Quote:
Originally Posted by Tex
I know prefixing any question with "honest" immediately leads to suspicion, but I do have an honest question for active members who are critical of the church vis-a-vis homosexuals.
How would you like/expect to see the church adapt its doctrine and practices to accommodate gays?
I'm not talking about just about attitudes (i.e., "be less judgmental," "make them feel welcome," etc). I'm talking about full embrace of homosexuality as a personal characteristic, much like the 1978 full embrace of all races.
Do you want or expect to see:
- Full acceptance of monogamous homosexual relationships as chaste? I.e., any practicing, not just celibate, homosexual be able to serve in any position, be fully temple worthy, etc. No church discipline of any kind.
- Solemnization of homosexual sealings, both spouse and children?
- Incorporation of homosexual families into regular church teachings, including periodicals, lesson curricula, general conference talks, etc?
Do you expect this will someday happen, and to what degree? How will the church comport it with earlier teachings and apparently contradictory scriptural passages?
I'm being totally serious here. I personally see this as a radical departure requiring abandonment of fundamental gospel principles far in excess of what happened in 1978. But I know some of you disagree.
So how do you see this taking place?
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I'm not really in the group you directed this at but here are my two thoughts:
1. You are right. I see absolutely no way to reconcile current doctrine to homosexual relationships being chaste. And I have given this quite a bit of thought. There is no honest interpretation of current doctrine that allows this to be for a member of the church. With that said, I think we doctrinally and practically don't really know what to do with gays as a church. It is my hope that there is additional revelation coming on this point. I don't know what it would look like, but with God nothing is impossible.
2. With the above in mind, I think all we really can talk about is how as Christians we treat gay people. I don't think we can condone gay relationships and gay marriages, but I guess I hope that we can come to view them the way that we view our friends who drink or smoke. That is, we don't approve of their behavior, we teach that we think it is wrong but we also don't treat them as though they are the emmissaries of the adversary. I don't believe we can keep them from having what they want for much longer, so I hope that we will shift our efforts to gentle persuasion, all the while upholding our standards. It is a unique issue. I earnestly hope there is something more to come on this. It is hard to accept that so many are simply condemned to be celibate and childless in the eyes of the Lord. But as your question suggests, there is no current way out.