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Showing posts with label LGBT Rights. Show all posts
Showing posts with label LGBT Rights. Show all posts

Monday, January 7, 2019

Should churches be allowed to not perform gay marriages?

I have been reading about all sorts of conflicts between religious freedom claims and civil rights claims; between personal beliefs and individual needs; between conservative religious groups and LGBT rights activists; between employer's religious beliefs and employee's health needs; between religious groups' right to allow only people of their faith in their group or to adopt children from their faith's agency, and minority groups' rights; between the rights of landlords, bosses, and owners of public facilities such as restaurants and businesses, and the rights of minorities who have different needs; between the right for women in women's shelters and in public bathrooms to feel safe, and the rights of transgender individuals; and about the debate between the common good verses inalienable human rights. 

Tuesday, September 27, 2016

Gays, Members of The Church, and Love


As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I am pondering why some people are expressing anger toward my faith. It seems to me that they think we are full of hate toward people who are gay. This perspective appears to be founded on the fact that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints does not accept gay marriages. That is true. We believe that marriage between a man and a woman is ordained by God. We also believe in complete chastity before marriage and total fidelity in marriage. We believe that the greatest happiness in this life, and in the life after this, will come as we live in families. We firmly believe that the family is the basis of a stable society.

Does this mean that we hate people who do not accept and live our beliefs? Of course not. True, members of The Church are imperfect people and some have their own prejudices, but we are admonished to overcome these weaknesses and truly live with love as the Savior did.  He associated with people not accepted in his society - the publicans, the Samaritans, the lepers, the sinners, or those who had broken the Jewish law.  He showed deep love to all, and this is what we must also try to do.

Friday, November 13, 2015

Why Won't The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Bless and Baptize Some Children?

(Find link to whole address at bottom of this page)

Yes, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints does not bless and baptize all children who would like to be baptized. Minds clouded with fear cry, "Unfair!" They assume we are trying to punish or reject the child or the parents. While grudgingly admitting all our work to grant same-sex people equal legal rights in employment and housing, they fill the air with strident shouts of "prejudice!"  They think the reasoning for our actions is "obvious." They claim that we have suddenly changed our position, but have we?