July 3, 2008
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Disappointed
I was disappointed this morning when I read the Daily Universe. My letter to the editor apparently didn’t get printed despite an email asking me to confirm authorship and give permission for the letter to be printed. There was one letter printed on the same subject, but it is a letter criticizing the newspaper for publishing an article acknowledging Affirmation’s dissenting view to the letters the Church read from its California pulpits this last Sunday. Of course that one would get printed. Many anti-same-sex-marriage letters have been posted over the past week in the Daily Universe. *sigh*
Dear Editor,There is a bit of déjà vu in the recent buzz about homosexuality in the Daily Universe. The letter the Church read from pulpits across California in support of the proposed state amendment is almost identical to the letter it read in 2000 to support proposition 22. That letter also stimulated a passionate response, including commentary in the Daily Universe.
Many gay Latter-day Saints, including Stuart Matis, were tortured by the insensitive remarks and intense expectations of the Mormons around them during the 2000 controversy. Shortly after his plea for compassion was published in the Daily Universe, Stuart Matis shot himself on the steps of his Los Altos Stake Center.
Because I am seeing the same things happen again, I feel compelled to beg homosexual Latter-day Saints not to repeat this tragedy. Please do not take your life. If you have same gender attractions, you are not alone. Suicide is never the solution.
To all Latter-day Saints I beg you to give compassion, love, and support to the homosexuals in your midst. You may not know they are there suffering in silence, but they are. They are your neighbors, classmates, home teachers, roommates, FHE leaders, friends, brothers, and cousins. And if we do not show them an outpouring of love and support, then we cannot be surprised when they turn to the world to find it.
Sincerely,
DanielThus I return to my distaste for the Daily Universe as one sided “jounalism.”
Comments (3)
Dan,
This is very well written, but is still flawed. I agree I with you when you say that suicide is not the answer and I completely agree with you when you say that we need to love and fellowship all those around us that are struggling. However, the problem with fellowshipping and showing love for homosexual friends is that they choose not to see that they are struggling. They choose to listen to the promptings of Satan that tell them that they are naturally this way and that there is no problem with what they are doing. I have many LDS friends that struggle with this issue, but only those that recognize it as a problem can be helped. Those that choose to rub it in other’s faces and strive to convince members of the church of the great lie that homosexuality is okay cannot be helped. Those that do not want to be helped cannot be helped. And, until they realize that what they are doing is wrong, there is nothing anyone can do for them.
-Your Friend
Dear Friend,
Let me restate the last line. If you do not show them an outpouring of love, support, and compassion, then do not be surprised when they leave. Your comment shows me that you really didn’t understand my letter at all. I specifically referred to the gay Latter-day Saints who are “suffering in silence.” They know they are struggling. The question is what is causing them to struggle. Quite frankly, it is people like you.
Friend, your comment is very offensive. When did God limit the people to whom we should show love? When did he say not to fellowship a certain type of member? In the Book of Mormon, the Lord makes it clear that we should not turn away sinners. We must fellowship sinners! How else can you expect them to stay in the Church or to join it?
In my letter to the editor, I was not asking Latter-day Saints to support activities which they consider wrong. Just because a person is homosexual doesn’t mean he or she is engaging in any kind of activity or “sin.” A person could be attracted to the same gender without having sex with a member of the same gender or being in a same gender relationship. But by withdrawing your compassion for that person, you are essentially encouraging them to be in a same gender relationship because you are pushing them away from the Church and into the arms of those who will show them compassion.
What you fail to understand is that for homosexuals, same sex attraction is natural. It is the only thing they know. A heterosexual relationship would be as unnatural and disturbing to them as a homosexual relationship would be to you. That is not the promptings of satan, it is just the way it is. Whether or not acting out the attractions in a relationship is right or wrong is a completely separate issue.
I’m sorry, but I am just really bothered by the malice in your tone of voice, who ever you are. It demonstrates to me that you have absolutely no idea who God is. The God I know is “more liberal in His views and boundless in His mercies and blessings than we are ready to believe or receive,” and the nearer we get to Him, “the more we are disposed to look with compassion on perishing souls; we feel that we want to take them upon our shoulders, and cast their sins behind our backs” (Joseph Smith).
If your statement represents Mormonism (which it does not), then I want nothing to do with Mormonism. Think about how you present your faith to the world.
Ok, I probably over reacted. A second reading of the comment indicates that no offense was intended. I disagree with it, but it probably didn’t warrant such a strong emotional backlash from me.