Just because the Mormon Church edited its LDS Church Handbook of Instructions to rearrange the way it attacks gays doesn’t mean you should start thinking the religious group holds any less fundamentalists views about homosexuality.
Responding to a Human Rights Campaign statement that “recognized that the Mormon Church removed same-sex attraction as a sin in church policy,” LDS responds: Oh hell no.
“The HRC’s representations of the changes in the new handbook are simply absurd,” says LDS spokesman Scott Trotter.
Even we thought the Mormons’ new rule book eased up on the gay bashing. While the book, updated from its 2006 version, still claims “homosexual behavior violates the commandments of God,” it removed language that said gays should repent for their “homosexual thoughts or feelings.”
An over-generous interpretation of the new copy? Perhaps. For example, while calls for gays to enter therapy was removed from one section, it was added to another. And the guide book still compares homosexuality to murder and rape. Oh, and trans men and women are still viewed as morally bankrupt. So sorry for getting your hopes up about LDS taking a liking to you abhorrent creatures!
Here’s HRC’s Fred Sainz on the supposed developments:
[Fox 13; photo: LDS president Thomas Monson with his councilor Dieter Uchtdorf]
Kev
The Mormon faith is a creepy cult, no more, no less so who really cares what they think?
Cam
Excuse me, why would HRC make it’s own determination of what the church was saying? The chruch didn’t change anything, they merely softened the language.
It’s the same thing as when people tried to defend Carrie Prejean’s bigoted comments because she said “No Offense” first.
The church hates gays, they inform members that their children are no longer their children but have evil inside them now and should be cast out.
They only grudgingly started to accept blacks around 1980 after a massive amount of bad publicity and they STILL try to separate out their meetings and wards by race.
customartist
Mormons, with all of their money, are still a huge problem to Secular Rights under the Constitution.
Mike
@Cam: because HRC is trying to paint LDS into a corner. The more LDS keeps talking, the more often they’ll get caught with foot-in-mouth disease. HRC knows that LDS doesn’t actually approve of gay people, but by over-interpreting the substantive changes that LDS did make, they’re forcing LDS to backtrack and look like the anti-gay bigots they are.
Quick oversimplification…
LDS: Gays are evil.
HRC: You should stop telling gays to change with your discredited therapies. And besides, you’re pushing young gays to hate themselves which often leads to suicide.
LDS: We won’t change.
HRC: Yes you will.
LDS: OK fine, gays don’t have to undergo therapy. We won’t tell them to change. It’s not really wrong to be gay, but they still shouldn’t do gay stuff.
HRC: OK awesome, so LDS loves gay people now!
LDS: No, we don’t. We still hate teh gays.
End result — a substantive change in policy is achieved, while LDS publicly reasserts its bigotry for everyone to see. short term win-win for the movement, as far as I’m concerned…
meego
Just look at these 2 decrepit old farts!
the crustybastard
Gays to Mormons: Backatcha.
Cam
@Mike:
Mike,
If only HRC thought like that. What happened was they ran a few ads and were trying to claim a victory.
prohomo
Mormonism is a false religion, a cult-not even considered “historical” Christianity. Their beliefs are irrelevant.
Mack Robertson
Obviously these are not truly educated or THINKING people. Whoever would think we had a choice, is lying to himself/herself and their youth. You did have a choice to be a member of the LDS, and in many, many people’s eyes that is an abomination. We had NO choice, you did. It so difficult to get inside your minds. No choice vs. choice. Thank goodness I am what I am due to a natural happening, and yet you are members of the LDS which you made a choice to belong. Your Christianity doesn’t even exist in so many minds of thinking people.
Vman455
@Mike: I disagree with your assertion that a substantive change in policy has been achieved. Statements by church leaders dating back more than a decade have essentially said the same thing as the Handbook of Instructions does now–namely, that any homosexual behavior is sinful, but homosexual desires, when not acted upon, are not. “Same-gender attraction” (as the Church likes to call it, because–goodness!–we wouldn’t want to inadvertently use the word “sex”!) is still viewed as an “affliction” that the sufferer must fight against, resisting the urge to act on these inborn tendencies, whether or not the individual makes this known to his Church leaders or not. While there has been debate within the Church in the past about the origins or causes of same-sex attraction, that has had no real bearing on this policy specifically (regarding issues such as reparative therapy, it’s a different story), which is essentially that, as long as an individual does not do gay things, he or she isn’t really gay–the same way someone who does not shoplift when tempted to do so is not a thief.
Is it stupid? Yes. Has the wording change in the revision of the Handbook of Instructions altered the Church’s policy in any real way? No.
justiceontherocks
A battle of wits between the Mormons and HRC. That one will end in a scoreless tie.
No win for anything other than the bigotry of the Mormon cult.
Syl
@customartist: Agreed. They’re twice as fanatical as the Catholics, and half as scrupulous as the Evangelical Protestants. Then again, it’s to be expected from the 19th Century’s Scientology. Hell, even Muslims get to drink coffee and tea! Too bad no missiles “accidentally” hit Salt Lake City when we had that nuclear base scare a few days ago.
Stenar
@Cam: Okay, the Mormon church does a lot of things for which they ought to be reviled, but they do NOT teach that parents should cast their gay children out.
Stenar
@Kev: We should care what the LDS think because they are using their money to crush gay rights with their front groups like NOM. Knowing what they think so we can refute it is important.
Steve
The bigots are still bigots, and pigs still don’t fly.
The hate that emanates from the LDS church is palpable. They teach their people that homosexual people are evil, and that they should be condemned to hell. That hateful teaching is ingrained into their own kids. Some of those kids commit suicide. The LDS justifies those deaths by saying that it is better to be dead than gay.
More kids die every year, due to that hateful teaching. As far as I am concerned, they are literally murdering their own kids. The blood of their own gay and lesbian children is on their hands.
Vman455
@Steve: They have never said it is better to be dead than gay. Seriously people–why don’t you actually acquaint yourselves with what LDS church leaders say before you spout off about their supposed positions? You can start with these:
http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=2784ba12dc825110VgnVCM100000176f620a____&vgnextoid=f318118dd536c010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD
http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=3e05c8322e1b3110VgnVCM100000176f620a____&vgnextoid=e1fa5f74db46c010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD
http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=bf10226fecfdb010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&vgnextoid=f318118dd536c010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD
The position of the church is reprehensible enough without us (read: The Gays) accusing them of even more outrageous things. Inflammatory and false accusations won’t strengthen our position; rather, our credibility will be undermined.
Here’s what it boils down to: the Mormon church takes no official position on the cause of homosexuality. The church believes that individuals are not to blame for being attracted to the same sex. At the same time, however, they also believe that homosexuals have no right to express or act on their feelings and no right to equal treatment under the law, and mobilize their membership to actively fight civil measures that would recognize our rights to equality. THAT is why we have to fight them, and THAT is what we are fighting against.
Also, there are those devout Mormons (like my parents) who believe marriage equality is inevitable and actively support it (because it is a civil matter on which religion should have no say), and embrace their gay progeny (and their significant others). Just keep that in mind before you paint them all with the same brush (you know, the same way the commenters on this site are so quick to assert that not all gays are effeminate, lisping backstabbers like the A-List queens).
Umm
@prohomo:
And yet queerty covers them, and you take the time to post.
tinkerbell
OMG, you people are debating over a religion that was invented in 1840s New York? LMAO…still looking for the tablets of gold that the native americans hid from god and joseph smith.
tinkerbell
@tinkerbell: Let me add to that “joseph H smith”
Cam
@Stenar: said.. “Okay, the Mormon church does a lot of things for which they ought to be reviled, but they do NOT teach that parents should cast their gay children out.”
_________________________________
They absolutly do. This is straight from the mouths of Mormons and Ex Mormons who’s families were told this. One of my friends mother kept trying to get him to come back to the church, she was told that and ended up leaving and taking the rest of her children with her. Several others families were told that as long as their children lived as gay that they were to be denied the “Reward” of communication with their family unless they agreed to go to conversion therepy, and still others families were just told to cut them off so they would not be an influence on the other children.
I know it is unbelievable, but yes, the church absolutly does do this.
DT
Those chairs of theirs do look incredibly comfortable, though. I’m perfectly willing to leave them with the right to judge and evaluate comfie chairs, just not my marriage. Deal, guys?
Vman455
@Steve: They have never said it is better to be dead than gay. Seriously people–why don’t you actually acquaint yourselves with what LDS church leaders say before you spout off about their supposed positions? You can start with the following:
http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=2784ba12dc825110VgnVCM100000176f620a____&vgnextoid=f318118dd536c010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD
http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=3e05c8322e1b3110VgnVCM100000176f620a____&vgnextoid=e1fa5f74db46c010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD
http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=bf10226fecfdb010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&vgnextoid=f318118dd536c010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD
The position of the church is reprehensible enough without us (read: The Gays) accusing them of even more outrageous things. Inflammatory and false accusations won’t strengthen our position.
Here’s what it boils down to: the Mormon church takes no official position on the cause of homosexuality. The church believes that individuals are not to blame for being attracted to the same sex. At the same time, however, they also believe that homosexuals have no right to express or act on their feelings and no right to equal treatment under the law, and mobilize their membership to actively fight civil measures that would recognize our rights to equality. THAT is why we have to fight them, and THAT is what we are fighting against.
Also, there are those devout Mormons (like my parents) who believe marriage equality is inevitable and actively support it (because it is a civil matter on which religion should have no say), and embrace their gay progeny (and their significant others). Just keep that in mind before you paint them all with the same brush (the same way the commenters on this site are so quick to assert that not all gays are effeminate, lisping backstabbers like the A-List crowd).
Vman455
@Cam: The church does not “absolutly” do this; some local leaders may, but it is most definitely NOT their official position. As a contrast to your hearsay, I’ll offer the example of my parents–my father is a retired employee of the Church Educational System, married to a convert (they met at BYU more than 40 years ago now). I came out to them two years ago, and the rest of my siblings (7) last summer. No one cut me off, I wasn’t disowned, shunned, ostracized, or told I would be better off dead; quite the opposite, in fact–my whole family wants to meet my fiancee.
Enough with the gross exaggerations already.