Expansionist Russell M Nelson may be the root of the end of the church

Historically speaking, megalomaniac leaders, obsessed with their own legacy, do not leave their empires in the most sustainable places, particularly if it expands past sustainability. Bear with me here.

Highly expansionist empires fall when the advantage of being within the empire start to decline significantly. We’ve already seen that start to happen for the church, particularly in regions outside the United States, but also within.

To really understand this, we have to accept that the church is both a politico and religious power, as well as a commercial power. We can also assess what it is not. It is not an enforcement entity, it has no military component, and it cannot call upon a military component. Basically, it is has a legal influence (through influence within the Utah and American governments particularly) but its influence is particularly limited to just that - influencing. It can rarely take direct action.

When you compare this to empires that had all powers and still fell, it becomes apparent that the church is at an increased risk of falling through classic empire degeneration models, only more so.

I think we can all accept that the church is past its golden age. We’re already seeing that even cultural interest in the church is already waning and has been exacerbated by church leaders (particularly Russell M Nelson) removing the more attractive cultural elements - roadshows, an acceptable alternative to scouting, and other culturally cohesive activities. The imbalance of the advantages of being in the church versus being out of the church are becoming increasingly apparent, particularly to younger generations.

Russell M Nelson is building temples and expanding the geographic footprint to cover the fact that the core is rotting - the leaders are increasingly corrupt, there is a patronage model within the church members that gives them advantages in business dealings (think donating land for temples just to build around it and sell the upgraded land to realtors and builders), and Russell M Nelson is advancing his own interests and glory without sufficiently advancing the interests of the every day church member.

Temples will prove the undoing of the LDS church. It is starting in Cody, Wyoming, where the people have publicly identified the church as a business, and more particularly - a corporation. The church is hitting it hard because of the legal precedent of losing - they can’t afford this to keep happening.

But let’s say the church wins and Cody is silenced (a likely outcome.) That doesn’t change the reality that periodic rebellions are indicative of imperial weakness. And of all the oddities of the LDS church, the temples are a paradoxical problem for a church trying to expand its Christian image. There is no place in modern - increasingly nondenominational - Christianity for the most unique of Mormon staples - the temple, baptisms for the dead, sealings, new names, and initiatories. Temple building expansion is paralleled by a general rise in knowledge of what is in the temples; disturbing elements that are not in keeping with an increasingly spiritual (versus religious ceremony) nature of Christianity.

As these oddities verge further and further away from the mainstream perspective, the prestige and influence that the church possesses will reduce due to the embarrassment of association.

Add this to the fact that the church has ceased to live by (if they ever did) their Christian roots (debatable point if they have Christian roots), have ceased to produce goods that are genuinely helpful to the congregation, have leaders holding on to positions when they have ceased to merit the positions, have become more interested in luxury and glory than the people, and that the disparity of need from the church for tithing versus the need for the people to keep their own tithing has become increasingly apparent….

These are all hallmark factors for the falls of empires much bigger than the Mormon church. Russell M Nelson is exacerbating the problem because his interest is in his own glory more than the sustainable development of his empire

Edit for typos