I have heard so much about Prop. 8 these past couple of weeks and how much crap the church is getting for coming out and encouraging its members to vote for Prop. 8 to say that marriage is between a man and a woman. The church believes that marriage is only to be with one man and one woman -- that is straight from God. Now I have done some reading and found this quote,
"[The] Archdiocese of Los Angeles, California, issued a statement on behalf of seven bishops Monday, saying the Catholic Church "cannot approve of redefining marriage.'Marriage' has a unique place in God's creation, joining a man and a woman in a committed relationship in order to nurture and support the new life for which marriage is intended," the statement said. "The meaning of marriage is deeply rooted in history and culture, and has been shaped considerably by Christian tradition. Its meaning is given, not constructed."
The LDS church is not the ONLY church out there that has this belief and is coming out about it. So I get tired of hearing people complain about how the church shouldn't get involved, but they are not the only church coming out about this topic. There are more consequences to this gay marriage thing then people want to believe. The following was written by my friend Alison's husband Ty and I think that he makes some interesting points:
Everybody has heard about proposition 8 in California. This proposition contains the same language that was approved by 61% of voters in 2000. Four San Francisco judges overruled the voice of the people and called the previous proposition unconstitutional. Proposition 8 simply reaffirms the previous vote and adds a constitutional amendment in order to force the judges to comply.There are numerous reasons why this vote will set a precedent for better or worse for the whole United States. Other states have similar issues on the ballot, but no other state is pushing the envelope on moral issues like California. Religious organizations are not immune from the consequences that will ensue if proposition 8 fails. While the full ramifications are not fully known, the Church's ability to perform marriage ceremonies in the temple may be compromised (unless they forfeit their tax exempt status or perform same-sex marriages), clergy that preach against same-sex marriage can be sued for hate crimes and adoption services that will not place children in homes of same-sex couples will be ineligible for government benefits (and may face lawsuits).
I, personally, don't really care if gay people want to get married. It doesn't change my marriage and I do want everyone to be happy. I can't judge them (luckily I don't have to do that) and we should respect and love everyone. But that doesn't mean that we have to love everything that they do. I have friends who are gay and I totally love them. Lucky for us today we have living prophets who are here to council us on what the Lord wants us to do. The Lord says that marriage is between a man and a woman. So I of course will do what the Lord tells me to do.
I do find it a little funny that everyone is making such a big deal about this, but then if you talk to someone about polygamy, then they say "Oh no that is just not right." Funny how that works. I personally don't believe in polygamy either, but why can a man marry a man, but someone else can't have two or three wives, or husbands? Why can't I marry my cousin that I am in love with? Where does it stop?
The Adversary is hard at work. He is making good LDS people have hurt feeling about their church, he is making people think that this is comparable to women's rights and civil rights. He is working over time and it is becoming a sad, sad world out there. I am so thankful that I have the gospel in my life and that I can know what God would want me to do. Not just because my church tells me, but because I find out for my self by asking God, in prayer, what I should do. That is what is so great about the LDS church, they say ask God and he will tell you what is the right thing to do. We are so blessed, may God continue to bless us and our country.
3 comments:
I had to chime in of course and as much as I love you Michelle, your statement was a bit hypocritical. You have ever right to your own opinion but saying that you don't care if gay people get married but saying its alright for the church to support prop 8 and marriage is between one man and one woman is a bit contradictory. Either you are for it, or you are against it, plain and simple. But I hope you really think about your stance on this and not just what a bunch of people tell you and that you can say your opinion has come with deep thought and consideration.
I think there should be a separation of church and state like we fought for in the revolutionary war. So no church should be involved in politics, but they are. And if we are going to have religion in politics then we should go all the way and ban divorce (a woman married to an abuser must stay with him), adultery (this distroys marriage also), sex that does not lead to procreation, and premarital sex (abusers will loose their right to marry). These all hurt the christian idea of a traditional marriage. Lets make them all illegal. We might as well throw alcohol and tobacco in there because these can break up a marriage also. I know the Mormon church says that the above are all wrong but how do you think the U.S. would react if they tried to write all those bans into the constitution?
But I also remember something about god giving me my free-will, so let him judge me in the end but don't take away my rights.
It really does bug me when people use the "where does it stop" scare tactic. There are millions of gay couples in the world and there is a huge gay movement out there. The only polygamist movement I see is the FLDS church which ironically is a break off from the Mormons who at one time, believed in polygamy.
Think about this also, back in the late 1800's when it was illegal for a white person to marry a Hispanic or black person and they were fighting for their equal rights, don't you think their opponents would have also used the same scare tactic "Where does it stop?"
Also, my Bishop told me that god had made me gay and that there was nothing I could do about it but remain celibate. I don't see god as a heartless man and I find it really hard to believe that he would want me to lead a lonely, depressed life.
Just my $0.02
Travis, I love you so much and I am so glad that you are happily married with your husband. I know that I am pretty hypocritical in my comments. This was a really hard thing for me to write and (trust me) I have done a lot of thinking and studing about this topic. I didn't say the things that I said because I was following blindly in the "mormon way". I have had to find things out for my self. When it comes to church, god, and all that stuff. I do it because I know for my self, not because someone told me to think or act a certain way. I am torn. At first I thought that the church shouldn't get involved in politics, but then I said "who am I to tell God what he should or should not do?" That is why this whole thing is really hard. I know that God loves you! And he will do the judging and that is no place for me. You do deserve your rights the same as other people and you make very good points. I am glad that you wrote your comments and let both sides be heard. I always appreciate hearing what other people think because I learn something new everytime.
This is from the LDS Church.
http://www.newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/commentary/the-divine-institution-of-marriage
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