A More Inclusive Understanding of the Proclamation

By Lori Bolland Embree

This was originally written as a comment on a hurtful post at the FB page “Family–A Proclamation to the World”.

I absolutely believe that marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God. The Proc doesn’t ever state that other unions are not by the way. Nowhere in the Proc does it say “and every other type of union is not ordained of God.”

The entire point of the New Testament is to love one another…to be kind.

The official website by the LDS church (mormonsandgays.org) says that

“The human family comes in every shade of difference. The greatest and smallest of us possess as many unique talents as we do weaknesses. Yet it is so easy to miss the common ground we all walk on.”

Amen. Families are as diverse as the individuals that make them. We should focus on our common ground, NOT on our differences.

Our ninth article of faith states that “we believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God. ”

This gives me incredible hope. That takes the “that will never happen” out of any argument you want to make. Since I have many gay friends and family, I continue to hope and pray for their sake.

We are evolving. There are now a few wards that welcome openly gay people. I know of one openly gay bishopric member, and I am sure there are more. I have a hard time with the idea that we can be ok with people being gay, as long as they don’t want the same things heterosexuals do (marriage, love, family). Being gay is not a sin, but currently, acting on it is. Premarital sex to me is the issue. If marriage equality happens across the board (instead of just certain states), then maybe there will be hope on that front.

My best friend & brother is gay. He grew up in the same conservative environment that I did. He served an honorable mission in Brazil. He has a testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. All of his life he has tried hard to “overcome” what he is (that breaks my heart so much). Finally, he fell in love and got married. He loves his spouse very much. He had to choose between his spouse and the Church he loves. I can’t IMAGINE being forced to choose between the Gospel and my husband. My brother currently cannot hold callings, be active in the Church, or even be welcome to attend meetings with his spouse. But you know what? He still very quietly lives the Gospel. He still has hope. I have to hope with him.

I mean no offense to anyone here, please know this. I love the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Plan of Happiness. I don’t and cannot know everything about them, but I can do my best to build my faith, and build others up around me.