, but no where in that debate will be the Spirit of God, because such a debate is, in God’s eyes, contentious. Difference of opinion is not the issue or the problem, even the Apostles experience that within their own discussions, but it is what is done with that difference that matters that keeps them as an Apostle and prophet of God.
Now, taking the same example as the Jews above, who were slaves, Why did God take so long to free them? How long have they suffered at the hands of their Egyptian masters and the Pharaohs? How many died as slaves? Here we have today, those people who are or were members of this, the Lord’s Church, who believe that women are oppressed or women should be given the priesthood and how old is this debate? Now, how long will God wait until he sends his will through his prophet to resolve the matter and how many will listen and know it is from God when it comes through a “male” prophet? Do you get my point of reference here?
IF God can wait several centuries of hearing the cries of his people caught in slavery before he acts or does something to aid them, how long do you think God will wait before he sends his help again to resolve this woman issue with the Church? How long will any individual woman in the Church fester with their personal views before they humble themselves before the Lord and do what is needed to get his counsel and guidance?
God promises his Spirit to all those who present themselves to him properly, by his conditions. Are you or any person willinging to submit themselves to this?
When the Church is directed by the Lord, be assured that whatever exists before him that he has not taken action to change, he has effectively accepted the “status quo” for his reasons and we have to live and abide in it. This was true with the Jewish slaves and so it is true here. To contend with God’s will is a useless effort and task. He will do what he does when he chooses to, not when it suits us or our “worldly view”, scholarly or not.
Amen
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