LDS Church Changes Pres Benson's Talk

For discussion of secret combinations (political, economic, spiritual, religious, etc.) (Ether 8:18-25.)
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investigator
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LDS Church Changes Pres Benson's Talk

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https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/stu ... s?lang=eng

I was doing some research on the great conspiracy and was told that President Benson gave a talk on it in the 1972 April Conference (see link above) as I was told it contained statements against communism. When I searched the text of the talk I found no mention of communism. I then listened to the talk as I followed along with the text. It was then that I discovered that the text of the talk had been completely changed deleting many references to communism and many other very important things and references to books Pres Benson recommended reading. I have copied the relevant portions of the text and underlined the words that were added and put in red the words that were taken out. The part where the significant changes are made starts at 10:12 of the video. I guess he died before they had him redo the video of his talk.. Do you think this is an honest retelling of history?
Another guideline given by the First Presidency was “to support good and conscientious candidates, of either party, who are aware of the great dangers” facing the free world. inherent in communism. The position of this church on the subject of communism has never changed. We consider it the greatest satanical threat to the peace prosperity and spread of God's work among man that exists on the face of the earth. Deseret News, November 2, 1964.)

Fortunately we have materials to help us face these threatening dangers this great threat such as President McKay's booklet of the statements on communism and the constitution of the United States, Cleon Skousen's book The Naked Communist which we are advised to read. in the writings of President David O. McKay and other church leaders. Some other fine sources books by LDS authors attempting to awaken and inform us of our duty are: Prophets, Principles, and National Survival (Jerreld L. Newquist), Many Are Called But Few Are Chosen (H. Verlan Andersen), and The Elders of Israel and the Constitution (Jerome Horowitz).

But the greatest handbook for freedom in this fight against communism and other evils is the Book of Mormon.
This leads me to the second great civic standard for the Saints. For in addition to our inspired Constitution, we have the scriptures.

Joseph Smith said that the Book of Mormon was the “keystone of our religion” and the “most correct” book on earth. (DHC, vol. 6, p. 56.) This most correct book on earth states that the downfall of two great American civilizations came as a result of secret conspiracies whose desire was to overthrow the freedom of the people. “And they have caused the destruction of this people of whom I am now speaking,” says Moroni, “and also the destruction of the people of Nephi.” (Ether 8:21.)

Now undoubtedly Moroni could have pointed out many factors that led to the destruction of the people, but notice how he singled out the secret combinations, just as the Church today could point out many threats to peace, prosperity, and the spread of God’s work, but it has singled out the greatest threat as the godless conspiracy. There is no conspiracy theory in the Book of Mormon—it is a conspiracy fact. And along this line I would highly recommend to you an new book entitled None Dare Call it Conspiracy by Gary Allen.
Then Moroni speaks to us in this day and says, “Wherefore, the Lord commandeth you, when ye shall see these things come among you that ye shall awake to a sense of your awful situation, because of this secret combination which shall be among you. …” (Ether 8:24.)

The Book of Mormon further warns that “whatsoever nation shall uphold such secret combinations, to get power and gain, until they shall spread over the nation, behold they shall be destroyed. …” (Ether 8:22.) [By the way, after the word destroyed you hear a clap of thunder on the video audio]

This scripture should alert us to what is ahead unless we repent, because there is no question but that our Nation is increasingly upholding the communist conspiracy today. as people of the free world, we are increasingly upholding many of the evils of the adversary today. By court edict godless conspirators communists can run for government office, teach in our schools, hold office in labor unions, work in our defense plants, serve in our merchant marines, etcand so forth. As a nation, we are helping it would seem to underwrite communist many evil revolutionaries in our country.
Now we are assured that the Church will remain on the earth until the Lord comes again—but at what price? The Saints in the early days were assured that Zion would be established in Jackson County, but look at what their unfaithfulness cost them in bloodshed and delay.

President Clark warned us that “we stand in danger of losing our liberties, and that once lost, only blood will bring them back; and once lost, we of this church will, in order to keep the Church going forward, have more sacrifices to make and more persecutions to endure than we have yet known. …” (CR, April 1944, p. 116.) And he stated that if the conspiracy communism“comes here it will probably come in its full vigor and there will be a lot of vacant places among those who guide and direct, not only this government, but also this Church of ours.” (CR, April 1952.)

EmmaLee
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Re: LDS Church Changes Pres Benson's Talk

Post by EmmaLee »

investigator wrote: January 18th, 2023, 3:08 pm https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/stu ... s?lang=eng

I was doing some research on the great conspiracy and was told that President Benson gave a talk on it in the 1972 April Conference (see link above) as I was told it contained statements against communism. When I searched the text of the talk I found no mention of communism. I then listened to the talk as I followed along with the text. It was then that I discovered that the text of the talk had been completely changed deleting many references to communism and many other very important things and references to books Pres Benson recommended reading.

What a very.... communist/Soviet thing for the Church to do. Irony and all that.

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BigT
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Re: LDS Church Changes Pres Benson's Talk

Post by BigT »

Excellent work! Thanks for posting this.

Trucker
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Re: LDS Church Changes Pres Benson's Talk

Post by Trucker »

It's very disturbing. We (the restored church) are just doing the same things the Catholic Church and other powerful organizations have done. We are no better.

I think these changes are to:
1. Soften the "extremism" of Pres. Benson
2. Leave it open to "repurpose" the talk to target modern "bad" people, who are racist Trump-supporting insurgents.

If you didn't know who he was originally talking about, you might wonder who these people are that are a threat to the free world, and who conspire to get power and gain. If you believe the media, WEF, and the UN, that's right-wingers.

sushi_chef
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Re: LDS Church Changes Pres Benson's Talk

Post by sushi_chef »

sushi_ thought had seen words 'evil empire' in 1979 october general conference president benson's talk ... that was around 1979 in ensign church magazine .. in subtitle?! ..

but looks like it doesn't ...
" .. Since that day, I have seen the Soviet Union, under its godless leaders, spread its ideology throughout the world. Every stratagem is used—trade, war, revolution, violence, hate, detente, and immorality—to accomplish its purposes. Many nations are now under its oppressive control. Over one billion people—one-fourth of the population of the world—have now lost their freedom and are under Communist domination. We seem to forget that the great objective of Communism is still world domination and control, which means the surrender of our freedom—your freedom—our sovereignty.

On 3 July 1936, the First Presidency published this warning to Church members:

“Communism is not a political party nor a political plan under the Constitution; it is a system of government that is the opposite of our Constitutional government. …
"
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/stu ... g?lang=eng

recalls sushi_ language version of liahona church magazine( then called seito-no-michi) for that conference did not print his talk at all ..
and asked about it to the church office branch worker here and he said it's too political ..

but if so, then perhaps president Ronald Reagan borrowed it ..

"The "Evil Empire" speech was a speech delivered by U.S. President Ronald Reagan to the National Association of Evangelicals on March 8, 1983 during the Cold War. In that speech, Reagan referred to the Soviet Union as an "evil empire" and as "the focus of evil in the modern world". Reagan explicitly rejected the notion that the United States and the Soviet Union were equally responsible for the Cold War and the ongoing nuclear arms race between the two nations; rather, he asserted that the conflict was a battle between good and evil.
" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evil_Empire_speech
"president benson" evil empire
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=%22president+ ... =h_&ia=web
:arrow:

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marc
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Re: LDS Church Changes Pres Benson's Talk

Post by marc »

Great catch! I've shared it on Facebook. I wonder what other of his talks have been altered.

endlessQuestions
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Re: LDS Church Changes Pres Benson's Talk

Post by endlessQuestions »

Now, how were Beverly Campbell (our "thirteenth apostle") and Russell M. Nelson supposed to get us access to those countries if we were bad-mouthing their godless form of government?

Clearly, there was "no other way" than to neuter talks that used "wrong speech".

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Fred
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Re: LDS Church Changes Pres Benson's Talk

Post by Fred »

Wow! I can't even count the times I was told that socialism/communism was of the devil, when I was growing up.

This is worse that telling people it is normal to be queer.

It proves that the Q15 souls are so very dark, that they have endorsed satanism. They have truly acknowledged that they believe that Lucifer had the better plan.

It appears that when they dropped the name "Mormon" they should have also dropped the name of Jesus Christ.

Certainly, they would be lying pricks, if they claim to be teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ.

blitzinstripes
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Re: LDS Church Changes Pres Benson's Talk

Post by blitzinstripes »

So, I guess we can take that whole premise of "things said over the pulpit in general conference are DOCTRINE"....thing and CHUCK IT.

Yet we spend such exorbitant amounts of time in this church rehashing conference talks during quorum meetings.

Makes you wonder, though. Who exactly IS pulling the Q15's strings behind the curtain? Who would be so offended by a condemnation of Communist ideology? Klaus Schwab?

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crabman
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Re: LDS Church Changes Pres Benson's Talk

Post by crabman »

How soon before we have a new version of the Book of Mormon that edits out references to secret combinations and other evils in an effort to avoid offending people? Just unbelievable. It's full on ministry of truth stuff going on.
Last edited by crabman on January 18th, 2023, 4:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Reluctant Watchman
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Re: LDS Church Changes Pres Benson's Talk

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blitzinstripes wrote: January 18th, 2023, 4:31 pm So, I guess we can take that whole premise of "things said over the pulpit in general conference are DOCTRINE"....thing and CHUCK IT.

Yet we spend such exorbitant amounts of time in this church rehashing conference talks during quorum meetings.

Makes you wonder, though. Who exactly IS pulling the Q15's strings behind the curtain? Who would be so offended by a condemnation of Communist ideology? Klaus Schwab?
No, you just need to follow the "living prophet." Unfortunately, this same man made that phrase a household name.

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Sarah
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Re: LDS Church Changes Pres Benson's Talk

Post by Sarah »

President Benson is right....but, he could have worded his talks in a way to warn against the principles of tyranny or any government system that seeks to take away property rights and has no balance of power in government. What the saints experimented with in the early days, trying to live the laws of consecration and stewardship, some saints labeled communism, such as one man who told about his experience in Orderville that only lasted seven years. China is openly Marxist, but Russia and their their authoritarian friends like to pretend they are not "communist." Does it matter what the system of government is called? Obviously Satan, knowing how the true Order worked, inspired Marx style communism as a counterfeit.

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Fred
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Re: LDS Church Changes Pres Benson's Talk

Post by Fred »

crabman wrote: January 18th, 2023, 4:37 pm How soon before we have a new version of the Book of Mormon that edits out references to secret combinations and other evils in an effort to avoid offending people? Just unbelievable. It's full on ministry of truth stuff going on.
We already have a new and approved by WEF version of the BoM. They changed white and delightsome.

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Niemand
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Re: LDS Church Changes Pres Benson's Talk

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Image

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Fred
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Re: LDS Church Changes Pres Benson's Talk

Post by Fred »

Sarah wrote: January 18th, 2023, 4:50 pm President Benson is right....but, he could have worded his talks in a way to warn against the principles of tyranny or any government system that seeks to take away property rights and has no balance of power in government. What the saints experimented with in the early days, trying to live the laws of consecration and stewardship, some saints labeled communism, such as one man who told about his experience in Orderville that only lasted seven years. China is openly Marxist, but Russia and their their authoritarian friends like to pretend they are not "communist." Does it matter what the system of government is called? Obviously Satan, knowing how the true Order worked, inspired Marx style communism as a counterfeit.
Yeah. The prophet was speaking for God. Being a prophet. So the fake profits changed the words to disregard political beliefs. Because political beliefs are what determines what a person does in every other regard.

Juliet
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Re: LDS Church Changes Pres Benson's Talk

Post by Juliet »

I remember hearing stuff in conference that was not included in the written publication of the talks.

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Niemand
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Re: LDS Church Changes Pres Benson's Talk

Post by Niemand »

Fred wrote: January 18th, 2023, 5:02 pm Yeah. The prophet was speaking for God. Being a prophet. So the fake profits changed the words to disregard political beliefs. Because political beliefs are what determines what a person does in every other regard.
They also changed it to omit references to one of the few ideologies which is openly anti-Christian.
Juliet wrote: January 18th, 2023, 5:03 pm I remember hearing stuff in conference that was not included in the written publication of the talks.
A frequent occurence. This is why we need independent recordings.

Niyr
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Re: LDS Church Changes Pres Benson's Talk

Post by Niyr »

Was it altered right after the conference when the Ensign was sent out in July 1972? Anyone have a copy?

EDIT: Yes, it seems to have been edited when that year's Ensign was mailed out.
Last edited by Niyr on January 18th, 2023, 5:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Reluctant Watchman
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Re: LDS Church Changes Pres Benson's Talk

Post by Reluctant Watchman »

The church also took out the SEO searchable text of Joseph Smith drinking beer from the Joseph Smith Papers project.

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Niemand
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Re: LDS Church Changes Pres Benson's Talk

Post by Niemand »

Reluctant Watchman wrote: January 18th, 2023, 5:16 pm The church also took out the SEO searchable text of Joseph Smith drinking beer from the Joseph Smith Papers project.
Also a Communist parallel. Despite Commie countries idolising Marx and Engels, and producing whole libraries of their writings, some stuff was off limits because Marx's own words contradicted their policies.

Mamabear
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Re: LDS Church Changes Pres Benson's Talk

Post by Mamabear »

The church is communist.
Can’t question or speak negatively about the leaders, they make money off the people, they tell you what to do, etc.

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FrankOne
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Re: LDS Church Changes Pres Benson's Talk

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Reluctant Watchman wrote: January 18th, 2023, 5:16 pm The church also took out the SEO searchable text of Joseph Smith drinking beer from the Joseph Smith Papers project.
are you saying that the Q15 et al have been engaging in cover-ups, manipulation of doctrine and the creation of propaganda in a concerted effort to mislead the church membership? For what purpose? Are you saying that they are purposefully leading the church to go under the skirt of the great whore as described in Revelation? Fornication? C'mon Man! That's absurd.

^sarc

edit to add: If JS comes back, I hope to tip one or two with him and discuss all this nonsense.

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FrankOne
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Re: LDS Church Changes Pres Benson's Talk

Post by FrankOne »

like the hoffman history. the church purchased many of his forgeries and accepted them as authentic. The outcome of all that was a complete scandal that was painted black and hidden from the public. Church leaders have been very proficient at lying and deceiving for a very long time. No doubt, to protect the testimonies of the members. Great justification btw. They've admitted this justification a few times in history.

it's all going to crack to pieces and every man will have to stand on his own. Alone. Completely alone.
Then comes the gathering from all religions, creeds, and colors. One man at a time. They will walk as guided by the spirit within....toward Christ. (just my overzealous opinion)

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Fred
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Re: LDS Church Changes Pres Benson's Talk

Post by Fred »

Mamabear wrote: January 18th, 2023, 5:50 pm The church is communist.
Can’t question or speak negatively about the leaders, they make money off the people, they tell you what to do, etc.
Well the root of communist is commune. As in the collective. Community property. Like people that live in communes are communists. Sad part is that the leadership of such "communes" are far above the collective. Hillary thinks it takes a village. I suppose it would if the children belong to the state instead of the parents.

The major defect is the abolishment of individualism. Individualism infers freedom. The collective or commune infers confinement. Satan is the liberty taker. Jesus and god prefer freedom.

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Re: LDS Church Changes Pres Benson's Talk

Post by TheDuke »

given many of the comments on communism, I'm wondering how few on FF know what communism is? Communism in its intended form taught years ago, isn't a totalitarian, oligarch runs social system! Russia has no communes. China has communal concepts for the poor and rural but no one else. Both of these countries are totalitarian regimes. China is run by the CCCP or communist party. Russia is run by the powerful oligarchs. Even in Benson's talks there are two things. Communist ideology and totalitarian regimes that take away freedom. Seems here people think any evil dictator or even warlord is some how tied to the communist ideology?

The issue today, isn't communism, it is socialism. Socialism allows corporations both private and state owned and provide social programs in return for continued power. This isn't what Marx, Lenin and Mao preached but more what the implemented.

Again, I don't see a single reference to any communal social order as being from Christ, no matter what social programs Joseph tried (and failed) to implement. Anyone so far that has claimed otherwise has no evidence to stand on. With that said, what Lenin tried (initially) and JS are pretty darn close, despite laundered LDS writing on the United Order (United Firm at the time).

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