ShareThisThe thought of going to church in her Southern California LDS ward makes Carol Oldham cry. She can't face one more sermon against same-sex marriage. She can't tolerate the glares at the rainbow pin on her lapel. Oldham, a lifelong Mormon, is troubled by her church's zeal in supporting a California ballot initiative that would define marriage as between one man and one woman. She feels the church is bringing politics into her sanctuary. "It has tainted everything for me," Oldham said, choking up, "I am afraid to go there and hear people say mean things about gay people. I am in mourning. I don't know how long I can last." The LDS Church's campaign to pass Proposition 8 represents its most vigorous and widespread political involvement since the late 1970s, when it helped defeat the Equal Rights Amendment. It even departs from earlier efforts on behalf of traditional marriage, in which members felt much more free to decide their level of involvement. This time, LDS leaders have tapped every resource, including the church's built-in phone trees, e-mail lists and members' willingness to volunteer and donate money. Many California members consider it a directive from God and have pressured others to participate. Some leaders and members see it as a test of faith and loyalty. Those who disagree with the campaign say they feel unwelcome in wards that have divided along political lines. Some are avoiding services until after the election; others have reluctantly resigned. Even some who favor the ballot measure are troubled by their church's zeal in the matter. "I do expect the church to face a high cost -- both externally and internally -- for its prominent part in the campaign," said LDS sociologist and Proposition 8 supporter Armand Mauss of Irvine, Calif. He believes church leaders feel a "prophetic imperative" to speak out against gay marriage. "The internal cost will consist of ruptured relationships between and among LDS members of opposing positions, sometimes by friends of long standing and equally strong records of church activity," Mauss said. "In some cases, it will result in disaffection and disaffiliation from the church because of the ways in which their dissent has been handled by local leaders." Robert Rees, a former LDS bishop in California, says he has not witnessed this much divisiveness in the church over a political issue in the last 50 years. Whatever the vote's outcome, Rees says, "it will take considerable humility, charity and forgiveness to heal the wounds caused by this initiative." In 1999, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints joined other churches in California to promote Proposition 22, which also prohibited gay marriage. Mormons canvassed their neighborhoods and completed other assignments in support of the initiative, which passed. The California Supreme Court overturned it in May, however, and the move to up the ante with a constitutional amendment took hold. The LDS First Presidency announced its support for Proposition 8 in a letter read in every Mormon congregation. Since then, California LDS leaders have prompted members to sign up volunteers, raise money, pass out brochures produced by outsiders and distribute lawn signs and bumper stickers. Bishops have devoted whole Sunday school classes and the weekly Relief Society and priesthood meetings to outlining arguments against same-sex marriage. Some have pointedly asked members for hefty financial donations, based on tithing. Others have even asked members to stand or raise their hands to publicly indicate their support. E-mail Peggy Fletcher Stack at pstack(at)sltrib.com(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
LDS mounts vigorous campaign against gay marriage
Submitted by SHNS on Tue, 10/28/2008 - 16:31
Paying taxes unites us. It also divides us. People can pay five and even six times more in state and local taxes than other folks in similar circumstances making similar incomes.
Who's got your number?
In one of the fastest-growing forms of identity theft, crooks are stealing tax refunds by swiping personal information and using it to trick the Internal Revenue Service.
I disagree
I am an active Latter-Day Saint. I have not in my life had a whole lesson about how we have to vote for no gays. Our church like many has made a stand against gay marriage because we believe that it is wrong. It is our decision though each person individually what they vote. To say that the church as a whole voted completely against it is incorrect.
those who do not feel accepted, feel that way by themselves. I have never shunned a person because of their political position and the church does not say too. I think that you need to realize that targeting just the Latter Day Saints is improper.
Psychologist and Geneticists on Homosexuality
Homosexuality a learned behavior-
"There is no connection between sexual instinct and choice of sexual object. Such an object is learned, acquired behavior; there is no genetically inborn propensity toward a partner of the same sex." ~ Dr. Charles Socarides (author of Homosexuality: Concepts and Psychodynamics)
"Homosexuality is acquired and discovered as a circumventive adaptation for coping with fear of heterosexuality. Pleasure and excitement to a member of the same sex develops as a pathological alternative." ~ Irving Bieber (author of Homosexuality: A Psychoanalytic Study of Male Homosexuals)
"Irrational fear, in every case I have seen, played the leading role in inducing the individual to become homosexual in the first place or inducing him to maintain his acquired hemophilic conditioning in the second place." ~ Dr Albert Ellis (author of Homosexuality: It’s Causes and Cures)
"Homosexuality is not a sexual problem but a problem of identity—specifically, a gender identity problem. From my clinical experience, people who say ‘I was just born that way’ are saying, in effect, ‘I don’t want to acknowledge those childhood influences that contributed to my sexual orientation.’ " ~ Joseph Nicolosi, Ph.D. (author of Reparative Therapy of Male Homosexuality)
"I see homosexuality as an addiction or compulsion to get around childhood pain. Homosexuality is neither inborn nor unchangeable. Anything can be changed once a person is committed to making that change in his or her life." ~ Judy Taylor, M.A. Therapist
"There is no evidence that genetic or hormonal factors play any role in the development of homosexuality. Although homosexuality has its origins in disturbed family dynamics during early childhood, it can nevertheless be treated successfully." ~ William P. Wilson, Professor of Psychiatry; Duke University Medical School
The Human Genome Project-
“a gay gene would eventually be wiped out because gay couples do not procreate.”
The American Psychiatric Association has stated "some people believe that sexual orientation is innate and fixed; however, sexual orientation develops across a person’s lifetime."
Here is the scary part it's a learned behavior about to be taught in our schools as mandatory to !!
"Heather Has Two Mommies," "Daddy's Roommate" and "Gloria Goes to Gay Pride" "King and King"
"In the ruling, Wolf makes the absurd claim that normalizing homosexuality to young children is 'reasonably related to the goals of preparing students to become engaged and productive citizens in our democracy.' According to Wolf, this means teaching 'diversity' which includes 'differences in sexual orientation.'
"In addition, Wolf makes the odious statement that the Parkers' only options are (1) send their kids to a private school, (2) home-school their kids, or (3) elect a majority of people to the School Committee who agree with them. Can you imagine a federal judge in the Civil Rights era telling blacks the same thing – that if they can't be served at a lunch counter they should just start their own restaurant, or elect a city council to pass laws that reflect the U.S. Constitution?" the organization said. ( http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=54420
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