Without assessing fault or blame

[All-American]

The mean General authority has also been a member of the church for several decades. The average attendee at BYU is a multi-generational member of the church (I'd say, as a very poor guess, 2 or 3 generations, on average). MoTab is comprised of people who live in Utah and are so familiar with the Choir that they are willing to give up a significant amount of time to participate in a volunteer organization.

Moral of the story? These three faces of the church represent the demographics of the church as they stood decades ago. General practice (and, in the case of General Authorities, necessity) dictates that the use of these groups as a litmus test for the rest of the church will always be many years behind the times.

[Indy Coug]

Originally Posted by All-American

The mean General authority has also been a member of the church for several decades. The average attendee at BYU is a multi-generational member of the church (I'd say, as a very poor guess, 2 or 3 generations, on average). MoTab is comprised of people who live in Utah and are so familiar with the Choir that they are willing to give up a significant amount of time to participate in a volunteer organization.

Moral of the story? These three faces of the church represent the demographics of the church as they stood decades ago. General practice (and, in the case of General Authorities, necessity) dictates that the use of these groups as a litmus test for the rest of the church will always be many years behind the times.

There's a 200+ post thread about this from a month ago or so.

Low GA turnover + many years of church experience prior to GA calling = Very large demographic lag between church membership and GAs.

This will solve itself over the next twenty to thirty years, at the most.

[Archaea]

Originally Posted by Indy Coug

There's a 200+ post thread about this from a month ago or so.

Low GA turnover + many years of church experience prior to GA calling = Very large demographic lag between church membership and GAs.

This will solve itself over the next twenty to thirty years, at the most.

I have no idea when and if it will change, but when it does, we won't recognize the face. And when we look back, the change will be so gradual, we'll look back and see a Church that is diverse and no longer white. But until then, we are whiter than I ever realized.

[All-American]

Originally Posted by Indy Coug

There's a 200+ post thread about this from a month ago or so.

Low GA turnover + many years of church experience prior to GA calling = Very large demographic lag between church membership and GAs.

This will solve itself over the next twenty to thirty years, at the most.

At which point it will still be thirty years behind.

[Archaea]

Originally Posted by All-American

At which point it will still be thirty years behind.

So unless something is done to accelerate or to bring the representation in harmony with existing demographics.

[All-American]

Originally Posted by Archaea

So unless something is done to accelerate or to bring the representation in harmony with existing demographics.

How would the church go about doing that? Affirmative action for General Authority positions?

I believe diversity in any group is a good thing. It offers perspectives and viewpoints that serve to improve the actions and decisions of the whole. I don't think that race should be a qualification for a calling in the church. They should look for the best men for the job, not the best white, black, brown, or phosphorescent men. Reason dictates that the best men will usually have been members of the church for some time, which usually dictates that they will be white and have lived in Utah. It's a natural coincidence, not a deliberate byproduct of racist tendencies, and I don't think a lack of diversity at the top is such a huge problem as to require that the church fix a system that isn't broken.

[Cali Coug]

Originally Posted by All-American

How would the church go about doing that? Affirmative action for General Authority positions?

I believe diversity in any group is a good thing. It offers perspectives and viewpoints that serve to improve the actions and decisions of the whole. I don't think that race should be a qualification for a calling in the church. They should look for the best men for the job, not the best white, black, brown, or phosphorescent men. Reason dictates that the best men will usually have been members of the church for some time, which usually dictates that they will be white and have lived in Utah. It's a natural coincidence, not a deliberate byproduct of racist tendencies, and I don't think a lack of diversity at the top is such a huge problem as to require that the church fix a system that isn't broken.

White males frequently find a lack of diversity at the top of any institution to not be a tremendous problem.

[All-American]

Originally Posted by Cali Coug

White males frequently find a lack of diversity at the top of any institution to not be a tremendous problem.

Touche.

[Sleeping in EQ]

Originally Posted by All-American

How would the church go about doing that? Affirmative action for General Authority positions?

I believe diversity in any group is a good thing. It offers perspectives and viewpoints that serve to improve the actions and decisions of the whole. I don't think that race should be a qualification for a calling in the church. They should look for the best men for the job, not the best white, black, brown, or phosphorescent men. Reason dictates that the best men will usually have been members of the church for some time, which usually dictates that they will be white and have lived in Utah. It's a natural coincidence, not a deliberate byproduct of racist tendencies, and I don't think a lack of diversity at the top is such a huge problem as to require that the church fix a system that isn't broken.

GAs tend to call other people to be GAs that they know and trust. GAs getting out on the world scene more will help, but we'll really turn the corner when you see faith promoting Mormon books (and talk tapes and videos and the like) being written and broadly distributed by members in Brazil, Phillipines, Nigeria, Korea, wherever. When these works are being translated into English, and are being read by the English speaking Church, we'll be cooking with gas. Multiple GAs speaking in conference with their comments being translated into English would be a healthy sign too.

In this vein, I'd push Deseret Book to ramp up international publishing on all fronts. Continue to translate English works into native languages, but push hard for indigenous authors and works.

[Cali Coug]

Originally Posted by Sleeping in EQ

GAs tend to call other people to be GAs that they know and trust. GAs getting out on the world scene more will help, but we'll really turn the corner when you see faith promoting Mormon books (and talk tapes and videos and the like) being written and broadly distributed by members in Brazil, Phillipines, Nigeria, Korea, wherever. When these works are being translated into English, and are being read by the English speaking Church, we'll be cooking with gas. Multiple GAs speaking in conference with their comments being translated into English would be a healthy sign too.

In this vein, I'd push Deseret Book to ramp up international publishing on all fronts. Continue to translate English works into native languages, but push hard for indigenous authors and works.

Agreed. I have been hoping for a non-English talk in General Conference for years now. I don't know why it hasn't happened; it seems like an obvious step towards demonstrating diversity in the church.