One of my Lithuanian students sent a note the night of the terrorist attack on Paris expressing appreciation for an essay I had written after 9-11 titled, “America’s War on Terrorism: One Latter-day Saint’s Perspective,” and informing me that there…
Category: Changing attitudes
The Scarlet Letter: Apostasy
“…if truth were everywhere to be shown, a scarlet letter would blaze forth on many a bosom…” The last few weeks have been agony. On November 5th, the Church shifted its policy regarding LGBT members. Now any LGBT person who…
Our Leaders Need To Hear Your Concerns About Policies Toward LGBT Mormons
I urge everyone who has a concern about the new church policy to write their local leaders. If we care about the church and those who are being hurt by this policy, I believe we have a right and an…
Sadness
A couple years ago, a member of the Bishopric in a previous ward shared how happy he is in the Church. He shared how happy the gospel makes him and his family. He finished it off with, “I don’t even…
Trust
Today was my first day in a new ward. It is unavoidably true that one of the reasons for our move was to find a fresh start in a new ward. By way of synopsis, our son Jordan came out…
Religious Freedom, Our Founding Fathers and Marriage Equality
We all learned in elementary school that the Pilgrims came to America so that they could practice their religion without persecution. They were willing to put up with hardships as they left their homes and countries in order to live their…
Mormon LGBT Outreach: Part I (Efforts by One Stake to Include LGBT Members)
By Aaron Brown (originally published at By Common Consent blog) In November of 2013, my stake president, Thomas Fairbanks, asked me to spearhead “gay and lesbian outreach” in the Seattle North Stake. Seattle is the new San Francisco – our…
The Curse of the Amish and Mormonism’s Tool Box
By Michael Barker (originally published at RationalFaiths.com) The other day my wife asked me to do some, um, manly things around the house. First on the list was to tighten up the p-trap under the utility sink in the garage.…
A Welcome Message
Today’s announcement by LDS Church leaders in support of legislation banning discrimination against LGBT individuals in Utah is welcome, although as someone who has been involved in fighting for the rights of LGBT individuals for more than four decades, I…
Seeing Through My Tears
I live about two hours from the Los Angeles Temple. Recently, I made my first trek there since my son came out gay about almost three years ago. I have always instinctively kept my temple recommend active and remained worthy…