AofF 12, Descrimination, and Gay Marriage
Adrianne of mormondiscussion.blogspot.com says:
i have a question…it’s been bothering me for some time…
if we are supposed to obey the law of the land (AoF 12) and the law of the land says not to discriminate, then why are we as a church able to work against homosexual marriage? A (much much) more in-depth question/idea on this is at my website at but i’d be interested in hearing some reponse on why we work so hard to fight against it?
i think that would be an interesting topic. esp since homosexuality coincides with FMH’s topic.
The law of the land does not say, “Do not discriminate.” You will not find those words stated or implied in the US Constitution or Bill of Rights. And those two documents are the supreme law of the land.
That is what judges and juries do. They discriminate between what is the law and what is not. And that is what laws do. They discriminate between what is right and what is wrong. And that is what legislatures do. They discriminate bewteen what proposed laws accomplish this and those that do not.
The whole philosophy behind “Do not discriminate” is wrong headed and confused. To say “Do not discriminate,” is the same as saying “Do not reason” or “Do not think.”
Should the laws be changed to encourage immoral behavior? Thankfully, most citizens agree that they should not.
Comment by John W. Redelfs — July 19, 2005 @ 5:53 pm
While I question the church’s opposition to SSM, mostly because it comes off as hateful gay bashing and seems anti-public health (less AIDS and STD’s w/ less gay promiscuity), I think the church considers it a moral matter and speaks out on those grounds. As far as discrimination, I remember in an HR seminar for managers at work at few years ago, we were told that homosexuals were not a protected group under employment law, but it was company policy not to discriminate for the purposes of having a friendly work environment towards the goal of serving our customers and maximizing returns to the company, etc. I have no ideal what the law is today Federally or State-by-State, but I’m sure any protections are restricted to public accommodations, employment, etc and wouldn’t interfere with a church’s right to say anything it wishes on the matter. We know the Supreme Court has said private organizations such as the Boy Scouts are free to discriminate, although I think the Scouts are stupid to do so (A don’t ask, don’t tell policy would be greatly preferred.).
Comment by Steve EM — July 19, 2005 @ 7:18 pm
Yeah, well, Steve, once again we totally disagree. Surprise. Any private organization can do whatever the heck it wants, thats what private is all about. If the Boy Scouts dont want Gays in their ranks, then they are entitled to exclude them. If any private group wants to organize in any way they see fit, they are entirely entitled to do so. Thats what private is all about. If I want to start “Kurt’s Capuchin Monkey Club” and only allow capuchin mokeys and exclude all other monkeys, then I am entitled to do so. You want to start “Gay Scouts”, hey, knock yourself out, or “Atheist Scouts” while youre at it. See how many parents want to sign their kids up for that.
As for the Church “descriminating” while trying to obeying the law of the land, the laws dealing with descrimination are a patchwork, and as far as gay marriage goes, there is a Federal Law that says no state has to observe any other state’s endorsement of such. So, its not like the Church is diametrically opposed to some clear cut law dealing with Gay marriage.
The Church is absolutely not hateful or gay bashing in any way shape or form, and attempting to present the official stance as such is simply science fiction. How many times does the President of the Church have to stand up and explicitly say flat out that the Church vehemently rejects any violence against them? The Church does everything it can to help these people repent and change. But, society is telling them they cannot change and they dont have to change, which is a load of lies. These people can change, I dont care if it takes a lifetime. There are people who struggle with all kinds of sins their entire lives, are we going to grant a license to them too because its just too hard to change? Of course not, and neither should we do that for homosexuals, or any other form of sexual immortality.
Comment by Kurt — July 20, 2005 @ 1:45 am
1st to the number1 comment, obviously you have no uinderstanding of the word “descriminate.” i agree with the writer in that it is against the law to decriminate and in saying also against the law of the church to fight so hard to keep gay people out of the world. Also as a lesbian teenager in high-school and a devought christian i see it as a load of enormous CRAP that christians decide that it is morally and spiritually wrong to be gay. i have read the scriptures and believe that how is it possible that the people know what it is that god believes and what he wants done unless they speak to him directly which cannot be done! i also, believing that people are born gay, say that god created all men and women equally so why do we not treat each other as such. all you who say it is wrong dont know what we gay people have to go through every day with other descriminatory people and you dont understand that we cannot change woh we are no matter how hard we try and as christians we are forced to live celibate lives to remane christians under gods rule and be gay. chew on that and think about it hard before you make any more comments about whats right and wrong in the gay world.
Comment by Tiffany — March 16, 2007 @ 7:36 pm