Daniel is again being thrown into the lion’s den

From my mom's Independence Examiner guest column:

Submitted to The Examiner
Posted May 04, 2010 @ 12:08 AM
Independence, MO

By Holly McLean
Independence

What are the similarities of Daniel and the Lion’s Den and the [Community of Christ] vs. Devon Park?

Daniel was a faithful servant of God and the king. Because of his honesty and integrity, both God and the king were very pleased with him. The princes of the king knew this and were very jealous. They wanted to get rid of Daniel. They watched him closely trying to find some fault.

The only thing they discovered was that Daniel made a habit of praying every morning, afternoon and evening in an open way. Since the princes could think of nothing else, they devised a plan to use this against him. There was no law against praying to God, so they went to the king, saying they wanted to honor him by writing a law that no one could pray to anyone but the king for 30 days or they would be thrown into the lion’s den. The whole purpose was to make a law that they knew Daniel would break. The king was fooled and signed the law believing he was being honored.

As soon as the law was signed, the princes went to see if Daniel would pray, in order to turn him in for violating the order of the king. Of course, Daniel did not change his beliefs or habits, so the princes ran to the king and told him that he must keep his word and throw Daniel into the lion’s den.

How is this similar? The Community of Christ leadership knew the restoration branches were proclaiming the fullness of the gospel and continuing to practice the original RLDS doctrines under the name they have held for decades, the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. They did not want the restoration people to continue to do this, even though they no longer practice or teach these doctrines and are using a new name for themselves, Community of Christ. For the sole purpose of squelching the RLDS restorationists, these COC leaders devised a way to stop them by using the law.

In 2005, the COC quietly filed for trademark rights to the RLDS name, knowing that the restoration people were already using it to continue to describe themselves and their religious beliefs. Once they obtained them in December 2006, the suing of churches began. In spring of 2007, the COC filed suit against South Branch in Raytown. Next, they came after Devon Park in Independence. Once the suits began, the COC leaders started blaming the restoration branches that were being sued for violating the law.

In a recent interview with The Examiner newspaper, the spokesperson for the COC said, “Any suffering they have is self-inflicted. They made a decision that they were not going to abide by the law.”

Yet, it is obvious this law is only in place because the COC trademarked the name and therefore, the heritage of the name, in order to create a law for the purpose of stopping the RLDS restoration movement from continuing to proclaim the gospel and its true doctrines by the name they always have.

As did the princes in Daniel’s day, The Community of Christ leadership has purposefully created a situation that challenges the heritage of the RLDS restoration believers by creating a trademark infringement that they now point to as proof of law violation. Will the court see through this or will they throw the RLDS originalists into the lion’s den?