Please stop your church. Now. Change your policy on marriage equality. Accept what many of your family, friends, and neighbors are telling you. Namely, that consenting adults are entitled to equal rights. Period. Or, at the very least, please back off. Keep your money and your personal views out of the government.
Thanks to y’all and your 20 million dollars, it looks like the state of California will now write discrimination into its constitution.
Here's my proposition. One of the central ideas of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is, precisely, those Latter Day Saints. It's one of the many beliefs that distinguishes the Mormon flavor of Christianity—it holds that there are prophets of the faith. Living apostles. Folks that are on this earth at this moment who God speaks to/through. Folks that keep the religion relevant to its current context. And whose constant recontextualization and reinterpretation allows for significant changes in the church dogma. You call it revelation:
We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.
Say for example, when the Church changed its position on polygamy, which it officially abandoned in 1890. Then president Wilford Woodruff stated:
There is nothing in my teachings to the Church or in those of my associates, during the time specified, which can be reasonably construed to inculcate or encourage polygamy; and when any Elder of the Church has used language which appeared to convey such teaching, he has been promptly reproved. And I now publicly declare that my advice to the Latter-day Saints is to refrain from contracting any marriage forbidden by the law of the land.
Or, say, when it modified its position on the role black folks in the Church. For lots of interesting history about this point, along with black Boy Scouts, the sports boycotts of Brigham Young University, and the answer to the question, “Why are so many of the inhabitants of the earth cursed with a skin of blackness?” see here. (And before you even think about challenging my references to Wikipedia, why don’t you first check those 174 citations?)
Apostle Spencer W. Kimball acknowledged that this policy against blacks in the priesthood and participation in temple ordinances could be a result of human error:
The doctrine or policy has not varied in my memory. I know it could. I know the Lord could change his policy and release the ban and forgive the possible error which brought about the deprivation.
A 1969 letter from the First Presidency read, "we believe the Negro, as well as those of other races, should have his full Constitutional privileges as a member of society."
And finally, in 1972, Spencer W. Kimball, LDS apostle and future president of the church said:
Intolerance by Church members is despicable. A special problem exists with respect to blacks because they may not now receive the priesthood. Some members of the Church would justify their own un-Christian discrimination against blacks because of that rule with respect to the priesthood, but while this restriction has been imposed by the Lord, it is not for us to add burdens upon the shoulders of our black brethren. They who have received Christ in faith through authoritative baptism are heirs to the celestial kingdom along with men of all other races. And those who remain faithful to the end may expect that God may finally grant them all blessings they have merited through their righteousness. Such matters are in the Lord's hands. It is for us to extend our love to all.
This is not love-the-sinner-hate-the-sin (and yes, to Mormons blackness was a sin, or at least a physical indicator of sin) Mormonism. This is love your neighbor and take a stand against discrimination.
These changes clearly indicate that—rather than the church inhabiting a hierarchical bubble, where God speaks to the prophet, who speaks to the elders, who speak to the congregation, and interpretation is always literal and direct—the LDS church is in dynamic relationship with the rest of culture/society. Did God change His mind about polygamy? Black folks? Or did the church adapt to what was becoming commonly accepted value in broader society? It recognized its error and/or the error of its forebears, and righted the situation.
So, there's your foundation. You and your Church not only have a responsibility to change your official viewpoint and consequent political efforts, you also have a pretty unique opportunity. Many evangelical Christianities have a very narrow, literalist interpretation of the Bible and the clear intent of God's Word (except for that whole Leviticus/Paul thing). Y'all, on the other hand, are part of a living religion. One that, in recent history, has gone through many transitions, geographically, culturally, and doctrinally. You can change. And many of you have. Either you have left the church because you found a better, happier life. Or you have found a balance, or perhaps synthesis, of the Church you were raised in and the Church you wish to be a part of.
Here’s the next level. You also have mastered the power of community and grassroots action. Capitalize on that and reclaim it. Your reach extends to the furthest corners of this world and your strong community structures—in Mormon strongholds, there are wards in every neighborhood, seminaries for every student to attend every day, mission trips for the freshly graduated, a Mormon university for the freshly returned—in short, you know how to organize.
So have a personal revelation already:
Each Latter-day Saint is expected to use personal revelation to determine how best to apply gospel principles and the commandments in his or her life in a path toward perfection. It is accepted that not all members will agree on how to interpret the same scripture; rather, each person is responsible to determine how it should be interpreted for himself or herself.
Some of you, like Brigham Young’s great-great-great grandson already have.
Get together with other pre-, post-, current, and/or recovering Mormons, and change your Church. Support these folks. Or, like I said, at least get your Church to stop meddling in—and sometimes destroying—the lives of people in my community.
If you’re still skeptical or nervously clinging to your long-held beliefs, try this little exercise: Take a stack of paper, a notepad, or a blank Word document. On the top of every page write one of your arguments against homosexuality/gay marriage. Now write the letters W-H-Y. Now answer the question. Now do it again. And again. And again. Until you agree with me. Or are so confused that you realize that your beliefs should not regulate the lives of others. And the lives of others do not influence the way that you choose to live your life. (And feel free to share your pages in the comments.)
Or, of course, if you think it’s a lost cause or you don’t give a shit ’cause you’re not Mormon, then do this.
