Commentary: LDS Church officials are practicing spiritual extortion

(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) President Russell M. Nelson speaks during the morning session of the 189th Annual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City on Sunday April 7, 2019. I tuned into General Conference, with my hopes set on coffee. Instead, to my sadness and dismay, we were given coercion.

“Time is running out” was a running theme, coupled with warnings that family ties would be eternally severed for those who do not walk the one-size-fits-all path. As we are so concerned with calling things by their correct names, let’s start with this:

Tying the eternal salvation and exaltation of church members to a checklist of requirements,…