I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints; I’m a Mormon. For the most of my life I’ve searched for truth and meaning. I converted to the Mormon religion as a function of faith after pursuits for truth based in reason and rational thought. It was my mind that lead me to the Church and the Holy Ghost that confirmed it in my heart. The reasonings of my mind at times conflicted with the precepts of the Church. However, after sincere prayer, careful contemplation, and the wisdom of others; eventually I saw how the precepts of the Church worked on an eternal scale and was able to make peace with my conflicts.
The greatest internal struggle I have with the Church is its stance on gay marriage. I found denying the institution of marriage to gay couples unjust to the core. There was no other contentious issue I felt more certain about at the time. I don’t think my friends and family realized how much this tested my faith. I almost left the Church because of it. I prayed in earnest daily for God to give me the answers necessary to silence this war that was ensuing in my soul. Yet at the end of each day I was left with nothing but a sore heart. I felt as if I was wrestling with God and being injured each time. It became clear to me that this conflict would not be resolved and I would not know any relief. When a man’s heart is torn two ways he has to go one way or the other. So for the first time in my life I stopped searching for a resolution. I stopped seeking comfort. I simply submitted. Reason, rational thinking, the works of men had while been useful had not enlightened me in the past. I made up my mind that no matter what my objections and personal pains, I would go down on bended knee and obey the will of the Father. It didn’t matter what pains I was going through, or the turmoil of my mind, I would do the will of the Father and place faith in him.
I changed some of my political votes to be in accordance with the declarations of the Church. I even tried to persuade other members of the Church to do the same when I found out they planned to vote contrary to the declaration. I even donated a small sum of money for causes that were working for State and Federal Constitutional amendments to define marriage as between a man and a woman. I cried a lot of nights. Some people said that God would comfort me. My pains would only intensify. As I saw the manner in which fellow members picked up the banner and charge head first into the cause I felt so much sorrow; not for my own pains but for the manner in which members prosecuted the cause. I felt that members were pursuing a righteous order by God with the energy of hate and fear. My pain turned from what was going on in my own soul to the damage being done to my brothers and sisters by themselves. I thought I might be being judgmental. So I changed my assumptions and assumed members were motivated by love and devotion to the Church. It is rare that the Church takes a political stance. So rare I assumed that it must be of the utmost importance. So rare those members must have seen it as a calling to do everything possible to support that stance, all motivated by love.
The Church has once again taken a political stance, this time on immigration. This issue has caused me great pain. Not because I disagree with the stance of the Church. In fact the Church has stated my stance on the issue of immigration almost to a tee. Yet unlike the issue of gay marriage members of the Church sit on their hands. This issue of illegal immigration is complicated because we have to align our actions with the law and the will of God. Yet when we have an opportunity to create laws that would allow us to be compassionate as Christ commanded us and be in alignment with the law we do nothing. We as a Church have been silent on the purported laws being discussed in various states that would make it illegal for us to show compassion to our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. Just look to the immigration law in Alabama. It is now illegal to transport an illegal alien. If I see an illegal alien on the side of the road needing medical attention I can’t take him to a hospital, I can provide no meaningful work of charity. If he or she is out of gas I cannot give them a ride to the gas station. The law in spirit and in performance diminishes the tender mercies that Christ would give to them if he met them on the road. Yet we remain silent. As more of these kinds of laws are debated in other states, we remain silent. Where was all that energy and passion we had when we were trying to defeat gay marriage? Did we as followers of Christ lose charity? Or is charity not enough to have us pick up the banner that the Church has declared us to carry? Are the forces of hate, fear and self-interest too great to have us work for a way to implement the love of Christ and try to make the laws of man friendlier to the bringing of the kingdom of heaven on earth?
The greatest of God’s commandments is to love God with everything you have. Next to this is love thy neighbor. Jesus taught us that our neighbor is anyone that is bound to us by the bonds of love expressed through service. The Good Samaritan was the lowest of the low in Jewish society. A Samaritan was a stranger in the land of Israel. Yet even being a stranger he was the neighbor of the man he helped. Jesus commanded that we love him as he loved the victim on the road. It is our task to love even the strangers to our lands as the Samaritan loved. No matter who you are and how you’ve come to be with me, you are my neighbor.
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4 comments:
Thanks for writing this Jimmy.
Jimmy, this is well written and well thought out. I just hope the folks who should read it actually do.
Well said on all points. Thank you for your words, your faith, and your courage to say all of them so beautifully.
The gist of this post seems to be that when the church takes a rare political position on two different topics people pick and choose which to support. You imply that the reason for this behavior is based on political ideology.
With respect, I'd like to suggest that perhaps the difference in behavior can be better explained by significant differences in the two political positions themselves.
I'll list a few major differences as I see it for examples.
1- The church made it very simple and clear what they expected us to do with Proposition 8, but immigration reform seems to be directed more at the politicians themselves sculpting the laws. I was living in Santa Barbara, CA when I showed up to church and they read aloud the letter from Salt Lake City asking that members actively participate in donating time, means etc to getting Prop 8 passed. With immigration reform there was no letter read in sacrament that I recall and the role of church members is undeniably different. According to the June 10th Church News the role of members is to "avoid making judgments about fellow members in their congregations"
2- Passing Proposition 8 was a simple yes/no task but teaching christ-like principles to people regarding immigration reform is much harder. It will take more time, education and discussion.
3- Lastly, not everyone is following political topics so closely and most people probably think their immigration policy already reflects the church's position.
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