Mormonism LIVE!: 041: Solving the LDS Church Homosexuality Issue Elder Holland recently explained ““I and many of my Brethren have spent more time and shed more tears on this subject than we could ever adequately convey to you this morning, or any morning. We have spent hours discussing what the doctrine of the Church can and cannot provide the individuals and families struggling over this difficult issue. So, it is with scar tissue of our own that we are trying to avoid — and hope all will try to avoid — language, symbols and situations that are more divisive than unifying at the very time we want to show love for all of God’s children.” In spite of being Prophets, Seers, and Revelators; He seemingly also is acknowledging that Jesus isn’t coming into the room and they are trying to figure it out without him. So Radio Free Mormon and Bill Reel decide to be of assistance and offer solutions to the problem they are struggling to get an answer for. So on this episode, we will give these 15 men the theological and historical and doctrinal space to resolve this issue once and for all.
RESOURCES:
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/elder-jeffrey-r-holland-2021-byu-university-conference
https://abn.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics/kingdoms-of-glory?lang=eng
https://abn.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2019/10/17oaks?lang=eng
https://abn.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2019/10/17oaks?lang=eng
https://radiofreemormon.org/2017/03/extra-radio-free-mormon-amazing-contradicting-joseph-smith/
https://radiofreemormon.org/2017/12/radio-free-mormon-022-ghost-homophobias-past/
https://bycommonconsent.com/2018/04/18/three-sub-degrees-in-the-celestial-kingdom/
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Episode 41 additional thought
Jesus and Holy Ghost became Gods before they took on this mortal coil and received their physical bodies.
My understanding is we reached a limit to our progression as spirits and couldn’t advance without a physical body.
Jesus and Holy Ghost kinda cheated by not playing by the same rules
and there’s another Loophole
All children who die before 8 years old
go directly to celestial kingdom
i like the idea that church leaders could err on the side of inclusion and Non-Hate
– – For what it’s worth
Great episode! I published a book last year that proposes the same solutions that RFM talked about (although I he does a better job showing spirits aren’t created – I just emphasize how the formation of spirits from president-existing intelligences isn’t anything like heterosexual procreation). FWIW, I also suggest a couple other solutions in my book that, even though I don’t like them as much as full equality (i.e., gay temple sealings), I do think they’d be easier for the Q15 to swallow right now:
1- Continue to consider gay marriage a “sin” generally but allow it as an exception in certain circumstances, after counseling with local leaders has occurred (an analogous precedent for this solution would be how the church currently handles abortion – I know that’s a tough analogy, so I try to treat it sensitively in my book – but if we allow an exception for something that’s “like unto murder” in the situation where a woman hasn’t chosen to be pregnant (rape), why can’t we allow an exception to the law of chastity in circumstances where local leaders are satisfied the person hasn’t “chosen” to be gay? Again, I don’t love this analogy and I treat it with more sensitivity in my book, but I do think the disparity in how these two situations are treated by the church shows the hypocrisy and homophobia of church leaders.
2- Simply acknowledge in GC that we just don’t know if gay couples might be exalted and that we’re waiting for further “light and knowledge”. Just admitting this ambiguity would allow LGBTQ members to make personal choices for their lives without as much harmful shame and disappointment coming from their TBM families.
My book is available for free digitally or for paperback purchase (all proceeds I get go to LGBTQ charities) at http://www.gayldscrossroads.org. You can browse it online at that site too (the above abortion analogy is found in a section you’ll see toward the end of Chapter 7 and the simple “ambiguity” solution is mentioned a few times throughout the book but is highlighted clearly in the chart at the end of the book titled “A Path Forward” – I didn’t include the abortion analogy solution in that chart because, again, I think it’s too sensitive for summary treatment.
FWIW, over 10,000 people have read my book so far, including some of the Q15 and other GAs (I actually emailed them the draft manuscript before I published it – that got my wife and me a meeting with a GA 70 in the Church Admin Bldg during which he tried to convince me not to publish the story I share in the book (see Chapter 9) about the horribly homophobic things a GA said to me while I was serving as a counselor in our stake presidency here in MA). Anyway, I hope the greater clout you guys have with your podcasts helps the Q15 listen better and adopt a solution – even the two less desirable ones I mention above would be better than the status quo.