Question: It is disturbing to see several prominent figures in the church being persecuted by vocal LDS and anti-LDS individuals and outlets that slander and accuse them of the murderous acts of prophet-pretenders when nothing in their persons or publications contains the slightest motivation for acting out such bizarre behaviors. How do you explain people getting so riled up against these humble servants of God? Is that where much of the latter-day persecution Jesus prophesied is going to come from—from within the church as well as from outside the church?
Answer: It is a timeless truth that people who accuse and persecute others, inside or outside the church, are on the wrong side of history and of the fulfillment of prophecy. They follow Satan, “the accuser of our brethren” (Revelation 12:10). Of them, Isaiah says, “All who watch for iniquity shall be cut off—those who at a word judge a man to be guilty” (Isaiah 29:20–21). In a word, it is typically the most devoted followers of Jesus who are persecuted by those who falsely judge them, while the humble among them never “return railing for railing” (3 Nephi 6:13).
When Moses heard that persons besides him were prophesying in the camp of Israel, wasn’t his response, “Enviest thou for my sake? Would to God all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his spirit upon them!” (Numbers 11:29)? And didn’t Jesus say, “Blessed are you, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven. For so persecuted they the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:11–12). History shows that only seldom were establishment prophets stoned and persecuted but rather lone and vulnerable ones.
On a parallel with a political wokism spreading through the nation, the spiritual wokeism that is infiltrating the church shows no interest in facts or the truth of God but relies on its own liberal narrative fueled by unbridled emotion that is deemed sufficient to validate its cause. Without any depth of scriptural understanding against which to measure the merits of a publication, or without the slightest inclination to vet its author, these persecutors are happy to throw any and all under the bus. Their growing numbers will always seek out scapegoats for their own sins as they deviate from the ways of God and yield to the “enemy of all righteousness” (Acts 13:10).
Those who “think they do God a service” by slandering the humble followers of Christ (John 16:2) seem unaware that prophet-pretenders have existed in every age. Whether those persons’ responses to truths or falsehoods are what led them into “forbidden paths” (1 Nephi 8:28) is immaterial. Those who blame others for that happening are typically guilty of what they accuse them of. While not doing God a service, they may indeed be doing their victims a service by providing the very opposition that purifies, sanctifies, and thus ultimately empowers them.
