“Take my heart, oh, take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above!”
I can’t tell you how many nights I’ve knelt at my bedside with these words (or words like them) on my lips. Especially when I really began dealing with my sexual identity, first when I was 14 and then again when I was beginning my missionary service. I felt inadequate, never good enough, inherently broken, and always guilty for not being better than I was. Continue reading
The Mormon Church announced Friday morning it will be adding a session to its April 2016 General Conference. The new session will be targeted at LGBT Mormons and will be held Friday, April 1, 2016, at 4:17 A.M MST.
Speaking on behalf of the Church’s leadership, spokesman Daniel Renault said, “The establishment of a special session of Conference specifically for same-sex-attraction-trial-suffering Mormons reflects a recognition on the part of the Church that they need help.” Like the other sessions of the Conference, he explained, “the messages shared during this session will focus on the Gospel of Jesus Christ, but they will have a more particular emphasis on Jesus’ primary message, the importance of respecting ancient interpretations of scripture and avoiding overly expansive or excessively inclusive applications of doctrine.” Continue reading
Screenshot from interview
In the process of compiling a somewhat-comprehensive list of official LDS statements on LGBT issues, I have come across a few recordings for which I could not find full transcripts. One of those is the Trib Talk from 29 January 2015, between the Salt Lake Tribune’s Jennifer Napier-Pearce and Elders Oaks and Christofferson, discussing the Church’s “Fairness for All” news conference from two days prior. Here is my transcript of the interview. Continue reading
Our ward newsletter has a “Testimony Corner” where a ward member briefly shares their personal feelings about the Gospel. I was selected to share my testimony in the Easter issue. I don’t always feel comfortable responding to such requests because I rarely use the word “testimony” to name my convictions, and I don’t believe many of the things that other Mormons believe. But I do care about many of the same things that other Mormons care about, and I appreciate the challenge of identifying those common things and celebrating them. I shared this: Continue reading
True or false? “The Mormon church has a policy that mandates the excommunication of any member of the church who enters into a same-sex marriage.”
False.
The church’s policy requires that members of the church who enter into same-sex marriages meet with their ecclesiastical leaders to discuss their standing in the church (a conversation known, unfortunately, as a “disciplinary council”). As Elder D. Todd Christofferson clarified, the policy “means the discipline is mandatory — [it] doesn’t dictate outcomes but it dictates that discipline is needed in those cases.” The only mandatory requirement is a conversation.
Period. Continue reading
Am I ready?
[She smiles.] That is for you to decide. [His fingers brush a few wispy hairs from my forehead.]
I am.
Yes, you are. [They glance at each other, then at me. A wave rolls through the air and passes through my chest.]
Tell me again about the World. Continue reading
Moses Breaking the Tables of the Law, Gustave Doré
Sister, have you kept your covenants?
I stare straight ahead and
Lie with a grace I do not feel
Yes.
But have you kept yours? Continue reading
Elder Holland held a Face to Face event yesterday evening (for background on previous Face to Face events, see my recent post), during which he responded to a series of questions, including a final two-part question about same-gender attraction. This is a transcript I made of the question(s) and response. I make no guarantees about the accuracy of the transcript, but you can check my work by viewing the video yourself here. This question begins around the 1:13:24 mark. Continue reading
My Dad taught me a very important principle in my youth. If one of your friends, or family members is dating/marrying someone you think is an absolute creep, and you tell them this, you will not likely change their decision. More likely they will continue on with the decision, even if they themselves start to feel other wise, and you will ruin your relationship with that person.
I saw the wisdom in my dad’s words, and over the years there have been many times I strongly disagreed with friends and family members dating choices, and bit my tongue and saved our relationship. However, in the past year, I learned that I had been approaching this all wrong, and even though I had managed to not burn any bridges by taking my dad’s advice, there were things I could yet learn that would not only just preserve friendships when people made choices I disagreed with, but deepen the relationship, despite our disagreement.
Its strange, but not strange at the same time, that the things we most feel inclined to want to correct others on, to “save them from themselves” and their bad decisions, are probably the most personal choices that we really have no business at all making for anyone but ourselves. I am as guilty of doing this as anyone, and I am trying to change. Things like religion/spirituality/faith, dating/marriage relationships, and politics often become things that can divide the closest of friends and drive a wedge between them. These are areas we feel often morally obligated to help someone else not make a “wrong” choice. Continue reading
Over the last two years, the church has produced a series of “Face to Face” events for youth, consisting of conversations with Mormon celebrities or ecclesiastical leaders. The first one was with David Archuleta in June 2014, and so far there have been a total of five, with a sixth coming up next week. This is the full list:
From event page for Face to Face with Jeffrey Holland
During each event, part of the discussion is used to respond to questions that have been submitted from around the world, either on the official event page or on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram using #LDSface2face. The questions submitted through the official event page are posted for public viewing, and they make for fascinating reading. My focus here is on the questions submitted to ecclesiastical leaders related to homosexuality. Continue reading
Out of Obscurity 