You can easily see this in the temple ceremony...church meetings...etc. The ceremony has certainly been watered down since I first went.. (think of this...in the 1840's the endowment lasted 12 hours!!), excommunications don't happen nearly as often...church participation is done by a smaller and smaller group in the ward.. There are many more divorces...etc.....and an interesting twist that I learned about is that there are a large number of people from the ward that I go to that go to another church now...almost unheard of even a few years ago.

I'm sure this is troubling to the older members who were in it when it was a far more isolative and protected meme.

Will the church reach 200 million someday...perhaps...but not without another half a billion in growth of the earth population, and not without a large percentage of them being members on paper only...having little cognition of the belief system. 10/06/1999 - Tom

Regarding temples "dotting the face of the land." We have all witnessed the great move to the mainstream which the church has undergone in the last ten years. I suspect that in ten more you wont be able to tell a mormon from a Presbreterian!

But the temple has always stood out in public as some secretive, spooky thing. (Which it is.) However, with the addtion of 100 mini Mctemples, Hinckley can effectively "normalize" their place in american culture. "Oh, that... its just the local temple...every town has one.!" As people see them more and more, they will just accept them... like a rotary club, or Moose Lodge!

Its a part of the mainstreaming of mormon culture. And, with the new Temple Lite service, with lighter no doubt to come, it just may be that regular old thinking joes may be more easily duped into entering those sacred doors.

Bow your heads and say "yes." - 10/02/1999 - Gary

When will the True church start telling the Truth? 07/24/1999 - anon

When will Boyd Packer grow up? 07/24/1999 - anon

07/08/1999 - DHedley

I believe there are two possible futures. The most likely is that church expansion will simply stall. The Hinckster, a master communicator whose messages have have been central to public perceptions both inside and outside the church, can't live forever. Hinckley has tapped into a number of attractive social and political themes to push forward church growth these last few decades. His momentum took advantage of the respectability that came with having a minister of agriculture as the prophet, Ezra Benson. With Hinckley's eventual death, and as societies evolve, the concept of finding personal peace through corporate conformity and collective obedience to a higher authority, will simply lose its mass appeal. Mormonism has had its heyday. Some commentators have said that if this century was characterized by the 'search of outer space,' the next century will be a time where people 'search their inner space.' Mormonism doesn't have much to offer folks who believe that the search for God is a personal quest -- and if the so-called 'breakdown' of society proves anything, it's that broad solutions don't work any more.

My second scenario is that the church doctrine will become so watered down, Mormonism will become more of a lifestyle movement than a church patterned after Christ. The myths of Joseph Smith's restoration are so far removed from mainstream Christian thought, that Mormon theology will never be widely embraced in a Jewish-Christian society. But there's a strong business imperative among church leadership -- growth in membership is seen as essential. I believe the church's emphasis will shift away from its troubling historic roots. Despite all the advertising to the contrary, the real driver of Mormon life is not a relationship with Christ, it's being able to say yes to the questions in the temple recommend interview. The exclusive, supposedly empowering experience of attending the temple will define Mormon life well into the future. Look at how many temples are under consruction today.

The church faces some tough battles ahead, battles beyond its ability to control: free speech, continuing embarrassment in court, media scrutiny, broadening intellectual exposure, shifting public tastes. 25 years from now, I predict the Mormon church will be regarded as a controlling, grotty, strange little organization -- the way it was perceived in the 1940s and 50s.

04/26/1999 - Kim

I was walking along out in Adams homeland (the place now know as Missouri) and I happened to stumble (quite literally) a box protruding from the earth. We have been blessed with some wholesome precipitation witch brought forth this marvelous relic. It is the Platinum plates of Previous Precious Profits. The inscriptions upon the plates were never before seen to me.

Being one of little knowledge, I traveled to a place of great wealth and knowledge (Namely Walmart) and procured an sacred object to aid in my translation of said plates. The object was round, yellow, and had a long string attached to it. It was revealed to me that this object is the Mithum (even though it is known to modern heretics as a Yo yo). However, to truly translate the plates with accuracy, a Rumum needed to be obtained. The wonderful spirit of enlightenment lead me to the nurishment section, wherein I was prompted to procure a rectangular box with an angel wearing clothes unlike any I have ever worn on the front. Inside this wonderful container of nutrients, I came upon the blessed Rumum. This Rumum was like unto what the unblessed would term a "Secret Decoder Ring"

Having been blessed with these precious relics, I did, therefore commense to translate these plates. It was revealed to me that the inscriptions on these precious plates were of Reformed Pig-Latin. Working diligently throughout the nights and days following the discovery of the said plates, I translated the first portion. Unfortunately, I allowed my former aid to take the translations completed out of my study. They were then lost. Because of this carelessness, it has been deemed that we are not prepared for the information in that portion. (So as no one can try to use the information to doubt my word)

It has been revealed to me that Adam was not a true person at all. He was in fact what we now have decided to name a T-Rex. He did in fact have multiple wives (who in turn have multiple husbands) and often engaged in such practices that are similar to those now in practice at the white house with Interns. I have also found that William Jefferson Clinton has also been inspired of the same information.

According to the plates only those who practice all forms of fornication, drink all types of alcoholic beverages, and smoke (at least once) some form of tobacco can be saved. Salvation also requires monetary commitment (9% of your income). However, with your down payment on salvation (a low one time $24.99), you can recieve a free set of Ginsu steak knives--also part of the holy relic.

It has also been revealed to me that the second coming will occur at the true Garden of Eden which is now known as glorious and wealthy Manhattan.

Blessed be...

Translations of the Precious Platinum Plates of Previous Profits can be obtained through any followers of the one True Church, The Church of Much Money