vote YES on proposition 8 to define marriage...
I'm sure you've heard many things about proposition 8 lately. Well, for my blog readers, I feel it is important for you to understand the implications that will follow if proposition 8 does not pass. http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/. If you check this link out, you will see Elder M. Russell Ballard and Quentin L. Cook explaining why the church is taking a stand on this issue. This is not merely political, but MORAL. Please read up on the issues at hand. If California does not pass proposition 8, it will define marriage as between whomever wants to be... this will surely and quickly pass through the rest of the country. Watch this video clip to see what some of those implications will be... what your children will be taught in public schools (keep in mind that I am a public school teacher).Go HERE http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1815820715/bctid1822459319
Also, if you'd like some more information on proposition 8, go here: http://www.protectmarriage.com/
here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/10/11/MNOD13F2UA.DTL
Of course, I can't tell you how to vote if you live in California, nor can I tell you how to vote or react when/if this proposition is carried to your states, but I can tell you what I know and feel. That marriage is ordained of God and meant to be between a man and a woman. I know that we are created in God's image an given the power to follow Him and to CREATE children. We already know that the world has tried to make something that is so sacred and wonderful into a dirty, carnal, and ugly thing. Legalizing same-sex marriage, in my mind would be telling EVERYONE that we believe that it is ok to have THOSE kind of sexual relations.
As an educator, it worries me that one day I may be forced by a school district or administrator to share these things as "truths, self-evident". I do not. I pray that the Lord will intercede on our future's behalf.
Comments
Whatever views I hold as doctrinal or ethical, I am free to express in the political arena. However, it is not incumbent on the church to require everyone to live by our doctrinal standards, even if we think they are right. There is no innate quality about a same sex relationship (the statistics are ridiculously flawed) that makes them bad parents. If, according to LDS doctrine, their union will not perservere after death, ok: but neither will anyones (according to LDS doctrine) outside the temple. I'm afraid it's more complex than just saying: "Here's the doctrine, now everyone else should follow it, even if they don't hold the same religious beliefs." After all, the Church urged members to vote against equal rights for women--but few would now claim that was a bad decision. Anyone is free to email responses to me--bdvdclarke@gmail.com
But the risk of not saying anything, of not trying, even though many don't understand or agree...and even if we don't understand all the reasons why...as long as we're doing all we can to stand up for what we believe in, and doing it in as sensitive a manner as possible - what more can we do?