I am not one who openly speaks of my political stance on...well anything, to be honest. I am not one who shouted from the rooftops (or on my facebook status) that I am a conservative republican...and that I was voting for John McCain. But then the election concluded and I wrote my small diatribe to the ever-evolving world in which we live and how, yes indeed, change has come to America -- in the form of a socialist liberal. I am curious to see how the government will change, and even a bit optimistic that, like some of my fellow Americans seem to believe, that once Obama (I wonder if his name will be added to spell check now that he has been elected) is President I can relax and not have to work as hard because the wealthy people will have to share and I can get off easy. Phew. What a relief! (I mean, that IS what he's saying, right?)
There is one thing, though, that I feel I must talk about it. I assure you that it will create a strong reaction in some of you. I can guarantee that some of you will either think I'm a discriminating mormon just like the rest of 'em or there will be those who think I'm eloquent and mature in my opinion.
I speak of Proposition 8.
Oh yes. The oh-so-controversial-no-same-sex-marriages-allowed amendment to the constitutions of California, Florida, and Arizona (in addition to may other states that already have such an amendment present) to state that "marriage" is defined as a union between one man and one woman. Period. The End. No same-sex marriages.
This was voted on by the people of these states and passed in all three states. Ironically enough, two out of these three states elected Obama (one of which is traditionally a republican state). So I assure you that although "change has come" one thing remains the same -- it can be assumed that it is still a general belief of society that marriage is a holy institution and should not be blurred by the lines of homosexuality being allowed to carry the same origins and rights associated with traditional marriage.
As anyone who has read a newspaper or watched the news knows, the LDS church is under serious cross fire for its monetary support of Proposition 8. The Church, along with many other creeds (including the Catholic Church, Jews, Orthodox, Christian churches, etc) formed a coalition to pass this order of legislation. The LDS Church took a very lofty and very vocal stance on the situation. And now -- we have people protesting outside of our temples and churches. ::Sigh::
I was doing some reading on the FAIR (Foundation for Apologetics Information and Research)blog and was reading several comments by some members and non-members of the LDS Church alike on their stances towards the opposition that the Church is facing. Click here to read this blog and comments, http://www.antiantimormon.com/ and search for the FAIR Blog.
I would like to share my comment to the blog here on my own blog, as it describes my opinion on the topic in detail. I would say first, that I do not normally climb up political trees, nor do I branch out on such issues as this publicly, but for some reason, I feel the need to stand up and say how I feel.
My response:
I am more and more aware of the idea that we are imperfect, and therefore have an imperfect knowledge of many things. If we have a testimony of the restored Gospel, and a testimony of the living Prophet and his Apostles, than we must trust the Church and its stance because the Church is led by God, not by man. We are not led by what the majority feels should be right (although ironically enough, we fail to mention that this legislation was voted on in Arizona and Florida, and passed, and the amount of members of the Church there are much less than in California. I would feel that the majority still feels that Prop 8 is the “right” regardless of their religion).
I feel that we are forgetting something here. We are not saying we don’t love someone based on their sexual preferences. We are not trying to take away their rights (as the Church has stated that they believe that they should have the same rights — i.e. hospitalization, taxes, etc. etc. as married couples) but what we will not and SHOULD NOT support is recognizing a HOLY act of marriage as anything other than between a man and a woman (and ultimately, God). The Scriptures are clear when it comes to homosexuality as a sin. Therefore, it is black and white as far as I see it.
In response to someone who mentioned that “we don’t know why you are the way you are, we just know it’s wrong and you can’t get married”. I argue that we know much more about homosexuality and continue to expound upon our knowledge of it and its origins than you might know or understand. There is a lot of research to suggest that homosexuality is much like many mental illnesses. It is genetic but our environments and learned behaviors elude to the recognition of one being and eventually “coming out” as a homosexual. Therefore, making homosexuality a learned behavior. Just as we had a very small and narrow minded opinion of AIDS in the 1980’s — we still have much to learn about homosexuality and it’s affects on the human mind.
Marriage is an institution between man, woman and God. Perhaps, we might need to make our criteria for marriage more strict (meaning, if it’s not performed by a minister, than it should be recognized as a civil union and not a “marriage”).
This is probably one of most complicated and controversial issues to face our society since the civil rights movements in the 60’s for african americans and for women’s rights as well. Since our society has continued to stray further and further away from God (let’s begin with taking prayer out of schools, and not allowing the Ten Commandments to be displayed in certain public places), it only makes sense to me that gay marriage is the next step in degrading the conservative nature of the family and blurring every line possible as to the gender roles we carry.
Perhaps then, we should leave the definition of marriage up to God. He is all knowing, and as a member of Christ’s church…I trust that through personal prayer, scripture study and having faith in the Prophet, that we are standing up for and supporting the family. In the end, that’s what it comes down to for me.
“First, we have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.”
I pray that we learn how to love more deeply without sacrificing what we know to be true. I pray that we are able to come beside every person in a spirit of service. Each time we take the sacrament, we are recommitting ourselves to take upon the name of Christ — and has his servants — we must serve others in truth and righteousness. We must stand up for what is right but not walk on those who disagree. I think the Church did what they needed to do to ensure that they stood up for truth and righteousness.
This is a test. I repeat. This (life) is a test.
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I know my opinion is very cut and dry. I'm sure that some will oblately disagree with my opinions regarding anything I addressed...so please don't hate me.
I vote for world peace. Who's with me? Unfortunately, I think until Christ returns, we're on a slippery slope downwards.
Peace, friends.
(And who knew I was so opinionated about things like politics? It certainly crept up on me...)
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