A Letter to My Friends
I’m continuing to go through some old papers and thought I would publish a couple more to the group that may be of interest.
My friends and associates in my local church were very surprised that I had been excommunicated so I decided to write them a letter. I sent a copy to everyone in the local ward [similar to a parish] which consisted of a couple hundred members.
Here is the letter:
Dear Ward Members,
As you have probably heard I have been excommunicated from the Church.
After this event took place, I thought it would probably be best not to contact the ward members as a whole for I did not want to cause any undue concern among you. I thought it best at this time not to send you out any unorthodox writings. However, now that several weeks have past, I do get the impression that many of you have questions in mind as to what happened to me and it looks as if many are imagining the worst. Frankly, I am amazed that only one person in the ward thus far has approached me in any way as to my beliefs, and that was an emotional effort to set me straight.
Thus, because of many erroneous conceptions, members have I concluded I would write you a brief letter explaining my position and why I was excommunicated.
One of the reasons I was excommunicated was because I believe in the following statement by Brigham Young:
“Perhaps it may make some of you stumble, were I to ask you a question – Does a man being a prophet in this church prove that he shall be president of it? I answer no! A man may be a prophet, seer and revelator, and it may have nothing to do with his being president of it.” [Journal of Discourses (JD), Vol 1, Page 333.]
Also, I believe what he said in another place:
“Is this (the Spirit of prophesy) the privilege of every person? It is.” (JD 3:389
Also I believe the words of Joseph Smith:
“No man is a minister of Jesus Christ without being a prophet.” (History of the Church, Vol 3 Page 389.)
Also I believe in the Word of the Lord in the Doctrine and Covenants (D&C):
“And whatsoever they shall speak when moved upon by the Holy Ghost shall be scripture….” (D&C 68:4)
This scripture does not refer to the General Authorities only, but to all of the Lord’s servants. Open your scriptures and read the whole thing.
Did you realize that only eight pages of the entire New Testament was written by the President of the Church. Mark and Luke who were junior companions in the mission field wrote two of the Gospels. If non general Authorities could write scripture in the past then why could it not happen again?
Because I believe that it can and that it has happened I was excommunicated from the church. Concerning a man who was wrongly excommunicated from the Church in Joseph Smith’s day the Prophet said:
“I did not like the old man being called up for erring in doctrine. It sounds too much like the Methodists and not like the Latter-Day Saints. Methodists have creeds which a man must believe or be asked out of their church. I want the liberty of thinking and believing as I please. It feels so good not to be trammeled. IT DOES NOT PROVE THAT A MAN IS MAN IS NOT A GOOD MAN BECAUSE HE ERRS IN DOCTRINE.” [Documentary History of the Church (DHC) 5:340].
Thus according to Joseph Smith one should not be asked out of the church because he errs in doctrine. Instead, someone should step forward and show me from the scriptures where I am wrong. Just because I believe the scriptures the way they read and accept the answers the Lord gives me to my prayers — is that any reason to ask me out and condemn me to hell as an apostate?
Concerning the scriptures Joseph Fielding Smith said:
“The Standard works judge the teachings of ALL men. It makes no difference what is written or about what anyone has said, if what has been said is in conflict with what the Lord has revealed, WE CAN SET IT ASIDE. My words and the teachings of any other member of the church, high or low, if they do not square with the revelations, we need not accept them. Let us have the matter clear. We have accepted the four standard works as the measuring yardsticks, or balances, by which we measure a man’s doctrine.
“You CANNOT accept the books written by the general Authorities of the Church as standards in doctrine, only as far as they accord with the revealed word in the standard works.
“Every man who writes is responsible, not the church, for what he writes. If Joseph Fielding Smith writes something which is out of harmony with the revelations, then EVERY MEMBER OF THE CHURCH IS DUTY BOUND TO REJECT IT. If he writes that which is in perfect harmony with the revealed word of the Lord, then it should be accepted.” (Doctrines Of Salvation, Vol 3; Page 203)
President Smith said that if we find things that the brethren have said that are not in harmony with the standard works then we are “duty bound” to reject it.
I feel that it is unfair to excommunicate a person for following a prophet’s advice.
Concerning those who present false doctrines the Lord said:
“Call upon them to meet you both in public and in private; and inasmuch as ye are faithful their shame shall be made manifest. Wherefore let them bring forth their strong reasons against the Lord.” (D&C 71:7-8)
If the Brethren feel that I am against the Lord then why not let me bring forth my strong reasons, for if I am wrong the scriptures tell us that they will be able to confound me.
No one has as yet confounded me or given me any scriptural proof that I am wrong and all are terrified at letting me express my views in public as the scriptures command.
To make the record clear I would like to tell all of you that I was found guilty of no sin. I have weaknesses like everyone else, but for none of these was I asked out of the church. I have always supported my leaders in everything they have asked me to do and paid my tithes and offerings and I have tried to live a moral life.
I wish to remain friends with all of you and want only the best feelings between us and I hope you continue to show my wife and children the consideration you have in the past. As of yet my children do not know of my excommunication so please do not mention it around them as it would break their little hearts, but even for them I cannot deny the testimony the Lord has given me just to stay in the church. I feel that to deny the Holy Ghost would bring me under great condemnation.
Sincerely,
Joseph J. Dewey
After reading the letter a reader asks this:
“JJ, did you really WANT to continue being a member of the church at this point? It sounds like you are trying to convince them you were excommunicated wrongly.”
JJ: Outside of the effect on my family I was not concerned about being kicked out. What bothered me most was their hypocrisy in the way that they did it. They kicked me out illegally, and I thought it was the best thing to do in the name of justice to resist and make their injustice as obvious as possible.
One reason for this is many who are unjustly excommunicated fear that they are going to hell and it is very disturbing to them.
Curtis and I are the only ones I know of that fought our excommunication as far as we did and we did so in hopes of creating some change in their procedure. If they had let us back in the church we still would not have gone back. We were ready to move on.
Letter To the Prophet
My Friends,
Today I am posting a letter I wrote to the LDS [Mormon] President shortly after I was excommunicated. I realized I was not going to change his mind and was not interested in returning if he did. I was, however, interested in justice and making the church aware that they were not obeying their own rules.
Here is the letter:
June 1979
Dear President Kimball:
I have recently been tried and excommunicated for apostasy. Basically, the reason I was excommunicated was because I believe that certain things are out of order in the church today and that they should be set right. I find it quite odd that you should excommunicate one such as myself who was living all the laws of the church, yet you nurture and care for those who break such laws and have to beg to get out of the church. Behold, the violent and abusers whose very prayers are an abomination you do administer the sacrament and allow cancers in the body of Christ which doth short circuit the Spirit and cause the body to die and great is the stench thereof.
Why is it that the church of God has less freedom of action than does our nation which has been corrupted since the original constitution. Even so, I can openly teach that the country is out of order all the day long and I can disagree with the President till the moon turns blue, but as long as I obey the laws of the land I can yet remain a good citizen. If I betray my country, I am to be punished for it is a great sin, yet I can disagree all I want and I can teach the principles of the constitution all that I want.
Why can I not teach the principles of the constitution of this church, which is found in the Doctrine and Covenants (D&C) and the other scriptures! Why can I not disagree with the President of the church on doctrine and yet remain a member if I keep all of the commandments? There is certainly no commandment saying that I must blindly accept all the President says without question. Any disagreement I have comes from the witness of the Holy Spirit. Is that not to be considered?
An unrighteous government has to rule with fear. This is what the communist governments do. When someone disagrees with them they cut them off and totally ignore their strong reasonings for this would bring the darkness to light. Why do you follow the example of a government inspired by darkness, for you seem afraid to hear the strong reasonings of those who disagree with you and do all that you can to silence them. In this you are disobeying a commandment for the Lord said:
“Wherefore, confound your enemies; call upon them to meet you both in public and in private; and inasmuch as ye are faithful their shame shall be made manifest. Wherefore, LET THEM BRING THEII STRONG REASONS AGAINST THE LORD. Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you – there is no weapon that is formed against you shall prosper.” (D&C 71:7-9)
If you really believe that I am against the Lord then you are to let me bring forth my strong reasons and if you have the Spirit the scriptures say that my shame will be made manifest.
If I am against the Lord as you believe then why is it that no one can confound me or those who believe as I do??? Why is it that it is the members of the church whose shame is manifest because of a total lack of understanding of the scriptures accompanied by a void of the Holy Spirit?
“He that is built upon a sandy foundation trembleth lest he shall fall.” (2 Nephi 28:28)
It was made obvious recently that your foundation is sandy when my nephew, after numerous attempts finally made an appointment through Mr. Watson to see you. Before he made the 400-mile journey he called to verify it and was told that the appointment was still set. It took money that he needed for groceries to make that journey, but did the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints honor that appointment?
No.
What was more disappointing was that Curtis overheard that a young couple who had an appointment with President Kimball about the same time did not show up so there should have been plenty of time to see him. As Curtis thought that he was going to be escorted into the Presidents office word came back that President Kimball would not see him. In desperation Curtis tried to speak with the secretary, Brother Haycock, but was denied this privilege.
Shades of US President Van Buren — our cause is just, but you can do nothing for us. But at least President Van Buren allowed Joseph Smith into his presence.
Curtis has told many people about this happening and even strong members seem to wonder what you are afraid of. If you are afraid we will rant and rave like fanatics you will find that we are gentlemen and can behave as such. After all, both of us were top missionaries in our missions.
At this time, I would like to formally request a rehearing for the D&C tells us that:
“Should the parties or either of them be dissatisfied with the decision of said council, they may appeal to the high council of the seat of the First Presidency of the Church, AND HAVE A RE-HEARING, which case shall be conducted, ACCORDING TO THE FORMER PATTERN written, as though no such decision had been made.” (D&C 102:27)
Someone close to you has told me that he knew of no such rehearing as this on record. Do you suppose the Lord gave us that scripture just to be ignored? Why do you not give even one rehearing to someone whom you believe has apostatized “according to the former pattern”?
Are you going to give me the usual answer? Are you going to tell me that you have reviewed the minutes and agree with the Stake President’s decision?
If it has to be it has to be, but friends have insisted I will be heard if I appeal so I do so now make such appeal.
I give you my best wishes and I trust that your health is improving.
Sincerely,
Joseph J. Dewey
Posted June 10 & 11, 2009
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