Sunday, February 10, 2008

Headlines: Gay Mormons seek meeting with new leader

After preparing my things for Church this evening I hopped unto news.yahoo.com to get my secular fill before drifting off to bed. Once I scrolled past the political news of the day I was greeted with this interesting headline -

Gay Mormons seek meeting with new leader

A group known as Affirmation that consists of 2,000 gay and lesbian members of the Church has requested a meeting with the First Presidency.

I can only assume that with the Church's newfound media appeal due to Mitt Romney's run for the presidency we will enjoy more coverage on events like these which in the past the media would have been filed under "Who Cares."

A simple search using the key words "Affirmation" and "Mormon" linked me to this group's website - www.affirmation.org

I read through the website. It only left me with unanswered questions...

What are they proposing the LDS Church do? Are they hoping that the Church and its membership reach out and be respectful to those who are gay and lesbian, something most members would agree with? Or are they desiring that the Church actually change positions on homosexuality and accept it as a normal and holy practice?

All I can say is...

Good Luck President Monson! The mantle is heavy.

2 comments:

Kim Siever said...

The impression I received from reading their letter to President Monson is that they seem to want specific direction from Salt Lake for local leaders offering counsel and support to gay members. I don't think it reasonable for church leaders to tell gay members to pray harder or fast or keep the commandments in order to deal with the issues they face every day.

I do not think Affirmation seeks to change Church doctrine. In fact, the letter states: We believe that by working together this can be done in a manner consistent with Church doctrine and the teachings of the Savior.

Drew E said...

Kim,

I definately agree that more counsel is needed that exceeds praying and fasting for those that struggle with homosexuality.

The topic of homosexuality in the Church is one that I struggle with. I am extremely concerned that society as a whole is not addressing homosexuality with the love and concern it deserves. The ammedment to establish marriage only between a man and a woman also really concerned me. Giving the government power to define marriage while ignoring actions that could be taken to bridge misunderstandings was something I cringed at.

I am not completely sure if I agree with your take that they are not seeking to change doctrine. I don't think enough is said in this article or on their website to really know.