This was posted in my comments by "Anonymous": "How is my neighbor marrying her girlfriend, or the love of his life, going to affect me...honestly."If gay/lesbian marriages are made legal, LDS bishops would be required by law to perform them. LDS bishops would be excommunicated from the church if they perform gay/lesbian marriages. LDS bishops and temple sealers could then loose their right to perform state marriages. That would make all temple marriages null and void according to each state that allows gay/lesbian marriage. That is how my marriage would be affected. I would have to get married again by some civil authority... and so would you."
My response is that any LDS bishop, Catholic, Protestant or Lutheran clergy, if asked to perform a marriage, can say "No." Just because you are a bishop of an LDS church does not mean you are required to perform a marriage. Goodness. I believe that the laws of church and land should be followed. However, I am not going to force everyone to fall in love with who I think they should. Look at all the crappy marriages and spousal abuse out there. Be happy with who you are and who you love. Stop worrying about what might happen. Stop blaming the gays for everything that goes wrong in your life.
Anonymous needs to come out in the open. Sneaky little peck...
7 comments:
I'm not your sneaky anonymous...but they aren't really that off base. My brother is an attorney in San Diego and says that this proposed proposition could really do major damage. It would make it illegal for anyone licenced to perform marriage to refuse marriage to gay couples. So it would be illegal to simply say "no" to a gay couple who asks to be married, if they are licenced to do so. That would affect our temple marriages as well. Church and state DO have to abide by civil law..and if civil law requires the acceptance of gay marriage, then we would no longer be allowed to perform marriage in our temples. Only sealings.
So our young couples would have to get married civilly first, and then get sealed in the temple. For some people..that is a REALLY big deal.
I love this. It's like debating with my friend Marnie all over again. All I have done all day is look at articles about the pros and cons of same-sex marriage. It is a hard pill to swallow when we want to let everyone have the same rights and privileges that we do, but also to be submissive to the counsel of our church leaders. I haven't and won't ever blame the gays for destroying marriages, because I believe they are not doing it for that purpose. I did find out that if the government says that same-sex unions are a civil right they will also need to ensure that there is no discrimination against the union, so if a Bishop says "no" to performing a same-sex marriage, it can be looked upon as discrimination against the couple which would place church and state on a collision course, I believe it would conflict with our religious freedom as well. I can be a tolerant person and yet not accept certain behavior. Thanks for your comments, they are so exciting and make me think about what my opinion on the matter is. I can't wait to see what you say next.
I am not your "sneaky anonymous" either, but because you allow anonymous comments, I'm choosing to stay that way.
I live in a state where a similar amendment to CA Prop 8 is on our ballot.
I can see by your response that you have done very little research on the subject. The legal ramifications are real and they are terrifying.
You can visit http://newsroom.lds.org and click on “Same-Sex Marriage and Proposition 8” and “The Divine Institution of Marriage” to check my information.
This problem cannot be simply solved by just saying no. In addition to Laryl's comment, those people who refuse to perform a homosexual marriage, would result in their denominations tax exempt status would be revoked. Major ramifications would result in religious based adoption programs if they refused to place a child in a same sex home. Not only that but K-12 school curriculums would be forced to include same sex marriages as acceptable and equal to traditional marriage.
This is NOT a political issue. It is a MORAL issue that is attacking the divine institution of marriage and undermining the sacred purpose of the family.
Yes, we should love and accept individuals for who they are. And yes they are entitled to their freedom of speech, but so am I. After all, Christ loved the sinner without condoning the sin.
It is one thing to be tolerant... it is another to accept and condone the act.
I am not “blaming the gays for everything that goes wrong in [my] life” life. But I will not “stop worrying” and I will not stop fighting to protect my family.
I forgot to mention that while doing my searches and reading articles I found a lady who said that the Egyptians were performing marriages long before Adam and Eve. I thought Adam and Eve were the first people on earth, how wrong am I?!
And really, what gay couple is going to ask an LDS Bishop to marry them...really...
They are asking for CIVIL unions. No?
Why, can someone tell me, are both sides denying things? One says all of that is not reu, the other says all these bad things will happn. Who I ask you will tell me the truth?
Let me know will you?
First let me introduce myself… I am guilty of blog hopping and that is how I came across your blog. I left the anonymous comment above, thinking I wouldn’t make another comment. I apologize in advance… I’m not trying to turn your blog into a forum, but I’d like a chance to respond to your friend who is asking to know the truth.
I will not leave any more comments, and please delete mine if you are not comfortable with them.
It is certain that these “bad things” will happen. Look at the 2 states where gay marriage is currently legal. In Massachusetts Catholic based adoption agencies have already been forced to shut down. The public K-12 school curriculums have begun the transition and have started teaching and informing children, as young as kindergarten, about homosexuality. And because it is legal, it is done regardless of parental consent.
As for a gay couple asking LDS Bishops to perform a marriage, there must be some because in California there are currently several lawsuits against the church because they will not perform these services, nor are they permitted inside our church buildings.
Again, I would recommend visiting the LDS Newsroom in the above mentioned link for more information.
This problem is not limited to Massachusetts and California. This will affect the church world wide. I live in Arizona where we are facing similar issues and we are already beginning to see and feel the ramifications of this movement.
I stand again and say that we should love and be tolerant of all people and beliefs. It may be a fine line to walk, but I believe this can be done in a respectful manner without condoning the behavior. That being said, I will not become complacent. I will stay involved. And I will fight to protect my family ~ my children and their future.
I found your blog through another blog and just thought I post this address to another blog. http://sayyestoprop8.blogspot.com/2008/10/rebuttal-to-thurstons.html
It's really good and has helped answer questions that I had on how it would affect California.
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