For those of you who don’t know, the church decided to include same-sex marriage in it’s list of things that are considered to be a form of apostasy.
I hate linking to this, but here‘s the post that was somehow leaked to the public and confirmed by KUTV as being real.
Now, I’m sure this is going to be an unpopular opinion among many in the Bloggernacle, but I personally am totally fine with the idea of the church excommunicating members who marry someone of the same sex.
I know, I’m the worst person who has ever lived and I’m sooooo judgy and I’m the living embodiment of everything that wrong with “LDS Inc” and “TBMs”.
You can’t please everyone all of the time.
But it is what it is.
People get excommunicated for adultery, for persistent public opposition to the church, and for polygamy.
I feel like it’s only logical that SSM would be cause for excommunication as well.
I don’t particularly care that certain people think this is somehow “barbaric.” I’m personally not the least bit shocked about this news.
If anything, I’m kind of surprised that this wasn’t already a thing.
The Church has rules. You choose to follow them or not. This is the Church talking as the Church, not some random Gospel Doctrine teacher swearing that being a Democrat makes you an apostate.
I feel like Eric Hawkin’s said it pretty clearly.
“Church handbooks are policy and procedural guides for lay leaders who must administer the Church in many varied circumstances throughout the world. The Church has long been on record as opposing same-sex marriages,” wrote LDS Church spokesman Eric Hawkins in a statement to 2News. “While it respects the law of the land, and acknowledges the right of others to think and act differently, it does not perform or accept same-sex marriage within its membership.”
Now, there is one aspect of this I didn’t know that does concern me.
“Natural or adopted children living in a same-sex household will only be allowed to be baptized once they are 18, disavow the practice of same-sex cohabitation or marriage, and stop living within the household, according to the policy,” reported KUTV. “Such baptism would still require the approval of the church’s governing First Presidency.”
I had no idea that was a thing.
I’m not going to start a group called BaptizeKidsOfApostates and demand a new laptop, but I do have questions about this practice.
My main question is, why is this a thing since “we believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam’s transgression?”
For most people, you choose to be baptized and, as long as you pass your baptismal interview, you’re good to go. The only exception I knew to this before now, dealt with underage children. They needed their parents’ permission in order to get baptized.
I can understand that there could be an explanation that is above my celestial pay-grade but, it seems to me, that the process should be the same for children of apostates as it is for children of non-apostates. I have to admit that it worries me a little bit that this isn’t the case.
This will have to be something I think about more. It’ll probably be put on my “questions shelf” until some dentist shoots another lion and distracts me from my shelf.
I hope that we can all keep a level head as the discussion of this news inevitably rears it’s ugly head on the Internet.
I wonder if the church’s stance regarding the children of apostates is doctrine or policy. If it’s doctrine, then there is nothing I can/should do about it. If it’s policy, I think the Church should, at the very least, review this blanket policy.
That being said, the concern I have about this development is not really news. I just assumed the “news” part of this story was already a thing.
No matter how you feel about the church’s decision, let’s all just try and keep an open mind and open heart on this issue.
Let’s not politicize children in order to fight for or against the church.
They are people. They’re not creatures, monsters or some mysterious “other.” They deserve to be loved and understood as much as anyone else.
I’m not saying we need to accept the decisions of their parents, and I’m certainly not saying we should bring our pitchforks to the Church’s Headquarters, but we should recognize that this can have a very real effect on certain groups of people affected by the decision.
While we’re at it, can we all review the Church’s official website related to LGBT issues? It’ll help us put the larger issue of Mormonism and the LGBT community into perspective as we talk/discuss/argue about this recent news development.
Featured Image Ted Eytan