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Aligned with the Church?by David PrudenThoughts for a change |
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Each month, Evergreen International receives more than three hundred long distance telephone calls and innumerable local calls from men, women, families, friends, and ecclesiastical leaders, all looking for assistance with issues surrounding unwanted same-sex attraction. As you can imagine, that keeps our small staff and our volunteers very busy. Ministering to our brothers and sisters who are working through the challenges of mortality, and administering Evergreen programs, leaves little time for debating with those who disagree with our mission. Frankly, in more than seven years of working with Evergreen participants, I have usually found that sparing with journalists, comparing research studies with academics, and arguing with gays and lesbians, to be a waste of time. What I do know is that we are all children of a loving Heavenly father who cares enough about our eternal destiny to permit us to exercise our agency. Many groups exist within the gay and lesbian community to promote their political and social agenda. That is their right. Some individuals who were raised as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have chosen to leave the Church because of the strict doctrinal prohibition against homosexual behavior. That too, is their right. Left at that, I would not be writing this column. But it seems we cannot leave it there. Each week, I talk with individuals who somehow believe that they can be both gay and a Latter-day Saint. They believe this because some folks and organizations try to suggest to them that this is true. It is not! It is pure deception and unethical behavior. Let me give you a specific example. Last week, a friend of Evergreen, who is the author of a new book, approached a leader of one of a score of groups who support the right of gays and lesbians to engage in same-gender sexual relationships while still trying to maintain some vague association with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Yes, they are political, educational, and social organizations with many laudable concerns, but in the final analysis, they do not support the doctrines and standards of the Church. Their Internet sites use both visual and communication tools to try to suggest a connection, with phrases like “gay Latter-day Saints.” The stated organizational purposes encourage a respectable dialogue between gay and lesbian LDS people and other members of the Church. They make a concerted effort to suggest a relationship between them and the Church that just doesn’t exist. So when our author friend asked this organization to advertise her book, she was turned down on the following grounds:
I absolutely support the right of these groups to take the positions they take. My concern is that most people who visit their meetings or look at their Web site are often deceived into believing that the principles of the organization are compatible with membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. When you reject clear gospel teachings, and do not sustain the leaders of the Church, you have left the Church. Most folks who join these groups find out after a while that you cannot ethically sustain both, and they end up either leaving the organization or the Church. I was raised in a wonderful Protestant family, but more than twenty-five years ago, I joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I love and respect both the faith I left and the new faith I acquired, but I cannot pretend to be both. I know that I do not live the teachings of the Church perfectly, but I support the doctrines completely. Ethical individuals make choices and state their principles clearly. It is time that members of these groups stop pretending to be aligned with the Church. Well, those are just some thoughts for a change. The ideas expressed in this column belong to David Pruden and
any comments you wish to make should be directed to me. You can e-mail me at
dpruden@earthlink.net and regardless
of whether we agree or disagree all civil communications are welcome! |
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