Joseph Fielding Smith said it the best.
"I say most emphatically, you cannot believe in this theory [of evolution] of the origin of man, and at the same time accept the plan of salvation as set forth by the Lord our God.
You must choose the one and reject the other, for they are in direct conflict and there is a gulf separating them which is so great that it cannot be bridged, no matter how much one may try to do so.... Then Adam, and by that I mean the first man, was not capable of sin. He could not transgress, and by doing so bring death into the world; for, according to this theory [of evolution], death had always been in the world.
If, therefore, there was no fall, there was no need of an atonement, hence the coming into the world of the Son of God as the Savior of the world is a contradiction, a thing impossible. Are you prepared to believe such a thing as that?"
--Joseph Fielding Smith Doctrines of Salvation, v. 1, pp. 141‑42
He makes it pretty clear where the church stands on Evolution. According to him, they "are in direct conflict" with each other.
On the other hand, maybe he was merely "speaking as a man" when he made that statement. And maybe that's how faithful, evolution acknowledging, members of the church can reconcile their faith with verifiable fossils and hard science.
But then that means those same faithful saints must acknowledge it is ok to "cherry pick" which sermons and teachings from the Lords anointed servants they choose to accept and which ones they are free to discard.
Who knows, maybe someday science will determine precisely what causes one individual to be gay and another individual straight. And when that happens, I'm sure there will be many faithful members who will acknowledge the scientific facts and discard the past words of Boyd K Packer who currently speaks so eloquently and clearly on the origins and evils of homosexuality.
There's nothing quite like having the true and living prophets sitting around waiting for science to discover the real facts. It really is too bad God doesn't just give us the insight and explanation now through his appointed mouthpiece.
Why is it we have to wait for the guys in white lab coats to figure things out before we can finally get the answers?
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