I woke up this morning at 5 am and could not get back to sleep, and so this morning, I am using my blog to vent (my apologies).
Even after taking a full day off of the media, I am still so troubled by what is going on in this country with regard to marriage and prop 8 and all the subsequent related news and heat the LDS church is taking. So you may be saying to yourself- "the Brandvold's didn't move to California did they?" and no we didn't. It's really not all about prop 8 (or 102 in AZ) because next time it will be prop 11 or 18 or 647 and what happens in one state sets precedent for the rest. My issue is about what Marriage is and should be and why. Plus with the way my life goes, I may very well live one day for a time in CA.
I have been so troubled by so many blogs I have read, and people I have talked to that maybe if I blog it out, I can feel like I have had my say. Though since my blog is private and my audience definitely biased in my favor, I know my purpose isn't to change minds, just to vent, On the other hand if it wasn't private, I would be to fearful to speak my mind because of the hateful backlash that would inevitably ensue.
My reason for opposing same sex marriage is that I want my children to grow up in a world where families (with a mom and dad) are still the foundation of our society- where families are valued and recognized as the fundamental unit of society. Marriage is ordained of God, not of man. If its changing it now to any two consenting adults, how will it change in the future. I want to teach my children about love, sexuality, marriage, and family in accordance with my religious beliefs. I want to not be discriminated against because of these beliefs or told that my beliefs are old fashioned, out of date, intolerant, or discriminatory. I do not want to teach my children to hate people who chose to live their lives differently. I want to teach my children to love everyone as Jesus did. I want to teach my children from the Bible- the commandments of God and not to be contradicting the laws of the land or teachings of the schools. That's it in a nutshell.
What angers me the most is the hatred that we are now seeing specifically targeted toward our church- burning book of Mormons, vandalism against churches, protests outside of temples, white powdered being mailed to temples, anti-mormon propaganda throughout the media, members under attack, jokes at our expense. Why us and what are we to do? Interestingly enough, shortly before the election, I read Boyd K Packer's conference talk. I even re read it- trying to figure out what he was trying to say. Now, in light of the recent attacks on our church, I think I understand it a bit more and I think it applies. Ill just say I recommend it and leave it at that.
I know that there are members of the church falling away over this issue. I can see the struggle. I understand it. I "get" the arguments. When I was talking to my brother the other day on the phone, he said to me..."It comes down to following the prophet or not." I think that is so true (as a sidenote to this -if you don't know, the first presidency issued a letter to the members in CA asking them to support Prop 8 with their time and means- click here) and it was affirmed to me when a friend of mine emailed me this quote from Elder Maxwell from 1979. It's such an applicable quote- and the primary reason I wanted to post.
"Make no mistake about it, brothers and sisters, in the months and years ahead, events are likely to require each member to decide whether or not he will follow the First Presidency. Members will find it more difficult to halt longer between two opinions. President Marion G. Romney said, many years ago, that he had 'never hesitated to follow the counsel of the Authorities of the Church even though it crossed my social, professional or political life.' "This is hard doctrine, but it is particularly vital doctrine in a society which is becoming more wicked. In short, brothers and sisters, not being ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ includes not being ashamed of the prophets of Jesus Christ. . . . Your discipleship may see the time when such religious convictions are discounted. . . . This new irreligious imperialism seeks to disallow certain opinions simply because those opinions grow out of religious convictions.
"Resistance to abortion will be seen as primitive. Concern over the institution of the family will be viewed as un-trendy and unenlightened....
Before the ultimate victory of the forces of righteousness, some skirmishes will be lost. Even in these, however, let us leave a record so that the choices are clear, letting others do as they will in the face of prophetic counsel. There will also be times, happily, when a minor defeat seems probable, but others will step forward, having been rallied to rightness by what we do. We will know the joy, on occasion, of having awakened a slumbering majority of the decent people of all races and creeds which was, till then, unconscious of itself. Jesus said that when the fig trees put forth their leaves, 'summer is nigh.' Thus warned that summer is upon us, let us not then complain of the heat."
Elder Neal A. Maxwell, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints "A More Determined Discipleship", Ensign, Feb.
1979
Now before, I publish this post and get going with my day, I just wanted to address a couple more things. There are a lot of lies being spewed by every celebrity and media figure out there. The first is that the issue is all about equal rights- well, read for yourselves California law and see if that is true..
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cacodes/fam/297-297.5.html
hmmmm- seems they already have equal rights. Maybe I am wrong but it reads that way to me.
And another argument which I feel needs a little reality check, is that Gay Marriage will not be taught in schools because marriage isn't even taught- well watch this clip about what is now happening in Massachusets...
http://www.brightcove.tv/title.jsp?title=1784521903
And of course the ever-present argument of tolerance. The word tolerance is used a lot in this whole battle. I really like what is said about Tolerance here: ( You'll have to scroll down to the tolerance part or you can just read the whole thing which is a great document):http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/commentary/the-divine-institution-of-marriage#_ednref16
http://www.preservingmarriage.org/
http://www.protectmarriage.com/
http://lisalongll.wordpress.com/2008/10/20/an-analogy/
11 comments:
well said Melissa--thanks. We are living in troubling times--we are so blessed to have living prophets.
I agree 100%! Thanks for sharing.
I agree. It's been disheartening to say the least. But at least we know that when we follow the prophet, we cannot be led astray. No matter what else happens, we can trust him and his counselors. That's such a blessing to know.
Also, I think it's interesting to note that there are 770,000 members of the church in California. Yet, more than 5 million people voted in favor of Prop 8. Interesting that those against Prop 8 have chosen to target the church.
I loved reading the talk from Elder Maxwell that you posted. Its amazing to read something like that which he wrote and said over 20 years ago and see it coming true now. I think things are going to get tougher in our country as the years pass by, and it is very important for us all to be strong and unified in those things we feel are most precious and sacred, such as marriage. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
I love your little girl!! That is so cute. For some reason why did I think they got rid of the pledge of allegiance? She is adorable and says it right!
I was thinking the other day... why didn't all of the members rally together on the day those people were going to protest outside the temple and the members can all sing hymns. Like love one another. In my mind it gave a powerful effect.
We were thinking of moving to California, BUT it is too scary. Maybe we will just have to move to Montana. LOL! You are a passionate girl. I LOVE it. I read some blogs and I didn't read too much because it made me sick.
Anyway love keeping tabs on you!
Great post Melissa. I completely agree. Sometimes it is hard for me to understand why the LDS church is being targeted, but when I step back and remember that we are living in the last days, then I realize exactly why we are being targeted. And we know who is really orchestrating this whole thing. You're right....we just need to follow the prophet! It isn't going to get any easier, but you in good company! :) Hope you guys are enjoying the fall weather....
I agree. I loved the quote by Maxwell. Thanks for all the great links!
Thank you so much for taking the time to write this. This is such an emotional issue that I have had a hard time separating my emotions from my logic. Reading your post (and links) has helped me to find more clarity in my thoughts. I really appreciate your insights. I was especially grateful for the excerpt from Elder Maxwell. I had not read it before. Isn't it amazing how much it applies to our situation today? Yet another proof that the Lord knows the end from the beginning. We are so blessed.
Ok, so when I originally read this post I didn't watch the video because it was really late and I didn't want to wake-up Will. Emma didn't want to take a nap so she is playing in my room while I am on the computer. When I watched the video she came over to watch and kept saying again, again. I think we watched it 5 times and she is still asking to watch it again.
I totally 100% agree and am grateful we were here to help with the campaigning and to vote for it. But I'm also glad we live in a pretty conservative area and don't have to deal with the backlash like others sadly do. It really does come down to simply putting your faith in the Prophet and following him or not. We're all being forced to choose a side and there's no more room for fence sitting and gray areas like so many members have used in the past. Well said Melissa.
p.s. You guys SHOULD move out here sometime! It's great (too bad it's also expensive.)
good job- it is crazyness. thanks for your thoughts!
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