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Calls about Prop. 8 not imminent
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My neighbors when I was in grad school in Cambridge Mass were a gay couple. When one of the guys lost his job, he was able to go on his partner's health insurance. I just don't see the problem with that.
There are gay people in SLC who contribute to our society, pay taxes, etc. And there is no such thing as a second-class US citizen.
This matter is none of our business. I wish the Church would stay out of it.
Do we really want gay pedophiles to be able to adopt children? (I didn't say that all gays are pedophiles, but MANY MANY pedophiles prey on children of the same sex). Do we want government sanctions on church programs because we refuse to marry gay couples in our church? Do we want judges legislating from the bench and forcing us to do something we voted against? Democracy is at stake here...
Proposition 8 seems to be more like protecting our beliefs and our rights than it does about wheather or not gays get to wed.
Protect our rights. Protect our children. Protect marriage. Protect democracy. Vote yes on proposition 8.
To all of you that plan on posting hateful things to my response all I have to say is... you're entitled to your opinion, even if it is WRONG.
THIS IS the churches to fight - political or not. And it's not all about religion either. Education is KEY here to understand the consequences that will happen and the importance of voting YES on November 4th.
I suppose you think we should stay out of abortion too? After all, I know some good people that have had abortions, and they too pay taxes and contribute to our society, so who cares if they have abortions. We should just stay out of it. If not for religious truth, where would we be? I'm not comparing homosexuality with abortion, merely pointing out that we CANNOT stand by and do nothing.
Doc & Cov 134: 9: We do not believe it just to mingle religious influence with civil government, whereby one religious society is fostered and another proscribed in its spiritual privileges, and the individual rights of its members, as citizens, denied.
I am an old fashioned guy and I adhere to what the Brethren in SLC have said...that Marriage is ordained of God and is to be between a man and a woman only. Why shouldn't The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints take a position that threatens the sanctity and the very definition of marriage.
We all know gay individuals, and probably we all know a close friend or family member that lives this way. They are great people for the most part, but that is not the issue.
We need to realize why the church is doing this and why it is important, especially to the church and its members.
The parable of the 10 Virgins comes to mind.
Leave others' rights intact. Stop forcing your religious views onto others. Vote NO on Proposition 8!
Do homosexuals have the agency (right to choose) to act in accordance with their desires? Absolutely, just as much as you do! But in a purely secular manner, both your right to act and their right to act ends where the law dictates.
It may be argued that morality should not be legislated, imposing one group's views upon another. However, this is faulty logic. ALL legislation is moral in basis. We have laws making theft or lying under oath a crime, but there are people who believe that occasional or even overt lies are acceptable. Moreover, people may believe that stealing is just a matter of society compensating them for what the world didn't freely give.
These may seem like extraneous or tangential examples. But please do not miss the point: just because a group believes something is right, does not make it so.
Then who does?
Feel free to keep trying, though.
BTW: I am a grassroots republican, if you remember what that means; little or no involvement of government in the matters of human rights and economics. Human rights are what they are, rights. There is a difference between right wing and republican. How do you think the father of the republican party (Jefferson) would think about this?
�When one of the guys lost his job, he was able to go on his partner's health insurance. I just don't see the problem with that.�
Neither does anyone else. That isn�t what Prop. 8 is about. It has no impact on health insurance, property or contractual rights, inheritances, etc., which are already guaranteed by California to domestic partners. Prop. 8 would not change or take any of that away. The activists are well aware of that. They aren�t after anything monetary; they are after the definition of marriage, to turn it inside out and force the world to accept and approve their concept of what marriahge is.
It�s truly none of my business who lives with whom, who is on the deed to their house, and who visits them in the hospital. Those are lifestyle issues. It is most certainly my business when it transforms the nature of marriage and family relationships, and society�s attitude toward them. Those are not mere lifestyle issues, but the pivot points on which civilizations turn.
What if I were to rephrase your question as follows:
"Do we really want heterosexual pedophiles to be able to adopt children? (I didn't say that all heterosexuals are pedophiles, but MANY MANY pedophiles prey on children of the opposite sex)."
"Do we want government sanctions on church programs because we refuse to marry gay couples in our church?"
Might I ask if this has happened to the church in countries that have already legalized same-sex marriage?
Pro-Proposition 8 groups have been twisting facts regarding cases in the US where religious groups are losing lawsuits because of discrimination. The truth is all of these cases involved religious organizations receiving government funding while offering public services.
"Do we want judges legislating from the bench and forcing us to do something we voted against? Democracy is at stake here..."
Forcing you to do what?
Thank you republican appointed "activist" judges for standing up for the minority against the majority.
Second, I worry that if marriage is redefined, how will that affect the church's definition of the law of chastity. The church says sex is wrong unless its with someone with whom you are legally and lawfully married. If a state suddenly defines marriage as just two people, then you aren't technically breaking the law of chastity. We, as a society, fall on a slippery slope of calling evil good, and good evil.
Even after Constantine established Christianity in the Roman empire, that great society fell when homosexual activity became an accepted behavior.
Nice attempt to change the topic there...
Although gay marriage may be a reflection of moral decay in society, I do not see how it would be the cause of it.
Even If gay marriage were legalized, there would be absolutely no way the laws could revoke any church's freedom to deny performing a gay marriage or the teaching of homosexuality as a sin.
Is there something I'm missing here?
This is not rocket science. It's simple. We are all male & female - CREATED by a male and a female. No matter how hard you try to change it - you can't. Period.
The final issue here is protecting the DEFINITION of marriage as it has been from the beginning of time. Anyone with a brain can understand that. It's not MEANT to be any other way, no matter how much you justify it, look for loopholes or re-define it yourself.
Yes, I really did go to school, BYU '96, Harvard Law '01. Maybe I naive as you claim: I believe in the Constitution I have sworn to defend, I believe that equal protection of the law is the basis of the American way.
Gay people in Utah have none of the rights claimed: no rights to health insurance, to deed or inheritance, no rights to hospital visitation, health proxy or tax equity. Not only do gay couples in Utah not have these rights as people here falsely claim, our state constitution as amended prevents them ever having these or other rights.
If your dislike of homosexuality reaches the point where you want to make gays into second-class citizens, then at least you should have the decency to admit that. Do not pretend that the law in Utah treats gay people equally.
I am not gay, I am married +2 (and another on the way.) I sustain the Church and am proud of being 5th-gen LDS. Only on this issue I disagree with Brethren. I testify that the Church is taking a stand that it will soon regret.
I have a college degree, and a master's degree, make enough money to buy a home, support a boyfriend and his kids, throw the occasional carne asada feast attended by straights and gays alike.
Sure, a woman is nice, but why not allow me to find the true love I am looking for?
Why do I need your permission?
Get back on your bicycles and ride.
YES the laws could revoke church's freedom (any religion) and it is happening RIGHT NOW - to deny performing a gay marriage. It's called "Church & State Laws." The state law (if passed) WILL overrule church law. IT WILL HAPPEN AND IS HAPPENING!!!
Yes, you are missing that bigotry, hate and fear of homosexuality is so powerful it takes over reason and rationality. In that sense, anti-gay attitudes are structurally similar to anti-Mormon attitudes. You are probably missing this because you yourself are not a bigot.
Your excellent point is worth repeating: No law can ever force the LDS to perform or accept gay marriages in our own church. But that does not mean we have the right to tell others they are legally inferior as Americans.
And before someone lays those same lame arguments on one obscure verse no one has ever heard of, I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about 12 pretty clear passages that are impossible to misinterpret.
God is the same today, yesterday and forever. What was wrong then is wrong now. Ignore it if you wish, but don't try to tell me I'm not really reading what I can read in plain English.
What I the Lord have spoken I have spoken and I excuse not myself.....whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same.
He has spoken by the voice of His servants, Latter-Day Prophets. It is the same. So it comes down to this, do we believe our prophet is the Lord's servant? We can't have it both ways.
Back to the religious part, the bishops no longer marry couples. The couples get married (sign a contract) civilly and then go to the temple or synagogue for the religious part of the ceremony.
The equality part that makes this a protected class is exactly what makes the gay and lesbian community excited and why it can reach into the classroom and the churches and the homes and any business and your personal opinion and most aspects of life (think hate speech among others). If the court did not make it an equality issue it would not represent the very slippery slope that it currently represents.
You said "Is there something I'm missing here"
You mean besides logic and commonsense. Yes, accepting deviant lifestyles always hurts society. Look what all the lying and greed have done to our financial system. Also take Canada for instance. You can be prosecuted for saying negative things about homosexuality. I know we are not Canada yet, but people who post here use all sorts of hate speech against those of us who will vote yes on prop 8 and support our church's position. They would love to shut our mouths if they could. They don't really believe in freedom of speech or religion for that matter. They are just haters.
Obviously, the voter does not decide what is right. Truth cannot be subject to change, legislation, or societal definitions. If society wants to define marriage as something other than a man and a woman, it may do so. But it may not change whether it is fundamentally right or wrong.
Homosexuality is seen as one of those issues where there is such delineation. But if there is a separation to be made, it must be between the individuals and the actions. Sadly, homosexuals may be characterized in a negative way throughout these comments by short-sighted individuals, but this is NOT how it should be. The Church is not involved in a campaign against them nor their happiness and fulfillment.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints stands firmly to oppose everything that will inexorably lead to sadness and heartache, including the re-definition of marriage. God has set the definitions or commandments required to have lasting happiness for all of His children. Scoff or scorn at my belief as you may, watch the world redefine or reinvent what is acceptable as it will; but find there is only equality in the law of God.
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But you will never hear those arguments when any church supports a cause that the left agrees with. Whether it be environmental protections, better support for the poor, more compassion for illegal immigrants, or speaking against the death penalty; you will never hear those outcries when the church takes a position they support.