Kerry here, with all the talk about prop. 8 I thought I would share how I feel, this is not directed at anyone individually.
It is surprising to hear the opinions of some members of the LDS Church who are opposing Proposition 8. It would not surprise me to see some members leave the Church because they do not trust the Prophet or to prove the point that they believe the Church (God) should not be involved in regulating moral issues that will be accepted nationally, and they believe that the things God asks us to do through his Prophet are optional.
If the Lord (through the Prophet) asks members in California or Arizona to support prop. 8 it would make sense that members anywhere would be under the same counsel. Some may consider this following blindly without using the knowledge we have, that is the purpose of a Prophet, to give counsel and direction when we don't see the big picture( I'm sure that in the days of Noah people thought his sons were following blindly, there was no rain. When Lehi left Jerusalem a couple of his sons thought Nephi was following blindly and there was no way that Jerusalem could be destroyed). Is our wisdom greater than God's?
While it may seem reasonable to feel that allowing same gender marriages to become accepted as normal and that this would be letting people exercise their “freedom”, however, when people “exercising their freedoms “ starts to take away from the freedoms of others and invites an immoral way of life that will lead to the destruction of family, values and even the belief in God, that is when it becomes a problem. If same gender marriage was accepted as “normal”, this would be taught to our children in schools as normal and acceptable. While our schools are no longer allowed to teach “thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not commit adultery, etc.”, it is now against the law to pray or teach respect for God and others, in the name of protecting peoples rights.
In the name of giving people their rights it could be said that there should be no age limit on drinking and smoking, you could marry your brother or sister, bars and adult book stores allowed on every corner, casinos and gambling allowed in every state, pornography allowed to be displayed in public places, people allowed to walk around nude in public, prostitution legalized, drugs legalized, no age restrictions on sexual relations (if a 50 year old man wants to hook up with a (your) 10 year old girl and they are both in agreement, it's their right), and there are people who feel it is their right to have relations with animals.
Most of these issues would be protested by some group or another at some point, because of our beliefs in what is morally wrong, and an even greater reason which most people don’t consider is the effect that these things have on society, most people are aware of the results of people that get heavily involved in pornography, it is usually followed by adultery, rape and in many cases murder. If all these things were acceptable it would not be safe to leave your home, in Sodom and Gomorrah the Lord sent 2 Angels there to Lots house “the MEN of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young--they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them” (Gen.19:1-16)The consequences that follow a nation or people that allow, then embrace immorality are devastating. Do you want to live or raise your children in this kind of environment?
Many of you that have lived in small cities, especially in Utah, have seen the situation where people have moved away from cities with an environment that they do not want to live in with their families, some have built their own cities with an atmosphere that attracts people because of the peaceful, clean and good environment, then as new people move in they tell how bad the place was where they came from and how nice it is here, but then they feel there are too many Mormons (the reason for the environment is because of the standards that the community is based on and abide by) so the first thing they want to do is make it “more like home”, and try to change laws in city's and towns to accept bars, drinking, adult entertainment etc.(so while we did not force those people to move to these small towns with good standards, those people feel it is their right to change the standards to meet their habits).
This is the same thing that is happening in America on a larger scale, God led people to America for religious freedom, he created the Constitution “by the hands of wise men whom he raised up unto that very purpose” ,the Constitution was based on principles from the Bible, the motto of America is “in God we trust” , when the Founding Fathers called for separation of church and state , it was to separate government from controlling religion not to take religious values from government. The good clean environment that God created is being changed and over run by those who do not believe in God, by siding with these people are we “trying to serve God without offending the Devil”
The gospel of Jesus Christ is about love, love the sinner but do not accept the sin as ok, I have respect for gay people but not for what they do, of adulterers Jesus said “repent and sin no more” he did not say “lets change the law so that what you are doing is acceptable”
Even if you dont believe that there is a living Prophet the Bible clearly condems fornication, adultry and a "man lying with a man", When we no longer believe that God is our Father and that we are no longer responsible in upholding the values that he has asked us to uphold , “we will bring about the calamities and destruction foretold by ancient and modern prophets” , there is nothing that we can be bound to, no belief of a consequence for any action if we do not believe in God, but if we still believe in God we know from the scriptures that the things mentioned are immoral and we have seen the outcome of those that have tolerated, allowed, accepted and then embraced these practices, are we inviting that to our nation in the name of tolerance or giving people rights?
got painted all white, masked off
All done!
