8 Aftermath - Part 1
As I said before, I'm done debating about whether or not Prop 8 was right or wrong, or whether or not the Church should have gotten involved as it did.
Following the election, however, there has been a lot of tension, hurt, angst, and accusations being tossed across the large and divisive rifts that this issue has caused, especially that of between LDSaints and the gay community, as well as between LDSaints who supported and opposed Prop 8.
The following are parts of a discussion I had to a friend of mine on Facebook. Her remarks were very typical of things I have heard from many LDSaints in the last week.
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"To [LDSaints] living in California, our prayers reach out to you for protection. We love you."
Why not pray and weep for the tens of thousands who, rightly or wrongly, just had their hearts ripped out of their chests a week ago. Instead of further demonizing them, shouldn't we be taking the Christlike step and start loving them even more?
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I'm not condoning the vandalism, nor am I condoning the hateful things that a minority among the gay community have said and done. Those things are wrong without saying.
However to think that LDSaints and the LDS Church are innocent victims who were merely exercising their religious rights is too avoid the harsh reality of life: While we have the right to voice our opinions, we have to do so realizing that others may not like what we have to say and will express their rights to speak as well. When you're taunting a dog, you shouldn't complain when it tries to bite you.
Whether or not the Church was right in it's heavy involvement with passing Prop 8, this is not the time to prove how right the Church is. Tensions are really high right now. There are a lot of emotions, hurt, and anger being felt right now. To proclaim, as you have (and the LDS Church has implicitly done) that "The majority won. Get over it." does nothing but stir up hatred and anger even more. Can you really imagine Jesus acting in this way? If you do, perhaps we believe in a different Jesus.
Furthermore, for you to ask, "but what about freedom of religion rights?" or to proclaim that "groups like LGBT are trying to force religions to change their point of view" are just blatantly false. To make an analogy between the passing of Prop 8 and the protests of some in the gay community are just totally misguided. Prop 8 used the state to legislate against the wishes (and for what many believe to be a religious right of worship) of homosexuals who wanted to get married. There is nothing analogous in the protests of some in the gay community. They aren't trying to pass legislation against the Church or LDSaints restricting theirs right to believe how they please. Neither are they trying to tell the LDS Church to change its beliefs. Rather, they are just asking the LDS Church to not use its religious beliefs to pass legislation against them.
'typical right wing hatemonger' says (which i already deleted) - "could you show me where in the previous quote that you used it was said "but we are not praying for anyone else"??? just because someone says we are praying for you does not mean that excludes anyone else. they are talking directly to a group of people and are addressing them directly. pull your head out man stop looking for things to be offended by "
ReplyDeleteyou obviously weren't privy to the original discussion which consisted of a few comments made up of several paragraphs each, of which i am only citing brief sentences. if you had been, you would have well known that my friend was specifically referring to latter-day saints whom she feared were endangered by the protests of the gay community. i was not looking for anything to be offended by. i was specifically responding to what she was specifically speaking of. if anybody is looking to be offended, it is you.
hatemonger, you are a coward. you constantly come onto my blog looking to be offended, and then spew your nonsensical, ignorant, vacuous, and utterly stupid criticisms behind the guise and anonymity of a faceless pseudonym.
you are pathetic.
i've asked you before and i ask you again. PLEASE STOP COMMENTING MY BLOG.
you are a complete coward. stop coming to my blog looking to be offended. grow some balls.
What if hatemonger is a she? That would be fairly nasty for her to grow some balls. Just kidding. If I had to guess, I would also guess a male. The tone of hatemonger's posts tend to be more masculine than feminine. Although I disagree with many of your opinions Loyd, I also find myself disagreeing with hatemonger, mostly because of the picture it paints for other conservatives. Although I completely disagree with SSM, I don't hate homosexuals, or liberals as hatemonger does. All that does is further divide two sides that disagree.
ReplyDeleteLet the fight to take away each others rights begin!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=148&sid=4857733
Isn't it sad what is coming of all of this? Each side wants so much to take away the Liberties of the other that both sides are going to be forced to conform to government laws we force on each other. Sometimes I think we should just dump everything but the Constitution and the Bill of Rights...and let people be people. None of these special interest groups whether they be gay or straight. Just Americans who can do what they choose to do without having to conform to some stupid Government laws that we force on ourselves. It's getting pretty ridiculous honestly. Why can't we just respect one another and not try and force our beliefs on one another?
We need to quit trying to control one another. Especially putting laws into place...because all it does is give the power to someone else to control our lives. Every disagreement that brings about another law just adds to the list of the things that take away our liberties. It has to stop. If we want to be free, we have to help EVERYONE be free whether we agree with each other or not. If you want the world to know your opinion of what is good and moral... then use your free speech...that's what it's for. Then people can use their FREEDOM to decide.