As I listened to the news last night and heard that Proposition Eight in California had been overturned by a federal judge, I couldn't be angry. Hearing the gay and lesbian celebrators shout, "separate church and state," it reminded me that no matter what happens, the church can discriminate against who they allow in the temples to be married. Even if gay marriage rights are finally allowed in america, it won't force the LDS church allow gay marriages to be performed in our temples.
My mother was furious about the news, and I looked at her and said, "There's nothing within the constitution that defines gay marriage as legal or illegal, and making it illegal does, in fact, deny those people rights. Under the first amendment our church is protected from legal attacks when we don't allow gays to be married in our temples. I don't condone the practice of gay and lesbian relations, but I'm not going to condemn those people." It calmed her right down.
One of my best friends is gay, and he was at that celebration last night. I saw him on the news. It hurt to know that he doesn't communicate with me as much anymore because I am LDS. He thinks that I'll start to rag on his beliefs, I think, when in reality, all I want is for him to know that I respect his decision based on his beliefs, even if I don't condone it, and I want him to respect my beliefs in turn.
I think we forget sometimes that our church practices Christianity, which means we accept others and hope they come unto Christ. We shouldn't be judging people, and should be, in fact, doing what our church leaders asked, that we "act in a spirit of mutual respect and civility." I think that both sides are guilty of overlooking that statement, which was said many times before when the vote for Prop 8 was going on. If we, as LDS christians, would show respect, love, and civility towards our brothers and sisters who are gay/lesbian, we would, I believe, in turn receive that.
No comments:
Post a Comment