My Personal View on my Religion and Marriage

I posted, what I thought was a neither here nor there status about the recent marriage ruling in the U.S. and got a little bit of backlash of people telling me that I was wrong for siding with the new marriage laws or telling me to review my religions stance on the matter.

Which was a little rude.

For those of you who don't know what I wrote on my status, it was,

"Avoiding the whole "Does God think that new marriage laws are right?" debate, I just want to say that, a marriage recognized by the country, comes with many added rights that most people don't think about. Topics that I didn't think about until this year.
Medical records and a voice in general in a medical setting. Death wishes. Inheritance rights. And many many more.
I know it isn't the romantic parts of marriage but even the mundane life issues are part of marriage. And I'm so so happy for the gay community that they will have these same rights because during their lives together, it will give an added sense of security on these issues."

What I stated were mostly facts.  

This ruling DOES give them rights in this country that they didn't have before.  I didn't think about these rights much until this year.  A whole lot happened to me this year and I was really grateful that I was legally married to the person that I've chosen to spend my life with and other people that I know were less fortunate than me this year because the legality of their marriage was being questioned in a medical setting.  So it has been on my mind.

I guess you can assume that I don't have a proper perspective of eternal marriage on this subject because I said that I was happy for them.  You are always free to assume what you want to.  But it doesn't mean that you are right.  

I am happy for them.  Especially in what I stated. "I'm so so happy for the gay community that they will have these same rights because during their lives together, it will give an added sense of security on these issues."  They will have an added sense of security....during their lives together.

Here is where my "eternal perspective" sits.

I'm a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  We have some pretty radical views about the life after this one.  They are very unique to Christianity and sometimes, they make people question whether we really ARE Christian.

We believe that after this life, and after Christ comes to rule on earth and we are placed into different kingdoms, at the highest level, we will have the chance to become like God.  And our Heavenly Mother.

You see, we believe that our Heavenly Father needed a Heavenly Mother to also create our spirits.  We believe that this family unit that Adam and Eve were patterned after, is eternal.  That it starts with our Heavenly Mother and Father.  A mother and a father.

I believe that if I'm true and faithful to Christ on this earth and I do my personal best, I will have the chance to become like my Heavenly Mother with my husband, Aaron, at my side as a Heavenly Father.  That we will have the opportunity to create worlds together.  LDS people believe in eternal progression.

It isn't that we are scared that all the homosexuals are going to go to hell.  We actually don't really believe in hell (we believe in something called outer darkness but it isn't an easy place to get into).  Our worry isn't about damnation and hell fire.

Members of the LDS faith want everyone to have the same opportunity to become like God.  I, personally, want everyone to have the same opportunity to become like God....I guess I can't speak for all members of my faith.  We are all at different places in our spiritual progression.

I've heard other members of my faith cite different fears that they have besides the one I wrote above.

Some of those fears start from these pieces of doctrine. 

We believe that we were sent to earth so that our Spirits (that were made by Heavenly Father and Mother) could receive bodies.  That was the first commandment that Adam and Eve received.  To multiply and replenish the earth.

Once we have those bodies, we start to learn and grow.  Yes, we are suppose to learn "right and wrong" but also we are meant to learn patience, kindness, charity, love and a million other qualities that will help us to become closer to God.

And we'll mess up.  That's part of it too.  Everyone fails.  We aren't good at anything at the beginning.  That's why we have a Savior.  Jesus Christ came to earth so that he could make up for the stuff that we are totally failing at even when we are trying our hardest.

Here in lies more problems that some see in a marriage between people of the same gender.  No new spirits getting bodies.  That's tough but it doesn't really thwart God's plan.  He's infinite and all knowing and capable to completing his design.  So personally, I don't care about that.

And we also believe that a marriage between a man and a woman is the best place for a child to learn and grow.  Please don't feel so bummed out if you are a homosexual because that also includes families with single parents, people who are widowed or teenage mothers.  We aren't singling you out.  (Well....some members are.  I guess because you can't make a law that says, "Don't let that husband die")

And Mormons also believe that God can make up the difference there.  We don't condemn widowed mothers or fathers and COMMAND that they get remarried.  We don't force people to stay married against their will so that they aren't single parents.   And frankly, sometimes a mother and father are terrible parents to their children, even inside of our church.

So this doesn't bug me either.

One last thing that I keep hearing members of my Church bringing up is our Proclamation to the World on the Family.  

Mostly in fear, I'll hear this line repeated back to me,"We warn that the disintegration of the family will bring upon individuals, communities, and nations the calamities foretold by ancient and  modern prophets."

Members of my Church bust this out ALL THE TIME to talk about changing marriage laws.  ALL THE TIME.

Here is the thing, this also covers every other kind of deviation from the ideal of a man and a woman having a caring and kind and loving and educated marriage.  These calamities will be caused by all types of abuse to your spouse and children.  Of single mothers trying to make it work, but the reality is, is that they don't have the time to focus on their children like they would want to.  It will be caused by people pushing away and starting fights with their gay children.  Of people choosing not to form any relationships with people because they are focused on their own self interests.

And do you know what, these calamities are foretold.  They are going to happen.  I really believe that.  As I've taken classes in Family Studies in college and I see all of the different ways a family can be screwed up, I've learned that it is going to happen.  I also have a testimony of the prophets and that they speak for God so everything about this fear checks out.  But the homosexuals aren't bringing about the end times on their own.  It's wrong to single them out.

My bottom line is this.

I want everyone to become like God.  And I do have a testimony that that is only going to happen in a type of marriage that is ordained of God.  I'm not going to stop telling that message or wanting that for everybody.  I truly want everyone that I love to have this chance.  I have to work on my own marriage every day to make sure that I get that chance.  Aaron and I have to make sure we are moving in the right direction.

Heavenly Father gave us all the gift of agency.  I'm not going to command that everyone follow my way of thinking, when they don't even believe that this goal of becoming like God really exists.  I see people make this logical fallacy all the time.  They say, "Why are they not afraid to offend God?!"  And it is simply because they don't think He exists.  You can't force someone to believe in God.  So you can't force them to follow the laws of someone that they don't believe exists.  That's a terrible argument.

So I am happy for the gay community that they have the right to choose for themselves.  It might be an uninformed choice since they don't know what I know.  But Christ's Atonement and God's wisdom covers that too.  Mormon's believe that God won't condemn us for something that we don't know, things that we never learned.

That's my eternal perspective. 

*This post doesn't include the entire breadth of my Gospel knowledge and understanding.  So because I didn't write something on *The Law of Chasity* or *Missionary Work* or *Civic Duty*, please don't assume that I don't know about it.  Fight your desire to assume.  Don't read between the lines.  I also tried not to go too indepth and go into tangents so that readers don't drown in theology.

I guess if you want to go into depth and tangent on certain parts of this, you can get your own blog.

**This post is my current opinions and I have the RIGHT to change my opinions or grow my knowledge so please fight the desire to throw it back in my face in the middle of conversations as it suits your fancy.