Tag: Sacrament Meeting

  • Showing Affection

    Showing Affection

    Excerpt from Utah Layton Priesthood Leadership Conference, February 15, 2014:[footnote]Utah Layton Priesthood Leadership Conference – Mormon Leaks[/footnote]

    Q. How should you address a same-sex couple in a Sacrament Meeting who are showing inappropriate affection?

    A. Elder Perry: Refer to the Jan 9th letter issued by the Senior Brethren. We do not turn anyone away from Sacrament Meeting, but all are to behave appropriately while there. I would invite them to come into my office right after and let them know how they were out of line. I would let them know that repentance is possible. The scriptures have not changed. Adultery is still adultery. Fornication is still fornication. We should continually warn those living in sin that they are jeopardizing their eternal salvation. Sin is sin. There is no way they can develop laws which will change the laws of the Lord. We must show them now that we believe in the right type of marriage and use the Proclamation to teach this. This is what we have always believed in. This is what all the prophets and the Savior himself believed in. We must be on the strong side of defending marriage and defending God’s plan for His children. This evil will divide out nation in half. We have to be more vigorous. We have to be certain that our legislature protects the Church. you know they [evil] never stop. They move one inch at a time until they have forced upon all. you would be amazed at the network we have among other religious organizations to protect religious freedom. Unfortunately the Supreme Court is listening to the voice of the people through the administration that is currently in place. The individual members of the Church must step up and get involved. It must come from the people, not the general authorities. As local leaders you have a fine line to walk between dictating and teaching the doctrine so that there will be a revival of lay members stepping up to fight for God’s cause. So that people in important positions and courts will see that the majority voice of the people will always be in favor of the Lord. If we do not follow him you can expect calamities to come. he will not let this go forward to destroy the basic family unit He has created for the progression of His children. We have a great responsibility on us and I hope you take it seriously. Teach correct principles and doctrines of what the Lord has established.

     


    Crash Course:

    Timeline of Mormon Thinking About Homosexuality – Rational Faiths
    Utah Layton Priesthood Leadership Conference – Mormon Leaks

  • Courage

    Courage

    Image: Video of 12 year old gay Mormon youth sharing her testimony, told to ‘sit down’ after coming out to her congregation (Mormon Leaks). 

    Savannah’s testimony:

    My name is Savannah and I want to share my testimony with you.

    I believe I am a child of heavenly parents. I don’t know if they talk to us, but I feel in my heart that they made me and that they love me. I believe I was made the way I am, all parts of me, by my heavenly parents.

    They did not mess up when they gave me brown eyes, or when I was born bald. They did not mess up when they gave me freckles or when they made me to be gay. God loves me just this way because I believe that he loves all his creations.

    I do believe he made this way on purpose, not part of me is a mistake.

    I do not choose to be this way, and it is not a fad. I cannot make someone else gay and being around me won’t make anyone else this way. I believe that God wants us to treat each other with kindness, even if people are different, especially if they are different. Christ showed us this.

    I believe that we should just love. I believe I am good. I try my best to be nice to each other and stick up for those that are hurting. I know I’m not a horrible sinner for being who I am. I believe God would tell me if I was wrong.

    I hope someday to go on dates, go to school dances, to hold hands and to go off to college. I hope to find a partner and have a great job. I hope to get married and have a family.

    I know these dreams and wishes are good and right. I know I can have all of these things as a lesbian and be happy. I believe that if God is there, he knows I am perfect, just the way I am and would never ask me to live my life alone or with someone I am not attracted to.

    He would want me to be happy. I want to be happy. I want to love myself and not to feel shame for being me. I ask you…

    At this point the first counselor of the stake presidency cut Savannah’s microphone and told her to “sit down“


    Crash Course:

    12-year-old girl comes out to her Mormon congregation – CNN
    How one Mormon girl’s brave coming out started a national conversation – Mashable
    Timeline of Mormon Thinking About Homosexuality – Rational Faiths

  • Proposition 8

    Proposition 8

    Image: Elder Lance Wickman – LDS General Authority

    Elder Lance Wickman in a 2012 interview speaking about the LDS churches involvement in the California Proposition 8 amendment against marriage equality: [footnote]Elder Wickman – Thoughts on Proposition 8[/footnote]

    “The first thought that comes to my mind is the shear heroism of our members in California, and others who stood up with them to defend marriage. They truly were heroic, metal of honor service as far as I am concerned. Almost in the same vein, contrary to what some may think it was the members not the church, yes the First Presidency of the church sent a letter that was read in sacrament meeting urging members to get involved, and thats all that was needed and they were galvanized by it.”

    From The Daily Dot, March 23, 2017[footnote]The long crusade: How the Mormon Church continues to war against gay marriage – The Daily Dot[/footnote]:

    New documents released by the transparency website MormonLeaks allege that LDS leaders did more than give their members pizza to encourage them to volunteer: The church’s leadership was directly involved in ongoing efforts to block marriage equality. And it continues to advocate for discrimination against the LGBTQ community, here and abroad, even despite recent attempts to build bridges with queer people.

    Training materials, presentation documents, and emails shared exclusively with the Daily Dot suggest even stronger ties between the Mormon Church and anti-marriage efforts than what has previously been alleged. After conservatives successfully passed Prop 8, a report from the Wall Street Journal claimed that the LDS Church provided volunteers and financial donations to the campaign. But the new materials suggest that the effort was directly supervised by members of the Church’s Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, its highest leadership board.

    Titled “Proposition 8 Grassroots Program,” a PowerPoint presentation leaked to the site was what leaders used to train supervisors assigned to man phone-banking and door-to-door efforts. An organizational chart in the document suggests that Elder John C. Dalton, a member of his area’s Quorum of the Seventy, directly facilitated political organizing for Prop 8, serving as state chairman. In his role, Dalton oversaw campaign leadership, as well as communicating with bishops and the presidents of local stakes, the LDS term for a group of churches that share the same district.

    Directly supervising Dalton were two members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles: Elders M. Russell Ballard and Quentin L. Cook. L. Whitney Clayton, senior president of the Presidency of the Seventy, also served as his superior.

    On Oct. 28, 2008, Dalton reached out directly to the team just days before the campaign to wish them luck and tell volunteers to press onward. It is this email that speaks directly to these leaders’ direct involvement in Prop 8 organizing.

    “We have been able to make hundreds of thousands of phone calls, rallies, bus tours, outreach programs on campuses and a host of other community activities,” Dalton wrote. “And all this has been done by your volunteer efforts and the members of your wards, branches, and institutes. I congratulate you on your dedication and faithfulness. Each evening as Elder Clayton and the statewide leadership conference call on Prop 8, you are uppermost in our minds and hearts. How proud we are to be associated with all of you.”

    The “Operations Manual” for the Prop 8 campaign further points to constant contact between elders and local churches to compel voters to show up at the ballot box that November. The manual, which was specifically for the Santa Monica area, opens with a quote from Edmund Burke—which was previously invoked by President Gordon B. Hinckley in a speech condemning pornography and “sex perversion.” It offers a statement of purpose for the campaign: “All that is required for evil to triumph is that good men do nothing.”

    Image: Page from the LDS “Proposition 8 Grassroots Program” training presentation – Organization Chart[footnote]‘Proposition 8 Grassroots Program’ Training Presentation – Mormon Leaks[/footnote]

     

    Crash Course: