Homosexuality

The issue of Homosexuality has been coming up every World Conference for the last few conferences. There were resolutions, G4, G5, G6, G10, and G11, submitted to the conference from various lower bodies this time. (Keep in mine that this does not mean they have any real support. Some of these bodies are quite small, and as few as ten or twenty people may have voted for them.) G5 and G6 are identical, which indicates to me that it was probably a politicking effort brought these forward. Further evidence is indicated in that G10 differs only in small ways from the others.

G5, G6, and G10 appear to mostly be homophobic attempts to get the church to outlaw homosexuality. G11 appears to be an attempt to get the church to accept homosexuality. G4 is an attempt to force the church to make some decision, probably by the homophobic forces that see their support dwindling as time goes by, or at least I remember someone of that persuasion saying as much at the conference. (I may have overheard it in a conversation that was not public.)

(Of course, my view is that the will of God will win out in the end, so if support is swindling, then that must be the will of God. On the other hand, if support is dwindling for that point of view it really doesn't make any difference what this conference decides because the next conference can undo it all with a simple vote. To be honest, it is more complicated than that, because the church does not have police to enforce its policies. If someone doesn't accept the resolution they will just ignore it.)

Item G4 was ruled out of order, primarily because it attempted to restrict what the conference could do by using a simple majority, which violated the rules. I think it was also a stupid idea for two reasons. First, it attempted to force the conference to face an issue the conference may not be ready to face yet. Secondly, one never knows but what at some point during the week a really inciteful solution may have been found which might take time to implement. (In reality, this is what happened.) Forcing a solution now would prevent something like that from being found.

In addition to the resolutions brought to the conference, resolutions can be proposed at the conferences by the various meetings and caucuses. There were two more resolutions proposed, G12 and G13, both of which are an attempt to continue to study the situation, and take no action now. G12 was brought by the Youth Caucus (High School students) and G13 was brought by the first presidency. G13 was eventually approved, although it was amended to add the working portions of G12.

At the conclusion of the considerations of this matter Grant McMurray, the president of the church, made a statement about the fact that G12 was brought to the conference by the Youth Caucus, and the active parts were accepted by the body, for those who think the youth of the church are irrelevant. The wisdom of the youth caucus was what finally carried the day.

Later in the week the Presiding Evangelist Danny Belrose made a statement . The presiding evangelist can be viewed as the "pastor to the president" of the church, and as such his words carry a lot of weight. He also indicated that these words were inspired counsel, although they were intended more for the conference than the church as a whole, and will not appear in the Doctrine and Covenants.

In part this statement said,

The time has come for the church to lay aside personal agendas and differences that vitiate the cause to which we are called. We have allowed ourselves to be engulfed by an issue far less important than it is. The church’s mission is not to define human sexuality. Our mission is to serve the souls of men and women and boys and girls. Our mission is to express Christ’s community on earth--to reach out in joyful witness and to share generously of God’s blessings.

This pretty much expresses my view on homosexuality. That is, it is really a rather minor issue that has been blown out of proportions, and is being used by the forces of evil to divert the church from its true purpose, which is improving the lives of people. Ultimately, I use this as evidence that the change in World Conference format is for the better. This is an issue brought from the lower levels, and is being used to divert the church from its true purpose. The new format will prevent this from happening every time, so the church should be able to spend more time reflecting on its true purpose.