For those of you who read my blog looking for cute pictures of the girls and anecdotes from my life, those posts will return, but I wanted to respond to some of the comments that have been made here on the blog and in emails others sent to me in regards to Prop 8.
I must confess I have been thinking about what to write for weeks now on the subject of Prop 8. It's not so much that I didn't know how I felt, but rather that I know how hurt and/or offended some people would be. I have had friends, close friends who are gay/lesbian since High School. I have loved these friends and felt sorrow for the struggles and conflicts they have had to experience because of their sexuality. I have been grateful for their friendships, valued their opinions, and enjoyed their presence in my life. I do not believe that because they are living a homosexual life that they are inherently evil or bad. I do not believe that they want less in life or that they feel any less deeply.
That said, I do believe that homosexual behavior is against the teachings of the Scriptures. I don't say this in a dismissive way, I'm not saying that just because it is a "sin" I'm against it and that is all there is to the issue. I am saying that I believe God gave us the commandments for our benefit and protection. I believe that sexuality is not the most important part of identity.
I am saying that I believe that God's plan for me started before this life and continues after it. I believe that marriage was created for the purpose of creating families. I believe that a man and woman are each given a definite role in marriage and that those roles were created by God for reasons. I believe that Marriage is not something humans have a right to re-define, in order to be all inclusive or to make things easier. I believe these things are true because I have read and studied the scriptures, prayed and meditated on my own, and I have lived 30+ years on the planet observing and interacting with families and individuals.
I grew up going to Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and believing in God and Christ, but please don't make the mistake of thinking I am simply a parrot or blind to the reality of the world.
I have chosen to live my life following the commandments of God as taught by Jesus Christ in the scriptures. This was a very deliberate choice made in my early twenties and reaffirmed on a daily basis, I knew in making this choice I would be giving some things up. There are friendships that would not last, and romances I would not undertake, experiences I would forgo because I believe that in sacrificing things that are nice, fun, and even some things that were fulfilling, I could achieve things that were even more important, including my marriage and family which I hold to be sacred. I believe that sacrifices are required of everyone in life.
I am not perfect and not without sin, I hate confrontation, I don't want to cast stones, but neither can I sit quietly while my beliefs are attacked by some and dismissed as uninformed or naive by others.
8 comments:
Not overkill, in my opinion.
Well said. I struggle how to express my feelings without "hurting" others feelings. There is so much to this topic, that I, personally, don't know how to discuss it and express my true inter feelings. I love what you said. I totally agree. Good job. So, I'll just direct people to your blog to say what I'm trying to say. JK :)
WOW Jannah! So well written. I too have struggled with how to explain my feelings. I also have gay friends and have found it difficult to put into words my feelings and beliefs. The only way I've been able to explain it is that I know God loves all people, we are all His children, but as you said so perfect...God has commandments! I'm going to copy and paste your most beautiful well written heart felt thoughts and put them on my blog! :) I think you have such a gift with words! You write so well Jannah! I know your calling is to be a Mother first, but how '
bout a second calling be that of a writter and make us all happy! :) I'm not much for sitting down to read (I have a hard time sitting still for very long) BUT>.....I never have a problem sitting down to read what you have written! :) Thank you for posting such a beautiful message! I really loved it! Love, Trisha
Jannah,
These two posts are truly inspiring. You are a daughter of God and have kept your lamp full. It is hard to stand as an example in a time that brings up issues that seem to be even more controversial than what the last generations delt with in abortion. We have to stand up and show the small young women and men in our lives how to be strong and what to be strong about. I agree that God established the ordinance of marriage and we haven't the right to change it. Even further we have the duty to uphold it. THere are those who will fear man more than God but we can not be those for the sake of our children, our families and our own souls. thank you for your thoughts, i truly appreciate them.
Loretta Au
I also hate confrontation-I think this truly wonderful trait runs in our family-which is why I hesitated to respond. I love you, and felt compelled to respond.
I completely disagree with you about the immorality or illegitimacy of homosexual relationships, and won't deny that this is the primary reason for my disagreement with you on Prop 8. For that reason, maybe the rest of what I'm about to say is sort of beside the point.
Putting aside that major disagreement for the moment, I guess what bothers me the most about this is that I haven't heard a single compelling argument for why allowing people you disagree with to have the same rights and status under the law as you do somehow weakens your own definition of marriage.
I know that Prop 8 doesn't deny the partnership rights already given to same sex couples, which is why it's so difficult to understand why the church has taken such a stand, spending millions of dollars, expending thousands of man-hours, to make sure that homosexuals are not allowed to call themselves married under the law. The practical reasons for this escape me.
The fact that alcohol and coffee are legal in your state doesn't weaken your resolve to follow your own dietary laws. The fact that divorce is legal in your state doesn't weaken your resolve to make your marriage last, and the fact that marriages that end in divorce are still called marriages doesn't dilute your own definition of the word.
More importantly, Islam, Judaism, Mormonism, Catholicism, Unitarianism, Jainism, Voodooism, Quakerism, and a whole host of other "isms" are all afforded certain protections under the law because they are all considered religions. Does calling all of these belief systems by the same name under the law devalue your own religion in your eyes? Does the fact that other people call God different names and worship him in different ways in any way undermine your own belief that the church you belong to is the only one that's true? I think the answer to this is probably no.
And when your kids learn that there are other religions out there, when they get the day off from school for Yom Kippur or they learn a Channukah song, or learn about Islam or the highly political history of Christianity in social studies, I'm sure you'll take special care to talk to them about how what they believe is different from what others believe and that that they need to learn to respect that fact while still knowing the truth of what you teach them. When their biology teachers tell them about evolution or their gym teachers tell them about sex, you will, I'm sure, give them your own perspective on these issues. They won't be so confused that irreparable damage will be caused. They will have to learn, as you did, that the world is a complicated place and that sometimes they will disagree with their teachers or fellow students.
It's not about thinking you're ignorant or ill-informed, I know that you have thought through your beliefs, and I don't doubt for a second that you have compassion for gays and lesbians and wish them no ill will. What this is about in my mind is that regardless of your feelings about the morality of homosexuality, the law should protect everyone's rights equally. Being gay is not against the law, and gays are only asking for their rights and privileges to be secured under the law, not for their lifestyle to be sanctioned and validated by every person and religion in the nation.
I want to respond briefly to my brother's comments, the law should protect everone's rights. Gay and lesbian couples have the right to “marry” a person of the opposite gender, or to petition for legal changes that allow them the same tax breaks etc. under civil unions etc.
The word marriage however is someting more than a legal term, it has had the same definition for thousands and thousands of years and has never applied to a relationship other than being between a man and a woman. Changing the definition of the word means losing what that word represents. My diamond analogy, however simplistic is the reason so many of us are so imapassioned, there is a value to marriage and the traditional family, a stability and strength that is undermined to society as a whole when we change that word.
Prop 8 doesn't change the way I will teach or raise my children, it does say that I believe that traditional marriage is important enough and valuable enough that it deserves to retain it's meaning.
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