LDS church on wrong side of gay marriage issue
by Robert Parker, Commentary
The East Valley Tribune
Phoenix, Arizona
Gay members of the Mormon Church and their families learned last week of a letter from Thomas S. Monson, our prophet, to all the "saints" of the church in California. He and his two counselors, known as The First Presidency, who live in Salt Lake City, Utah, have asked that the letter be read in all the pulpits in California today.
California members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, numbering many hundreds of thousands, through this letter are requested to devote their means and time to assure that marriage is legally defined as between a man and a woman. As the Lord's Prophet, Monson is asking all Mormons to support a gay marriage ban on the premise that heterosexual marriage is ordained by God and children are "entitled to be born within this bond of marriage."
In fact, it is the ban on gay marriage which harms children, families and basic morality. If marriage is banned for the more than 160,000 same-sex households with one or more children (according to the 2000 census), society will set up new structures for same-sex couples - a patchwork of domestic partnerships, civil unions and partner benefits short of marriage. A cornucopia of non-marital options will be set up for all couples, including heterosexuals. Marriage will be just one of many lifestyle options open to co-habitating couples, and it will lose the primacy and sanctity which it surely deserves. Ironically, the pro-family LDS church will have participated in this tragic erosion of the sanctity and uniqueness of marriage.
I am hopeful that making The First Presidency's letter public will generate consternation and discussion among many at the audacity of the Mormon Church trying to sway the vote in California in favor of a discriminatory law. I am even more hopeful that the discussion will turn toward the thousands of children and families directly affected by a gay marriage ban, and that many will examine the views they have been taught and embrace a wiser policy on the definition of marriage.
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The East Valley Tribune
Phoenix, Arizona
Gay members of the Mormon Church and their families learned last week of a letter from Thomas S. Monson, our prophet, to all the "saints" of the church in California. He and his two counselors, known as The First Presidency, who live in Salt Lake City, Utah, have asked that the letter be read in all the pulpits in California today.
California members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, numbering many hundreds of thousands, through this letter are requested to devote their means and time to assure that marriage is legally defined as between a man and a woman. As the Lord's Prophet, Monson is asking all Mormons to support a gay marriage ban on the premise that heterosexual marriage is ordained by God and children are "entitled to be born within this bond of marriage."
In fact, it is the ban on gay marriage which harms children, families and basic morality. If marriage is banned for the more than 160,000 same-sex households with one or more children (according to the 2000 census), society will set up new structures for same-sex couples - a patchwork of domestic partnerships, civil unions and partner benefits short of marriage. A cornucopia of non-marital options will be set up for all couples, including heterosexuals. Marriage will be just one of many lifestyle options open to co-habitating couples, and it will lose the primacy and sanctity which it surely deserves. Ironically, the pro-family LDS church will have participated in this tragic erosion of the sanctity and uniqueness of marriage.
I am hopeful that making The First Presidency's letter public will generate consternation and discussion among many at the audacity of the Mormon Church trying to sway the vote in California in favor of a discriminatory law. I am even more hopeful that the discussion will turn toward the thousands of children and families directly affected by a gay marriage ban, and that many will examine the views they have been taught and embrace a wiser policy on the definition of marriage.
full article
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