ACCUSATION: "The Mormon Church is essentially a monarchy. Once the President of the Church has declared doctrine or policy, there can be no discussion or debate."

It is true: unlike other religious groups, which rely on votes cast by the members in general or by a panel of leaders, we have a single authoritative figure in charge of our church. Many American Protestants hate this structure, because they believe that democracy is something sanctioned by God.

Like many Protestants in the United States, I believe that the Lord did have something to do with the founding of our nation and in the writing of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. However, while I agree that democracy is a fine thing for secular governments, no religion can be structured on a democratic model and still be led by God.

Read the Bible. How often did the servants of the Lord stand as champions of unpopular principles - even among believers? Since the job of a prophet is to state the will of the Lord regardless of popular opinion, how can a group of Christians think that the best way to establish and clarify doctrine is by consulting popular opinion?

The fact is that the Kingdom of God is just that - a kingdom. Nothing is said in the scriptures about any Republic of God. This is because God is the only source for objective and definite truth. Throughout holy writ, we see that the Lord works by sending specific individuals to authoritatively lead His people, and not by asking His people to determine doctrine for Him.

Thus, if a religious group is led by popular vote, you can rest assured that it is not led by God.

The whole thing that makes us strong as a Church is the fact that we have a prophet who can unequivocally state the will of the Lord. Now, if he were not really a prophet receiving revelation from the Lord, it would make sense to second-guess him and have a system of checks and balances in place to keep him from overstepping bounds. However, if that were the case, then he would have no authority to lead a church anyway, and there would be no reason to remain a member of a church that is led by man rather than by God.

Some think that our church is organized on a democratic model. They think this because the membership is asked to give sustaining votes for the leadership of the Church. However, these sustaining votes do not change the will of God. If God selects someone to be an apostle and the entire Church rejects that person, that person is still an apostle - but the members of the Church are in apostasy.

That is because God decides who is or is not His representative, just as He decides what is or is not His doctrine. No board of experts or scholars in this world has the authority to tell God what His opinion is.

I rejoice that I live in an age in which there is one with the authority to say, "Thus saith the Lord," and that I am part of the kingdom of the only perfect King in the universe.