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by Jay Bell Salt Lake Tribune August 24, 1999 All this flack from the LDS Church about the "evil" of equal marriage between two consenting adults being against "God's will," is hard for me to understand, and I've been a Mormon all my life. In the Bible, God commanded a prophet to marry a harlot, the founder of the LDS Church married a 14-year-old, and the Mormons practiced a very socially unpopular form of marriage during the last century — polygamy. Where does all that rationally fit into their argument of "family values?" As a Mormon, I can't answer that question and I don't think the LDS Church can either. Will someone please explain in a very simple, distinct, logical and documented manner why equal marriage goes against "family values" and should be outlawed? I've never heard or read of a decent argument explaining why it's so bad. I've heard the arguments about why criminals can marry, why people of different cultural backgrounds can marry, the stabilizing factor of marriage in a relationship, the fact that gays have a lower "divorce" rate in Denmark than mixed-sex couples, etc. But when it comes to "equal marriage" the arguments boil down to hype, emotional rhetoric, and "hot air." I feel, and I have plenty of close friends in stable long-term relationships who can't marry, that excluding equal marriage is dehumanizing, while promoting it can strengthen stability in relationships, and give legal benefits to couples. As one elementary child put it with a bewildered look on his face, "Why shouldn't two people who love each other not be able to get married?" Good question. Isn't it about mutual love between two consenting adults? The U.S. Constitution separates church and state. Doesn't this mean that any church, including the LDS Church, can refuse to perform some marriage ceremonies? Churches have the right to ask their members to believe a certain way, but I disagree with them using their big "special interest" deep pockets to force their religious beliefs on those who may not agree. I know how the LDS Church can influence politics. Personally, I don't like it when any "big money" tries to tell me what to do.
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