LDS Opposition to Same-Sex Marriage
Mormon Leadership Views Gay Couple's Wedding as Moral Issue
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints issued a statement stating that marriage is ordained of god as a union between a man and a woman. The letter that was read to Mormon congregations in California on June 29, 2008 restated the position of the church on same-sex marriages and asked members to donate their time and their vote to a proposition that will be decided by California voters on November 4, 2008.
The text of the letter, which can be found on the official LDS website, states that marriage is a union ordained of god, and children have the right to be born within the bonds of matrimony. The wording of the letter does not indicate how the church expects same-sex couples to produce children.
Mormon Opposition to Same-Sex Marriage
The Mormon church supported Proposition 22, according to an article by D. Michael Quinn that ran in Dialogue, Volume 33, Issue 3. Quinn is a member of a group of scholars known as the September Six. The Utah state legislature passed an amendment to its state constitution that defined marriage as between a man and a woman after the defeated Proposition 22, according to the "LDS Backs Proposed One-Man One-Woman Marriage Amendment" article in the June 24, 2008 edition of the Salt Lake Tribune.
The church has opposed same-sex marriage initiatives and supports a similar measure to define marriage as being between a man and a woman that is on the ballot in the state of Arizona, according to the church-owned Deseret News.
The letter that was read to Mormon congregations in California does not tell its members how to vote. The wording only suggests that members donate their time and efforts to preserving the sacred institution of marriage.
Dissent Against the Leadership's Position on Same-Sex Marriage
Jefferey Nielsen, a former philosophy professor at Brigham Young University, was informed that he would not be re-hired after writing an editorial criticizing the Mormon church leadership opposition to gay marriage, according to the Daily Utah Chronicle website. Nielsen's editorial appeared in the Salt Lake Tribune and was brought to the attention of his superiors at the church-owned university.
The Mormon church's leadership position on gay and lesbian couples getting married is not the first time that it has asked its members to act on a political issue. The Mormon church opposed the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970s, according to the National Organization for Women's web site. The church is active in other mesures that define marriage as being between a man and a woman, such as the recent proposed amendment to the constitution of the state of Arizona.
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