Tuesday morning leaders from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints held a press conference establishing the church’s views on religious freedom and LGBT non discrimination laws. The event can be watched here.
This is the message we needed to hear!
In brevity, the conference hit two main points. First, members of the LGBT community should not have their needs denied. This includes things such as jobs and housing. Second, religious people should be able to keep and hold to their religious rights.
What needs to be recognized is there was no change in LDS doctrine or their stance on any of these issues. The event was to further clarify what the church has long believed and promoted.
Key things we should take into account with this.
- No stances nor doctrine have changed.
- The doctrine has been the same ever since the church was established.
- This announcement does not contradict the actions that took place during Prop 8
- The church has always promoted basic rights for all
- Both sides benefit from these ideas and proposals
No one should be denied a necessity like a job due to things like race, religion, sexual orientation and culture. What people fail to realize is getting married is not the same thing. Getting married isn’t a necessity. Many people go through life without doing so.
Elder Jeffry R. Holland said a doctor should have a right not to perform an abortion if it does not align with their religious and personal beliefs. Others are willing to do so, and requiring the one to do it is going against their religious rights.
The same goes for religious institutions not performing gay marriages. Plenty of other places are willing to do so, and requiring the religious institution to do so goes against their rights. This is where Prop 8 comes into play. If the supreme court ruled no on Prop 8 it would have required religious institutions to recognize these marriages against their religious freedoms. The reason the LDS church was so pro on Prop 8 wasn’t to discriminate on LGBT members, but to protect religious freedoms. Furthermore the church was fighting to protect the title of marriage, but supported equal rights in necessity markets.
The church is very tolerant. The fact is, it won’t and can’t change the doctrine. The church fully tolerates people, but will not tolerate what goes against their doctrine. It would be less tolerant to demand religious people to go against their beliefs. True tolerance goes two ways. The church wants people to practice religion freely, as well as members of LGBT to have the rights of others.
Gaining marriage related rights does not have to come from the specific institution of marriage.
The LDS church isn’t targeting just the LGBT community with their doctrine, they have the same stance that sexual relations should remain in the bounds of a lawful marriage, even for straight couples. They are against adultery, and will never change that stance either. Though the legality issue is different, the doctrinal idea is the same.
The church has specific doctrine that has never changed, and they are fighting to be able to practice that doctrine fully under the rights given by the first amendment.
A proclamation that came out in 1995 about their views can be viewed here.
