Some discussions just don't fit into a well defined box. Use this forum to discuss general topics and issues revolving around the Church and the technology offerings we use and share.
I don't feel that I'm at liberty to disclose who stated this. But in connection with our stake's request for a "ruling" on ymyw.org the following was received from a general authority:
The official web site for the Church is lds.org. However, if stakes feel that they would like to use other web sites and it is cleared by their stake presidents, then they are okay. There are so many out there now, the Church is unable to monitor them all. Just encouraged to use your discretion via your stake president. There is no official position.
tortdog wrote:I don't feel that I'm at liberty to disclose who stated this. But in connection with our stake's request for a "ruling" on ymyw.org the following was received from a general authority:
So we now wait for our SP to rule.
If that is, in fact, an official Church stance, that information needs to be communicated to all Stake Presidents. Stake Presidents only have the restrictive letters posted previously in this thread.
Well, regarding a new "official" letter, the advice coming from this one GA could easily be read so that ymyw.org would not be a prohibited site under the original "official letter," since that original letter was never changed or revoked.
That was one of the points that was mentioned on this very thread - that sites similar to ymyw.org are not under the intended reach of that "official" letter prohibiting LDS web sites other than lds.org.
It's my understanding that since the Church came out with their own stake/unit web sites that all other web sites that had been created and were being referenced as "official", were to be removed. The issue here is "official".
If I wanted to create my own web site that contained information about the church, including my own testimony, etc, etc. and post a disclaimer that the site wasn't officially associated with the Church, I could do that.
They simply want to control the official voice of the Church, which I can completely understand and support. Seems clear to me.
For those of us trying to read the tea leaves of church policy and guidance, this development answers few questions. There is no indication of why a stake president might choose to allow this web site. The only principle that one might generalize is that, at least within the reach of this GA's authority -- which tortdog may know but the rest of us do not -- stake presidents are free to interpret policy with no further guidance except inspiration.
Informed speculation in this forum has seemed to say that ymyw.org is allowable because it is not sponsored by a church unit, does not purport to represent the Church, and does not include data directly exported from MLS. But this guidance makes no reference to any of those principles.
