A top leader in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints reaffirmed the faith's opposition to same-sex marriage and “changes that confuse or alter gender” as debates over gender and sexuality reemerge throughout the United States.
Dallin H. Oaks, the second-highest-ranking leader of the faith known widely as the Mormon Church, told thousands of listeners gathered at a conference center at the church's Salt Lake City headquarters that what he called “social and legal pressures” wouldn't compel the church to alter its stances on same-sex marriage or matters of gender identity that he did not specify.
The highest level of salvation, Oaks said, “can only be attained through faithfulness to the covenants of an eternal marriage between a man and a woman. That divine doctrine is why we teach that gender is an essential characteristic of individual pre-mortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose.”
Oaks also said church doctrine “opposed changes that confuse or alter gender or homogenize the differences between men and women" and warned that “confusing gender, distorting marriage, and discouraging childbearing” was the devil's work.
What a disgusting messsage. He’s basically just told all those members who are attracted to people of the same sex, those with gender identity questions etc that they are being afflicted by the devil. What a disgusting and potential deadly message for people to have to listen to. The Church hasn’t progressed one iota.
It should also be noted that Oaks threw single people under the bus during the same talk “ The highest level of salvation, Oaks said, “can only be attained through faithfulness to the covenants of an eternal marriage”
You must admit, it is inconsistent with church doctrine.
The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession... The LORD set his love on you and chose you... The LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery. Deut. 7
History will not be kind to Oaks and his ilk. This hateful and exclusionary policy will fall just like the racist priesthood exclusion practice and the new and everlasting covenant of polygamy did. TSCC has no problem throwing dead prophets under the bus. Oaks should know this.
Anybody wanna take bets on how long before they alter the transcript of this talk?
See, you're not thinking like church leaders here. They can say anything they want! The current members will gobble it up, then they'll erase it from their archives, and anybody who brings it up after that is just a bitter anti-Mormon who's lying about them because they've given themselves over to the Adversary. (Sheesh! Get it right...)
Within a generation, they will claim that Heavenly Father has always loved His gay children and always planned for them to be sealed in the temple, but we just had to wait for the right time!
Why don't we ask why no one's marriage was sealed before 1830, huh?
And what do you mean Joseph didn't get the sealing power until 1836?
Strange how facts tend to have an anti-Mormon slant.
You must admit, it is inconsistent with church doctrine.
The black priesthood ban was consistent with Mormon theology as well.
If the leaders want to they can make the change overnight. It’s all made up anyway and none of it needs to be internally consistent.
I don’t see why anyone would expect the LDS church to change the doctrine on this one.
The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession... The LORD set his love on you and chose you... The LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery. Deut. 7
I think you could make the argument that Oaks’ conference talk is tantamount to hate speech.
There is no content-neutral way of defining what constitutes hate speech.
The only answer to offensive speech -- if we are to preserve our traditional way of debate and discourse in this country -- is a fully open marketplace of ideas in which hate speech is rejected on its own demerits, rather than censored by a benevolent big brother.
