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Related Posts
Maybe Conservativism Is Hurting Religion After All….
Given that the “liberal churches are losing members because they’re liberal; conservative churches are growing because they’re conservative” argument is invoked every so often here at MSP, I thought people would be interested in this article from Religion Dispatches analyzing some of the problems with that claim. An excerpt: Hout…
The Church’s “Political Neutrality”
As we enter a new election cycle, here’s a link to the Church’s statement about the Church itself being “neutral” to matters of “party politics,” even as it encourages its membership to be responsible civic citizens and voters. The caveats are that the Church does: Request candidates for office —…
the statement that “it’s better to be dead than homosexual” leapt out at me. It’s a statement that has been made often enough by Mormons, and been heard often enough by gay Mormons.
Factor that statement in to what’s going on in the “Bring Them in From the Plains” video, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipXyQGCtCtk
and any claim that the Mormon church does not advocate violence against gays becomes completely disingenuous. The church has advocated and in some ways still DOES advocate violence against gay people–it’s just that it advocates SELF-INFLICTED violence. Plenty of gay Mormons have gotten the message: it’s better to be dead–even by your own hand–than be gay.
So until the church atones for that, and frankly even after, it will have far more blood on its hands in this matter than gay rights advocates. A few spray-painted churches don’t even compare.
This is a bit of a tangent, but I hadn’t seen that “Bring Them in From the Plains video before. The Martin and Willie handcart company example gives a good illustration of a constructive path towards reconciliation.