Recording of Warren Jeffs denying his status as a prophet

[Joel]

[Elizabeth]

So sad

[brianj]

Yet many of his followers believe the "confession" was disingenuous or coerced.

[brlenox]

BUT...was he speaking as a prophet?

[Joel]

Maybe not, some people think they can channel the Galactic Council like this woman and not be a prophet

[LDS Physician]

Being a physician, I find his behavior very typical of bipolar patients with psychosis...I can't give him a diagnosis, of course, from a 4 minute video but it smacks of that.

He seems to be admitting with remorse that he isn't a prophet and never was. With the next breath he says that the Lord is dictating to him what to say next...which to me is another way of saying he is a prophet.

So...ya. Sad, but not surprising.

[paulrobots]

http://m.imdb.com/title/tt0032281/

The 1940 movie, Brigham Young, is fairly positive towards Mormons. It portrays the trek west as an epic accomplishment (which it was). There is a scene where the Mormons are starving and Brigham prays and apologizes for ever claiming to be a prophet. Then the seagulls show up and save the day, and Brigham's reputation.

Anyway, good movie if you like old movies. Fun fact, Joseph Smith is played (poorly) by Vincent Price. He portrayed him as lethargic and lugubrious. Maybe they wanted to play Joseph down so Brigham would look better.

[Finrock]

Being a physician, I find his behavior very typical of bipolar patients with psychosis...I can't give him a diagnosis, of course, from a 4 minute video but it smacks of that.

He seems to be admitting with remorse that he isn't a prophet and never was. With the next breath he says that the Lord is dictating to him what to say next...which to me is another way of saying he is a prophet.

So...ya. Sad, but not surprising.

Perhaps he understands his audience and knows that they view him as a prophet. He is accommodating their paradigm and attempting to work within their frame-of-reference. By receiving one "last" revelation and dictating it, he is telling his followers that God is telling them that he isn't a prophet and that this is the last revelation they will receive. If this is a revelation and scripture, then his followers must accept it and believe it or they are rejecting scripture. Yes, it is paradoxical, but, given the potential state of mind of those who are following him, this might have been the only way that they would accept and listen to him when he denounces that he is a prophet.

Or, maybe I'm wrong and he is suffering with psychosis or something else is going on.

-Finrock

[brianj]

Being a physician, I find his behavior very typical of bipolar patients with psychosis...I can't give him a diagnosis, of course, from a 4 minute video but it smacks of that.

He seems to be admitting with remorse that he isn't a prophet and never was. With the next breath he says that the Lord is dictating to him what to say next...which to me is another way of saying he is a prophet.

So...ya. Sad, but not surprising.

Perhaps he understands his audience and knows that they view him as a prophet. He is accommodating their paradigm and attempting to work within their frame-of-reference. By receiving one "last" revelation and dictating it, he is telling his followers that God is telling them that he isn't a prophet and that this is the last revelation they will receive. If this is a revelation and scripture, then his followers must accept it and believe it or they are rejecting scripture. Yes, it is paradoxical, but, given the potential state of mind of those who are following him, this might have been the only way that they would accept and listen to him when he denounces that he is a prophet.

Or, maybe I'm wrong and he is suffering with psychosis or something else is going on.

-Finrock

Interesting hypothesis, but psychosis wouldn't prevent him from composing and delivering such a statement. It might even help him do so.

I suspect this is one more way for Jeffs to continue exercising control over the group. I understand that other polygamist groups are organized with the idea of the woman choosing a husband, but Jeffs controlled his group to the point where he made all the decisions on who marries whom.

[brlenox]

I just wanted to bump the JWHARTON post off of the front page...bye bye...

[Rumpelstiltskin]

Being a physician, I find his behavior very typical of bipolar patients with psychosis...I can't give him a diagnosis, of course, from a 4 minute video but it smacks of that.

He seems to be admitting with remorse that he isn't a prophet and never was. With the next breath he says that the Lord is dictating to him what to say next...which to me is another way of saying he is a prophet.

So...ya. Sad, but not surprising.

How about being dumb in public, stupid out of season, and idiot in a no idits zone? He needs to admit he's a sexual deviant and predator, and get it over with.