(September 2, 2021 at 7:45 am)Ten Wrote:(September 2, 2021 at 7:00 am)The Grand Nudger Wrote: You can absolutely be gay and lds. Every gay person in the lds is a demonstration of that - and that's a reality that the cult is going to have to navigate if it intends to stay relevant, especially as heterosexuals come to be more aware and more empathetic about the nature of their lives in organizations like these.
Ultimately, the pronouncements of a religious institution can't actually be taken to be interchangeable with the perceptions of it's own constituents, and it's the perception of those constituents which wins out..every...single...time. That's why there's a graveyard of past problems for lds (and every other faith) that are no longer seen to be problems in present - just as there are (and will continue to be) problems in present not seen to be problems in past. Other christian cults have already tread this ground..so the new right answers are pretty much laying all over the place for lds to assume at it's leisure or necessity.
I'd wager that the reason this one thinks god told him to come out, is because he thinks it's important and meaningful to that work...and, sure, he's hedging - but that's to be expected.
Agreed. Forgive me. I meant specifically that you cannot be openly gay/actively homosexual and be LDS without losing all the privileges that an active member has. If you're a young person, you can't go on a mission if you've experimented sexually with same gendered people; it's treated worse than heterosexual sexual sin. You can't talk openly and positively about your experience being gay in church classes; You'd get taken aside and talked to by the leaders for promoting a sinful lifestyle. You'd only be allowed to talk about it in the context of struggling to overcome your baser self. If you are gay, you won't be able to pass the sacrament, give blessings, teach classes, or attend the temple. You might even be discouraged from taking the sacrament. Which, all of these things are a measure of whether or not you will get into a higher glory in the next life. So, if you aren't worthy to pass and bless the sacrament or attend the temple, then you won't get to have your own planet and a harem of wives, which is the whole purpose of this life in LDS theology.
So....yes. You can be LDS and gay. But it is little more than sitting in the pews, asked to shut up, unless you are actively trying to repress yourself.
I wholeheartedly agree with you that this issue will likely be added to the graveyard of other changes they've made. Right now, it's a hot topic because one of the apostles recently used very disturbing language in putting the church's foot down about the LGBTQ+. And the membership is pissed. There has been a lot of vocal dissent by active members and believers. They've been getting more and more vocal about this issue over the years, mostly on account of the growing number of LGBT LDS youth who have taken their own lives over their struggles and isolation on this issue. The LDS might practice branwashing but not enough to turn off empathy. And there are a lot of families, parents, who have lost a son or daughter because of this doctrine.
By the by, if the church ever did change this doctrine, it would be validating to me as an apostate. Because it's not "God" who's changing it but the old men at the top of the pyramid bowing to social pressure. And for how long they've waited and held off on changing it, the real motivator(read: money lost due to declining membership) will be obvious.
Churches change when it meets their needs. The Catholic priest in charge of the church in my hometown would not baptize my daughter because I wasn't married. I asked him why she was being punished for something she didn't do...he had no answer. Dad was never big on tithing but a couple girls I knew before and after I had Jen had their babies baptized with no problem. Since the church put out a bulletin a couple times a year listing who gave how much, it was a pretty easy thing to figure out. There was a $$ amount due for sprinkling some holy water. Though I was barely a lukewarm Catholic anyway...that situation cooled things off even more for me and according to my dad was the beginning of the end of his belief.
Bet they aren't so quickly turning away souls now.
“If you are the smartest person in the room, then you are in the wrong room.” — Confucius