Friday, April 6, 2012

This particular mormon’s view on a touchy subject

     Overall, I wound up being a resident of Provo and affiliated with BYU for nearly 8 years total. I absolutely loved my time at BYU and it made me INCREDIBLY proud to be a mormon for the first time in my life. You know what else makes me proud to be a mormon AND to have gone to BYU? This video:


Then in the same week I first saw that, I came across this article:
BYU’s Gay Mormon Panel a Huge Success, Overflow Crowds Turned Away

     I myself am not gay, but I feel deeply for those who are. As for gay marriage, I am a big supporter. Many mormons do no agree with my view on that particular point of discussion. Many would say it is in violation with the teachings of the church and that it slanders the sanctity of marriage. But to those people, this is what I say:

      What if the state said that we could not marry in the temple because the majority of the state does not believe in it? Wouldn't you contest for equal rights and for everyone else to keep their bias to themselves? That is why I support equal rights for gay marriage. Their belief system might be different than my own, but that does not give me the right to deny them from being in loving, committed, monogomous relationships. And honestly, God has changed his opinion on the restrictions and definition of marriage in the past; so I say that I will leave this decision up to him to sort out; if any sorting need happen on the final judgement day. While here on earth, I do not believe that supporting civil marriage for gays undermines our eternal views on temple marriage or family in any way. We ask for respect for our beliefs and rituals, so I believe we should do the same for others.

     This November, the state of Washington will have the opportunity to approve or disprove Referendum 74. Here is how the referendum will appear to voters in November, assuming its proponents gather sufficient signatures:

The legislature passed Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 6239 concerning marriage for same-sex couples, modified domestic-partnership law, and religious freedom, and voters have filed a sufficient referendum petition on this bill. This bill would allow same-sex couples to marry, preserve domestic partnerships only for seniors, and preserve the right of clergy or religious organizations to refuse to perform, recognize, or accommodate any marriage ceremony.

Should this bill be:

[ ] APPROVED

[ ] REJECTED

     Personally, I approve this referendum. Happily and thoroughly. It is not demanding that the LDS church (or any church) perform gay marriages themselves. Nor is it demanding that we say that God does not view it as an abomination. It in fact is expressly stating that we reserve the right to continue in our current belief and marital practice system. It is simply granting the right for people to be married to the person that they love. To be truly monogomous. To make a vow. As for fighting to keep marriage pure, our plight is to ensure that within our own marriages. With 50%-70%+ of marriages ending in divorce and people marrying 3 and 4 times in their life… I don’t think that heterosexuals have any say on what constitutes a great marriage. So who are we to tell gay people that they would taint the institution? I would like to give them the chance to prove us all wrong.
     In closing, I leave the words of President Dieter F. Uchtdorf from this last week’s general conference:

"I don’t know exactly how to articulate this point of not judging others with sufficient eloquence, passion, and persuasion to make it stick. I can quote scripture, I can try to expound doctrine, and I will even quote a bumper sticker I recently saw. It was attached to the back of a car whose driver appeared to be a little rough around the edges, but the words on the sticker taught an insightful lesson. It read, 'Don’t judge me because I sin differently than you.'
"We must recognize that we are all imperfect—that we are beggars before God. Haven’t we all, at one time or another, meekly approached the mercy seat and pleaded for grace? Haven’t we wished with all the energy of our souls for mercy — to be forgiven for the mistakes we have made and the sins we have committed?"

     Prophets of old and new have taught that homosexuality is a sin. As such, I’m compelled to support that claim. But I have personally never been faced with that inner struggle. I have no idea what it means to feel like the people in that video up above feel like. Furthermore, I’ve never had God tell me in my own life that I should do anything but show love for my fellowman, and that includes homosexuals and bisexuals. So as far as I’m concerned, I will let God sort out what is and isn’t sin. For me, I believe that the majority of gay people seeking civil marriage are those who are doing it to show a token of monogomous, life-long love. And really, who am I to tell them they are incapable or unworthy of such a goal?

PS, this blog post comes specifically from Lori. It isn’t a Burkman or Ball Family blog post. It is just me posting my thoughts onto my own li’l blog.

3 comments:

merrilykaroly said...

I have never been able to wrap my mind around this issue. May God bless those dear people who struggle with it.

I was very moved by that video when I watched it and, frankly, surprised when I read the article about the forum on campus. It seems like BYU is making an effort to help and to reach out and I think that's great.

I liked this: "I’ve never had God tell me in my own life that I should do anything but show love for my fellowman, and that includes homosexuals and bisexuals."

Chris said...

Elder Bednar had an interesting discussion about this back in 2008: http://goo.gl/Hpt2A

Jenn said...

I puffy heart you. I wish I lived in washington so I could approve such a referendum.