John Dehlin’s Excommunication

John Dehlin has apparently been excommunicated.  The letter from his Stake President is here:

http://www.deseretnews.com/media/pdf/1484938.pdf

A couple of observations.

First, one of the three reasons for his excommunication in the letter from his Stake President are his “statements that the Book of Mormon and the Book of Abraham are fraudulent and works of fiction.”

Second, I don’t want anyone to be excommunicated from the Church; it’s traumatic for everyone.  But in my opinion, John Dehlin is clearly a public apostate (http://www.patheos.com/blogs/enigmaticmirror/2014/06/11/dehlin-church-court/).  He is a predatory disbeliever (http://www.patheos.com/blogs/enigmaticmirror/2014/06/21/predatory-disbelief/), who has caused hundreds to leave the Church.   Unless one believes no one should never be excommunication for any reason (which Dehlin and his supporters clearly maintain), his excommunication is justified.

Third, the Stake President listed three reasons for Dehlin’s excommunication; none of them was about gays or women and the priesthood as Dehlin has been claiming.

I hope Dehlin will repent and return to the Lord and the Church.  I’m sure he hope the Church will repent as well.  So be it.