In LDS voting conferences, we are asked to Sustain or Oppose.  This wording is not found in the Doctrine and Covenants in connection with common consent.  Jesus used very specific words when he instructed Joseph Smith.  In D&C 124:144, the Savior gives a commandment to have the general conference Approve or Disapprove of the matters presented.

Somehow, opposition has become the operative word during sustainings.  My daughter says it’s a loaded word.  I agree.  It’s loaded with a negative connotation that can be easily be interpreted as being against the church, in defiance, in rebellion or even an enemy.

Christ’s words are so much better.  A simple approve or disapprove.  There is a huge difference.  I stand with the church.  But, disapprove of some of it’s policies, practices, major decisions, and teachings.  Expressing disapproval is a right, privilege and responsibility that Christ’s law of common consent bestows upon all members.

I don’t oppose.  I disapprove.  I don’t stand against the church.  I stand with it.

Points of Disapproval

1. Disregard for the Law of Common Consent.  This is a law from God, plainly taught in our scriptures, doctrine and pronouncements by prophets and apostles.  Currently, our top leadership is disobeying this commandment.  And they are leading the entire church to follow that same disobedience.
2. The November 2015 LGBT policy.  If a gay couple gets married a church court is mandatory.  Yet, forcible rape, sexual abuse, and deliberate abandonment of family responsibilities do not automatically trigger church discipline.  What kind of a message does that send.  Forcible rape…maybe discipline is due.  Legal and lawful gay marriage…you’re out here.  Children of gay couples, married or not, are excluded from the most important blessings of the church.  !!!Children!!!  No baptism.  No priesthood.  No youth leadership.  No youth temple trips.  NO HOLY GHOST.
3. Twelve month waiting penalty if marriages don’t take place in the temple.  This penalty only applies in the U.S. and a few other countries.  As a result, much hearbreak and hurt happens as parents suffer the humiliation of by being excluded from their children’s  weddings.  In most of the world, marriages are held outside of the temple, allowing all to celebrate this great event.  Then the sealing takes place a few days later in the temple.
4. The humiliating process for a divorced woman to obtain a Sealing Cancellation.
5. The inability for divorced men to obtain a sealing cancellation.
6. The teaching/doctrine that the prophet can’t lead us astray.  I don’t even know what this is.  It’s not in the scriptures.  Is it a policy?  Is it revelation?  Is it doctrine?  Are they simply the words of a man who was trying his darndest to get rid of polygamy?  Whatever this statement is, I view it as one of the worst and most dangerous elements of our church culture.
7. Interviews with children, alone, behind closed doors, with an untrained older man about masturbation & other sexual matters without the explicit knowledge and consent of the parents.
8. Nondisclosure of Financial dealings.  Our finances were open for members’ scrutiny until the 1950’s.
9. Meddling in politics without presenting the issues for a vote of approval.
10. Keeping secret the policy manuals provided to bishops, stake presidents and seventies.  How can we be expected to approve our own policies if they are hidden from us?  Why is the church governed with secret statutes unavailable to its membership?
11. Keeping secret the ordinance of the Second Anointing and that it is taking place today in our temples.  What is this ordinance?  How does one qualify for it?  Why is it not open to all?  What does this ordinance mean for those receiving it?
12. The use of the wording: Sustain or Oppose.  The words of Christ should be used: Approve or disapprove.

Consider Voting in Disapproval April 1st

1. When the disapproval vote is called for, raise your hand…in your home, in the church or at conference.
2. Send an e-mail to your bishop and stake president informing them of your vote.
3. If so inclined, record your name on the Common Consent Register.  At this moment, 330 members have publicly registered their disapproval.

It’s that simple.

Final Thoughts

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

“If not me, who?  If not now, when?“

Important Resources

• Do We Love Jesus Enough to vote our Disapproval?, click HERE.
• Common Consent Scriptures & Doctrine, and Prophetic Statements, click HERE.
• Common Consent Register—A Record of Those Who Disapprove, click HERE.
• List of who is voting in Disapproval, click HERE.
• Email notifications that can be sent to Bishops and Stake Presidents, click HERE.
• The Only True Hope for The Only True Church, click HERE.
• If I Don’t Dissent…I Consent, click HERE.

*Acknowledgement.  The picture shows three members who voted Disapproval in the November 2015 General Conference.