Exclude from Home
I do not know if this is a real change. I just can not imagine God saying, “do not baptize your children,” and three years later, “well, it’s okay, yes, do it.” It does not seem logical to me.
It is hard to reconcile a religion whose leader tells us the policy is a revelation from God and then just a short time later reverses the policy with no apologies or recognition of the pain it caused.
Gay members needed to return to the closet and continue to live in dark places, unheard, unseen, or be banished to a life of celibacy. I cried and cried when I read this policy, and could not, nor do I still understand or accept such a policy.
The Lord may keep back-up plans ready so that his designs can’t be subverted by human stupidity or intransigence, but he also tends to let us learn the hard way—even as he’s there with us through the process.
The most prominent emotion I currently feel is confidence—confidence in my own moral compass, my own ability to recognize when something is wrong and to act accordingly. I can—as my mother has always encouraged me—be the change I want to see in the world and our church.
People in the Church are at least talking about an issue that for most of my life was taboo. LGBTQ people are increasingly being seen as the good people they are.
Don’t embarrass yourself with callous, ill-founded “what if’s,” “but’s,” rationalizations, excuses, or scapegoating. By all means, cling to a belief that the policy was God’s will if you so chose, but own the horrible implications and consequences of that belief.
I just can’t accept that an all-loving God would make us gay then tell us that we have to remain alone our entire lives to prove our love and obedience to him.
A bird is not an ornithologist; It just is; Living life as itself; Basking in the sun; and eating a morning meal; And singing.