I need to get something off my chest. I don't want any arguments here, which is why I decided to write this on my blog and not on Facebook. I know God calls Prophets for us in this day. I know what they teach is inspired by God. I know they are the mouthpiece for. God here on this earth. But let's get a few things straight:
1) I do not follow anything blindly. Never have. Never will. So, to those of my beloved extended family who think I follow a Prophet because I am told to: you are wrong. When I was a kid and President Howard W. Hunter passed away, my Dad and Mom told me how neat it was that now I would get to pray and ask God if President Hinckley is indeed a Prophet. I did. And guess what? After a lot of prayer and listening to his words, I found out FOR MYSELF that He was a Prophet. No one told me to just believe. I spent 18 months of my life asking people to find out for themselves if Gordon B. Hinckley was a prophet of God. Do you think I would ask them to do that if I hadn't done it myself?! And when Pres. Hinckley passed away, I went through the same process again. Prayer, study, more prayer, temple attendance, and guess what? Yep, same answer. He is a Prophet of God.
2) I am not dumb. I resent that people assume that because I don't believe in gay marriage, I am uneducated on the subject and have no place expressing myself or stating my opinion. Just because we disagree on the subject does not make your opinion more valuable or right, for that matter. I am an educated woman. I have a Bachelor's Degree for crying out loud. I can and do think and act for myself. I also have had a lot of life experience. I have had my own struggles with Principles of the Gospel and my life experiences and my desire to find peace and understanding have all led me to my beliefs I hold so dear.
3) And last, but not least, I am so sick and tired of the double standard of "Love me and accept me for who I am, but don't expect me to do the same for you (unless you agree with me)" Why is it that those who believe in gay marriage and fight for it are so offended when those of us who don't believe in it are doing exactly as they are. Why is it that because I do not believe gay marriage is sanctified by God that I am not allowed to stand up for what I believe in without being called "judge-mental, closed-minded, inconsiderate, condescending, un-educated, hateful, and most hurtful: not Christian." My belief in God is directly related to my belief in His living Prophet. And my freedom of speech is just as "free" as theirs, is it not?
Phew. Okay, rant over. Now, with all that having been said, I also believe that we must love and respect one another. While I personally do not believe in gay marriage, I do believe that. God does love all His children and I am expected to do the same. I was taught by wonderful parents who taught me to love all people, despite our differences. And that was also a strong message conveyed in general conference last weekend.
Now, a bit of really happy news that has nothing to do with the above content...
Last winter we moved to Laramie for Austin to attend school at UW. We paid out-of-state tuition. A whopping $9,000. We had to get a personal loan to pay for half of it. This semester, after being given the run-around about all the piles of paperwork it was supposed to take to happen, we were blessed to be awarded in-state tuition. Austin appealed to the registrar's office about the fact that all he needed to say was that his wife is from WY and attended UW, and he would have been given in-state tuition last January. They reviewed his case two times. Denying it once and then awarding him a refund the second time. We have been so blessed! Moving here has been so hard for me. Austin loves it here. I am learning to love it. We have had some difficult challenges the last ten months. But with a lot of prayer and study and faith, we have seen the great blessings in our struggles. Our Heavenly Father loves us. So much. Of that, I am certain :)
4 comments:
Hmmm...was this about yesterday? And about me? It felt it was a bit directed at me...but maybe that's just me being a little overly sensitive right now!? :) But a couple of thoughts...
I really hate using the phrase "following blindly" because it makes people sounds dumb, and is super offensive, I totally get it. I'd be offended! But I also feel like I, personally, totally "followed blindly" for the past 30 years of my life. I had NO idea that there was a controversial side of the church and church history, all backed by reliable historical data, and even acknowledged by the church to be true. And I’m sure you don’t either!? But there is, indeed, another side to the church coin, and if you don’t know this information, then that is what people are referring to as “following blindly.” I’m not saying you should go find out what it is, but if you choose not to look into it, then you have to be okay with knowing and admitting that you really don’t know the whole story.
As far as the gay issue goes, it's your right to say you don't agree. It's the church's right to keep them out of their religion. But it's not our right to deny them rights in our country or to accuse them of worshipping the devil. That's just inhumane, mean, and not true.
Alright, sorry for the novel/lecture. I feel like I understand where you’re coming from. I was you for nearly 30 years. You may never understand me, and that's fine, but this is my effort to try to bridge the gap of understanding. But I do love you and think the world of you regardless of your positions or religion. :) You are a great woman, and an amazing mom, and an awesome cousin and friend. I love you Vi!
Love you Vi! This was well written. I think everyone is going to have their opinions, and while I don't necessarily think people should keep quiet on their opinions, I think that controversial matters need to be handled differently than a lot of people out their are handling them. As representatives of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, whether we agree with or are against gay marriage, what we say and post publicly needs to be done with love and understanding, from both those that agree, and those that don't. (This is not referring to anyone in particular, by the way, just people in general)
I too know that our prophet and his apostles are called of God. I know that marriage is intended for man and woman, and that while we need to love everyone, we don't have to agree with their life style.
I love how leaders of the church tell us that it's okay to question things, but we need to make sure that we're going to the right sources to get the answers...the scriptures, prayer. Digging deep into certain gospel principles in outside sources is only going to cause more confusion. That's why we're given the scriptures, and why we're told to pray.
Anyway, that turned out a lot longer than I intended. Thanks for your uplifting post. I look up to you and admire you so much.
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