DOCTRINAL ANOMALIES


Like I’ve stated before, I like the Primary organization. I like being there with the kids and watching their actions. I like watching the OCD kids try to keep to themselves, the ADHD kids try to be everybody’s friend or try not to be noticed, and the other kids try to be reverent. There are times though when all of them just get rowdy and the Sisters, God bless their souls, try to control them. It’s like controlling the bubbles of a soda pop after you’ve shaken it and cracked it open.


Anyway, I’ve noticed some things in some of the songs that we sing and I’m wondering where it is that we get this stuff. One of the songs that I worry about is the song called Follow the Prophet. I know that it’s a popular song and it’s meant to channel a child’s mind towards a goal; and that is nice. It starts off with Adam and goes through Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Samuel, Jonah and then Daniel; where the chorus exhorts us to follow them and not go astray.


My mind has always loved things that are sing-songy and some of the lyrics are pretty cool; and once you get it on your brain you can’t control it and it becomes like a mantra. I’ve thought on occasion that maybe the song should have been more about following the Savior instead. Hey, it goes with the rhythm and the beat. Just sing, “Follow the Savior, follow the Savior, follow the Savior he knows the way. Follow the Savior, follow the Savior, follow the Savior, don’t go astray.”
What do you think? Should he be included? As I recall, he even referred to himself as a prophet at times.


My mind also tells me that some of the prophets were not as cool as some of the other ones. In fact some of them didn’t even follow their own advice that they gave to their people. Take David, Solomon and Eli for example. To say the least, they didn’t do what they were supposed to do, and so I’ve taken the opportunity to pen a couple of new verses to the popular song.


Here’s how they go:


David was a Prophet, don’t become like him,
He saw a woman bathing, and they committed sin,
Things got really wild and they conceived a child,
He had her husband killed and now he’ll go to Hell.


Solomon the Prophet had a lot of wives
They would buzz around like bees in a hive.
He had wives a-plenty a thousand wives in all
He chose to worship idols and watch the kingdom fall.


There you have it. Tell me what you think about the new verses.


The reason that I ask for your opinion is because I don’t think that David or Solomon ever did the bad things that they are accused of doing in the scriptures. I think that the stories about them are just teaching examples of what could happen to a person if they didn’t follow the Savior, and the reason that I say that is crystal clear because of what Wilford Woodruff said in the 1890 General Conference.


“The Lord will never permit me or any other man who stands as President of this Church to lead you astray. It is not in the programme. It is not the mind of God. If I were to attempt that, the Lord would remove me out of my place, and so He will any other man who attempts to lead the children of men astray from the oracles of God and from their duty.”


I realize that he said “President” and not Prophet and there is a distinction between the two. I think that the song, when it is sung, refers to his statement of not being led astray. If that were the case we could sing “Adam was a president, first one that we know…..” But if a President is different than Prophet then maybe a Prophet and not a President could be led astray; it could be true.

So, it’s either a dichotomy, or, it never happened. I choose to think that they were never led astray and that it’s just a story about what could happen if they were led astray. That way it would be in harmony with Wilfred Woodruff’s statement, that is, unless he was voicing his opinion and not stating doctrine. I’ve searched the scriptures and I find no other place where it says that the President, or Prophet, either one, can’t lead us astray. What’s wrong with me taking the high road in the discussion and not casting seeds of doubt on the good name of David, Solomon or Eli?


Maybe, just maybe I have discovered a doctrinal anomaly where Prophets can be led astray but not Presidents. You need to research it and get back to me.


Once again, tell me what you think.

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