Thursday, April 11, 2013

The timely trend to tolerate

Would He tolerate me? Or would
He avoid me so that it wouldn't
Appear as if He approved of my lifestyle?
A local news source posted the following “LDS leader warns against being swallowed up in tolerance“.

Of course, I quickly clicked on to read. I watched conference -- 2 hours times five, and I didn't remember such a talk.  But, even as the news story was loading, I knew to whom they were referring. Boyd K Packer. How could it have been anybody else?

I hear some of you out there. “Not again” you are saying. Yes, again -- if by again you mean that he said something else that the same-gender attracted/gay community (those who are concerned over SGAed folk), will be upset over.

Frankly, if I were to take Elder Packer’s remarks at face value, I might be a little frustrated as well. But I believe that he is a prophet of the Lord. He may be staunch, unyielding, and as delicate as a bulldozer planting petunias, but when he speaks for the Lord, he speaks for the Lord. 


If I believed differently I would have no business writing a semi-conservative Mormon/gay blog. I would at least have to erase the “Mormon/priesthood” part of gaymormonman/priesthoodmen.

In another talk, Jeffrey R. Holland said something that I now realize could be directly related to Elder Packers comments - the key to unlock the real message. He said that what we as members of the church know now about the church waaaaay outweighs what we don’t know -- testimony wise.

So, I try to look at what Elder Packer said through those glasses. Here is what Elder Packer said.

“We need to be careful of the tolerance trend, so that we do not get swallowed up in it. The permissiveness afforded by the weakening of the laws of the land to tolerate and legalize immorality does not reduce the serious spiritual consequence that is the result from a violation of God’s law of Chastity.”

I think it is idea of being “swallowed up” in permissiveness that is getting to some.

Before we get into it, let me just …

My grandmother was famous for saying that we (those from Idaho) need to be careful being so open minded that our brains fall out. However, she was also famous for slipping in the muck during her first husbands funeral and starting a mud-slinging fest. I have pictures.

Concerning the falling out of brains: I think she meant that people sometimes loose their practical sense of right and wrong by allowing others to choose - even if we consider the idea, thought, or choice wrong, than we give the idea a chance. When others choose differently than we do, we question our own choices and sometimes feel obligated to change. Other than the obligations to change, I am OK reassessing my beliefs every so often.

I don’t think Grandma meant that tolerance would be the downfall of men, not in Idaho, at least.

I would like to hear from you before I post my defense/assessment/thoughts concerning President Packers remarks. What did you hear? Is Elder Packers talk relevant?

The news article -- http://fox13now.com/2013/04/06/lds-leader-warns-against-being-swallowed-up-in-tolerance/ 
Please see lds.org for President Packers talk

3 comments:

  1. It seems that Elder Packer is the only one to agitate people. The rest seem to help by being positive and caring, but BKP want to put us in our place. Makes me sad.

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  2. I don't think that the Mormon church or it's policies need to worry about being too tolerant. That is laughable. In the Mormon church 5 year olds look down on coffee drinkers. In the Mormon church people who aren't in the church can't have true happiness. In the Mormon church you are not a capable adult unless you are married. The Mormon church is extremely intolerant and of all the teachings of Christ and his atonement it is ludicrous to have a talk about being too tolerant. By the way regardless of the laws on gay marriage, gay people are still gay, and gay couples are still creating families.

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  3. BKP seems like an unhappy man in so many ways. I don't know if he has been instructed to hold this torch or if it is something he feels so strongly about, however his talks frequently contain some venom leaving me to think there is some unhappiness for him and this is his outlet. I don't think that the church needs to necessarily change their standards, but they clearly need to change the way in which they address this issue--and they are doing just that. I'm 40 and what I heard growing up was that even having gay thoughts was a sign of moral failure and that I should flagellantly move forward with my shame. It causes real and lasting damage. BKP is loved by God, just as the rest of us are loved by God. His journey on this earth won't last much longer, and I really hope that in the end we will see he had some very good qualities and that he helped some people in spite of the damage caused by his words for anyone questioning or struggling with their sexuality.

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