None of it is true, but supposing it were, the section that tells one how the next prophet of the church will be recognized trumps the section saying that the 12 apostles is equal in authority to the first presidency. If the first presidency has the keys of the kingdom, then Sidney Rigdon should have been next in line, since he was in the first presidency. That knocks your whole theory out of the ball park, however, the method God supposedly chose should have been the method that was used. That being the current prophet (JS,Jr.) designates the next prophet (in this case, JS,III, was designated.)
Maybe instead of tauting RLDS propaganda, you should take your own advice and read some real history. Only the Prophet who is also the President holds the keys to the leadership and authority of the Church. His Counselors can only act under the direction of the President but can not initiate anything on their own. Once the President was dead, the Counselors have no one to recieve direction from, and hold no keys; the Presidency is therefore disolved, and the Counselors go back to what they were before.
The Quorum of the Twelve are equal in authority with the Presidency, as are the First Quorum of the Seventy, except only the President holds the one key neccessary to the leadership of the Church and is the only person to recieve revelation pertaining to its leadership and doctrine. When the Presidency is disolved, that key goes to the 12. If the President and the 12 are disolved, then it goes to the First Quorum if the Seventy. There is no special ordinance needed as it is all automatic. The only difference between the President and the Quorums, is that the Quorums hold the keys together, and must act together as one, they can not act individually. That is why they had to wait until they all could get back together.
Anything outside of that order of succession which had already been revealed by Joseph Smith jr. was simply a bid to go outside of the doctrine of the Church to usurp power unrightously.
Joseph Smith III only had a rumored blessing, a blessing has no power of itself, you need the ordinance confered upon you by someone who does have the authority; Joseph Smith III admitted in a court of law that that ordinance never happened.
But even then, Joseph Smith was too young to hold the Priesthood neccessary to hold leadership and the keys.
Yet even then, that blessing was forfeited when he went outside the Priesthood of the Church and took leadership of another Church.
Not to mention the fact, when it was finally offered to him, he refused.
Their claim further that the President will be a direct descendant of Joseph Smith now ends their church as there are no more direct descendents left to take over.
That said, there is nothing in any of the scriptures that both Churches can agree on which supports their sequence of events in the RLDS.
The final irony is, that they believe in the restoration, and that the authority and Priesthood will remain unbroken until Christ comes again.... That makes them a false religion based on their own beliefs, as the Church they set up no longer even exists.
