mormonsandgays website – positive change in emphasis!

[Anonymous]

Quote:

Ruck·us/ˈrəkəs/

Noun:

A disturbance or commotion

Dictionary.com

Anyway…

The revelation on the WoW only occurred AFTER Emma made a ruckus and Joseph enquired.

In Sacrament today the speaker mentioned that the theme for the youth this year has been, “Rise up!” I looked at my wife and whispered, “Uprising?!?!?!?!”

Reflexzero wrote:

Do you think it is possible for church membership to lobby for change successfully? If the COB received a million letters from the membership in regards to one issue, would it be enough to enact change? If 200,000 marched on Temple Square, would it be enough?

[Anonymous]

Roy wrote:

Quote:

Ruck·us/ˈrəkəs/

Noun:

A disturbance or commotion

Dictionary.com

Anyway…

The revelation on the WoW only occurred AFTER Emma made a ruckus and Joseph enquired.

In Sacrament today the speaker mentioned that the theme for the youth this year has been, “Rise up!” I looked at my wife and whispered, “Uprising?!?!?!?!”

Reflexzero wrote:

Do you think it is possible for church membership to lobby for change successfully? If the COB received a million letters from the membership in regards to one issue, would it be enough to enact change? If 200,000 marched on Temple Square, would it be enough?

I don’t think the YM have a problem with uprising. One of the Laurels in a skirt above the knee used to be enough for me around that age.

I’m so glad I’m not a teenage boy any more. What a scrambled time of life.

Ahem, to bring it back OT, I think back to the tumult of emotions and hormones of my teens and wonder how much more challenging being a mormon teen would be with a SSA.

If gays don’t “choose” their orientation, it begs the question what the source is of those feelings. The website says “we don’t know.” But I can’t get my head around why God would plan for someone to lead such an unfulfilled life.

[Anonymous]

HSAB wrote:

… I talk to people one at a time about the issues that I am adamant about, I forward interesting articles to friends and spread the knowledge and information as much as I can on a small scale. That is all I know how to do to make a difference, but from my observation that IS what makes the difference…

Thanks HSAB,

I agree that we can make changes one person at a time. Today in SS I was very grateful to a Sister (whom I believe to be middle way) for a comment she made. It was effective in shaping my DW’s view even though similar statements by me proved ineffective. So please share your views/opinions! You may be helping us quarter way Mormons.

Sent from my tab 2 using Tapatalk 2

[Anonymous]

A lds mom of a gay son gave me permission to share this with you all. It does a great job telling the positive and negative about this website that I thought you all might find interesting:

My bishop emailed me yesterday and asked for my take on the website. This is my email back to him which expresses my feelings.

Bishop,

I appreciate your asking me what my thoughts are on the new website . I have explored most of it. I have mixed feelings. I think is important for you as a bishop to see how this website is perceived by those who have gay loved ones. I know I am not alone in my feelings.

First….what a huge step for the church who has been in the “dark ages” for a long, long time. So many lives have been lost and destroyed because leaders have not spoken up in the past in a smart, scientifically and psychologically intelligent way. Finally we have a little bit more from the church. At least this will let members know that this website replaces the the “Miracle of Forgiveness” where homosexuals are called “perverts” which is still sold at Deseret Book and available in braille at lds.org <http://lds.org/> (I am being completely honest including some of my valid frustrations that have built up over the years!)

I am grateful that they have acknowledged that this is not an easy topic. I’m glad they are telling the truth, that homosexual feelings are real, good people experience it, and it does not go away.

I was glad to see “Judy’s” video where her gay grandson lives with her. He is not in the church and this is where 80% of our gay lds brothers and sisters reside – out of the church! I was glad to see Judy showing love and kindness and saying that she would never trade her gay family for anyone else.

I was grateful for the words of Elder Cook. You could feel his emotion and love. He said love was more important than anything else and I appreciate that. My gay friend I told you about experienced some positive feelings from his mom after she viewed the website. It softened her heart. She just needed permission to love her son as he is. And she got that from the website. I think that is good but also very sad, that she needed that permission. The tendency to reject her son is what the dialogue in our church over the years has caused. Sad. But we must move on!

I think this website will soften the heart of those who are bigoted and judgmental. I think it will show those politically conscious members that love comes before politics. I think this will definitely like I said give everyone permission to extend more love towards gay individuals.

My concerns are that I did not see addressed the 800% increase in the likelihood of suicide when youth feel rejection by family members. (Real Statistic) That is huge and should have been addressed. Too many kids commit or attempt suicide. Almost everyone I know who is gay and lds has either tried it or has been dangerously close to trying to take their life. The pamphlet I gave you (Family Acceptance Project) would have been a great addition to this website. Eleven years of research went into that pamphlet and it is invaluable in teaching parents HOW to show accepting instead of rejecting behaviors.

I am also concerned about the talk about hope. Let me tell you, I have the strongest testimony of the atonement and of hope in Jesus Christ. It is everything to me. But I also know from personal experience with those close to me, that there is no hope for a young man when he is told he can have no love in his life. Honestly, how would we respond if we were told we would have to give up our spouses, our families, and everything that includes, in order to have the holy ghost and be good in the sight of God? I wonder how many of the brethren would willing to set an example to show us how to do it? Could you do it? Honestly? Good for the several on the website that have adjusted to this. But I have to say , they are the exception and not the rule.

I feel like the despair of this stand the church has taken was not at all addressed. Kids feel total despair when they are told they cannot have love in their life. My sweet friend, the gay return missionary, just told me last night his greatest desire is that he just wants to be loved by someone. Any 22 year old wants to feel love emotionally and physically. We were programmed that way and I think it is very unfortunate that in the church we deny that to our gay brothers and sisters.

There you have it! My take on the website. I hope you are not offended by my honesty. I am a proud mother of gay son and I have walked through my own personal battle field that includes battling rhetoric from the church, so I have slightly different take on this issue than your average Mormon mom.

[Anonymous]

Bridget, thanks for sharing your friend’s message. It really meant a lot.

[Anonymous]

You are so welcome MacKay11

[Anonymous]

I’ve been waiting for several days to post a response to this website. In general, I think it is a highly positive, if not a bit awkward step forward. Many members of the church need permission to show love to people who sin differently, and this site gives that permission. I foresee a huge, positive impact on the conversation about homosexuality in the Church.

Let me explain why I think the site is a bit awkward. It seems to be saying “Well, we know we should love one another BUT we can’t love you as much if you choose to engage in homosexual behavior or partner yourself…I mean…God might get the impression that we’re somehow condoning your behavior if we show you too much love…It’s far better that we are firm on the subject…after all, homosexuality is horribly sinful because it’s icky and God said so…So we’ll try to love you, and invite you into ‘full fellowship’, BUT maybe not if you decided you can’t live a life alone and decide to partner yourself…after all, that whole ‘Love and Law’ business…Gosh, I’m getting flustered at how complex this is, and how little we know…so we’ll love you, BUT (etc., etc.)…and you can have hope in the world to come, but maybe not this one…gee, that’s really sad and lonely…oh, look at the time, I’m late for dinner with my wife and family. Call me if you need anything, OK?”

Sorry if that was snarky……Maybe I’m not sorry………I’m not sorry…

I’m not sure I am the audience for mormonsandgays.org. I’ve “been there, done that” with most of the principles and counsel offered. I am currently in an “I’m gay, and I don’t want to leave the Church–what now?” phase in my life. I don’t think there are any good answers to this question, yet. The official, Church-sanctioned answer is “Live separately and alone, serving in the Kingdom with a vow of celibacy til the end of your days, and you will be transformed into a heterosexual at the resurrection, and given all the blessings of the Abrahamic covenant with a person of the opposite sex.” I don’t mean to belittle the Atonement or the Resurrection, but that advice is cold comfort. I can faintly imagine being married to a woman, but it doesn’t sound like much fun to me right now (sorry, ladies!). It is not the deepest desire of my heart. Additionally, the thought of eating my dinner every night alone until I die isn’t very appealing to me. I fail to see the “hope” this brings to my daily life.

Overview: This site is a highly positive development that will hopefully flush the old Kimball and Packer rhetoric down the drain and help to create a more loving community in the church. Unfortunately, it may clarify some policy changes, but it doesn’t offer any new revelation on the subject. It’s more of the same “be celibate…live alone…you’ll be blessed after you die” business.

“Hello? Prophets…seers…revelators? We could use some revelation about right now…”

[Anonymous]

BTW, I second the support of the Family Acceptance Project http://familyproject.sfsu.edu/LDS-booklet, and would like to also plug the Resources for Latter-Day Saints Dealing with Homosexual Attraction http://www.ldsresources.info/

[Anonymous]

Turinturambar, you said:

Quote:

I’m not sure I am the audience for this site.

I for one, hope that you will reconsider. Your voice needs to be heard & understood.

I’ve been trying to understand the impact of this issue for the general membership of our church.

The following are my numbers & assumptions.

14,441,300 lds members worldwide.

There are 3 to 5% of the general population that are SSA.

433,200 gay lds members using the lower number (3%)

86,600 are currently in the church to some degree. (from a previous posting 20%)

259,900 if you include the parents this is the impact (3). Does not include siblings. (Equal to conv bapt in 1yr)

25,200 this is the current membership in my State. Organized into (6) Stakes.

4,200 Avg membership in a single Stake.

62 equivalent to Stakes (259,900/4,200)

There are alot of ways to look at this.

The conclusion is: this issue has significant impact within the Church.

And: We need to hear your voice.

[Anonymous]

Thanks, Mike. I should clarify. I’m not sure that I am the right audience for mormonsandgays.org, but I am sure I’m the right audience for StayLDS.

[Anonymous]

turinturambar I really appreciate what you said. People need your perspective.

[Author]

Posts