Criticism is particularly objectionable when it is directed toward Church authorities, general or local. Jude condemns those who 'speak evil of dignities' (Jude 8). Evil-speaking of the Lord's anointed is in a class by itself. It is one thing to depreciate a person who exercises corporate power. It is quite another thing to criticize or depreciate a person for the performance of an office to which he or she has been called of God. It does not matter if the criticism is true. As president George F. Richards of the Council of the Twelve said in a conference address in April 1947: 'When we say anything bad about the leaders of the Church, whether true or false, we tend to impair their influence and their usefulness and are thus working against the Lord and his cause'