"Love your [gay] enemies"
Look at your spouse, or significant other. Now imagine you were told that what you felt for them was wrong. That it was a sin to be attracted to them. That you could never be with them, or you would burn in hell.
That is one reason people protested prop. 8.
The LA temple closed yesterday because of the protests.
A coworker said, "That stinks for people who planned on getting married."
She meant the Mormon couples who might have scheduled a wedding inside the temple on that day. They will have the inconvenience of getting married somewhere else or waiting until the next day.
She didn't think of those in-love couples who now can never get married. Period. Gay and lesbian couples, who love each other, will have to wait indefinitely.
Gay marriage may be a moral issue for those who struggle with same-gender attraction. But a lack of charity is the sin many of us commit by our opposition of their choices.
Their choices may be immoral, and it may be correct for us to oppose them. But if our opposition to them is not out of charity, our actions damn us. The Lord does not judge us solely by our actions. He looks on the heart.
Are our hearts pure? Do we have the love of God in us? If we oppose all sin, and drive Satan back to the gates hell, if we have not charity, our righteous acts mean nothing.
We cannot choose whether or not we have enemies. But we can choose how we treat them:
"Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt alove thy bneighbour, and hate thine enemy.
That is one reason people protested prop. 8.
The LA temple closed yesterday because of the protests.A coworker said, "That stinks for people who planned on getting married."
She meant the Mormon couples who might have scheduled a wedding inside the temple on that day. They will have the inconvenience of getting married somewhere else or waiting until the next day.
She didn't think of those in-love couples who now can never get married. Period. Gay and lesbian couples, who love each other, will have to wait indefinitely.Gay marriage may be a moral issue for those who struggle with same-gender attraction. But a lack of charity is the sin many of us commit by our opposition of their choices.
Their choices may be immoral, and it may be correct for us to oppose them. But if our opposition to them is not out of charity, our actions damn us. The Lord does not judge us solely by our actions. He looks on the heart.
Are our hearts pure? Do we have the love of God in us? If we oppose all sin, and drive Satan back to the gates hell, if we have not charity, our righteous acts mean nothing.
We cannot choose whether or not we have enemies. But we can choose how we treat them:
"Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt alove thy bneighbour, and hate thine enemy.
"What makes gay marriage such a big next step is that its official formality not only permits gay conduct but the nature and protocol of state sponsorship also have the effect of endorsing and even promoting that conduct. From the perspective of prophetic teachings, state endorsement means the government would be promoting serious immorality" Bruce C Hafen
ReplyDelete"Some portray legalization of so-called same-sex marriage as a civil right. This is not a matter of civil rights; it is a matter of morality....that is of critical importance to the future of the family....We are compelled by our doctrine to speak out." Pres. Gordon B Hinckley
Why does marriage need to be a government institution? I wish we would eliminate bonuses for being married in the tax code and just make it a religious, not legal, institution.
ReplyDeleteSoozal, I think anonymous made a good point.
ReplyDeleteThe government should back off. Read Ron Paul.
I think many members took a stand against the church on this. They kept the respect of the world, but at what cost?
I have a friend from CA who stood up for the church on this matter and lost many of her friends who now think she's a jerk. I'll hopefully write more on that later.
But you still need charity. This is no excuse to be a jerk. Love your neighbor, and your enemy, still stands.
ReplyDeleteIt is easy to say "the government should back off", but the fact of the matter is that at the present time the state is a party to marriage, and I don't see that changing anytime soon. That's why a state license and ceremony are required to create a legal marriage, and a state court judgment is required to end one. These formalities are not required to create or dissolve other legal contracts. Society actually has a greater stake in the creation and survival of each marriate (the basic unit of society) than it does in the survival of each business agreement.
ReplyDeleteI do find it interesting that the writer of this blog says the government should "back off" when it comes to marriage, when his final choice for president would indicate that he feels government should be much more present in our lives. :o)
Soozal. Valid feedback.
ReplyDeleteI do disagree with thinking Obama will interfere with our lives more than McCain would have. They just interfere in different ways. One by wiretapping its citizenry, stationing a standing army in their midst "just in case," and enslaving them to the military-industrial complex through endless war. The other by 'spreading the wealth around.'
I voted Obama because he is the most inspiring candidate we've had since Reagan. But I was mighty swayed by Ron Paul's "The Revolution." So, yes, you could find my political stance peculiar.