Comments about ‘LDS Church will celebrate President Monson's 85th birthday with gala on Aug. 17’

Congratulations!

Circle the wheelchairs!

Happy Birthday Sir! Although I'm no longer LDS, I've always had a deep respect and admiration for your work promoting peace, tolerance and love. I pray for God's richest blessings to be upon you as you celebrate your remarkable life. May you have many more years of making an impact upon the lives of those in the LDS faith and the lives of countless others who live by faith.

I honor and sustain President Monson, and wish him a happy birthday, but....

As an active member, I --for one-- am very "uneasy" when the church (HQ bureaucracy) puts such emphasis on "individual glorification" (for lack of a better term) such as this. Even for our beloved Prophet!

I enjoy a good birthday celebration as much as anyone, but I just personally have a high discomfort level for the Church hosting a "big to-do" like this. It's an inappropriate distraction from the central mission of the Church, IMHO.

May President Monson celebrate his birthday in private, with family and close friends.

But to put on a HUGE production like this, at church expense, seems a misguided effort. Think of the costs involved to open the Conference Center, cool the building (in August), the preparation expenses to the MoTab Choir, the extra burden on the SLPD to help direct traffic for that event, the production costs for the actual program and church-paid support staff to support it, not to mention the costs to print a 2-page "social blotter" report in the Church News the following Saturday, etc. etc.

Too much!