When I first read the article about 300 Mormons marching in the Utah Gay Pride Parade, my first thought was, “Yes! Ok! What a showing of love!” But the more I thought about it the more I realized, “well, no…not quite.” What exactly are they showing love for? The LGBT person? Yes. But it’s a gay pride parade. So they are also showing love for the sin itself. And that’s not ok. I would hope that those Latter-Day Saints were motivated by love and not a desire to bend our beliefs to fit emerging cultural norms. (Side note: is anyone else a little exhausted by trying to be PC all the time?)
For me, this isn’t a debate about whether or not I approve of homosexuality. Nor is it about whether or not we should love our brothers & sisters who deal with same-sex attraction. The teachings of Christ are very clear on both issues. We are to love our neighbors as ourselves. We are not to condemn or withhold love, for are we not all sinners? The gray area is this: how do we show our love for gay individuals? Maybe look at it this way:
Jesus ate with sinners. He talked with an adulterer. He won their love through compassion. He did not, however, saddle up his donkey to lead the “I’m down with Adulterers” rally. Ok. Modern day application- I have a family member that struggles with drugs. I love this person with my whole heart, but I’m not going to go march in a “Make Pot Legal” parade to show my support for them. You get the idea.
And why does it have to be one-sided? How often do we hear openly gay people defend the Mormon church or (dare I say!) Mitt Romney? Not often. Our religion is more than a little acquainted with persecution & haters. Which should most certainly breed within each of us a desire to reach out to the persecuted and down-trodden.
Bottom line, we should love everyone and strive to help them understand their value as a child of God, no exclusions. l loved the good intentions of those 300 marching Mormons, but I’m not about to go slap a rainbow sticker on my bumper & march alongside them in a Gay Pride parade.
~Cortney
I would agree that we should not be supporting the ‘Sin’. But we should somehow show support and love instead. Maybe the Cultural Hall should organize a ‘LGBT are people too’ parade for mormons to get out and support our brothers and sisters that identify as LGBT and show our love and support.
I think you’re a bit dazzled by all those trees.
1. I haven’t heard of one LBGT club, support group or march throwing out Mormon because they were Mormon. But Mormons throwing out Gays? Common. There is a basic asymmetry here. The reason historic Mormon persecution is less than relevant is that it is not current whereas Gay persecution is.
2. You have lost sight of the sin. The sin is sex outside of marriage without regard to the genders of those involved. Both gay and straight sexual promiscuity are sins. You weren’t marching in a Sexual Freedom League parade.
3. By my reading of the new testament, Jesus didn’t care what somebody was, an adulterer, a tax collector, a priest, a temple worker, a government tool or Samaritan pariah. His message to them was the same: change, leave your traditional hatreds behind and become a more holy person. He was more interested in their future than their past or present.