The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints officially announced this week its support for an amendment to California’s constitution that would effectively ban gay marriage in one of the nation’s most liberal states.
In a letter to be read out in Mormon churches all across California, LDS leaders urged members to “do all you can … by donating of your means and time to assure that marriage is legally defined as being between a man and a woman”.
Although the church’s actions really shouldn’t come as a shock to anyone — Mormons have, after all, made no secret of their stance against same-sex marriage — the LDS Church’s latest round of sabre-rattling has done little to clarify its somewhat complicated stance on homosexuality in general.
The LDS Church isn’t anti-gay, per se. According to Mormon doctrine, homosexual is not a noun used to label a person, but rather an adjective to be applied to either actions or feelings. Therefore there are no homosexuals, only people with homosexual inclinations. Act on said inclinations, however, and you’ll likely have some explaining to do.
It breaks down like this: openly homosexual Mormons are able, even encouraged, to participate fully in church ordinances provided they, like the rest of the unmarried population, abstain from sexual activity. In that sense, they are my brothers and sisters in both faith and a lifetime of sexual frustration. Dungeons and Dragons party at my house!
There is, however, that which will always separate openly gay Mormons from the hopelessly single like me: marriage. While traditional marriage is pushed on straight LDS churchgoers like new cell phone plans or free trial offers, the Mormon Church’s stance on same-sex unions leaves their homosexual counterparts with little hope of hearing wedding bells in their futures.
Furthermore, if any member were to engage in homosexual activity, he or she would run the risk of facing disciplinary action from the church. The member in question would always be welcome in the congregation, but would likely have some privileges curtailed. It’s hardly an ideal situation for homosexual Mormons, but at least no one is trying to stone them Leviticus-style anymore, right?
My views on same-sex marriage are a little more complicated. Because coming out (no pun intended) in open defiance of Mormon doctrine would doubtlessly lead to my arrest and subsequent reprogramming a la George’s Orwell’s 1984, I’ll sidestep the theological minefield by saying I just don’t see same-sex marriage as a religious issue.
Granted, the Bible is abundantly clear in its denunciation of hot, man-on-man action, but I still don’t think any organisation — secular, religious or otherwise — ought to have a say in anything as intimate as a relationship between consenting adults.
While some Mormons back in Salt Lake will argue otherwise after reading this piece, I believe that your right to swing your fist ends precisely where my nose begins. In other words, we ought to be able to do as we please provided our actions don’t detract from others’ quality of life. If I, like some ill-informed right-wingers, believed same-sex marriage would unavoidably lead to hundreds of gays and lesbians having a Roman orgy on my kitchen floor, I might rethink my stance on the subject.
Even if homosexual activity is an express train to hell, who are we to stop others from boarding? I believe we will all be judged according to our own screw-ups, not those of our neighbours. Besides, I suspect a lot of us straight folk will one day find that we have seat reservations in precisely the same car.
Content from our partners
Related
