The LDS church has its trousers around its knees and their giant desperation is showing. In the June 2011 issue of The Ensign, there is an article that is an adaptation of a speech that was given at BYU in March 2011 by Elder Bruce D. Porter that rails against tolerance and is a blatant manifesto to parents exhorting them to raise their children to fight against the cause of marriage equality. Reading this article is almost comical; it's such a grossly transparent attempt to make sure that the upcoming generation is as bigoted and self-serving as they are. Fortunately for those of us who have some sense of human compassion and a modicum of logic and common sense should be able to see through this, and realize that times, they are a changin'.

The speech is filled with not-so-thinly-veiled hatred. He explains that while God's love is unconditional, his blessings are far from it. Only the righteous and those who are moral and virtuous are worthy to receive one of God's greatest blessings: LOVE.

This speech once again paints LDS people as victims and martyrs, and explains how much the idea of tolerance has been distorted and vastly overblown (apparently LDS, Inc. has claimed to have the ultimate and perfect definition of THAT word, too) because people have begun to "tolerate" and accept gay and lesbian families as being legitimate.

"Those who defend the traditional family, who stand for fidelity and chastity and all that once was considered wholesome and praiseworthy are mocked and ridiculed. On the other hand, those who see no problem with fatherless homes, who advocate abortion, who fight all attempts to limit pornography, and who seek to redefine the very essence of what a family is, are praised and upheld as champions of tolerance. Truly, the world has turned upside down."

Translation: anyone who challenges the LDS church's short-sighted point of view are not simply disagreeing, they are mocking and ridiculing it.

"In the mad pursuit of self that prevails in the world today, many believe that they may make up their own rules as they go along, putting on their personal concept of morality or “lifestyle” like a change of clothing."

Really? The last time I checked, we were all born with something called Free Will(y). One of the great things about being human is that we are all able to change and evolve our ideas about what is right and wrong for our lives. But as we all well aware, the LDS church has the deluded idea that it has the franchise on morality and virtue, and anything that strays from that is evil and must be squashed by any means necessary.

"Until recently in our national history, tolerance referred to racial and religious non-discrimination. It meant civility in the political arena; in other words, respecting the right of others to express their views, even if we do not agree with them. It meant treating all people with decency and respect...today, however, the world is in danger of abandoning all sense of absolute right or wrong, all morality and virtue, replacing them with an all-encompassing “tolerance” that no longer means what it once meant...Curiously enough, this new modern tolerance is often a one-way street. Those who practice it expect everyone to tolerate them in anything they say or do, but show no tolerance themselves toward those who express differing viewpoints or defend traditional morality."

Hello? In this bile-inducing vitriol, Elder Porter is arrogant enough to claim that tolerance only has to do with race and religion. According to him, tolerance means 'treating all people with decency and respect', but that only should encompass race and the almighty Religion. Once again, the LDS people are being persecuted and mocked because people aren't lying down and taking their bigoted points of view in the ass anymore. And WE'RE persecuting THEM???

"The Church is a small institution compared with the world at large. Nevertheless, the Latter-day Saints as a people should not underestimate the power of our example, nor our capacity to persuade public opinion, reverse negative trends, or invite seeking souls to enter the gate and walk the Lord’s chosen way."

Shut up, Napoleon. If the leaders of the LDS church opened their eyes just a teeny tiny bit, and saw the world as it really is, they'd be in for a shit popsicle when they realize how completely insane most people outside (and inside for that matter) Utah view the LDS church and its members. You think a bunch of old men running a cult-like organization in a small city like Salt Lake have enough power to alter and manipulate public opinion? Wrong. Contrary to the delusions of grandeur you foster, Elder Porter, pretty much the only public opinion you can bend to your will is in Utah, and even then, your popularit is waning, and people are leaving the LDS church in mass.

"May we as members of the Church rise up and assume our divinely appointed role as a light to the nations. May we sacrifice and labor to rear a generation strong enough to resist the siren songs of popular culture, a generation filled with the Holy Ghost so that they may discern the difference between good and evil, between legitimate tolerance and moral surrender."

Arrogencia!!! As hard as you try, you can't fight societal progression. Your "Proclamation to the Family" isn't absolute law, no matter how many servings of delusion you consume each day. We no longer live in a Victorian society where women are subservient to men, and people that fall outside the mold of middle-class white men are considered inferior. This is an age of freedom and self-expression. People are becoming less afraid of the Vengeful Warlord God, and realizing that love in all its myriad forms is part of an innate human right, not something that comes exclusively from Your God, based on an arcane belief that there is only one kind of love, compassion and tolerance in the world.

Should you like to read the speech in its entirety, and think you can keep your lunch down while doing so, here's the link:

http://lds.org/ensign/2011/06/defending-the-family-in-a-troubled-world?lang=eng



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/12/2011 05:10PM by GayLayAle.

Now, if you want to get into darkness, brethren and sisters, begin to oppose this revelation. Sisters, you begin to say before your husbands, or husbands you begin to say before your wives, "I do not believe in the principle of polygamy, and I intend to instruct my children against it." Oppose it in this way, and teach your children to do the same, and if you do not become as dark as midnight there is no truth in Mormonism.

Author: Orson Pratt
Source: Journal Of Discourses
Volume: 17
Page: 225

Why is that concept so hard for them to understand?
What if Catholics fought to outlaw Mormon marriages and deny them the legal benefits of marriage? Would that be ok? Would they be persecuting the Catholics if they fought against such a law?

Wow! So just like the LDS 'prophets' huh?

Seems like the same sort of stuff I read in the 80s really.

Few things gall me more than Mormons thinking they are a light unto the world, thinking all other religions and all races look to them as an example of morality. Two things I've discovered as an exmo is that no one outside the church really looks up to Mormons for any kind of example whatsoever and that the almost all the people Mormons look down on, gays, divorced people, those with tattoos and piercings, minorities - you name it - are nicer, more accepting, kinder and with higher REAL morals than Mormons. And by real morals I mean the attitude with which they treat others, how much respect they show others, the amount of real service the give others. People outside the church are a far better example of how to live your life than most Mormons I know. People are people, they have their faults. But that includes Mormons. They aren't any special good example by the way they live their lives. Period.

had an abortion, viewed porn. Our family is very close, and healthy, and my children are very successful, thank-you-very-much.

We have not "redefined the family", at all:

Family puts each other first--not the church first.

A parent/parents act as parent, decision-maker, leader--instead of a cult and its unqualified "leaders and prophets."

No parent/parents in their right mind would deliberately teach their children to hate!

A family loves each other unconditionally. Love--especially love from God--is not earned.

A family does not need a priesthood-holding man as its head. I've given blessings for my children, earned a living, raised and supported them after their TBM father totally abandoned them. The priesthood never helped us--instead they maligned us, threatened us, and physically abused my children. (Not all are bullies. A few of these jerks made our lives miserable, and the nice ones condoned that behavior.)

I am so sick of being maligned and accused, just because life circumstances put me into being a single working mother. I can surely empathize with gay people. We can't help it, so why attack us?

You say ".....the Latter-day Saints as a people should not underestimate the power of our example, nor our capacity to persuade public opinion, reverse negative trends, or invite seeking souls to enter the gate and walk the Lord’s chosen way."

Okay, Elder Porter, you and your buddies in the 15 want to "set the example"? STOP temple sealing cancellations NOW. Let the sheep know you won't stand for temple divorce. See how long you stay in power.

People like Marie Osmond can get divorced and remarried all they like....but one temple sealing per customer per lifetime.

Take care of your own problems before you lectures the rest of us reprobates, your high and mighty holiness.

OMFG those near-sighted "only the 1950 mindset is correct" GAs are so full of shit it really makes me want to expend 150 an hour by banging my head against the wall. On the other hand, I wish I could help this asshole expend 150 calories an hour by banging HIS head against a wall! >:-(



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/13/2011 01:07PM by imalive.

The only thing ruining the "family" are these ignorant ass-holes in TSSC. Reading that REALLY got my blood going!

OK, I'm an atheist so I don' unnerstand nuthin', but I just cannot see why so many people (not just Mormons) consider that sex and sexuality fall within the sphere of MORAL questions.

For me, morality is about how you treat other people - as in honestly, respectfully, even lovingly. And it can be applied to ALL parts of life, including business.

I just don't see what it has to do with sex (apart from the need for honesty respect and love in personal relationships).

Similarly, I don't understand the obsession with marriage as the defining basis for a "moral" family. As someone who has never married, but who has been with the same woman for 28 years now, producing three kids who are definitely moral according to the terms of my definition, because they were brought up within that moral framework.

I suppose I must be a freak.

P.S. GLA: following your "attention crack whore" post (LOL) I went to your music page... and was VERY impressed!

You have a lovely voice. Are any of the songs your own originals?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/13/2011 04:39AM by Soft Machine.

So many people automatically jump to images of depraved sexual acts when homosexuality is mentioned. Honestly, gay sex is no more in the forefront in a gay relationship than heterosexual sex is in a straight relationship.

Seriously, if people are that interested in what I do in bed, I'll gladly make a video.

People ARE that interested, dude. I wouldn't be offering up any services you don't wanna follow through on ;)

I find that the kinkiest girls I've been with were usually the "Straight" chicks with strict religious upbringings. Those girls have a lot of repression to work out, and they know they only have one night to do it, so they try real hard not to leave anything by the wayside.