The (not so) secret SCMC

 SCMC stands for Strengthening Church Members Committee. The Wikipedia article says that this committee is for monitoring members who are critical of the church or the leaders, other members may report critical members to the committee and the committee will forward the information to local leaders for discipline. In this video a church employee tries to lie about the existence of the committee and then when cornered admits it exists but has to pass the interviewer on to someone else. It also shows where the interviewer continues with Jeffrey Holland and discusses the existence and purpose of the committee but if you watch the whole clip, which FAIR recognizes as legitimate, you can see how uncomfortable Holland is to be discussing it. Now Holland's reasoning for the existence of the committee is primarily to guard against polygamy. This seems strange when you think about it. The church no longer practices polygamy and ended it over 100 years ago. So why would the church, currently, need a committee to protect the church against polygamy? The Wikipedia article's claims about monitoring members for criticisms seems much more likely. This reddit post outlines and provides sources for several instances of the SCMC passing information on to a Stake president for discipline. The podcaster RFM discusses when he called the church office building and confirmed they had a file about him. 

It seems especially strange that a church, with a book, which discusses in depth the evils of secret combinations, would then create committee's that it tries to keep secret from members or the world.

If God is running the church and if the church has revelations and the spirit of discernment then why is this committee needed? Couldn't a bishop receive inspiration that a member in the ward needs correction?

If the church is God's church, and if God doesn't like secret combinations, and if God is willing to cast out 1/3 of the hosts of heaven so that we can have our agency, then why would he allow a mostly secret committee like this, which seems to have the sole purpose of denying people their agency to speak critically of leaders, operate? Can God not defend himself and his leaders from criticism?