Saturday, November 8, 2008
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Apologies from Latter-day Saints (Mormons) who wish to find peace and reconciliation following the LDS Church's involvement in passing Proposition 8 and for recent hurtful comments from some Church leaders
Thank you for this site. I left the Mormon church 8 years ago because of this issue but I have tried to have a positive attitude about the church because my extended family and some of my adult children are still active members. But this time with Prop 8, I have been filled with so much anger towards the church and the members who supported Prop 8 because of the hurt that they have caused. Reading these apologies finally brought the tears of grief that my anger has been keeping at bay. Thank you. I hope others find this site.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this site. I'm a Jew, and in my synagogue, as in many other Conservative, Reconstructionist, Reform, and Renewal synagogues in California, we believe that love is equal before G-d. We have been celebrating traditional marriage rites for our same-sex couples for ten years, even though the law treated our marriages unequally. We understood that inequality to be a violation of our religious freedom, a violation of our right to practice our faith with equal freedom. But we are Jews and we have a long history of abiding in patience. We had faith that one day people would see that it's wrong to treat our marriages as less valid than those of the Baptist church down the street. We know we don't have to agree on theology to respect one another; we only need to acknowledge that we should be free to practice according to our faith.
ReplyDeleteWhen the court declared that our same-sex marriages would finally be held equal, we were so happy thinking that day had finally come.
Even after Proposition 8, although so many of our families are hurt legally, financially, and spiritually because of the fact that a slim majority of people voted away the legal standing of their relationships, we find strength knowing that in our own community we can and will support our same-sex couples as married partners blessed by G-d. And it gives us hope, knowing that even some of the people whose theological position on same-sex marriage is supported by Proposition 8 acknowledge that we can differ and still not legislate away one another's rights.
Thanks for extending your hands. I believe we can change this decision to one that will be acceptable to everyone. I don't know what it will take. Maybe it will have to say that marriage is to be defined by every individual religious institution for themselves, and that the state can also grant civil marriages for interfaith families and non-religious people and just people who prefer to be married secularly. And that all marriages will be treated equally by the state. And that nothing favoring any particular definition of marriage can be taught in public schools, and no religious institution is required to solemnize a marriage that violates their theological beliefs. I think this version of the law would not perfectly satisfy anyone, and is therefore more likely to be fair to everyone. Can we start working on this now?
As a non-LDS gay person, I would like to express my thanks and admiration for this site and for those who have expressed their remorse about Prop 8. I am a Californian, but I grew up in Idaho among many LDS friends. I was angry that the Church actively campaigned for prop 8, but I also know that many Church members are kind, sincere and honest people, and I was sad to see anger about Prop 8 directed towards LDS people in general rather than the Church leadership.
ReplyDeleteI am a gay married man in California (one of the 36,000 "third class" citizens married last summer who can keep their married designation), we have been together for twenty years, and we have two children. We are very family-oriented, we don't drink, we don't swear (around our kids anyway !), and we are honest and hard working. (sounds kind of like a good Morman family, huh ?) So I was of course perplexed that the LDS church would try to marginalize me and my children. It seems very un-mormon somehow.
So, thank you all for your thoughtful words.
Thank-you
ReplyDeleteThank you for having the heart to stand up for my friends and familes rights. Thank you for having the courage to stand up for peoples rights even if you might not personally follow that path in life. And thank you for showing me that you have had the courage to apologize to those who have been harmed. There's nothing more I can say but thank you and bless your heart and soul.