Across the nation, religions and religious people are losing their legal battles against homosexuals. Gynecologists are being forced to provide fertility services to lesbians, wedding photographers are being forced to photograph gay "weddings", and religions are being forced to let gay people use their facilities for their "commitment ceremonies". The storm is coming, and it's gonna get ugly. It is a matter of time before a gay couple sues the church. Probably in the beginning to use a chapel for their celebration of abomination, and later they'll try for the temple as well. And in the current legal environment, it's likely that the church will lose. Obviously, they still won't let homosexuals marry in the temple. It will become an issue of the church refusing to follow a court order.
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If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animated contest of freedom, go from us in peace. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen! - Samuel Adams
It's so frustrating to see it happening. I also see big trouble for religions over this and big trouble for the Church in specific.
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"The promptings of the Holy Ghost will always be sufficient for our needs if we keep to the covenant path. Our path is uphill most days, but the help we receive for the climb is literally divine." --Elaine S. Dalton
I don't understand why, if "marriage" is so important for them, they'd want to choose that time to make a statement, and in a place they're not wanted.
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"There is order in the way the Lord reveals His will to mankind. . .we cannot receive revelation for someone else's stewardship." L. Tom Perry
Some people simply want what they are told they can't have. Not that they'd be happy if they got it. In this case, I sometimes wonder if some gay activists are bent on butting heads with religions simply because of their own feelings of guilt. Like they think winning a battle with a church would numb those feelings by making them right.
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"The promptings of the Holy Ghost will always be sufficient for our needs if we keep to the covenant path. Our path is uphill most days, but the help we receive for the climb is literally divine." --Elaine S. Dalton
Basically, the way the court decisions are going, there is no religious principle that the courts won't consider less important than so called "rights". Think about it; wouldn't a transexxual female to male win a court case against the Church if they sued for the right to pass the sacrament? The church wouldn't do it, of course. And that's where the persecution comes in. Think about how the church was persecuted over polygamy, and that was an issue that the church could give in on. The church won't give in on this one, even to stop persecution. I think we'll also see more apostasy soon because many church members already see nothing wrong with gay "marriage". And you're right; why have a ceremony where you're not wanted? But it's all about forcing their "lifestyle" down other people's throats. It could become a job issue for many as well. How does a good church member react to the news that a coworker is getting "married" to his gay lover?
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If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animated contest of freedom, go from us in peace. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen! - Samuel Adams
This may become a reason that the Elders of the Church get called home; part of what they teach is the law of chastity. If teaching people with SSA tendencies to restrain themselves and repent of sexual acts becomes a prosecutable hate crime, we may have to let the Lord do the preaching for a while. And He will use very strong "words": flood, earthquake, plague, etc.. We are only scratching the surface with the current quantity of natural disasters.
Billions of people around the world hate you for Christ's sake. Very few will say, "I hate you for Christ's sake", but rather they may say, "You are a homophobe, hatemonger, bigot, judgmental chauvanist, who wants to take my money and control my life". (Who wouldn't hate a person like that?) Many will hide the overt hate under supposed logical and rational arguments.
Why don't they like you? Isn't the message you bring glorious? Yes, but it requires a change of heart and actions, which is really tough. No one likes to be told that what they are doing is wrong or sub-par.
How do you like being told that if you take everyone on this board, 1/2 of you are below average drivers? What? Me? I'm an excellent driver, he must be talking about someone else. No, I'm 50% sure I'm talking about you.
Now consider that you are talking about something far bigger than driving skills, someone's morality. Me? Immoral? That cannot be true. I'm basically a good person. I don't lie (much). I don't commit adultery (I'm not married, so its not adultery). I love everyone (except for my boss, 3 coworkers, that cop who pulled me over, and "sleezy-suzy" from high school and anyone who just is out to get me). See, I'm a good person.
We have a way of justifying ourselves, but there is only one way to truly justify ourselves, and that is the message we share with the world. They will hate us for it and all that it implies.
Yes, I think this may be the tip of the iceberg. The Church will be forced to make a stand more and more as time goes on and it's not going to be pretty.
Can you imagine if the Church ever lost its tax-exempt status?
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Life is tough but it's tougher if you're stupid. -John Wayne
The methodist church that didn't want a gay couple getting married on their property, is currently fighting the courts to not lose tax exempt status.
I don't think it's much of a stretch that something similar could happen to the LDS church.
The whole tax exempt status is supposed to be applied when a church stays out of politics. Problem is that to many 'Progressives' anything is political.