MORMON CHURCH

The judicial system of the Mormon Church is described in detail in its General Handbook of Instruction

at pages 51-64. Situations when a Church Court may be

convened include:

"1. Open opposition to and deliberate violation of the rules and regulations of the Church (including

associating with apostate cults or advocating their

doctrines)."

The decisions a court can reach are to: take no action; probation, disfellowship, or excommunication.

Disfellowship means that the person loses certain rights

to speak or pray publicly or vote in church affairs, though

he can still attend public meetings and is expected to, in order to get himself back into good standing. A person who

is excommunicated is no longer a member.

"He is not entitled to speak or offer a public

prayer, partake of the sacrament, sustain or vote

against Church officers, participate in any way if in attendance at priesthood meetings, hold a temple

recommend, hold any office in the Church, or attend

any meeting of Church officers. Excommunicated

persons may, however, attend meetings in the consolidated meeting schedule, and public conference

sessions, if their conduct is orderly, but they may not

take any active part in such meetings.

An excommunicated person should be encouraged to repent and live the gospel standards to prepare himself for

baptism. In cases of murder or transsexual operations,

either received or performed, however, no readmission to

the Church is possible."

A person who has been disfellowshipped or

excommunicated can be reinstated. However, if a

person was disfellowshipped for "advocating or

teaching the doctrines of apostate sects that practice

plural marriage, or affiliating with such groups", written approval is needed from the First

Presidency (the highest ecclesiastical quorum in the

Church) before the person can be reinstated.

To be reinstated after excommunication:

if . .. requires intense repentance, a life of

worthiness since the excommunication, and the

passage of sufficient time to demonstrate that a permanent change has taken place."

The person must apply to the Church Court again for

reinstatement and this court can recommend his

baptism unless the person's "excommunication was for

one of the following reasons:

1. Advocating or teaching the doctrines of

apostate sects that practice plural marriage, or

affiliating with such groups."

In such cases the person must submit an Application for Readmission into the Church to

the Office of the First Presidency who will only

grant readmission after the person has been

interviewed and found to be repentant and worthy.

In general, the

"children of persons excommunicated for practicing

so-called plural marriage may not be baptized until

they have enough understanding of the gospel to ask for baptism. They must accept the teachings and

doctrines of the Church and repudiate the

doctrinal teachings of their parents that caused

their parents' excommunication."

The most sacred ordinances of the Mormon faith are

conducted only in their temples and no one is admitted to the

temple without a Temple Recommend. Temple Recommends

are issued only after the person has been interviewed by his bishop and found to be "worthy":

"Bishops must take exceptional care in issuing

recommends to members whose parents belong to or sympathize with apostate groups. Such members must

demonstrate clearly that they are free of any influence

from their parents' religious ideas.

They must accept the teachings and doctrines of the Church and repudiate the doctrinal teachings of their

parents that caused their parents' excommunication."

The Mormon Church has also practiced censorship with

regard to scholars who dissent against or challenge official doctrine or history. According to an article in the New

York Times Magazine of January 12, 1986:

“… in the early 1980's ... Mormon elders ordered

the closing of certain church archives to scholars they regarded as unfriendly to the church. They also

disbanded a team of professional historians that Ezra

Benson, then an apostle, had condemned for attempting

'to inordinately humanize the prophets of God so that their human frailties become more evident than their

spiritual qualities.'

Davis Bitton, a history professor at the University of Utah

and a member of the church historical team that was dissolved in 1982, said members had been allowed

considerable freedom early in the group's 10-year

existence. But as time passed, they were progressively

denied access to certain documents and church

authorities increasingly pressured them not to publish work on topics such as polygamy that might

embarrass the modern church. They were also forced to

'sanitize' reports that might show early church leaders

or the official doctrine in a dim light.

Stanley R. Larson, a New Testament scholar who lives in a Salt Lake City suburb, says he was forced from his job in the

church's translations department this fall after writing a

paper that concluded that the text of a speech attributed to

Jesus in the Book of Mormon had probably been copied from King James version of the Bible."