On Prop 8: Mormon Persecution, Marriage and the Refuge of Patriotism
The ham-fisted and unrealistic shrugging of your "Tree Bark Defense" doesn't cut it, Doc. The fact still remains that Xarissa and countless others on this thread have spoken of an apparently emotionally and spiritually devastating conflict between WHAT THEY KNOW IN THEIR HEARTS TO BE RIGHT and WHAT THE CHURCH EXPECTS OF THEM.
What the rest of us (if I may be so presumptuous as to speak for everyone) cannot understand is how, exactly, you all reconcile that disconnect and, more importantly, WHY? Not one of you has produced a cogent explanation; it's just been eloquently worded iterations of "The church is what it is and I have no choice in the matter."
The unfortunate truth is that we are unlikely to ever understand your milieu because it runs counter to the principles that most of us seem to be guided by--namely that our principles are our principles and they remain our principles. Period. If this is the best you guys can do at bringing forth understanding between gays and Mormons, then I think we've reached an impasse.
0
On Cheryl Cole Dimplectomy
In unrelated but related news, if you like crap pop music as much as I do, the song whose video that image is taken from, "Fight for This Love," will be your new favorite song. Go find it at once.
My pleasure.
0
On Prop 8: Mormon Persecution, Marriage and the Refuge of Patriotism
Wow. Deep breath.
Xarissa, with all due respect, I have a few HUGE bones of contention with your words.
Firstly, this: "Unfortunately, few things settle one's opinions like being persecuted for them. In November 2008, an ugly protest outside the Los Angeles temple only inflamed the sensibility." This seems to me to be little more than veiled scolding for protesting the LDS church--that we gays brought this horrible situation on ourselves. To expect gays to not react, vehemently, viscerally, and with vitriol is spectacularly naive and unfair. Because you're a church you're meant to be exempt from vocal protest? From attack ads? We gays are supposed to show you some kind of fundamental respect you can't be arsed to show us? As one commenter said in the LA Times piece you linked to, "This is not about religion, it is about a church that put itself in the middle of politics." It seems that the LDS church can dish it out--a spectacularly offensive, ugly and bigoted campaign against gays--but can't take it. Cry me a river.
However, this sentiment is not surprising since a couple sentences later, you said this: "And those of us caught in between felt we had no choice but to align ourselves with the homophobic coalition or to betray our religious community."
Xarissa, I'm sorry, but absolutely not. You have myriad choices. My central problem with the thrust of your essay is that you seem to be saying out of one side of your mouth that many Mormons can and do think for themselves, while asserting the above--that you have an imperative to follow an LDS doctrine even though it at times challenges your own convictions--out the other side of your mouth. These two things are mutually exclusive. You either think for yourself and follow your own deeply held convictions as directives, or you choose to fall in line with the church doctrine that runs counter to your beliefs. Pick one. This "boo hoo, I was caught between a rock and a hard place! Dilemma!" defense is intellectually bankrupt and, I feel personally, insulting to our intelligence. And do you not see the fundamental disconnect between worrying about "betraying your religious community" when--by your own admission--your religious community has betrayed you, not to mention the gay people you love?
But here's the one I really can't stomach: "...here's the thing: to be Christian is to claim as truth the idea that one person can atone for another's sin, and that hell is to reject forgiveness when it is offered. Overtures have been made. For example, the church has worked with gay rights activists in Salt Lake City to lobby against discrimination on the part of landlords and employers. It's a small thing, depressingly small, but it exists."
Firstly, what Christianity, or your interpretation thereof, interprets as heaven-worthy and hell-worthy is not germane to the discussion. More importantly, how dare you use that as a means to instruct us gays on the gracious way to accept an "apology"? The LDS changed history, in the most unfortunate of ways, by successfully engineering the first known case (to my knowledge) of a right being given to a minority group and then TAKEN AWAY by public referendum. A bit of work against employment and real estate discrimination erases that? It means that we should show some sort of gratitude? That you are worthy of some kind of commendation? That is supposed to show us a turning of the tide in the LDS church? Are you serious? Thanks ever so much for letting me use the same drinking fountain as you! But can I have the rest of my rights now, please? This assertion is so spectacularly offensive that I feel I need to end here because my ire is precluding me from thinking of verbiage that does not resort to the Anglo-Saxon.
I mean no disrespect, and as I'm obviously very angry, I apologize if this comment sounds overly vitriolic. I appreciate you being forthcoming, and your willingness and ability to approach your faith from a place of introspection and intellectual consideration. But my experience of you via this essay is that you need to do two things: figure out, independently of your religion, what you think about things, and then act accordingly. To quote Jesus: "You're either for me or against me." If you truly believe that I am equal and deserving of my rights, you will act accordingly, whether your church sanctions it or not.
0
On Prop 8: Mormon Persecution, Marriage and the Refuge of Patriotism
Thank you. You took the words out of my mouth. To assert in one breath that Mormons can think for themselves AND are obligated to fall in line with doctrine or be a heretic is absolutely ludicrous--and more to the point, the two are mutually exclusive.
0
On New 'Sex and the City 2' Trailer Is Confusing, Bananas, Weird!
I have nothing particularly witty to say, only that this looks fuc*ing awful and makes me feel bad about myself because even though this looks fuc*ing awful and I know in my heart of hearts it will actually in fact end up BEING fuc*ing awful I am still going to go see it anyway because I make poor life choices.
0
On Finnish Embassy Is Basically Naked Lobbyist Sexy Room
As a Finnish American, an ethnicity that did not exist until just now when I invoked it, I'd like to point out that, per Finnish tradition, these people also smacked each other's nekkid bodies with birch branches and then ran out of the sauna and rolled naked in any available snow.
0
On Primitive Social Networking Site Gives It One More Sad Go
You guys, we totally do not need to be worrying about this unless, apparently, we are Asian and between the ages of 15 and 19. REWATCH THE VIDEO. God.
0
On Flicked Off: "The Hangover"
Banal much? Calling a woman stupid doesn't equal misogyny.
0
On Happy "Be Conscientious With Beverages Around Your Laptop" Day
True story. I once spilled an entire 32-ounce plastic cup of water directly into my MacBook Pro's keyboard. I freaked out and instinctively picked it up on its side in hopes the water would dump out of it, which it did. To stop me from completely losing my shit, my assistant suggested we prop it on its side on a bed of paper towels and go down the street and get drunk on the company credit card and maybe it would be okay when we got back?
And, bless baby Jesus, it was. Fired right up and worked like a dream. Also, a mysterious speaker outage was miraculously righted.