LDS social scientist
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The desire for additional revelatory insight can relate to a number of aspects/doctrines within Mormonism, but I think may be particularly strong in relation to the Second Coming of Jesus.
As has been noted, an important part of the reason for the existence of Mormonism is the belief that Christ will come for a second time soon. While 200 years of intervening Mormon history has lessened the day-to-day importance of this idea for many Mormons, there are some for whom this thought is very much a central part of what they consider their central day-to-day LDS existence to be.
And to be as honest as I can, again from my own perspective, the institutional church keeps this idea alive. The current (relatively new) prophet/president of the church has on more than one occasion told members that we need to think of ourselves as living in the last days, when new knowledge from heaven is going to be forthcoming. The church will celebrate the 200th anniversary of Joseph Smith's first vision in less than two months, and some rumors have been making the rounds within mainstream Mormonism as to whether there are going to be new, important prophetic announcements during the church's general conference to celebrate the occasion.
More generally, the church has more or less staked its claim on the narrative that the world is growing more and more wicked over time (that's part of the "signs of the times" that Mormonism generally believes will precede the Second Coming). So, MOO, church members have been conditioned to see current affairs through the lens of a world ever-ripening in wickedness. This is not to say that members reject participating in that world, nor is it to say that they reject non-members of the church in any way. But it is to say that it's an entirely normal thing to hear within Mormon conversations to one another discussion about how the world is going to pot and how members need to stand up for truth and right in a world that will increasingly work against that truth. Currently, in the USA at least, this seems most often (at least recently) to apply to LGBTQ+ issues, for a lot of members. Thus, I think it becomes understandable that some members are convinced that the world has already become so evil that the Second Coming must be nigh. And so, even though the institutional church has not developed any specific strategies to deal with the Second Coming, some members feel like there must be more that God wants us to know.
As some have mentioned before on this thread, the year 2000 was (at least in the 1970s -1980s) expected within Mormonism culturally (though never officially) to be a time when Christ could come. That died down during the 1990s somewhat, as far as I can tell, but the idea that we're somewhere near the end has never entirely died, and remains a more vital teaching to some than to others within Mormon culture.
As has been noted, an important part of the reason for the existence of Mormonism is the belief that Christ will come for a second time soon. While 200 years of intervening Mormon history has lessened the day-to-day importance of this idea for many Mormons, there are some for whom this thought is very much a central part of what they consider their central day-to-day LDS existence to be.
And to be as honest as I can, again from my own perspective, the institutional church keeps this idea alive. The current (relatively new) prophet/president of the church has on more than one occasion told members that we need to think of ourselves as living in the last days, when new knowledge from heaven is going to be forthcoming. The church will celebrate the 200th anniversary of Joseph Smith's first vision in less than two months, and some rumors have been making the rounds within mainstream Mormonism as to whether there are going to be new, important prophetic announcements during the church's general conference to celebrate the occasion.
More generally, the church has more or less staked its claim on the narrative that the world is growing more and more wicked over time (that's part of the "signs of the times" that Mormonism generally believes will precede the Second Coming). So, MOO, church members have been conditioned to see current affairs through the lens of a world ever-ripening in wickedness. This is not to say that members reject participating in that world, nor is it to say that they reject non-members of the church in any way. But it is to say that it's an entirely normal thing to hear within Mormon conversations to one another discussion about how the world is going to pot and how members need to stand up for truth and right in a world that will increasingly work against that truth. Currently, in the USA at least, this seems most often (at least recently) to apply to LGBTQ+ issues, for a lot of members. Thus, I think it becomes understandable that some members are convinced that the world has already become so evil that the Second Coming must be nigh. And so, even though the institutional church has not developed any specific strategies to deal with the Second Coming, some members feel like there must be more that God wants us to know.
As some have mentioned before on this thread, the year 2000 was (at least in the 1970s -1980s) expected within Mormonism culturally (though never officially) to be a time when Christ could come. That died down during the 1990s somewhat, as far as I can tell, but the idea that we're somewhere near the end has never entirely died, and remains a more vital teaching to some than to others within Mormon culture.
