Mormon President Thomas S. Monson, his two right-hand men and 12 apostles will take to the podium at this weekend’s (April 2-3) General Conference and offer sermons that many Mormons will treat like faxes from God.

Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints consider these 15 men “prophets, seers and revelators” and look to them for divine guidance on issues as profound as the role of the Holy Spirit and as seemingly trivial as using “thee” and “thy” in prayers.

Mormons don’t use the term “infallibility” to refer to their leaders and readily acknowledge that they are imperfect men. In practice, though, Mormon belief comes awfully close to that standard.

“We pay lip service to the prophet’s fallibility,” said Edward Kimball, son of late church President Spencer W. Kimball. “But when you come down to specifics, we can’t think of any incidents where a prophet was wrong.”

It’s a conundrum for the ever-growing Utah-based church. Founder Joseph Smith took the title “prophet” and claimed divine messages, but also urged members to think for themselves and to ask God directly about the truth of various pronouncements.

One of Smith’s most radical concepts was “continuing revelation,” the notion that the scriptural canon did not end with the Bible and that well-established beliefs could be altered—even overturned—by new messages from heaven to the leaders in charge.

So much authority is ascribed to the Mormon president, though, that quasi-prophet worship by the far-flung members of the 14 million-member faith seems unavoidable.

After all, Mormon children are taught to sing “Follow the Prophet” and are assured that he never will lead the church astray.

The adherence to authority can create tensions for faithful Mormons who opposed the church’s support of Proposition 8 that banned same-sex marriage in California, or those who now object to the church’s support of a compassionate approach to illegal immigrants.

How, then, should Mormons view their leaders? What happens when they slip? And when, if ever, is it OK to disagree with them?
Smith knew his limitations and said a church president spoke for God only when he was “acting as a prophet.” But few Mormons then or now could separate the man from the office. Instead, many have elevated his stature into an impossible realm.

Members say Smith was “just a normal man with failings and weaknesses who was called to do extraordinary things,” said John Fowles, a Mormon lawyer in London, “but then many are very uncomfortable with even the very mild report of some of his weaknesses and failings.”

Their faith is sometimes shaken, Fowles said, and it’s all because of “unrealistic and unnecessary expectations.”

Read More: http://www.ethicsdaily.com/for-mormons-what-does-follow-the-prophet-really-mean-cms-17682