In other news, this past weekend was General Conference! What an enlightening and motivational experience! I am always a little sad during the last session, knowing that it will be another six months that I will have to wait to hear from our inspired church leaders again, but I am so glad that the Nortons gave us a subscription to the Ensign so we can read the talks again and again.
One talk that was delivered at Conference has been receiving a lot of press lately, and I thought maybe I should give my opinion on the subject. President Boyd K. Packer spoke at conference about morality, and the decline we are seeing in today's society. He declared that homosexuality is a sin, that it can be overcome, and that as members of the LDS church, we do not support voting to change society's view on how marriage is defined. The Human Rights Campaign, a gay rights organization, has asked President Packer to "correct" these statements, claiming to be offended.
I know that this has been a hot issue in LDS culture--where do we stand between being compassionate and loving vs. rejecting a decline of values we hold important in our religion?
Though many people may bash our religion for being intolerant and anti-gay, what they need to realize that our religion is really just pro-family.
What is the most important thing to you in your life? When the demands of work and school and everything else fades away, what is the most important thing?
I know that I would definitely answer that my family is the most important thing, just as many of you would. Without my family, there would be little point to everything I do. And not just my immediate family, but my progenitors, and my future family that I will have with Owen as well. They are the reason I do everything I do--why I suffer through all this data entry stuff, why I am obsessed with blogging, why I spend hours studying my brains out. Because in one way or another, I want to make sure that I am prepared to serve my family and support them as best as I can. They are my stronghold.
I want everyone to experience the kind of joy and love I find in my family. There is nothing like being a part of family who loves you and who works together. And this is my greatest opposition to homosexuality. Developing homosexual relationships cannot lead to the kind of happiness which can be found in family life. It's just not biologically possible. Men and women have innate differences that are both key to building a family.
Now, being a Physiology major and having studied body functions and genetics extensively, I do not openly reject the idea that some people are born with homosexual desires. It may be true that some people are born with a genome that causes them to be attracted to the same gender.
However, it is also true that some people are born with genes that make them more likely to be alcoholics, or to have compulsive behavior that leads to gambling or other addictions. Just because you are born with a genetic predisposition to immoral or destructive behaviors does not mean that you must act upon those desires. It may be harder for you to make these sort of decisions, but it is possible for you to "overcome the natural man" as we say often, for you to act beyond your natural desires.
Our church may not be a popular church, but at least we do not waver from our moral decisions. If you are going to believe in something, like a religion, don't you want it to be steady and sure? It is much more comforting to believe in something that never changes despite the conditions and ideas of the world, rather than put all your hopes and effort into something that modifies itself with every popular opinion and whim.
I am so grateful for the words of the prophets and for their leadership in the church. President Monson's talk on gratitude will lead to a new feature I'm hoping to add to the blog--Thankful Thursdays. There is so much in my life that I should express my gratitude for, so of course I will blog about it!
Until Thursday,
No comments:
Post a Comment