It's very public. We see it in magazines, on blogs, in conferences. We now have people who put themselves on pedestals because of their unrequited perverse and unnatural sexual lusts. Namely, Mormons who openly claim a permanent gay identity, more or less, and who also claim celibacy from same-sex sex, however they decide to define celibacy because it isn't officially defined anywhere. They crown themselves with laurel leaves and sing a song of noble sacrifice. Really? This is worthy of praise? Let's think about it.
Do we put on public pedestals young people who proclaim they made it to marriage without fornicating? Do we put on public pedestals people who openly share their pleasure in adulterous lusts who don't actually commit full-on adultery? Do we put on public pedestals people who make a career of pornography addiction who proclaim they are "managing" their use of the sleazy, destructive material, whatever that means? Do we put on public pedestals people who claim to the world they can't help sexualizing little children but who brag that they won't actually harm any children? If we do we certainly should not. We shouldn't praise anyone (including ourselves) for having dirty minds and low characters because they boast they are avoiding doing something even "worse."
The funny thing is, there are LDS gays who do. They puff themselves up for the amazing sacrifice they are making, that is, not committing, what, sodomy? Really? Yes, among other naughty things, sodomy is what it comes down to when they whine that they can never "be" with a same-sex soul mate. Of course you won't hear them calling it that. For male homosexuals, sodomy is the consummation of their "love." What kind of twisted thinking is this? Not only is sodomy selfish and harmful rather than loving, why are gays the only people on earth who think they deserve praise for abstaining from abomination? Why do they think they are the only ones who have sexual temptations? Why do they think they are the only ones who deserve some sort of award for not giving in to "filthy" lusts? (The word filthy is used in scripture, it appears for good reason.) Everybody has sexual feelings that may easily take a wrong direction. Every sane striving person controls his or her sexuality privately and doesn't expect some sort of award. And people who stray in any degree, in their minds, hearts, or bodies, can always repent and get help if needed.
But there is no repentance here. Let's put it this way. Are people extra-noble because they don't stuff an entire Costco chocolate cake in their mouth? The thing is terribly wrong and disgusting in the first place, so how can it be gloriously noble to abstain from it? If this is what we've come to, we've completely lost our basic sense of values and morality. We should praise people for doing good, not for not doing bad. How dumbed-down and alienated from human goodness can we be?
Reality check: these people are not martyrs. They are not noble. They are not humble or repentant. They are not worshiping the Lord. They are setting themselves up as a light when they are lost in darkness. They are fooling themselves. And apparently, plenty of others.
Saturday, November 30, 2013
Friday, November 29, 2013
Who is Really Anti-Gay?
Anti-gay. The wording is tossed around today like a football. It's listed right along with antisemitic, racist, misogynist. But what is it and who really is?
The world's view is this. Anti-gays are people who are against anything gay, anything LGBTQI. Saying anything that casts a negative light on any alternative sexual identity or the corresponding behavior is not allowed. After all, gays are everywhere. They are our friends, our sons, our daughters, our relatives, our teachers, our professors, our leaders, our co-workers. Everyone must be pro-gay and people who aren't pro-gay are the scum of the earth. Apparently pro-gays care more about human relations than God, so they accept homosexuality and everything that comes with it. They pretend that homosexuality is orderly, righteous, wholesome, and healthy. The new homosexualists think themselves above dwelling on what homosex actually comprises. They ignore the totally preventable, inordinate, chronic and life-shortening health risks, dangers and costs to society. Religious doctrines and scriptures about sexual morality are outdated. Pro-gays know better than God. Anti-gays are hateful, bigoted, overzealous, religious fanatics who should be shunned and punished.
The true Christian's view is this: Without Christ there is no morality, and vice versa. We love everyone, but yes, we are most certainly anti-gay as in anti-homosexuality, not anti-people. We may appear to be against a person or people, but what we are really against is the concept. We can't have people promoting or teaching homosexuality to our children. We think homosexuality is bad for individuals and bad for societies, as have the greatest thinkers and writers of all time. The thing we care most about is God, His goodness and His truth, so we must take a stand against things like abortion and homosexuality, unpopular as this stand may be. Anti-gays are people who know that certain thoughts and behaviors are outside of God's boundaries. They know that sin hurts people, mind, body, and soul. They know that homosexual lusts and behaviors are highly risky, that they harden hearts and shorten lives. They know that these people are often damaged and/or rebellious. Anti-gay people want to help gays, just as those who know what drug addiction does to people want to help those enslaved by drug addiction. The true Christian is prepared to be punished and persecuted for following Jesus Christ and truly caring about their fellow man.
Who is really anti-gay? Answer: those we think of as pro-gay, because they embrace the unnaturalness and wickedness and destructiveness of homosexuality in others as normal and harmless. They are the haters. They turn a blind eye to reality. They don't care about the welfare, physical or spiritual, of their gay friends, sons, daughters, relatives, teachers, professors, leaders, or co-workers. Puffed up in their pretense of so-called compassion and magnanimity and open-mindedness, they care more about themselves than the poor souls they are enabling.
True Christians must be anti-everything the Lord forbids. They must be longsuffering and patient. They must love truth more than the praise of men. They must respect individual agency while testifying of truth and reality. They must find peace in the midst of persecution. They must continually trust in the Lord despite the depravity of the world around them. They must continually recognize and repent of their own sins. Whenever possible and appropriate they must reach out in truth and love to those who are laboring in and celebrating sin. Saying: "Homosexuality is a sin and Christ can set you free" is not hateful. It is loving. Pro-gays think it is hate because truth is hate to them. People who are not virtuous do not understand virtue. Christians are obligated to spread the word of God, come what may.
(As for the few, rare, anti-gays and anti-gay groups whose methods are truly hateful, such as picketing soldiers' funerals to protest the military's embrace of homosexuality and carrying signs that say "God hates gays," and the like, they have cause to repent. Their pride has led them astray. God does not hate any of his children. He so loved the world that He sent His only begotten son to save us all from our sins if we so desire. These people seem to hate gay people, yes, but for different reasons than pro-gays do.)
The world's view is this. Anti-gays are people who are against anything gay, anything LGBTQI. Saying anything that casts a negative light on any alternative sexual identity or the corresponding behavior is not allowed. After all, gays are everywhere. They are our friends, our sons, our daughters, our relatives, our teachers, our professors, our leaders, our co-workers. Everyone must be pro-gay and people who aren't pro-gay are the scum of the earth. Apparently pro-gays care more about human relations than God, so they accept homosexuality and everything that comes with it. They pretend that homosexuality is orderly, righteous, wholesome, and healthy. The new homosexualists think themselves above dwelling on what homosex actually comprises. They ignore the totally preventable, inordinate, chronic and life-shortening health risks, dangers and costs to society. Religious doctrines and scriptures about sexual morality are outdated. Pro-gays know better than God. Anti-gays are hateful, bigoted, overzealous, religious fanatics who should be shunned and punished.
The true Christian's view is this: Without Christ there is no morality, and vice versa. We love everyone, but yes, we are most certainly anti-gay as in anti-homosexuality, not anti-people. We may appear to be against a person or people, but what we are really against is the concept. We can't have people promoting or teaching homosexuality to our children. We think homosexuality is bad for individuals and bad for societies, as have the greatest thinkers and writers of all time. The thing we care most about is God, His goodness and His truth, so we must take a stand against things like abortion and homosexuality, unpopular as this stand may be. Anti-gays are people who know that certain thoughts and behaviors are outside of God's boundaries. They know that sin hurts people, mind, body, and soul. They know that homosexual lusts and behaviors are highly risky, that they harden hearts and shorten lives. They know that these people are often damaged and/or rebellious. Anti-gay people want to help gays, just as those who know what drug addiction does to people want to help those enslaved by drug addiction. The true Christian is prepared to be punished and persecuted for following Jesus Christ and truly caring about their fellow man.
Who is really anti-gay? Answer: those we think of as pro-gay, because they embrace the unnaturalness and wickedness and destructiveness of homosexuality in others as normal and harmless. They are the haters. They turn a blind eye to reality. They don't care about the welfare, physical or spiritual, of their gay friends, sons, daughters, relatives, teachers, professors, leaders, or co-workers. Puffed up in their pretense of so-called compassion and magnanimity and open-mindedness, they care more about themselves than the poor souls they are enabling.
True Christians must be anti-everything the Lord forbids. They must be longsuffering and patient. They must love truth more than the praise of men. They must respect individual agency while testifying of truth and reality. They must find peace in the midst of persecution. They must continually trust in the Lord despite the depravity of the world around them. They must continually recognize and repent of their own sins. Whenever possible and appropriate they must reach out in truth and love to those who are laboring in and celebrating sin. Saying: "Homosexuality is a sin and Christ can set you free" is not hateful. It is loving. Pro-gays think it is hate because truth is hate to them. People who are not virtuous do not understand virtue. Christians are obligated to spread the word of God, come what may.
(As for the few, rare, anti-gays and anti-gay groups whose methods are truly hateful, such as picketing soldiers' funerals to protest the military's embrace of homosexuality and carrying signs that say "God hates gays," and the like, they have cause to repent. Their pride has led them astray. God does not hate any of his children. He so loved the world that He sent His only begotten son to save us all from our sins if we so desire. These people seem to hate gay people, yes, but for different reasons than pro-gays do.)
LDS Gays in the Temple
Some people are confused about temple worthiness and open homosexuality. It is confusing. Can we make sense of it?
Right now it seems to be true that an LDS person probably won't be denied a temple recommend unless he voluntarily states to his ecclesiastical leader that he physically acts on his same-sex sexual lusts. But neither will a person who is addicted to pornography, a person who harbors adulterous sexual desires, or a person who supports gay marriage or abortion. (For some reason the Church has decided that we---they single out elected officials but the principle must apply to all citizens---don't have to be in agreement with publicly stated Church positions on political/moral issues in order to answer truthfully the temple interview question about supporting our leaders. See LDS.org, Political Neutrality.) Does this make these people anywhere near pure and holy? There are many ways to commit sin, so obviously not. In truth, none of us are very pure or good. The good news of the gospel is that we can all come closer to godliness by repenting continually and humbly relying on the merits of Christ. We can continually be convinced of our sinful natures, reject any impure thoughts and desires, and be forgiven through the Lord. But this takes some spiritual work, some humble repentance. And that word repentance doesn't seem to appear in the LDS gay vocabulary.
Here are some words that do appear in the LDS gay vocabulary. Certain male temple recommend holders are quite public about their penchant for "buddymoons," "mandates," "gaycations," and "bromances." (All of these made-up words, though some may be used jokingly by straight people, are rooted in perverse sex and sexuality when used by gays.) Apparently open LDS male gays, married and sealed to women, can advertize their obsession with same-sex sexual lust to the whole world via the internet without consequence. In fact, these individuals are held up as a light. (See northstarlds.org.)
One man is emboldened enough to relate online his experiences of lusting in the endowment room of the temple. His narrative sounds like titillating language in a cheap romance novel, only it's about people of the same sex which escalates it to pornography; ex-gays report that everything about homosexuality is pornographic. In another instance, when this man was escorting a youth group to do baptisms in the temple, he wrote of his uncontrolled lusting experience toward a male youth in a towel in the dressing room, and his physical sexual reactions. Please note that this person by his own admission is an endowed married man with children. This material is published on his blog for all to see; this is gay porn.
We say lusting is a mental choice, an act, but for those who don't agree, surely writing and publishing this trash is most definitely a physical act, but apparently still one not worthy of needing help, repentance, warning, or discipline.
It's strange that prominent advocates of the innocence and wholesomeness of the claimed LDS gay identity deny that homosexual attraction is sexual like heterosexual attraction is. Wrong. Not only is it sexual, but compared to normal hetero attraction, it is quickly escalated, wildly obsessive and exaggerated, and totally out-of-place, as can be seen on these men's blogs. It knows no age limits, no appropriateness, no inner self-restraint, no, not even in the temple. It is one-track, physical-only, oversexualized, lust of the flesh. Certainly, decent heterosexuals do not carry on these types of thoughts about random strangers, much less people they know, in the temple or anywhere else. They may happen to notice attractive people but that's as far as it goes. They don't sexualize them. They know they are supposed to keep their sexual feelings focused, and focused properly, on their spouse alone. And if they wander even the slightest bit, even in their thoughts, they know they are in need of some serious repenting. Again, the word repentance is not in the LDS gay dictionary.
The Church measures worthiness a lot more leniently here on earth than God does in the eternal sense. We know that God holds us accountable for our thoughts and desires as well as our actions, whereas the Church administration holds us accountable, when it comes to formal discipline, only for certain actions. But of course all true followers of Christ, including temple-going Latter-Day Saints, must strive to keep even the appetites and desires of their hearts within God's boundaries. If they don't, not only are their hearts and minds and souls spotted and unclean but they are poised and primed to act on these mental lusts with their bodies.
So yes, anyone can be active in church and hold a temple pass, but whether or not we are clean and forgiven (pure and holy) through Christ before God may be totally different story. We see this in a dramatic way when respected people in authoritative ecclesiastical positions are caught in secret illegal, immoral acts that began with impure and unholy desires, such as a seminary teacher in our area who was arrested for depraved sexual relations with a student. There may be legal consequences and outward Church discipline, but of course the real work is done inside themselves; they can always repent, get professional help if needed, experience the mighty change of heart, and begin again on their spiritual journey, as can we all.
We all experience sinful tendencies of some kind or other which do not interfere with the type of worthiness our Church requires for full participation. The important thing, if we care about self-respect, our character, God and eternal life, is to continually resist that which is impure and unholy and keep our inner selves in line with God's will, as Jesus exemplified. Our hope for those who experience homosexual attractions is that they will put aside the politically correct propaganda of the times, get humble, get the right kind of support, and strive to overcome these wayward desires no matter the difficulty or time it takes, motivated by love for God. Heavenly Father's plan is to make us inwardly holy, fit for His presence.
How does this affect the rest of us? Not only should we be uncomfortable with open, unrepentant sexual perverts having access to the temple ( if you doubt their existence and the salacious character of the material we have referred to here do a google search for mormon gay blog; there are plenty bold enough to broadcast their proclivities); not only should we object to avowed gays being allowed in temple locker rooms and rest rooms (it's even more unfair and inappropriate than generally allowing opposites sexes to share these facilities because of the total pornographic sexual preoccupation of emboldened gays); not only that, but we should care about the condition of their precious immortal souls. These people have given themselves up to filthy lusts, and nobody seems to care.
In fact, as a people we seem to be encouraging these individuals' depravity. Yes, the Church is for sinners, as we all are, but we are supposed to desire to repent and improve, not accommodate and glory in sin. Even within churches founded on Holy Scripture, homosexuality is not being called a sin, a disorder, or an illness anymore, but rather righteous, orderly, and healthy. By the way, there was recently a conference held specifically to help Mormon gays feel comfortable and accepting of their homosexual desires and fantasies as it relates to their religion, called Reconciling Faith and Feelings, in other words, giving an ecclesiastical green light to homosexual lust as seen on these ridiculous pornographic blogs we've mentioned, repentance unnecessary.
Our bodies (including our minds) are temples. We attend temples. Both are supposed to be treated with "Holiness to the Lord." Instead, we've turned them both into free lust zones.
Note: If there are any who self-identify as "gay" but who quite incredibly claim their SSA is "nonsexual," who claim they don't participate in same-sex lust/ behaviors, they need to know that they are nevertheless supporting and affiliating themselves with an abominable sin and setting themselves up for exploitation and experimentation. We actually think there are no such people, unless mentally ill or deficient.
Right now it seems to be true that an LDS person probably won't be denied a temple recommend unless he voluntarily states to his ecclesiastical leader that he physically acts on his same-sex sexual lusts. But neither will a person who is addicted to pornography, a person who harbors adulterous sexual desires, or a person who supports gay marriage or abortion. (For some reason the Church has decided that we---they single out elected officials but the principle must apply to all citizens---don't have to be in agreement with publicly stated Church positions on political/moral issues in order to answer truthfully the temple interview question about supporting our leaders. See LDS.org, Political Neutrality.) Does this make these people anywhere near pure and holy? There are many ways to commit sin, so obviously not. In truth, none of us are very pure or good. The good news of the gospel is that we can all come closer to godliness by repenting continually and humbly relying on the merits of Christ. We can continually be convinced of our sinful natures, reject any impure thoughts and desires, and be forgiven through the Lord. But this takes some spiritual work, some humble repentance. And that word repentance doesn't seem to appear in the LDS gay vocabulary.
Here are some words that do appear in the LDS gay vocabulary. Certain male temple recommend holders are quite public about their penchant for "buddymoons," "mandates," "gaycations," and "bromances." (All of these made-up words, though some may be used jokingly by straight people, are rooted in perverse sex and sexuality when used by gays.) Apparently open LDS male gays, married and sealed to women, can advertize their obsession with same-sex sexual lust to the whole world via the internet without consequence. In fact, these individuals are held up as a light. (See northstarlds.org.)
One man is emboldened enough to relate online his experiences of lusting in the endowment room of the temple. His narrative sounds like titillating language in a cheap romance novel, only it's about people of the same sex which escalates it to pornography; ex-gays report that everything about homosexuality is pornographic. In another instance, when this man was escorting a youth group to do baptisms in the temple, he wrote of his uncontrolled lusting experience toward a male youth in a towel in the dressing room, and his physical sexual reactions. Please note that this person by his own admission is an endowed married man with children. This material is published on his blog for all to see; this is gay porn.
We say lusting is a mental choice, an act, but for those who don't agree, surely writing and publishing this trash is most definitely a physical act, but apparently still one not worthy of needing help, repentance, warning, or discipline.
It's strange that prominent advocates of the innocence and wholesomeness of the claimed LDS gay identity deny that homosexual attraction is sexual like heterosexual attraction is. Wrong. Not only is it sexual, but compared to normal hetero attraction, it is quickly escalated, wildly obsessive and exaggerated, and totally out-of-place, as can be seen on these men's blogs. It knows no age limits, no appropriateness, no inner self-restraint, no, not even in the temple. It is one-track, physical-only, oversexualized, lust of the flesh. Certainly, decent heterosexuals do not carry on these types of thoughts about random strangers, much less people they know, in the temple or anywhere else. They may happen to notice attractive people but that's as far as it goes. They don't sexualize them. They know they are supposed to keep their sexual feelings focused, and focused properly, on their spouse alone. And if they wander even the slightest bit, even in their thoughts, they know they are in need of some serious repenting. Again, the word repentance is not in the LDS gay dictionary.
The Church measures worthiness a lot more leniently here on earth than God does in the eternal sense. We know that God holds us accountable for our thoughts and desires as well as our actions, whereas the Church administration holds us accountable, when it comes to formal discipline, only for certain actions. But of course all true followers of Christ, including temple-going Latter-Day Saints, must strive to keep even the appetites and desires of their hearts within God's boundaries. If they don't, not only are their hearts and minds and souls spotted and unclean but they are poised and primed to act on these mental lusts with their bodies.
So yes, anyone can be active in church and hold a temple pass, but whether or not we are clean and forgiven (pure and holy) through Christ before God may be totally different story. We see this in a dramatic way when respected people in authoritative ecclesiastical positions are caught in secret illegal, immoral acts that began with impure and unholy desires, such as a seminary teacher in our area who was arrested for depraved sexual relations with a student. There may be legal consequences and outward Church discipline, but of course the real work is done inside themselves; they can always repent, get professional help if needed, experience the mighty change of heart, and begin again on their spiritual journey, as can we all.
We all experience sinful tendencies of some kind or other which do not interfere with the type of worthiness our Church requires for full participation. The important thing, if we care about self-respect, our character, God and eternal life, is to continually resist that which is impure and unholy and keep our inner selves in line with God's will, as Jesus exemplified. Our hope for those who experience homosexual attractions is that they will put aside the politically correct propaganda of the times, get humble, get the right kind of support, and strive to overcome these wayward desires no matter the difficulty or time it takes, motivated by love for God. Heavenly Father's plan is to make us inwardly holy, fit for His presence.
How does this affect the rest of us? Not only should we be uncomfortable with open, unrepentant sexual perverts having access to the temple ( if you doubt their existence and the salacious character of the material we have referred to here do a google search for mormon gay blog; there are plenty bold enough to broadcast their proclivities); not only should we object to avowed gays being allowed in temple locker rooms and rest rooms (it's even more unfair and inappropriate than generally allowing opposites sexes to share these facilities because of the total pornographic sexual preoccupation of emboldened gays); not only that, but we should care about the condition of their precious immortal souls. These people have given themselves up to filthy lusts, and nobody seems to care.
In fact, as a people we seem to be encouraging these individuals' depravity. Yes, the Church is for sinners, as we all are, but we are supposed to desire to repent and improve, not accommodate and glory in sin. Even within churches founded on Holy Scripture, homosexuality is not being called a sin, a disorder, or an illness anymore, but rather righteous, orderly, and healthy. By the way, there was recently a conference held specifically to help Mormon gays feel comfortable and accepting of their homosexual desires and fantasies as it relates to their religion, called Reconciling Faith and Feelings, in other words, giving an ecclesiastical green light to homosexual lust as seen on these ridiculous pornographic blogs we've mentioned, repentance unnecessary.
Our bodies (including our minds) are temples. We attend temples. Both are supposed to be treated with "Holiness to the Lord." Instead, we've turned them both into free lust zones.
Note: If there are any who self-identify as "gay" but who quite incredibly claim their SSA is "nonsexual," who claim they don't participate in same-sex lust/ behaviors, they need to know that they are nevertheless supporting and affiliating themselves with an abominable sin and setting themselves up for exploitation and experimentation. We actually think there are no such people, unless mentally ill or deficient.
Friday, November 8, 2013
Families Are Forever?
In the first few seconds of a 2-minute preview of a video called, "Families Are Forever," from Family Acceptance Project, apparently produced for LDS parents, it is obvious what it's really about. In the video we are treated to parents who quite incredibly give in
to and celebrate their young child's claim to some "alternative" form of
sexuality.
Yes, incredibly, many supposedly God-fearing parents whose child of whatever age "comes out," suddenly shift their long-held scriptural beliefs. Perhaps because they fear their child will do something wrong or do themselves damage, they decide to go along, preempting the wrong by calling it right (or pretending to). From there they dismiss doctrine, rewrite the child's history from a gay-affirming perspective, and squelch their own proper instincts so that they can feel free to embrace the child's current sexual proclivities. A key word here is "child." What kind of parents are these who think their little child or teen or young adult knows more about sex and sexuality than they do? Obviously, what these youth do know is all wrong and they learned it from all the wrong places.
Where are these parents? Why don't they care about how and where their child got these ideas and feelings, who they've been talking to, what they've been looking at, what they've been doing sexually, if they've been molested, and what deeper problems could be the cause? Why don't they ask themselves what they themselves may have done wrong? Why aren't they correcting these depraved ideas and replacing them with truth and right and goodness? Why do they get their marching orders from the world instead of turning to the Lord? Why don't they HELP their child?
I'll tell you where these parents are. Absent. Morally, intellectually, and spiritually absent. They'd rather conform to their mixed-up child's dangerous and soul-killing whims than teach them the truth. Can anything be more upside-down?
Is it fear? Is it ignorance? Is it pride? Is it pro-homosexual indoctrination? It certainly isn't the opposite of any of those: confidence, knowledge, humility, and everlasting truth. One thing is obvious: many parents who KNOW how God feels about this have decided to value their human relations more than their relationship with God. And throw their child's precious soul under the bus in the process. (And their future too, maybe even their life -- the gay lifestyle is fraught with inordinately great physical risks.)
They need a serious reality check.This life is not a dress rehearsal. It's the real thing. The choices we make here and now, the attitudes we develop, the things we treasure, make us who we are and will accompany us into the next life. If we put anything before God, including our popularity with our children, we won't desire to be where He is. If this is where we are at present we must repent and experience the mighty change of heart, that is, if we want to live with Heavenly Father (and our families) forever.
We plead with parents (and all others) that they will educate themselves and take a stand. Our website has tons of illuminating information and resources not available in the mainstream and the opposite of gay propaganda. Don't be a morally and spiritually absent parent. Show up. Do the difficult thing. Love your child enough to find out what went wrong. Speak up. Pray for direction and correction. Love your child all the same, but stand against their claim to a "gay identity" and offer them help to overcome it just as you would stand against and offer help to a child who was addicted to drugs. (Some say out-of-bounds sex is even more addicting than drugs.) Do what you can to prevent them from going further down this dangerous path. Find out how they developed these wrong ideas. Correct them. Teach them the proper attitudes. Love truth and share it. Care about the physical, emotional, mental, intellectual, and spiritual health of your child, including his or her precious immortal soul, enough to stand for God and His Word. After all, this is God's child first. If we as parents fail in this responsibility, sin is on our heads.
The Spirit of the Lord can help parents (and all others involved) know what and when to talk about these things with such a child. The important thing for parents is to know and make it known that they believe in God and goodness, come what may, and that approving of homosexuality is the antithesis of God and goodness. Sad to say, parents who take this stand may also have to love their child enough to endure their disapproval, tantrums, criticism, misrepresentations, and rejection.
Parents, this may be your most difficult and greatest test. For the sake of your precious child and your own precious soul, will you step up and choose God?
We have news. God is forever. First. Always. Eternally. And families won't be forever if they don't put God first.
Yes, incredibly, many supposedly God-fearing parents whose child of whatever age "comes out," suddenly shift their long-held scriptural beliefs. Perhaps because they fear their child will do something wrong or do themselves damage, they decide to go along, preempting the wrong by calling it right (or pretending to). From there they dismiss doctrine, rewrite the child's history from a gay-affirming perspective, and squelch their own proper instincts so that they can feel free to embrace the child's current sexual proclivities. A key word here is "child." What kind of parents are these who think their little child or teen or young adult knows more about sex and sexuality than they do? Obviously, what these youth do know is all wrong and they learned it from all the wrong places.
Where are these parents? Why don't they care about how and where their child got these ideas and feelings, who they've been talking to, what they've been looking at, what they've been doing sexually, if they've been molested, and what deeper problems could be the cause? Why don't they ask themselves what they themselves may have done wrong? Why aren't they correcting these depraved ideas and replacing them with truth and right and goodness? Why do they get their marching orders from the world instead of turning to the Lord? Why don't they HELP their child?
I'll tell you where these parents are. Absent. Morally, intellectually, and spiritually absent. They'd rather conform to their mixed-up child's dangerous and soul-killing whims than teach them the truth. Can anything be more upside-down?
Is it fear? Is it ignorance? Is it pride? Is it pro-homosexual indoctrination? It certainly isn't the opposite of any of those: confidence, knowledge, humility, and everlasting truth. One thing is obvious: many parents who KNOW how God feels about this have decided to value their human relations more than their relationship with God. And throw their child's precious soul under the bus in the process. (And their future too, maybe even their life -- the gay lifestyle is fraught with inordinately great physical risks.)
They need a serious reality check.This life is not a dress rehearsal. It's the real thing. The choices we make here and now, the attitudes we develop, the things we treasure, make us who we are and will accompany us into the next life. If we put anything before God, including our popularity with our children, we won't desire to be where He is. If this is where we are at present we must repent and experience the mighty change of heart, that is, if we want to live with Heavenly Father (and our families) forever.
We plead with parents (and all others) that they will educate themselves and take a stand. Our website has tons of illuminating information and resources not available in the mainstream and the opposite of gay propaganda. Don't be a morally and spiritually absent parent. Show up. Do the difficult thing. Love your child enough to find out what went wrong. Speak up. Pray for direction and correction. Love your child all the same, but stand against their claim to a "gay identity" and offer them help to overcome it just as you would stand against and offer help to a child who was addicted to drugs. (Some say out-of-bounds sex is even more addicting than drugs.) Do what you can to prevent them from going further down this dangerous path. Find out how they developed these wrong ideas. Correct them. Teach them the proper attitudes. Love truth and share it. Care about the physical, emotional, mental, intellectual, and spiritual health of your child, including his or her precious immortal soul, enough to stand for God and His Word. After all, this is God's child first. If we as parents fail in this responsibility, sin is on our heads.
The Spirit of the Lord can help parents (and all others involved) know what and when to talk about these things with such a child. The important thing for parents is to know and make it known that they believe in God and goodness, come what may, and that approving of homosexuality is the antithesis of God and goodness. Sad to say, parents who take this stand may also have to love their child enough to endure their disapproval, tantrums, criticism, misrepresentations, and rejection.
Parents, this may be your most difficult and greatest test. For the sake of your precious child and your own precious soul, will you step up and choose God?
We have news. God is forever. First. Always. Eternally. And families won't be forever if they don't put God first.
How Homosexualists Exploit Tragedy
Interesting. After we published "Beware the Gay Suicide Card" (our most visited post), we noticed that Affirmation, the pro-gay LDS group, removed the article from their website from which we got our quotes from the families of homosexuals who committed suicide. Yes, it no longer exists.
We wondered why Affirmation ever published it in the first place. After all, the families make it very clear that their loved ones did not take their own lives because of lack of acceptance for their homosexuality--- they were loved unconditionally, but had a long history of much deeper and more chronic emotional and mental problems. Contrary to Affrimation's agenda, somehow some truth slipped in. Was everybody there asleep? We and probably others eventually noticed it, and they removed the article.
It is well known that homosexualists will falsify, exaggerate, and spin any tragedy connected with homosexuals in order to further their cause. They are known to omit or cover up any information that casts a negative light on the homosexual community such as links to pornography addiction, promiscuity, mental illness, drug abuse, violence, perderasty, or the inordinately high rate of child sexual abuse. Their cause of course is to spread the notion that homosexuals are victims of an oppressive and bigoted society and that this is the sole reason young gays are bullied, murdered, and take their own lives, hence we must all accept homosexuality as normal. Besides being a non sequitur and apart from the dishonesty, the heartless simplification and exploitive nature of such a stance is astounding. It also suggests to impressionable youth that suicide is a natural reaction to nonacceptance, thus, actually encouraging suicides.
For example, it is now public knowledge that the famous case of Matthew Shepard, the gay man who was murdered, was grossly misrepresented. Yes, he was what people call "gay," but so were his murderers. They had had sexual relations with each other. The tragic violence that took Shepard's young life concerned an illegal drug transaction, not his homosexuality. These people were obviously involved in all sorts of bad stuff. And yet for fifteen years Shepard has been held up as the foremost iconic martyr for gay civil rights. If a pathetic criminal is the best homosexualists can come up with to make their case, could the real truth be that this hyped-up persecution of gays just because they are gay isn't really happening?
How about this nation-wide obsession with the huge problem of bullying, which, if the truth be known, is promulgated by homosexual activists? We came across an excellent and thought-provoking article, "Bullying is not on the rise and it does not lead to suicide." It points out that even the federal government admits, "It is not accurate and [is] potentially dangerous to present bullying as the 'cause' or 'reason' for a suicide, or to suggest that suicide is a natural response to bullying." (We wonder how long it will be before they are pressured to remove this statement.)
A great portion of our society, indeed, the powers that be, have bought into homosexualist propaganda. Read our post "Beware the Gay Suicide Card." Any reasonable person can see that it is measured, factual, and compassionate, pointing out what even our homosexualist federal government itself admits. And yet an angry reader wrote to us calling the post "vile excrement." The result of homosexualist propaganda is that many minds are now closed to truth and health and goodness and God. In other words, as a people we are stuck in a dark hole with no light. A society that irresponsibly disregards and misrepresents truth is one that eventually rots from the inside. The blind politically correct way we are dealing with homosexuality (and several other issues) doesn't help anybody. It only hurts individuals, the rising generation, and society as a whole.
We wondered why Affirmation ever published it in the first place. After all, the families make it very clear that their loved ones did not take their own lives because of lack of acceptance for their homosexuality--- they were loved unconditionally, but had a long history of much deeper and more chronic emotional and mental problems. Contrary to Affrimation's agenda, somehow some truth slipped in. Was everybody there asleep? We and probably others eventually noticed it, and they removed the article.
It is well known that homosexualists will falsify, exaggerate, and spin any tragedy connected with homosexuals in order to further their cause. They are known to omit or cover up any information that casts a negative light on the homosexual community such as links to pornography addiction, promiscuity, mental illness, drug abuse, violence, perderasty, or the inordinately high rate of child sexual abuse. Their cause of course is to spread the notion that homosexuals are victims of an oppressive and bigoted society and that this is the sole reason young gays are bullied, murdered, and take their own lives, hence we must all accept homosexuality as normal. Besides being a non sequitur and apart from the dishonesty, the heartless simplification and exploitive nature of such a stance is astounding. It also suggests to impressionable youth that suicide is a natural reaction to nonacceptance, thus, actually encouraging suicides.
For example, it is now public knowledge that the famous case of Matthew Shepard, the gay man who was murdered, was grossly misrepresented. Yes, he was what people call "gay," but so were his murderers. They had had sexual relations with each other. The tragic violence that took Shepard's young life concerned an illegal drug transaction, not his homosexuality. These people were obviously involved in all sorts of bad stuff. And yet for fifteen years Shepard has been held up as the foremost iconic martyr for gay civil rights. If a pathetic criminal is the best homosexualists can come up with to make their case, could the real truth be that this hyped-up persecution of gays just because they are gay isn't really happening?
How about this nation-wide obsession with the huge problem of bullying, which, if the truth be known, is promulgated by homosexual activists? We came across an excellent and thought-provoking article, "Bullying is not on the rise and it does not lead to suicide." It points out that even the federal government admits, "It is not accurate and [is] potentially dangerous to present bullying as the 'cause' or 'reason' for a suicide, or to suggest that suicide is a natural response to bullying." (We wonder how long it will be before they are pressured to remove this statement.)
A great portion of our society, indeed, the powers that be, have bought into homosexualist propaganda. Read our post "Beware the Gay Suicide Card." Any reasonable person can see that it is measured, factual, and compassionate, pointing out what even our homosexualist federal government itself admits. And yet an angry reader wrote to us calling the post "vile excrement." The result of homosexualist propaganda is that many minds are now closed to truth and health and goodness and God. In other words, as a people we are stuck in a dark hole with no light. A society that irresponsibly disregards and misrepresents truth is one that eventually rots from the inside. The blind politically correct way we are dealing with homosexuality (and several other issues) doesn't help anybody. It only hurts individuals, the rising generation, and society as a whole.
Friday, October 25, 2013
Seriously Wild Oats
There are many, many people who acted out homosexually in their youth who are now living their lives exclusively heterosexually. Some may say they were merely messing around and never considered themselves gay. If we believe that, why do we believe anybody is gay? If gay isn't lusting after and messing around sexually with people of one's same sex, what is it? Maybe they'll say they were just experimenting, something that is highly promoted to youth by the LGBT community. But how is experimenting defined? How long does that last? Whatever you call it, they must have found pleasure in it or they wouldn't have done it. So weren't they what anyone would call gay or same-sex sexually attracted, at least for a time? And if they aren't gay anymore, isn't that proof that people can change? And in that sense, couldn't we say that all homosexuals are "experimenting?" Aren't we all in that same state of choosing each day how we'll think and act in this life, this great laboratory of learning?
Rather than labeling anyone gay or same-sex attracted, we think it's more accurate to say that many people, for one sad reason or another, sow some seriously wild oats in their youth, and some of those same people never grow up, but continue to sow those oats. Some sow those oats later in life (pornography is one of the main causes), because they get preoccupied with addictive sex to the exclusion of their family and their promises and God.
In this era of culture-wide sexual liberation, especially during the arrogance and rebelliousness of youth, more and more souls are acting out in all sorts of pernicious ways. Most college students know about LUGS: lesbians until graduation. These are girls who act out sexually with each other, that is until they leave campus and have to get on with the business of life, marriage, family. You won't hear "gay pride" from these, and yet they acted out identically to those the world thinks of as permanently "gay."
Gay activists even admit that human sexuality is not like ethnicity, but fluid, meaning it can change from day to day. But they don't yet admit this on any cultural scale. The public has been carefully and completely indoctrinated. Facts or no facts, conventional wisdom rules the day: people are born gay; they can't change. It's all hogwash. And it will develop into across-the-board depravity. When people set God and His rules aside, every wrong thing man can conceive of will be allowed sooner or later.
You won't hear much, if anything, from those who acted out homosexually in their earlier years, who eventually wised up and got on with living decent lives. They're ashamed, repentant, sobered, older, humbler. Only because those embracing homosexuality call themselves "gay," we could call these "ex-gay." But all they were was confused, bored, damaged, needy, deceived, addicted, ignorant, vain, rebellious, naughty, foolish, sinful, human, which are qualities common to us all in some degree or form.
When we ignore the fact that homosexuality comprises very bad sexual ideas and manners, and instead buy the popular notion that it's "who people are," we are denying reality. One of those realities is that more and more young people are being lured into sowing their wild sows in this way, and some are smart, mature, humble, repentant, and brave enough to root them out and move on.
These are the ones we should be celebrating and parading through our streets.
Rather than labeling anyone gay or same-sex attracted, we think it's more accurate to say that many people, for one sad reason or another, sow some seriously wild oats in their youth, and some of those same people never grow up, but continue to sow those oats. Some sow those oats later in life (pornography is one of the main causes), because they get preoccupied with addictive sex to the exclusion of their family and their promises and God.
In this era of culture-wide sexual liberation, especially during the arrogance and rebelliousness of youth, more and more souls are acting out in all sorts of pernicious ways. Most college students know about LUGS: lesbians until graduation. These are girls who act out sexually with each other, that is until they leave campus and have to get on with the business of life, marriage, family. You won't hear "gay pride" from these, and yet they acted out identically to those the world thinks of as permanently "gay."
Gay activists even admit that human sexuality is not like ethnicity, but fluid, meaning it can change from day to day. But they don't yet admit this on any cultural scale. The public has been carefully and completely indoctrinated. Facts or no facts, conventional wisdom rules the day: people are born gay; they can't change. It's all hogwash. And it will develop into across-the-board depravity. When people set God and His rules aside, every wrong thing man can conceive of will be allowed sooner or later.
You won't hear much, if anything, from those who acted out homosexually in their earlier years, who eventually wised up and got on with living decent lives. They're ashamed, repentant, sobered, older, humbler. Only because those embracing homosexuality call themselves "gay," we could call these "ex-gay." But all they were was confused, bored, damaged, needy, deceived, addicted, ignorant, vain, rebellious, naughty, foolish, sinful, human, which are qualities common to us all in some degree or form.
When we ignore the fact that homosexuality comprises very bad sexual ideas and manners, and instead buy the popular notion that it's "who people are," we are denying reality. One of those realities is that more and more young people are being lured into sowing their wild sows in this way, and some are smart, mature, humble, repentant, and brave enough to root them out and move on.
These are the ones we should be celebrating and parading through our streets.
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
Tone and Truth
Tone. Tone. Tone. This is what people complain to us about again and again when they can't think of why something we say is really bothering them. How important is the tone in which you communicate something really important? At some point does it make any difference? For example, who cares about the tone when someone is yelling "LOOK OUT!" or "FIRE!" We submit that complaining about someone's tone is just an excuse to resist the truth.
It's true that when we feel prompted to persuade or teach or testify of something we know to be right and true, we have to be careful to modify our communications to fit the audience. We never want to disrespect anyone as who they are: a perfectly loved child of God. We never want to have any unkind feelings toward others no matter how they react. This is difficult but with practice we can get better at it.
A problem occurs when what you share is met with resistance no matter what tone you use. Sometimes there is so much emotion, fear, pain, and/or pride pushing against what you are saying that the hearer will perceive what you say, no matter how you say it, as contentious, upsetting, unkind, offensive, ignorant, or hateful. As a friend put it, truth is hate to people who hate truth. This definitely happens. We have talked to people, individually or in groups, in the most measured, soft, calm and loving way and have been met with trembling rage. We have been ordered out of offices, stalked away from, laughed at, sneered at, censured, threatened, shunned, and called every name imaginable. Indeed, at times when our body language, voice, and heart have been most indicative of love for people, they have hated us most. It's amazing how threatening the truth can be to people even when it comes from the likes of us hobbits.
This is not to say that our tone is always soft, calm, measured, and loving, although this doesn't happen in public. We get frustrated at times. Sometimes we let things overcomus, which is wrong. Like the prophet Jacob in the Book of Mormon showed when he prayed he wouldn't stumble because of his overanxiety for the people, we have to repent when we let discouragement overwhelm us. It is evidence of lack of faith, even of idolatry. We must return to the peace we can get from God alone, pick ourselves up, apologize, radiate love, and carry on. We find it has to be a conscious choice to allow the Spirit to replace the frustration.
And then there are times when some degree of righteous indignation is altogether proper. Sometimes people have to know how bad something is. There has to be passion, even some outrage perhaps. But we have to be sure that the sword of truth being wielded is something completely separate from the charity that is required. No bitterness, nothing personal, just love. Jesus taught us how to do this. We can practice and get better at it.
Sad to say, we have found that those who complain of our "tone" here at SoL are using that as an excuse to not fully embrace reality and truth. They feel more comfortable sitting on the fence. Well, sorry, tone and truth have really nothing to do with each other. It's like killing the messenger because you don't like the way they are relaying the message. This is of course more about the hearer than the messenger. Mature people look beyond the presentation, beyond appearances, and see the light of truth.We may prefer to listen to some more than others just because of tone, personality, word choice, etc., but our real concern should be about whether what they are saying is true or not.
We have found that when it comes to the emotionally and politically charged issues we deal with at Standard of Liberty, it actually doesn't matter how we say anything anymore. As carefully and kindly as we continually try to put things, without compromising reality and goodness, we are censured by some and hated by some. In wicked times it doesn't take much truth at all to make people anything from uncomfortable to very, very mad.
It's true that when we feel prompted to persuade or teach or testify of something we know to be right and true, we have to be careful to modify our communications to fit the audience. We never want to disrespect anyone as who they are: a perfectly loved child of God. We never want to have any unkind feelings toward others no matter how they react. This is difficult but with practice we can get better at it.
A problem occurs when what you share is met with resistance no matter what tone you use. Sometimes there is so much emotion, fear, pain, and/or pride pushing against what you are saying that the hearer will perceive what you say, no matter how you say it, as contentious, upsetting, unkind, offensive, ignorant, or hateful. As a friend put it, truth is hate to people who hate truth. This definitely happens. We have talked to people, individually or in groups, in the most measured, soft, calm and loving way and have been met with trembling rage. We have been ordered out of offices, stalked away from, laughed at, sneered at, censured, threatened, shunned, and called every name imaginable. Indeed, at times when our body language, voice, and heart have been most indicative of love for people, they have hated us most. It's amazing how threatening the truth can be to people even when it comes from the likes of us hobbits.
This is not to say that our tone is always soft, calm, measured, and loving, although this doesn't happen in public. We get frustrated at times. Sometimes we let things overcomus, which is wrong. Like the prophet Jacob in the Book of Mormon showed when he prayed he wouldn't stumble because of his overanxiety for the people, we have to repent when we let discouragement overwhelm us. It is evidence of lack of faith, even of idolatry. We must return to the peace we can get from God alone, pick ourselves up, apologize, radiate love, and carry on. We find it has to be a conscious choice to allow the Spirit to replace the frustration.
And then there are times when some degree of righteous indignation is altogether proper. Sometimes people have to know how bad something is. There has to be passion, even some outrage perhaps. But we have to be sure that the sword of truth being wielded is something completely separate from the charity that is required. No bitterness, nothing personal, just love. Jesus taught us how to do this. We can practice and get better at it.
Sad to say, we have found that those who complain of our "tone" here at SoL are using that as an excuse to not fully embrace reality and truth. They feel more comfortable sitting on the fence. Well, sorry, tone and truth have really nothing to do with each other. It's like killing the messenger because you don't like the way they are relaying the message. This is of course more about the hearer than the messenger. Mature people look beyond the presentation, beyond appearances, and see the light of truth.We may prefer to listen to some more than others just because of tone, personality, word choice, etc., but our real concern should be about whether what they are saying is true or not.
We have found that when it comes to the emotionally and politically charged issues we deal with at Standard of Liberty, it actually doesn't matter how we say anything anymore. As carefully and kindly as we continually try to put things, without compromising reality and goodness, we are censured by some and hated by some. In wicked times it doesn't take much truth at all to make people anything from uncomfortable to very, very mad.
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
Virtuous, Informed, and Christ-like
There are so many things wrong with the following comment we got in response to our post, "If Being Gay Isn't About Sex," we hardly know where
to begin. But we'll make the attempt because the comment is indicative
of false but pervasive and harmful public sentiments.
This post is disgusting, naive and lacks any Christ-like attributes.
I wonder, as a woman, would your opinion have been heard or legitimized only 100 years ago? Simply because you were a woman you couldn't even vote. In the day, some men argued that women's suffrage was rooted in moral decay. But today you enjoy the fruits of those battles. You're given respect and your own voice.
What you fail to understand is the reality and pain associated with homosexuality. The prophets have spoken on homosexuality for many years. Most of their teachings on the cause, and cure, of homosexuality have been proven wrong. Current prophets have distanced themselves from those teachings. No longer is the advice, pray and get married. Instead, they admit it is an essential characteristic of an individual and we are to show kindness and love toward all.
Where is your love? Where is your Christ-like compassion?
1. It's not clear what Janice's female gender has to do with this topic. Are you comparing womanhood with homosexuality, as if homosexuality is a third sex? There are only two: male and female. See Genesis and the Family Proclamation, or would you rather put your foundation in organizations that now claim there are dozens of perfectly normal genders, even up to 63? When any and everything can be a gender, the distinction between male and female and proper gender roles is lost. This is the Godless, lawless sex activists' objective in order to legitimize all sex acts.
2. Are you saying that homosexualists do not have a voice in today's world? Are you kidding? They are running the place! By the way, homosexuals have never been denied the vote.
3. We do understand the reality and pain associated with homosexuality because we are parents who watched it happen. Are you a parent? Have you experienced the reality and pain of watching your child go through peer and sexual abuse, indoctrination, confusion, and misery?
4.Truth doesn't change according to the current culture. If you think past prophets were wrong, on what basis do you believe present ones are right? What we believe has to match up with the God's word (scriptures), our leaders, and the Spirit. If these three are not in agreement, something's gone wrong.
5. You say that what past leaders have said about the causes and cures of homosexuality has been proven wrong. True, some of the "cures" used in the past were cruel and didn't work, and perhaps this is because they were treating only a symptom of much deeper problems, and of course the person has to really want to be free of it. There's no forcing anyone. The truth is there is no evidence that any sort of sexuality is inborn and unchangeable--- hetero, homo, or whatever. What you are relying on is called "wishful science." Even activist gay scientists admit they could not find a gay gene. That's because attitudes and feelings about our God-given sexuality are developed, taught and learned. You might consider that the wrong ideas have been carefully taught to current generations. It only makes sense that we should school our sexuality to fit biology, health, and pro-creation as in generations past.
6. If current prophets are "distancing themselves" from this issue, you might consider why. There exists relentless pressure on all churches from homosexualists to change their doctrines and policies to make them contrary to holy scripture. Do you really think it's a good idea to harass and persecute people of God, seeking to destroy their freedom to live and work and worship according to their conscience? Sexual freedom (which is not mentioned in the Constitution) with all its imagined offenses is being given precedence over our real first freedom. This isn't good for anyone.
7. The 1995 Family Proclamation, which has never been recalled, says , "All human beings--male and female-- are created in the image of God . . . Gender [male and female] is an essential characteristic of individual . . . identity and purpose." Do you see how you have used those same words (we put in italics) to construct and trump up some arbitrary extra gender to cover an ancient sin? This is not to say that some people do not suffer from gender identity disorders. If a person's "gender orientation" is not in line with one of the two human biological sexes, something has gone wrong, and this disorder shouldn't be a person's foremost and public identity as if it is normal. (Homosexuality was removed from the APA's list of disorders because of political pressure, not science.)
8. As for love and Christ-like compassion, it is certainly not loving or compassionate not to warn people when they are thinking and desiring and doing wrong and dangerous things. It is actually the epitome of Christlike to warn them even if they then hate you. Jesus said the world would hate people who followed him. He called out devils, identified hypocrites, and cleansed the temple, and was crucified for it. His gospel is not massage therapy but heart surgery. He cares about our eternal welfare above all and we will miss out unless we change our hearts. The pure love of Christ is not about accepting whatever the current culture has decided is good; it's about valiantly standing for everlasting truth and righteousness because you love God and your fellow man, even if the virtuous, informed, and Christlike ideas you share are labeled "disgusting, naive, and unChristlike."
Thanks to this anonymous commenter for bringing up these points that need correcting, however many times. God bless him!
This post is disgusting, naive and lacks any Christ-like attributes.
I wonder, as a woman, would your opinion have been heard or legitimized only 100 years ago? Simply because you were a woman you couldn't even vote. In the day, some men argued that women's suffrage was rooted in moral decay. But today you enjoy the fruits of those battles. You're given respect and your own voice.
What you fail to understand is the reality and pain associated with homosexuality. The prophets have spoken on homosexuality for many years. Most of their teachings on the cause, and cure, of homosexuality have been proven wrong. Current prophets have distanced themselves from those teachings. No longer is the advice, pray and get married. Instead, they admit it is an essential characteristic of an individual and we are to show kindness and love toward all.
Where is your love? Where is your Christ-like compassion?
1. It's not clear what Janice's female gender has to do with this topic. Are you comparing womanhood with homosexuality, as if homosexuality is a third sex? There are only two: male and female. See Genesis and the Family Proclamation, or would you rather put your foundation in organizations that now claim there are dozens of perfectly normal genders, even up to 63? When any and everything can be a gender, the distinction between male and female and proper gender roles is lost. This is the Godless, lawless sex activists' objective in order to legitimize all sex acts.
2. Are you saying that homosexualists do not have a voice in today's world? Are you kidding? They are running the place! By the way, homosexuals have never been denied the vote.
3. We do understand the reality and pain associated with homosexuality because we are parents who watched it happen. Are you a parent? Have you experienced the reality and pain of watching your child go through peer and sexual abuse, indoctrination, confusion, and misery?
4.Truth doesn't change according to the current culture. If you think past prophets were wrong, on what basis do you believe present ones are right? What we believe has to match up with the God's word (scriptures), our leaders, and the Spirit. If these three are not in agreement, something's gone wrong.
5. You say that what past leaders have said about the causes and cures of homosexuality has been proven wrong. True, some of the "cures" used in the past were cruel and didn't work, and perhaps this is because they were treating only a symptom of much deeper problems, and of course the person has to really want to be free of it. There's no forcing anyone. The truth is there is no evidence that any sort of sexuality is inborn and unchangeable--- hetero, homo, or whatever. What you are relying on is called "wishful science." Even activist gay scientists admit they could not find a gay gene. That's because attitudes and feelings about our God-given sexuality are developed, taught and learned. You might consider that the wrong ideas have been carefully taught to current generations. It only makes sense that we should school our sexuality to fit biology, health, and pro-creation as in generations past.
6. If current prophets are "distancing themselves" from this issue, you might consider why. There exists relentless pressure on all churches from homosexualists to change their doctrines and policies to make them contrary to holy scripture. Do you really think it's a good idea to harass and persecute people of God, seeking to destroy their freedom to live and work and worship according to their conscience? Sexual freedom (which is not mentioned in the Constitution) with all its imagined offenses is being given precedence over our real first freedom. This isn't good for anyone.
7. The 1995 Family Proclamation, which has never been recalled, says , "All human beings--male and female-- are created in the image of God . . . Gender [male and female] is an essential characteristic of individual . . . identity and purpose." Do you see how you have used those same words (we put in italics) to construct and trump up some arbitrary extra gender to cover an ancient sin? This is not to say that some people do not suffer from gender identity disorders. If a person's "gender orientation" is not in line with one of the two human biological sexes, something has gone wrong, and this disorder shouldn't be a person's foremost and public identity as if it is normal. (Homosexuality was removed from the APA's list of disorders because of political pressure, not science.)
8. As for love and Christ-like compassion, it is certainly not loving or compassionate not to warn people when they are thinking and desiring and doing wrong and dangerous things. It is actually the epitome of Christlike to warn them even if they then hate you. Jesus said the world would hate people who followed him. He called out devils, identified hypocrites, and cleansed the temple, and was crucified for it. His gospel is not massage therapy but heart surgery. He cares about our eternal welfare above all and we will miss out unless we change our hearts. The pure love of Christ is not about accepting whatever the current culture has decided is good; it's about valiantly standing for everlasting truth and righteousness because you love God and your fellow man, even if the virtuous, informed, and Christlike ideas you share are labeled "disgusting, naive, and unChristlike."
Thanks to this anonymous commenter for bringing up these points that need correcting, however many times. God bless him!
Thursday, October 17, 2013
What Everyone Should Know About Alfred Kinsey
Alfred Kinsey (1894-1956) and his so-called spectrum of human sexuality is widely referred to still today by all sorts of people with influence and power, from Oprah Winfrey to trusted professors at religious universities. Even the most well-meaning, conservative, Christian parents are using him as authoritative in teaching their children about sexuality.
This post contains important, shocking, little-known truths about this man. Everyone should know that Alfred Kinsey was a free-love crusader, a misogynist, a fraud, a pervert, and a criminal, posing as a sex scientist (among other things including a boy scout leader). His obsessive "research" (in which he participated personally) was all about "proving" that human beings were born sexual animals and any rules about sex were repressive. He used deliberately skewed population samples and intrusive pornographic interviews/surveys tailored to his desired results (he had all 350 questions memorized). All of his employees were required to participate personally beginning with sharing their sexual histories. He organized "studies" involving masturbation, fornication, adultery, sex orgies, homosexuality, and child sexual molestation (on hundreds, as young as 2-month-old babies), and more, which were viewed by spectators and filmed, all of which were kept secret or he would have lost his funding (from the Rockefeller Foundation). Since the late 1940s when he conducted these depraved sex activities his "findings" have been completely debunked. Kinsey's whole idea that all sexuality and sex acts were equally valuable and acceptable was dangerous, Godless claptrap. Nevertheless, he is the darling of the sexually confused and is called the father of the sexual liberation movement. Hugh Hefner of Playboy fame was a devoted disciple.
Judith Reisman writes, "The Kinsey claims about America's sexual life in the 1930s and the 1940s have been allowed to take hold and been permitted to stand, affecting all of American life. Though known to be invalid, the data were never withdrawn or recalled by Indiana University or the Kinsey Institute and they continue to be held up . . . and cited as wholly valid . . . "
Everyone should know who Alfred Kinsey was and the damage he did and continues to do although he died in 1956. No one should quote him as authoritative or refer to him or his "work" as credible. For more information about Alfred Kinsey, read Kinsey: Crimes and Consequences and Kinsey, Sex and Fraud, The Indoctrination of a People, both by Judith Reisman who spent decades bravely uncovering the horrible truth.
This post contains important, shocking, little-known truths about this man. Everyone should know that Alfred Kinsey was a free-love crusader, a misogynist, a fraud, a pervert, and a criminal, posing as a sex scientist (among other things including a boy scout leader). His obsessive "research" (in which he participated personally) was all about "proving" that human beings were born sexual animals and any rules about sex were repressive. He used deliberately skewed population samples and intrusive pornographic interviews/surveys tailored to his desired results (he had all 350 questions memorized). All of his employees were required to participate personally beginning with sharing their sexual histories. He organized "studies" involving masturbation, fornication, adultery, sex orgies, homosexuality, and child sexual molestation (on hundreds, as young as 2-month-old babies), and more, which were viewed by spectators and filmed, all of which were kept secret or he would have lost his funding (from the Rockefeller Foundation). Since the late 1940s when he conducted these depraved sex activities his "findings" have been completely debunked. Kinsey's whole idea that all sexuality and sex acts were equally valuable and acceptable was dangerous, Godless claptrap. Nevertheless, he is the darling of the sexually confused and is called the father of the sexual liberation movement. Hugh Hefner of Playboy fame was a devoted disciple.
Judith Reisman writes, "The Kinsey claims about America's sexual life in the 1930s and the 1940s have been allowed to take hold and been permitted to stand, affecting all of American life. Though known to be invalid, the data were never withdrawn or recalled by Indiana University or the Kinsey Institute and they continue to be held up . . . and cited as wholly valid . . . "
Everyone should know who Alfred Kinsey was and the damage he did and continues to do although he died in 1956. No one should quote him as authoritative or refer to him or his "work" as credible. For more information about Alfred Kinsey, read Kinsey: Crimes and Consequences and Kinsey, Sex and Fraud, The Indoctrination of a People, both by Judith Reisman who spent decades bravely uncovering the horrible truth.
Sunday, October 6, 2013
The Marriage Debate:Too Little, Too Late
As state after state falls to the full legitimization of "gay marriage" (there are 13 at this writing), some institutions are still holding out. These traditionalists may be retreating from the public fight, but are insisting they will not give in, policy-wise (whatever that looks like). How long will they hold out? What is causing them to take a stand against homosexuality at this particular point? Their reason can't be God and morality because homosexuality itself is immoral, an abomination before God; they gave up on God and morality a long time ago if and when they accepted the false notion that homosexuality is inborn and pretty much unchangeable, which many have done. Now all they are saying is that they want to keep marriage between a man and a woman for this or that reason, while respecting others' beliefs and hoping that same respect will work both ways. Sorry, that isn't enough. It isn't enough for God. It isn't enough for the poor souls caught up in homosexualism. It isn't enough for our children who are being indoctrinated into embracing unlimited sex and sexuality as normal and harmless. And it isn't enough to stop the juggernaut.
In all their efforts to be tolerant and popular, traditionalists have become completely distracted. Afraid to take a stand against homosexuality itself, when the sexual activists seized upon marriage, the traditionalists gave a deep sigh of relief because now they could stand for something while avoiding being against anything. But of course it's all a pretense. Of course people who are for traditional marriage are also totally against gay marriage, and of course these same people are also totally against the practice of homosexuality because that's what happens in gay marriage, and of course people against anything homosexual are going to be labeled and punished later if not sooner.
Reality check: Any negative sentiment toward gay marriage (which includes any positive sentiment for traditional marriage) is now being proclaimed discriminatory/anti-gay. It doesn't matter what your "tone" is, how "delicately you put it, or how much you truly love people, any hesitancy at all toward celebrating homosexuality (even warning of the obvious health risks) is now perceived as hate, ignorance, and bigotry. Truth is hate to people who hate truth, says our friend Peter LaBarbera. So if we're trying to avoid being punished, all this magnanimous niceness, all this we're-pro-traditional-marriage-but-of course-we-love-and-accept-and-respect-homosexuality rhetoric is not only intellectually dishonest, it's also for naught. The other day a guy named Craig James got fired from his job at Fox Sports Network because someone dug up the fact that last year when he was running for the U. S. Senate he said he was in favor of marriage as between a man and a woman. Apparently being for traditional marriage, meaning you are against gay marriage, is one of the worst things you can be nowadays. Just last night we were watching a TV show and one of the characters was informed by an acquaintance that her profile on a dating site had obviously been hacked, the clincher being that she said something upsetting about gay marriage, whereupon she went into shock and sputtered how awful this was and of course no one would say such things. There you go.
C. S. Lewis said, "Wherever any precept of traditional morality is simply challenged by the world to produce its credentials, as though the burden of proof lay on it, we have taken the wrong position." In other words, defending man-woman marriage is the wrong position. The real issue, which is the worldwide love affair with sexual license being preferred over religious freedom, reality, health, and safety, has been bypassed and is being neglected. As morality and God and the worth of souls are rationalized and forgotten, one trusted institution after another has made one concession after another, which will eventually lead to, for all practical purposes, the full tolerance of unlimited sex and sexuality.
It's funny how people think the sexual liberation juggernaut will stop on precisely the spot they want it to stop, right before their own opinion of a legitimate boundary is breached, as if their enemies can read their minds and will oblige them.
The gay movement has been extremely successful. It has captured the public sentiment without any significant direct dissent. Please note that the marriage debate, because it is only a distraction, has not made a dent in the homosexual movement; on the contrary it has bolstered it. Homosexuality is now open and commonplace. It is accepted in our families, our churches, our schools, our entertainment, our businesses, our governing bodies. The traditionalists may still insist that they will never permit same-sex marriage in their institutions, but having already given in on principle, the practice parades on in nevertheless.
Real life case in point: A same-sex couple with children moves into your neighborhood. Legally married in some state or not, they act like a married couple/family and participate in the same school and church and playgroups you and your family do. The same-sex couple arranges playdates with your kids. You know it's possible that the kids will role play and talk and that their unique family situation will come up. You don't want your children to grow up thinking there's nothing wrong with same-sex coupling, but you don't know what to do about it. You're a nice person, so you're stuck. You would never want to break up a family or hurt someone's feelings. No one, no leaders, no teachers, no parents, no, nobody in your church or neighborhood or schools wants to offend anyone either. Everyone just wants to get along and be thought well of. So the fact is, short of relocating, no one will say or do anything negative and all the children touched by this situation will grow up believing there's nothing unusual or wrong about the practice of homosexuality. Parents may even be afraid to teach their children at home that homosexual behavior is wrong for fear of word getting out. In addition, because we will hesitate to teach anything about proper marriage and family for fear of offending homosexuals, children will grow up confused, perhaps even believing homosexuality is to be preferred.
Traditionalists can say all the glowing, insistent words against same-sex marriage they want (and they should, and might help someone), but public sentiment is ruling the day. This is happening because traditionalists doggedly chased the marriage red herring while emboldened homosexuality came, saw, and conquered our society for all practical and social purposes. What those with influence should have done is stood steadfast, bravely and wholeheartedly with God and His Truth, instead of being distracted by the marriage debate. It's ridiculous that marriage is having to "produce its credentials;" men can't mate with men or women with women. Why are we even having this conversation? The root of the issue is: homosexuality in all its forms is perverse and harmful, in principle or in practice, "married" or not.
And let's not forget that godless lawless sexual activists have no boundaries.This is obviously only the beginning.
In all their efforts to be tolerant and popular, traditionalists have become completely distracted. Afraid to take a stand against homosexuality itself, when the sexual activists seized upon marriage, the traditionalists gave a deep sigh of relief because now they could stand for something while avoiding being against anything. But of course it's all a pretense. Of course people who are for traditional marriage are also totally against gay marriage, and of course these same people are also totally against the practice of homosexuality because that's what happens in gay marriage, and of course people against anything homosexual are going to be labeled and punished later if not sooner.
Reality check: Any negative sentiment toward gay marriage (which includes any positive sentiment for traditional marriage) is now being proclaimed discriminatory/anti-gay. It doesn't matter what your "tone" is, how "delicately you put it, or how much you truly love people, any hesitancy at all toward celebrating homosexuality (even warning of the obvious health risks) is now perceived as hate, ignorance, and bigotry. Truth is hate to people who hate truth, says our friend Peter LaBarbera. So if we're trying to avoid being punished, all this magnanimous niceness, all this we're-pro-traditional-marriage-but-of course-we-love-and-accept-and-respect-homosexuality rhetoric is not only intellectually dishonest, it's also for naught. The other day a guy named Craig James got fired from his job at Fox Sports Network because someone dug up the fact that last year when he was running for the U. S. Senate he said he was in favor of marriage as between a man and a woman. Apparently being for traditional marriage, meaning you are against gay marriage, is one of the worst things you can be nowadays. Just last night we were watching a TV show and one of the characters was informed by an acquaintance that her profile on a dating site had obviously been hacked, the clincher being that she said something upsetting about gay marriage, whereupon she went into shock and sputtered how awful this was and of course no one would say such things. There you go.
C. S. Lewis said, "Wherever any precept of traditional morality is simply challenged by the world to produce its credentials, as though the burden of proof lay on it, we have taken the wrong position." In other words, defending man-woman marriage is the wrong position. The real issue, which is the worldwide love affair with sexual license being preferred over religious freedom, reality, health, and safety, has been bypassed and is being neglected. As morality and God and the worth of souls are rationalized and forgotten, one trusted institution after another has made one concession after another, which will eventually lead to, for all practical purposes, the full tolerance of unlimited sex and sexuality.
It's funny how people think the sexual liberation juggernaut will stop on precisely the spot they want it to stop, right before their own opinion of a legitimate boundary is breached, as if their enemies can read their minds and will oblige them.
The gay movement has been extremely successful. It has captured the public sentiment without any significant direct dissent. Please note that the marriage debate, because it is only a distraction, has not made a dent in the homosexual movement; on the contrary it has bolstered it. Homosexuality is now open and commonplace. It is accepted in our families, our churches, our schools, our entertainment, our businesses, our governing bodies. The traditionalists may still insist that they will never permit same-sex marriage in their institutions, but having already given in on principle, the practice parades on in nevertheless.
Real life case in point: A same-sex couple with children moves into your neighborhood. Legally married in some state or not, they act like a married couple/family and participate in the same school and church and playgroups you and your family do. The same-sex couple arranges playdates with your kids. You know it's possible that the kids will role play and talk and that their unique family situation will come up. You don't want your children to grow up thinking there's nothing wrong with same-sex coupling, but you don't know what to do about it. You're a nice person, so you're stuck. You would never want to break up a family or hurt someone's feelings. No one, no leaders, no teachers, no parents, no, nobody in your church or neighborhood or schools wants to offend anyone either. Everyone just wants to get along and be thought well of. So the fact is, short of relocating, no one will say or do anything negative and all the children touched by this situation will grow up believing there's nothing unusual or wrong about the practice of homosexuality. Parents may even be afraid to teach their children at home that homosexual behavior is wrong for fear of word getting out. In addition, because we will hesitate to teach anything about proper marriage and family for fear of offending homosexuals, children will grow up confused, perhaps even believing homosexuality is to be preferred.
Traditionalists can say all the glowing, insistent words against same-sex marriage they want (and they should, and might help someone), but public sentiment is ruling the day. This is happening because traditionalists doggedly chased the marriage red herring while emboldened homosexuality came, saw, and conquered our society for all practical and social purposes. What those with influence should have done is stood steadfast, bravely and wholeheartedly with God and His Truth, instead of being distracted by the marriage debate. It's ridiculous that marriage is having to "produce its credentials;" men can't mate with men or women with women. Why are we even having this conversation? The root of the issue is: homosexuality in all its forms is perverse and harmful, in principle or in practice, "married" or not.
And let's not forget that godless lawless sexual activists have no boundaries.This is obviously only the beginning.
Friday, August 16, 2013
Dare To Be A Mormon
*The following is not a hypothetical situation. It is based on several actual events and communications that are taking place on a churchwide scale.
Open Letter from a church member to a local church leader:
Dear Brother ----------,
If the wicked world weren’t what it is, and supposedly righteous people weren’t increasingly bending over backward to accommodate it, I would be astonished at the email you sent me this week. Underneath all the smooth talk, in essence you are attempting to use your priesthood position to stop me from appropriately teaching and commenting in church meetings on how pervasive current wickedness applies to the gospel, and also from sharing my beliefs with friends and fellow church members outside of meetings.
It may surprise you that all the arguments you are using to persuade me to avoid essential gospel topics (man's sinful nature, Christ as Redeemer, the possibility of repentance, and how the current trend to accept homosexualism applies) have been tried on me many times before. If nothing I say is untrue, if I say it in an appropriate way in an appropriate setting, you must be acting on complaints you have received or because you yourself feel uncomfortable. If the saints feel uncomfortable with truth and reality, all encompassed in the gospel of Jesus Christ, we have a problem. And the problem does not lie with the messenger but with the hearers.
Here are some brief responses to your points:
You say that talking about sin may tempt someone toward it. Again, this is up to the hearer. In a Church of Jesus Christ setting, this excuse is a total cop-out. Today, the church and the family are the last holdouts where principles of truth and righteousness must still be expressed and applied freely.
You say if I talk about these things I'll lose my audience. Another cop-out. If we stand for any sort of absolute truth nowadays (for example, if we're brave enough to stand against the gay juggernaut), many people will turn their backs on us no matter how nicely we put it. So we have to decide whom we will serve. Pretending there is no sin doesn't help anybody; it actually condemns us all.
You say the members know all this stuff and don't need to hear it. It upsets them. Yes, some may understand what's happening, but most do not. And it is upsetting. But we need to care enough to fight this fight rather than bury our heads in the sand. Evidence shows that none of us are immune to the cunning craftiness of the devil and many are gradually being taken in. Naivety and pride make us especially vulnerable.
You warn me to be careful,expressing your personal decision not to speak up on current sexual morality issues because of the harm it might do to your professional reputation. Whoa! We aren’t supposed to care about our social position or what people think of us when it comes to taking a stand. We have made covenants to sacrifice any and everything.
You seem to think that Zion can be built up using the methods of Babylon, as in neglecting to stand for God and goodness. Whoa again! Christ and morality are inseparable. If we leave out morality, we leave out Christ. In this way Zion can quickly and easily become Babylon.
Dear friend and brother in the gospel, do you really want to live in a ward that chastises and silences the few who are brave enough to occasionally and appropriately testify against the wickedness of our times? Where will that take us? I, and my family, would love to feel a fellowship with the saints as brothers and sisters in Christ. But increasingly, we no longer feel it. My wife still has the little plaque she hung on her wall as a young person that said,
Dare to be a Mormon
Dare to stand alone
Dare to have a purpose firm
Dare to make it known.
She thinks it should now be changed to:
Dare to be a Mormon
Dare to make it known
Funny, it’s in church today
You’ll find yourself alone!
Still steadfast,
A member
Open Letter from a church member to a local church leader:
Dear Brother ----------,
If the wicked world weren’t what it is, and supposedly righteous people weren’t increasingly bending over backward to accommodate it, I would be astonished at the email you sent me this week. Underneath all the smooth talk, in essence you are attempting to use your priesthood position to stop me from appropriately teaching and commenting in church meetings on how pervasive current wickedness applies to the gospel, and also from sharing my beliefs with friends and fellow church members outside of meetings.
It may surprise you that all the arguments you are using to persuade me to avoid essential gospel topics (man's sinful nature, Christ as Redeemer, the possibility of repentance, and how the current trend to accept homosexualism applies) have been tried on me many times before. If nothing I say is untrue, if I say it in an appropriate way in an appropriate setting, you must be acting on complaints you have received or because you yourself feel uncomfortable. If the saints feel uncomfortable with truth and reality, all encompassed in the gospel of Jesus Christ, we have a problem. And the problem does not lie with the messenger but with the hearers.
Here are some brief responses to your points:
You say that talking about sin may tempt someone toward it. Again, this is up to the hearer. In a Church of Jesus Christ setting, this excuse is a total cop-out. Today, the church and the family are the last holdouts where principles of truth and righteousness must still be expressed and applied freely.
You say if I talk about these things I'll lose my audience. Another cop-out. If we stand for any sort of absolute truth nowadays (for example, if we're brave enough to stand against the gay juggernaut), many people will turn their backs on us no matter how nicely we put it. So we have to decide whom we will serve. Pretending there is no sin doesn't help anybody; it actually condemns us all.
You say the members know all this stuff and don't need to hear it. It upsets them. Yes, some may understand what's happening, but most do not. And it is upsetting. But we need to care enough to fight this fight rather than bury our heads in the sand. Evidence shows that none of us are immune to the cunning craftiness of the devil and many are gradually being taken in. Naivety and pride make us especially vulnerable.
You warn me to be careful,expressing your personal decision not to speak up on current sexual morality issues because of the harm it might do to your professional reputation. Whoa! We aren’t supposed to care about our social position or what people think of us when it comes to taking a stand. We have made covenants to sacrifice any and everything.
You seem to think that Zion can be built up using the methods of Babylon, as in neglecting to stand for God and goodness. Whoa again! Christ and morality are inseparable. If we leave out morality, we leave out Christ. In this way Zion can quickly and easily become Babylon.
Dear friend and brother in the gospel, do you really want to live in a ward that chastises and silences the few who are brave enough to occasionally and appropriately testify against the wickedness of our times? Where will that take us? I, and my family, would love to feel a fellowship with the saints as brothers and sisters in Christ. But increasingly, we no longer feel it. My wife still has the little plaque she hung on her wall as a young person that said,
Dare to be a Mormon
Dare to stand alone
Dare to have a purpose firm
Dare to make it known.
She thinks it should now be changed to:
Dare to be a Mormon
Dare to make it known
Funny, it’s in church today
You’ll find yourself alone!
Still steadfast,
A member
Monday, June 17, 2013
Unless One Loves the Truth
I have just read a little Blaise Pascal (1623-1662), the mathematician, scientist, and Christian apologist, from his Thoughts, musings about man's nature and truth and God and divine redemption. They are terribly lovely thoughts, and applicable then as now, as are all everlasting truths.
" The truth is so obscured in our day, and falsehood so firmly established, that unless one loves the truth one cannot even know it."
"Man is but a reed, the weakest in nature, but he is a thinking reed . . . All our dignity consists then in thought . . . Let us strive then to think well; that is the foundation of all morality."
"How hollow is the human heart, and how full of corruption!"
"We run heedlessly over the edge of the precipice, after placing something before our eyes to keep ourselves from seeing it."
"He who does not see the vanity of the world is very vain himself.'
"One does not grow bored with eating and sleeping every day, for hunger is reborn, and drowsiness; otherwise one would grow weary of them. Thus without the hunger for spiritual things one would grow weary of them."
"Never does one do evil so fully and so gaily as when one does it as a matter of conscience."
"Not being able to bring about what what is just should be strong, men have decided that what is strong is just."
"There are only three sorts of people; those who serve God, having found him; those who put forth every effort to seek him, not having found him; those who live without seeking and without having found him. The first are reasonable and happy; the last are foolish and unhappy; the middle group are unhappy and reasonable."
"God alone is [man's] true good; and since he has turned away from him, it is a strange thing that there is nothing in nature which has not served on occasion to take his place---stars, firmament, earth, elements, plants, cabbages, leeks, animals, insects, calves, serpents, fever, plague, war, famine, vices, adultery, incest. And since he has lost the one true good, everything in its turn may seem to him to be the good, even to his own destruction, although so contrary to God, to reason, and to nature all together."
"What will become of man? Will he be like God or like the beasts? What a frightful distance!"
"The immortality of the soul is a thing of such great importance to us, which concerns us so deeply, that one must have lost all feeling to be indifferent about knowing what the truth is in the matter.. . . This neglect astounds and horrifies me; it is for me a monstrous thing."
"For Christian faith is almost exclusively concerned with establishing these two things: the corruption of nature, and redemption through Jesus Christ."
"There is no shame except in having no shame.'
"A unit added to infinity in no wise increases it, any more than does the addition of a foot to an infinite measure. The finite disappears in the presence of the infinite, and becomes pure nothingness. So too our mind before God; so too our justice before divine justice."
"Jesus Christ is the object of everything, and the center toward which everything tends."
"[Man's] main maladies are pride, which separates you from God, and lust, which ties you to the earth."
"If you are united with God, it is through grace, not because of your nature. If you are humbled, it is through penitence, not because of your nature."
"There is enough light for those who wish only to see, and enough obscurity for those of a contrary nature."
"All that is important for us to know is that we are wretched, corrupt, separated from God, but [can be] redeemed by Jesus Christ."
"To lead into error is to place man under the necessity of concluding and following an untruth."
"We owe a deep debt to those who warn us of our faults."
"It is good to be wearied and tired by the vain search for the true good in order to hold out our arms to the Liberator."
Thank you, God, for timeless truths.
" The truth is so obscured in our day, and falsehood so firmly established, that unless one loves the truth one cannot even know it."
"Man is but a reed, the weakest in nature, but he is a thinking reed . . . All our dignity consists then in thought . . . Let us strive then to think well; that is the foundation of all morality."
"How hollow is the human heart, and how full of corruption!"
"We run heedlessly over the edge of the precipice, after placing something before our eyes to keep ourselves from seeing it."
"He who does not see the vanity of the world is very vain himself.'
"One does not grow bored with eating and sleeping every day, for hunger is reborn, and drowsiness; otherwise one would grow weary of them. Thus without the hunger for spiritual things one would grow weary of them."
"Never does one do evil so fully and so gaily as when one does it as a matter of conscience."
"Not being able to bring about what what is just should be strong, men have decided that what is strong is just."
"There are only three sorts of people; those who serve God, having found him; those who put forth every effort to seek him, not having found him; those who live without seeking and without having found him. The first are reasonable and happy; the last are foolish and unhappy; the middle group are unhappy and reasonable."
"God alone is [man's] true good; and since he has turned away from him, it is a strange thing that there is nothing in nature which has not served on occasion to take his place---stars, firmament, earth, elements, plants, cabbages, leeks, animals, insects, calves, serpents, fever, plague, war, famine, vices, adultery, incest. And since he has lost the one true good, everything in its turn may seem to him to be the good, even to his own destruction, although so contrary to God, to reason, and to nature all together."
"What will become of man? Will he be like God or like the beasts? What a frightful distance!"
"The immortality of the soul is a thing of such great importance to us, which concerns us so deeply, that one must have lost all feeling to be indifferent about knowing what the truth is in the matter.. . . This neglect astounds and horrifies me; it is for me a monstrous thing."
"For Christian faith is almost exclusively concerned with establishing these two things: the corruption of nature, and redemption through Jesus Christ."
"There is no shame except in having no shame.'
"A unit added to infinity in no wise increases it, any more than does the addition of a foot to an infinite measure. The finite disappears in the presence of the infinite, and becomes pure nothingness. So too our mind before God; so too our justice before divine justice."
"Jesus Christ is the object of everything, and the center toward which everything tends."
"[Man's] main maladies are pride, which separates you from God, and lust, which ties you to the earth."
"If you are united with God, it is through grace, not because of your nature. If you are humbled, it is through penitence, not because of your nature."
"There is enough light for those who wish only to see, and enough obscurity for those of a contrary nature."
"All that is important for us to know is that we are wretched, corrupt, separated from God, but [can be] redeemed by Jesus Christ."
"To lead into error is to place man under the necessity of concluding and following an untruth."
"We owe a deep debt to those who warn us of our faults."
"It is good to be wearied and tired by the vain search for the true good in order to hold out our arms to the Liberator."
Thank you, God, for timeless truths.
Friday, June 14, 2013
If Being Gay Isn't About Sex
Incredibly, it could be that some people don't actually realize that gayness is about sex. After all, 11-year-olds are coming out to celebrations and parents are identifying their 2-year-olds as gay. How can little children know anything about sex? It must just be who people are.
Wrong. It is about sex. Naughty sex. Fake sex. Gay sex. Harmful, disease-spreading, life-shortening gay sex. That's what it's really about. That's what the phony "identity" is based on and what the lifestyle encourages and leads to. Why don't people realize this?
They don't realize it because the gay movement has done a great job of disguising homosexuality. They have done this purposely and systematically, as recorded in black and white in numerous publications such as After the Ball and "The Overhauling of Straight America." Through relentless political pressure on scientific, academic, government, and religious entities they have made a proclivity for homosexual sex a respectable ethnicity and homosexuals a victimized minority group deserving special treatment. They have fooled the public with trumped-up discrimination charges. They have distracted the public with hyped-up stereotypes: Men who really like clothes, music, acting, dancing, art, beauty are probably gay. Gays are smart, creative, glib, talented, sweet, kind. The formerly unspeakable vice known as homosexuality is now inextricably associated with rainbows, goodness, Broadway musicals, high IQ, civil rights, equality, morality, philanthropy, love, children, marriage, even Jesus Christ.
It's a huge deception.
Some people fool themselves into thinking being gay isn't about sex. Yes, church leaders adn administrators have voiced this view. Really? Well, if being gay is not about perverse sexuality, if it's just about some people's harmless talents, interests, mannerisms, and platonic same-sex affections, why is everybody making such a big deal about it then? It's nothing! People have all sorts of different interests and traits and talents. Lots of people get teased and bullied. Some are excluded for all sorts of reasons, bad and good. So why is so much changing because of it? Why does gayness get to be its own huge powerful political issue? Why all the controversy if gayness is so ordinary and innocuous? Why is so much money behind it? Why all the law suits? Why all the policy changes? Why all the legislation about so-called discrimination and hate? Why the demand for so-called same-sex marriage, since marriage is understood to include sexual relations? Why the legitimization of gay parenting/families? Again, why are some people's harmless personality traits and interests and attractions suddenly a reason to create a specially-privileged political minority group that is causing chaos in every aspect of our society and culture, including trumping other people's constitutional right to live their religious convictions?
The reason is, gayness is not about harmless personality traits and interests. It's not about including people who are different, it's about embracing something different, something bad. The whole movement is about promoting Godlessness by way of promoting unlimited sex and sexuality. Activists have deceptively and cleverly targeted, intimidated, infiltrated, degraded, and attacked every established institution you can think of---education, business, entertainment, marriage, family, church, boy and girl scouts, government---to force further legitimization and acceptance of homosexual sex. Lots of people see how evil this is, and so we have a huge conflict. The conflict concerns God and goodness versus man and wickedness. The two worldviews, God and Godlessness, cannot freely co-exist. That's why gayness is so extremely controversial. It's the anti-God deviant sexual component. Sadly, many who join this parade are mere pawns: damaged, vulnerable, indoctrinated, deceived, prideful, vain, foolish, immature, young. They need to be warned of the dangerous and iniquitous nature of this oversexed perverse mindset and lifestyle because no matter how innocently it begins, it will rapidly degrade into depravity. Increasingly, for their own self-serving reasons, leaders and parents and friends are not warning young people who are being drawn into homosexuality and the like. Thus it has become a case of the blind leading the blind.
Don't be fooled. The embrace of all forms of limitless sexuality including homosexuality as normal, healthy, and harmless is a very big deal, for children, for individuals, for families, for churches, for society, for freedom, for health and safety and order, for posterity, and for our immortal souls. It is a symptom of deep moral and spiritual blindness and rebellion against nature and against God.
Wrong. It is about sex. Naughty sex. Fake sex. Gay sex. Harmful, disease-spreading, life-shortening gay sex. That's what it's really about. That's what the phony "identity" is based on and what the lifestyle encourages and leads to. Why don't people realize this?
They don't realize it because the gay movement has done a great job of disguising homosexuality. They have done this purposely and systematically, as recorded in black and white in numerous publications such as After the Ball and "The Overhauling of Straight America." Through relentless political pressure on scientific, academic, government, and religious entities they have made a proclivity for homosexual sex a respectable ethnicity and homosexuals a victimized minority group deserving special treatment. They have fooled the public with trumped-up discrimination charges. They have distracted the public with hyped-up stereotypes: Men who really like clothes, music, acting, dancing, art, beauty are probably gay. Gays are smart, creative, glib, talented, sweet, kind. The formerly unspeakable vice known as homosexuality is now inextricably associated with rainbows, goodness, Broadway musicals, high IQ, civil rights, equality, morality, philanthropy, love, children, marriage, even Jesus Christ.
It's a huge deception.
Some people fool themselves into thinking being gay isn't about sex. Yes, church leaders adn administrators have voiced this view. Really? Well, if being gay is not about perverse sexuality, if it's just about some people's harmless talents, interests, mannerisms, and platonic same-sex affections, why is everybody making such a big deal about it then? It's nothing! People have all sorts of different interests and traits and talents. Lots of people get teased and bullied. Some are excluded for all sorts of reasons, bad and good. So why is so much changing because of it? Why does gayness get to be its own huge powerful political issue? Why all the controversy if gayness is so ordinary and innocuous? Why is so much money behind it? Why all the law suits? Why all the policy changes? Why all the legislation about so-called discrimination and hate? Why the demand for so-called same-sex marriage, since marriage is understood to include sexual relations? Why the legitimization of gay parenting/families? Again, why are some people's harmless personality traits and interests and attractions suddenly a reason to create a specially-privileged political minority group that is causing chaos in every aspect of our society and culture, including trumping other people's constitutional right to live their religious convictions?
The reason is, gayness is not about harmless personality traits and interests. It's not about including people who are different, it's about embracing something different, something bad. The whole movement is about promoting Godlessness by way of promoting unlimited sex and sexuality. Activists have deceptively and cleverly targeted, intimidated, infiltrated, degraded, and attacked every established institution you can think of---education, business, entertainment, marriage, family, church, boy and girl scouts, government---to force further legitimization and acceptance of homosexual sex. Lots of people see how evil this is, and so we have a huge conflict. The conflict concerns God and goodness versus man and wickedness. The two worldviews, God and Godlessness, cannot freely co-exist. That's why gayness is so extremely controversial. It's the anti-God deviant sexual component. Sadly, many who join this parade are mere pawns: damaged, vulnerable, indoctrinated, deceived, prideful, vain, foolish, immature, young. They need to be warned of the dangerous and iniquitous nature of this oversexed perverse mindset and lifestyle because no matter how innocently it begins, it will rapidly degrade into depravity. Increasingly, for their own self-serving reasons, leaders and parents and friends are not warning young people who are being drawn into homosexuality and the like. Thus it has become a case of the blind leading the blind.
Don't be fooled. The embrace of all forms of limitless sexuality including homosexuality as normal, healthy, and harmless is a very big deal, for children, for individuals, for families, for churches, for society, for freedom, for health and safety and order, for posterity, and for our immortal souls. It is a symptom of deep moral and spiritual blindness and rebellion against nature and against God.
When the Night Cometh
Yesterday I was talking with one of the most intelligent and humble followers of Christ I know. And yet one of the most basic principles of the gospel sounded surprising to her; it was "something she hadn't thought of." It happened like this:
She said she is troubled with the acceptance of homosexuality but that she takes comfort in the fact that the Church does not allow the acting out of homosexuality. She had the impression that being gay must be some sort of mental or emotional disorder beyond one's control, so we have to allow for it.
Let's address the latter first. The LDS Church has recently officially announced (see mormonsandgays.org) its new stance that a self-determined gay identity (of any age apparently) is neither a disease nor a disorder, and not sinful of itself. It follows that we are to believe homosexuality is healthy, normal, and righteous. So her impression of it being a disorder is not in line with what the Church is now saying.
Now about the acting out. If we insist that acting on homosexuality is bad, but claiming it as a permanent identity is fine, we are being dishonest. We are side-stepping the truth. If the blueprint is good, why can't we build it? If it's good for a man to study to be a doctor and earn his degree and take on the label Doctor, why can't he treat patients? The truth is, what's good in practice is good in principle, what's bad in practice is bad in principle. Once a principle is embraced, the acceptance of its practice inevitably follows by default. Indeed, nowhere in the Church do we find any definition of acting out, and as such acting out is already being accepted on one level or another. For instance, people we see as healthy who publicly claim homosexuality as a proud identity is a form of acting out. They are obviously thinking and doing all sorts of things to keep these feelings inflamed and to feel justified in them.
Worst of all, we aren't caring a whit about these people's immortal souls. If it's evil to act on homosexuality, it's evil to desire to act on it. Something that leads to something evil is evil itself. Even if a person is ill, evil is still evil. Saying there is nothing wrong with same-sex sexual attraction is encouraging gay people to "desire to do evil all the day long." And if the desires of their hearts are evil, evil will be restored to them. We shouldn't want this to happen to anyone! This is the gospel principle that had not occurred to my friend.
It's all beautifully explained in Alma 40, 41, and 42, and referred to in many other places throughout the Book of Mormon, Bible, and the other Standard Works. It is the law of restoration that states that after this life all things will "be restored to their proper order . . . evil for evil . . . good for that which is good."
"Therefore , all things shall be restored to their proper order, every thing to its natural frame . . . the one raised to . . . good according to his desires of good; and the other to evil according to his desires of evil; for as he has desired to do evil all the day long even so shall he have his reward of evil when the night cometh . . . evil for evil, or carnal for carnal, or devilish for devilish" (Alma 41:4,5, 12).
Surely, any church of Jesus Christ should make the immortal souls of men its first priority.
-Janice Graham
She said she is troubled with the acceptance of homosexuality but that she takes comfort in the fact that the Church does not allow the acting out of homosexuality. She had the impression that being gay must be some sort of mental or emotional disorder beyond one's control, so we have to allow for it.
Let's address the latter first. The LDS Church has recently officially announced (see mormonsandgays.org) its new stance that a self-determined gay identity (of any age apparently) is neither a disease nor a disorder, and not sinful of itself. It follows that we are to believe homosexuality is healthy, normal, and righteous. So her impression of it being a disorder is not in line with what the Church is now saying.
Now about the acting out. If we insist that acting on homosexuality is bad, but claiming it as a permanent identity is fine, we are being dishonest. We are side-stepping the truth. If the blueprint is good, why can't we build it? If it's good for a man to study to be a doctor and earn his degree and take on the label Doctor, why can't he treat patients? The truth is, what's good in practice is good in principle, what's bad in practice is bad in principle. Once a principle is embraced, the acceptance of its practice inevitably follows by default. Indeed, nowhere in the Church do we find any definition of acting out, and as such acting out is already being accepted on one level or another. For instance, people we see as healthy who publicly claim homosexuality as a proud identity is a form of acting out. They are obviously thinking and doing all sorts of things to keep these feelings inflamed and to feel justified in them.
Worst of all, we aren't caring a whit about these people's immortal souls. If it's evil to act on homosexuality, it's evil to desire to act on it. Something that leads to something evil is evil itself. Even if a person is ill, evil is still evil. Saying there is nothing wrong with same-sex sexual attraction is encouraging gay people to "desire to do evil all the day long." And if the desires of their hearts are evil, evil will be restored to them. We shouldn't want this to happen to anyone! This is the gospel principle that had not occurred to my friend.
It's all beautifully explained in Alma 40, 41, and 42, and referred to in many other places throughout the Book of Mormon, Bible, and the other Standard Works. It is the law of restoration that states that after this life all things will "be restored to their proper order . . . evil for evil . . . good for that which is good."
"Therefore , all things shall be restored to their proper order, every thing to its natural frame . . . the one raised to . . . good according to his desires of good; and the other to evil according to his desires of evil; for as he has desired to do evil all the day long even so shall he have his reward of evil when the night cometh . . . evil for evil, or carnal for carnal, or devilish for devilish" (Alma 41:4,5, 12).
Surely, any church of Jesus Christ should make the immortal souls of men its first priority.
-Janice Graham
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Follow Me, Boys! : Gone With the Wind
The other night the sweet old 1966 movie Follow Me,Boys! happened to be on TV. (This movie was based on a novel by McKinlay Kantor, God and My Country, 1958.) I saw this movie in the theater when I was 12 and it had a huge effect on me. My maternal little heart ached for Whitey, the lonely, troubled, courageous boy played by young Kurt Russell, whose life is changed by the Boy Scout program and a childless couple.
Troubled boys have always been welcomed into scouting. But quite suddenly things have changed. Now a certain group of boys with one particular trouble have been officially singled out and publicized while being welcomed into scouting, but they aren’t to be treated or thought of as troubled. Their trouble is off-limits to any sort of moral or emotional or spiritual or psychological correction or counseling or help. Instead, what has been thought of as an unspeakable vice for millennia is suddenly to be given respect as if it is a virtue. These are boys of any age who have decided they are same-sex sexually attracted, homosexual, “gay,” have adopted this proclivity as an identity, and are proudly making it public.
At a time when a boy should be dreaming of camping, hiking, boating, and tying knots, our oversexed culture has got him dreaming of male-on-male romance, that is, sex. Let's quit pretending being gay is about stereotypical mannerisms or talents or choice of entertainment or hobbies. It's about harmful ideas about sex, a perverse misuse of the procreative power. Every child and parent needs to know what gay is really about and where it leads. This self-determination is not based on science or professional diagnosis or anything authoritative at all. It is only based on the very immature, impressionable, and perhaps rebellious and/or damaged individual's current thought patterns and preoccupations.
Tragically, none of the horrific causes of homosexuality are to be taken into account. We are to ignore the very real probability that these boys may have serious underlying disorders, and/or that they may very well have been initiated, abused, pornographied, and trained into gayness and gay activism. The fact that some boys go through such a stage and grow out of it is not taken into account either. Parents aren’t to wonder or worry that their vulnerable and curious young sons might be influenced by gay peers or older gay boys who are their admired patrol leaders. Instead, Boy Scout troops everywhere are to institutionally encourage and cement homosexuality into mixed-up boys and allow them to model it and recruit other boys. Apparently, boy scouts, parents, and leaders everywhere are to immediately earn their proverbial gay sensitivity merit badge!
Thinking of the misery and longing of Whitey, the motherless young character in the movie whose father was an embarrassing drunkard he nevertheless loved and tried to protect, who wanted so badly to just fit in with the other boys, I can’t think of anything more despicable than pretending a troubled boy isn’t troubled and at risk. It amounts to psychological, moral, and spiritual abuse, and in the case of developing homosexuality, a form of sexual abuse. As proud “gay” boys are welcomed into scouting as gay, authority figures are contributing to the delinquency of minors by ignoring the causes of wayward sexual development, encouraging their disorder, and marking them for an exploitive, fruitless, abnormal, dangerous, and predatory lifestyle.
We submit that BSA leaders know homosexuality is a bad deal in any form. Among other things, they are apparently rationalizing that gay boys need scouting so they can have one good influence in their messed-up lives. It sounds oh so nice but it’s intellectually dishonest and it won’t work. You can’t sink a ship to save a ship. You can’t abandon right principles in order to promote right principles. Institutionally embracing and forcing on others the perverse sexual identity these boys claim is not the way to help them. It will only aid them in their destruction, put other boys in harm’s way, and undermine the entire institution.
As C. S. Lewis warned, all institutions run by human beings end up sooner or later doing the polar opposite of what they were originally intended to do. Bingo for the Boy Scouts of America. So much for pledging to be "morally straight."
It was with a great overlying sadness that we watched Follow Me, Boys the other night. In this sweet movie the characters were nowhere near perfect and caused a lot of trouble for each other, as always happens, but the public conscience had a firm hold on proper living. Excellence and virtue, founded on belief in God, were the unspoken goals for everyone. In the midst of problems and pain, good was known as good and evil was known as evil and all authority figures were dedicated to and acted according to this knowledge. In one generation the values portrayed in this movie (and most all the movies and books our country has produced up to recent times) have been turned completely upside down.
What a sad day this is for boyhood and for the family in general, and for individual boys, parents, and youth leaders in the trenches who have been placed in a very difficult and cruel position. Not only are confused “gay” boys being thrown under the bus, it’s everyone else, too. You see, it’s not the “gays” who are being bullied and marginalized and shamed today. It’s those who wish to stand for the good and the true. What a sad day this is for those institutions formerly founded on and devoted to traditional, God-based values who have bowed to the relentless pressure of contemporary society, compromised their principles, betrayed the trust of their members, and gone the way of this wicked world.
-Janice Graham
P.S. I've heard Hollywood is doing a remake of Follow Me, Boys! with John Travolta. Hmmm. How timely. Brokeback Mountain for kids? Want to make a bet that it portrays the opposite values of the original book/movie, whether explicitly or implicitly? I certainly hope not, but some people just can't leave anything good alone. They have to turn it evil. What a disaster.
Monday, March 4, 2013
Gay Love?
We posted this before but thought it bore repeating because it keeps coming up.
“How can anyone wish to deny a gay person love?” is a common question with a false premise. The fact is, no one is trying to deny anyone love. All are free to love whomever they want to. What God and traditional morality discourage is harmful out-of-bounds sexual lust and behavior.
The truth is, love is all around. And all kinds of love should be nonsexual, except one. In the one case when love does include sexuality, it should always be associated with mating, and therefore marriage. Two people of the same sex cannot mate, and therefore cannot marry in the true sense of the word.
This does not mean two people of the same sex cannot love each other. On the contrary, people of the same sex can share the greatest love and devotion. Fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, brothers, sisters, cousins, friends, compatriots, comrades in arms, teammates, co-workers, peers, teachers and their students. History and literature are filled with such love. (See the 196o film Spartacus for a great example in the scene when Spartacus proves his love for Antoninus.) As Jesus said, there is no greater love than a man laying down his life for a friend, which love he himself exemplified in the highest degree. C. S. Lewis in The Four Loves pointed out that true friendship is the purest, most selfless form of love in part because there is nothing like sexuality involved. (This is why spouses who are also best friends have the best of both worlds.)
Granted, a homosexual relationship between two people could begin with sincere and deep friendship. There is nothing so wonderful as two kindred spirits discovering each other, that they share interests and beliefs along with enjoying each other's company to the exclusion of everybody else. But the moment same-sex love becomes sexualized, it is corrupted and compromised. Whether our culture will honestly admit it or not, homosexuality (which includes sodomy) is wrong and maladaptive and harmful. Anyone championing homosex and/or participating in it knows this in his heart of hearts. And true friends would never willingly bring any sort of harm upon each other.
When the above question (How can anyone wish to deny a gay person love?) is asked by gays or their supporters, the pure love of friendship is not even considered. Where today's gays are concerned, great love must include sex, which is a dangerous idea; it would follow that all truly loving human relationships are essentially sexual. Of course a few wicked people already thought of this and there are some who believe this nonsense today.
But we believe that the average unthinking homosexualist (this includes both those who embrace it personally and those who celebrate it in others) is only a pawn. Such people have been fooled into equating sex and love. As such, the word love is used as a distraction from the real objective. Whether they realize it or not, what the above question really means is, “How can anyone wish to deny a person gay sex?” Simplest answer: Because it's harmful.
If You Grew Up on a Desert Island
by Janice Graham
Most people don't realize that attitudes toward sex and sexuality are taught and learned. I myself didn't realize this until an expert pointed this out, and even then I had to think about it some. We don't realize that the basic premises of human sexuality are learned because the information is so ubiquitous and self-evident that we just absorb it from everyday life. We see underlying evidence of human mating all around us in every aspect of our existence. For example, we grow up knowing our parents had us, their parents had them, their parents had them, etc.
This is how it was explained to me: Think about if you lived on a desert island alone (not even any animals). What would you know about sex and sexuality? You might stumble upon pleasant sexual stimulation somehow but you would never know what it was for. You would never know that these pleasurable feelings could involve another person or love or reproduction. That's right, you wouldn't know how to reproduce because there was nothing to model it, or teach you about it, or even suggest it. Sex and reproduction would never occur to you. Think about it. You wouldn't know anything about sexual attraction at all, hetero or homo! Even if other equally clueless people appeared, the likelihood of stumbling upon how to reproduce would be very small. Remember, Adam and Eve had to have their eyes opened, to be instructed to go and multiply.
I actually did do a good portion of my earliest growing up on a small island. And although I was with my family and went to school and church, I can tell you it was pretty isolated from the rest of the world. It was its own little Earth surrounded by a huge empty cobalt plate of endless sea. My earliest memories are of scratchy sand and salty water and hot sun and heat rash. It was the 1950s and we did have a little black-and-white TV but there were only very few shows, local only, like a kids' show called Captain Coconut. I share this to show that wherever we are in time and space determines what we are exposed to, or what we learn. Whatever I learned in my formative years, I learned it from whatever was on that tiny island.
Most people don't live alone on desert islands; they live surrounded by people and information, especially today with endless modern communication technology. As such, everything each person knows about sex and sexuality has been learned. As young human beings develop sexually they can be taught, and learn, all sorts of notions. These notions may be taught in all sorts of ways. Up until recent years, only heterosexuality had been culturally taught and modeled on this island we call Human Society. Presently, homosexuality, among other alternative sexual orientations, are being taught as well, as equal to heterosexuality or even better than. Not only that, but these unlimited outlets for human sexuality are being taught in an extremely prosperous, self-indulgent, permissive, overstimulated, erotic, oversexed culture. When in the past heterosexuality alone was shown as the norm in countless modest and unspoken ways, now boundless sexuality is not just ubiquitous but increasingly taught to children, legally protected, and societally respected. (Even people who insist they were born that way and irreparably homosexual must admit that there is something terribly wrong with teaching maladaptive sexual manners to innocent little kids.)
The notions our young island native learns and embraces as true will be the ones that will stimulate his romantic or sexual feelings. For example, if he is taught homosexuality, and he internalizes homosexuality, all his growing romantic/sexual thoughts and feelings will be directed toward people of his same sex. Remember, sexual feelings are just sexual feelings. Depending on what they are focused on, they can be right or wrong, good or bad, in keeping with reality or not. It's interesting that Plato, thousands of years ago, recorded that the little savage must be taught what to find worthwhile and valuable and what to find disgusting and worthless.
There may be a lot of other factors involved, too, but the fact remains that whatever we feed grows. So, yes, anybody can be straight, anybody can be gay, anybody can claim any old notions and feelings about sex and sexuality depending on what they were taught and consequently what they believe or what they want. And we should care very much what our society is teaching. It's the vulnerable young people we should all be most concerned about, who are abused in any way, including being taught homosexuality, who surround themselves with homosexuals, who become initiated by predators, who become unwitting pawns, who have been brainwashed into thinking there is no way out, and whose lives are ruined. But of course there is always a way out.
It may not feel like we're choosing our thought patterns but we most certainly are. We can change our minds whenever we want to bad enough. We have to desire it. That is absolutely essential. People who want to change their minds but have trouble often get professional help. Religion often plays a foundational role. People who say they tried reorientation therapy, but it didn't work or was harmful, really didn't want it bad enough, didn't work at it long enough, went to the totally wrong professional, used the wrong methods, kept themselves surrounded by homosexuals and all things homosexual, and/or are mentally or emotionally ill.
Incidentally, in my opinion, group therapy and retreats attended by groups of SSA men who are trying to change is like alcoholics having their AA meetings at a bar with alcohol served up for free. However, it's actually much worse because people don't have to participate in sex with their bodies, as drinkers have to drink, in order to excite addictive pleasurable feelings and physical responses; these can occur just by talking and fantasizing. The gay lifestyle is by nature about casual promiscuous sex. It seems that these programs may further justify and encourage homosexuality, no matter what is advertised or presented, and end up being harmful and counterproductive. Somebody is making a lot of money exploiting misery.
Dear precious souls who have embraced homosexuality: reflect honestly for a moment about the crowded island world of today you grew up in and what you have learned from our clever, permissive, oversexed, deceptive, environment. All sorts of extreme, distorted, and lawless stuff! But there is no cause for despair. If something is learned it can be unlearned and replaced with the truth. That happens to people all the time. It's hard to admit we've been wrong, but if we love God and His truth we'll admit we have sinned, humble ourselves, and do what must be done to correct our most inward secret thoughts and, in the case of sexual sin, redirect our God-given sexual feelings and put them in their proper place.We'll believe Christ is the author of all goodness, including sexual boundaries, and we'll put our faith in his power to redeem us from our sins.
We're sorry that youth are growing up learning wrong, extreme, and harmful notions about their sexuality. How sad it is when they do not find the right kind of help, or when it is outlawed! How sad that they cheaply and perversely sexualize what could be healthy, fulfilling, appropriate relationships with people of their own sex. How sad that they could just as well have grown up protected, surrounded only by proper human sexuality, and taught the right attitudes and the right uses, as in times past.
Sex is a serious aspect of human society. If improper attitudes are taught and learned, someone gets hurt. The acceptance of homosexualism comes with great social costs. Societies throughout the ages have had strict rules regarding human sexuality so that they may survive.
Most people don't realize that attitudes toward sex and sexuality are taught and learned. I myself didn't realize this until an expert pointed this out, and even then I had to think about it some. We don't realize that the basic premises of human sexuality are learned because the information is so ubiquitous and self-evident that we just absorb it from everyday life. We see underlying evidence of human mating all around us in every aspect of our existence. For example, we grow up knowing our parents had us, their parents had them, their parents had them, etc.
This is how it was explained to me: Think about if you lived on a desert island alone (not even any animals). What would you know about sex and sexuality? You might stumble upon pleasant sexual stimulation somehow but you would never know what it was for. You would never know that these pleasurable feelings could involve another person or love or reproduction. That's right, you wouldn't know how to reproduce because there was nothing to model it, or teach you about it, or even suggest it. Sex and reproduction would never occur to you. Think about it. You wouldn't know anything about sexual attraction at all, hetero or homo! Even if other equally clueless people appeared, the likelihood of stumbling upon how to reproduce would be very small. Remember, Adam and Eve had to have their eyes opened, to be instructed to go and multiply.
I actually did do a good portion of my earliest growing up on a small island. And although I was with my family and went to school and church, I can tell you it was pretty isolated from the rest of the world. It was its own little Earth surrounded by a huge empty cobalt plate of endless sea. My earliest memories are of scratchy sand and salty water and hot sun and heat rash. It was the 1950s and we did have a little black-and-white TV but there were only very few shows, local only, like a kids' show called Captain Coconut. I share this to show that wherever we are in time and space determines what we are exposed to, or what we learn. Whatever I learned in my formative years, I learned it from whatever was on that tiny island.
Most people don't live alone on desert islands; they live surrounded by people and information, especially today with endless modern communication technology. As such, everything each person knows about sex and sexuality has been learned. As young human beings develop sexually they can be taught, and learn, all sorts of notions. These notions may be taught in all sorts of ways. Up until recent years, only heterosexuality had been culturally taught and modeled on this island we call Human Society. Presently, homosexuality, among other alternative sexual orientations, are being taught as well, as equal to heterosexuality or even better than. Not only that, but these unlimited outlets for human sexuality are being taught in an extremely prosperous, self-indulgent, permissive, overstimulated, erotic, oversexed culture. When in the past heterosexuality alone was shown as the norm in countless modest and unspoken ways, now boundless sexuality is not just ubiquitous but increasingly taught to children, legally protected, and societally respected. (Even people who insist they were born that way and irreparably homosexual must admit that there is something terribly wrong with teaching maladaptive sexual manners to innocent little kids.)
The notions our young island native learns and embraces as true will be the ones that will stimulate his romantic or sexual feelings. For example, if he is taught homosexuality, and he internalizes homosexuality, all his growing romantic/sexual thoughts and feelings will be directed toward people of his same sex. Remember, sexual feelings are just sexual feelings. Depending on what they are focused on, they can be right or wrong, good or bad, in keeping with reality or not. It's interesting that Plato, thousands of years ago, recorded that the little savage must be taught what to find worthwhile and valuable and what to find disgusting and worthless.
There may be a lot of other factors involved, too, but the fact remains that whatever we feed grows. So, yes, anybody can be straight, anybody can be gay, anybody can claim any old notions and feelings about sex and sexuality depending on what they were taught and consequently what they believe or what they want. And we should care very much what our society is teaching. It's the vulnerable young people we should all be most concerned about, who are abused in any way, including being taught homosexuality, who surround themselves with homosexuals, who become initiated by predators, who become unwitting pawns, who have been brainwashed into thinking there is no way out, and whose lives are ruined. But of course there is always a way out.
It may not feel like we're choosing our thought patterns but we most certainly are. We can change our minds whenever we want to bad enough. We have to desire it. That is absolutely essential. People who want to change their minds but have trouble often get professional help. Religion often plays a foundational role. People who say they tried reorientation therapy, but it didn't work or was harmful, really didn't want it bad enough, didn't work at it long enough, went to the totally wrong professional, used the wrong methods, kept themselves surrounded by homosexuals and all things homosexual, and/or are mentally or emotionally ill.
Incidentally, in my opinion, group therapy and retreats attended by groups of SSA men who are trying to change is like alcoholics having their AA meetings at a bar with alcohol served up for free. However, it's actually much worse because people don't have to participate in sex with their bodies, as drinkers have to drink, in order to excite addictive pleasurable feelings and physical responses; these can occur just by talking and fantasizing. The gay lifestyle is by nature about casual promiscuous sex. It seems that these programs may further justify and encourage homosexuality, no matter what is advertised or presented, and end up being harmful and counterproductive. Somebody is making a lot of money exploiting misery.
Dear precious souls who have embraced homosexuality: reflect honestly for a moment about the crowded island world of today you grew up in and what you have learned from our clever, permissive, oversexed, deceptive, environment. All sorts of extreme, distorted, and lawless stuff! But there is no cause for despair. If something is learned it can be unlearned and replaced with the truth. That happens to people all the time. It's hard to admit we've been wrong, but if we love God and His truth we'll admit we have sinned, humble ourselves, and do what must be done to correct our most inward secret thoughts and, in the case of sexual sin, redirect our God-given sexual feelings and put them in their proper place.We'll believe Christ is the author of all goodness, including sexual boundaries, and we'll put our faith in his power to redeem us from our sins.
We're sorry that youth are growing up learning wrong, extreme, and harmful notions about their sexuality. How sad it is when they do not find the right kind of help, or when it is outlawed! How sad that they cheaply and perversely sexualize what could be healthy, fulfilling, appropriate relationships with people of their own sex. How sad that they could just as well have grown up protected, surrounded only by proper human sexuality, and taught the right attitudes and the right uses, as in times past.
Sex is a serious aspect of human society. If improper attitudes are taught and learned, someone gets hurt. The acceptance of homosexualism comes with great social costs. Societies throughout the ages have had strict rules regarding human sexuality so that they may survive.
Saturday, March 2, 2013
Dear Kyle
Dear Kyle,
Thank you for reading our blog. We appreciate your lengthy response and totally understand your point of view. We believe that, growing up in this Godless, sexually-permissive society, you may not be having a fair test (as Hugh Nibley's said). Even so, here are some pointers.
We did not make up our point of view. It is God's.
The scriptures clearly outline God's rules.
God's rules can be very hard to follow.
We all choose whether to love and obey God or something else.
Sin is pleasurable . . . for a time.
Everything a person knows about sex and sexuality is taught and learned.
Young people today are bombarded with wrong ideas about sex and sexuality.
Young people today are internalizing very wrong notions.
Sexual feelings are just feelings and can go in all sorts of bad directions.
It may not feel like we choose bad thought patterns but we do.
Young people today are being taught to sexualize a natural fondness for, or envy of, those of the same sex.
All mentally healthy people can change their minds and feelings if they want to.
If it's difficult they can get professional help if they want to.
Homosexuality is maladaptive. It harms people.
Sex and love are privileges, not rights.
Good people get married primarily to make a family, not for "overwhelming," "invigorating," and "fulfilling" sexual intimacy.
The best marriages are based on selflessness, humility, and forgiveness (i.e. Christ). Not sex.
Good married people keep all their sexual feelings directed to their spouse alone; they don't think of themselves as "opposite-sex attracted" in the sense you seem to indicate. There seems to be no such limit to same-sex attraction.
Gayness exhibits unrealistic romantic expectations and unhealthy preoccupation with sex and sexuality.
Kyle, having given you this knowledge, of course we still have no way of knowing how much damage has been done and whether or not you are having a fair test. Only God can judge. But we're offering you something to think about if you desire.
All best wishes and Lord bless.
Thank you for reading our blog. We appreciate your lengthy response and totally understand your point of view. We believe that, growing up in this Godless, sexually-permissive society, you may not be having a fair test (as Hugh Nibley's said). Even so, here are some pointers.
We did not make up our point of view. It is God's.
The scriptures clearly outline God's rules.
God's rules can be very hard to follow.
We all choose whether to love and obey God or something else.
Sin is pleasurable . . . for a time.
Everything a person knows about sex and sexuality is taught and learned.
Young people today are bombarded with wrong ideas about sex and sexuality.
Young people today are internalizing very wrong notions.
Sexual feelings are just feelings and can go in all sorts of bad directions.
It may not feel like we choose bad thought patterns but we do.
Young people today are being taught to sexualize a natural fondness for, or envy of, those of the same sex.
All mentally healthy people can change their minds and feelings if they want to.
If it's difficult they can get professional help if they want to.
Homosexuality is maladaptive. It harms people.
Sex and love are privileges, not rights.
Good people get married primarily to make a family, not for "overwhelming," "invigorating," and "fulfilling" sexual intimacy.
The best marriages are based on selflessness, humility, and forgiveness (i.e. Christ). Not sex.
Good married people keep all their sexual feelings directed to their spouse alone; they don't think of themselves as "opposite-sex attracted" in the sense you seem to indicate. There seems to be no such limit to same-sex attraction.
Gayness exhibits unrealistic romantic expectations and unhealthy preoccupation with sex and sexuality.
Kyle, having given you this knowledge, of course we still have no way of knowing how much damage has been done and whether or not you are having a fair test. Only God can judge. But we're offering you something to think about if you desire.
All best wishes and Lord bless.
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Love and Law
People like to say that Jesus was all about love. This is true, but not in the sense people usually mean it. Jesus was not all about just being neighborly and loyal to one another. He wasn't about heedless, selfish love, about winking at all sorts of wickedness in order to maintain the status quo and be popular and avoid offending anybody. No, he was about pure charity, selfless love, about doing the right thing and saying the right thing and wanting the right thing for everybody, come what may. Perhaps the closest modern vernacular is "tough love," the kind that points us to goodness, health, holiness, and heaven.
The gospel is full of hard doctrines that are somehow being conveniently swept under the rug as the cunning, wicked world around us gains our approval and warps our understanding. The pure love of Christ is founded on truth and righteousness, and not just keeping the commandments outwardly but inwardly as well. How important is this thing called law, or in other words right and wrong, righteousness, justice, reality, God's rules?
2 Nephi 2:13 "And if ye shall say there is no law, ye shall also say there is no sin. If ye shall say there is no sin, ye shall also say there is no righteousness. And if there be no righteousness there be no happiness. And if there be no righteousness or happiness there be no punishment nor misery. And if these things are not there is no God. And if there is no God we are not, neither the earth; for there could have been no creation of things, neither to act nor to be acted upon; wherefore all things must have vanished away."
Apparently law is all important! But we are now afraid to stand for goodness and condemn sin, because that shows we aren't loving, right? Wrong. First, while we never condemn people (only God can do that), we are obligated to condemn bad opinions, false ideas, and all manner of wickedness, generally, in ourselves, and in those we have stewardship over. It is possible to love the sinner and condemn the sin because the person and the sin are two different entities. (Don't we continue to love ourselves even though we fall short?) People who are defending sin have embraced the ridiculous notion of combining the person and the sin together. That way, everybody gets hoodwinked into thinking we have to accept the sin or we are aren't loving the sinner and aren't being like Jesus. Again, Jesus condemns sin and calls us to repentance in no uncertain terms. Because he truly loves us.
The wicked don't like the truth about sin. The truth cuts them to the heart and they get angry and defensive and twist things around. They like their sins and don't want to give them up. It's only the meek and repentant who aren't arrogant or angry when their sins are pointed out. Only the meek and repentant are grateful for the truth and for the Savior so they can change and become clean.
Second, if we do not respect law by condemning sin---get ready for it--- we are denying reality, denying Christ, and helping the sinner to hell. And that doesn't sound like love in any sense.
Some say, well, how can we help people if we condemn their sin? Then we're turning them away. Not so. This turning away is up to them. People have to desire goodness. They have to be seeking it. No amount of coddling or friendshipping alone can change a person's desires. But truth can. The truth is more powerful than anything else. So as we go about being patient and kind, if we really love people we have to also testify of reality, of sin, of Christ, whenever it feels appropriate. We have to love people enough to offer them the whole truth even if they reject it and reject us and choose another path.
There is only love where there is law.
The gospel is full of hard doctrines that are somehow being conveniently swept under the rug as the cunning, wicked world around us gains our approval and warps our understanding. The pure love of Christ is founded on truth and righteousness, and not just keeping the commandments outwardly but inwardly as well. How important is this thing called law, or in other words right and wrong, righteousness, justice, reality, God's rules?
2 Nephi 2:13 "And if ye shall say there is no law, ye shall also say there is no sin. If ye shall say there is no sin, ye shall also say there is no righteousness. And if there be no righteousness there be no happiness. And if there be no righteousness or happiness there be no punishment nor misery. And if these things are not there is no God. And if there is no God we are not, neither the earth; for there could have been no creation of things, neither to act nor to be acted upon; wherefore all things must have vanished away."
Apparently law is all important! But we are now afraid to stand for goodness and condemn sin, because that shows we aren't loving, right? Wrong. First, while we never condemn people (only God can do that), we are obligated to condemn bad opinions, false ideas, and all manner of wickedness, generally, in ourselves, and in those we have stewardship over. It is possible to love the sinner and condemn the sin because the person and the sin are two different entities. (Don't we continue to love ourselves even though we fall short?) People who are defending sin have embraced the ridiculous notion of combining the person and the sin together. That way, everybody gets hoodwinked into thinking we have to accept the sin or we are aren't loving the sinner and aren't being like Jesus. Again, Jesus condemns sin and calls us to repentance in no uncertain terms. Because he truly loves us.
The wicked don't like the truth about sin. The truth cuts them to the heart and they get angry and defensive and twist things around. They like their sins and don't want to give them up. It's only the meek and repentant who aren't arrogant or angry when their sins are pointed out. Only the meek and repentant are grateful for the truth and for the Savior so they can change and become clean.
Second, if we do not respect law by condemning sin---get ready for it--- we are denying reality, denying Christ, and helping the sinner to hell. And that doesn't sound like love in any sense.
Some say, well, how can we help people if we condemn their sin? Then we're turning them away. Not so. This turning away is up to them. People have to desire goodness. They have to be seeking it. No amount of coddling or friendshipping alone can change a person's desires. But truth can. The truth is more powerful than anything else. So as we go about being patient and kind, if we really love people we have to also testify of reality, of sin, of Christ, whenever it feels appropriate. We have to love people enough to offer them the whole truth even if they reject it and reject us and choose another path.
There is only love where there is law.
Sunday, February 17, 2013
Post Script to "Bye-Bye Boy Scouts"
Our article about the BSA's consideration of letting gays into their organization needs an addendum. All the hype is distorted to make the public think it's about inclusiveness of individuals, but it's not really about that at all. Homosexuals, or those with homosexual tendencies, have always been allowed in the Boy Scouts. No one was asked and no one told if they had those proclivities. It was an unspoken don't ask, don't tell thing. It was a secret sin. But of course they were and are there. Recently the BSA released more than 1,200 files detailing decades of homosexual sexual abuse of minors within their ranks. The LA Times reports a database of more than 5,000 such cases over the years.
Times have changed. Through cunning propaganda the public has changed its opinion of homosexuals from perverts to victims to heroes. An unspeakable vice has become a glorified virtue. Sex activism is aimed at youth. Children and teenagers are being indoctrinated and recruited into gayness. What the BSA is now deciding is not about whether or not to include homosexuals; that's a given. It's about whether or not to jump on the bandwagon and publicly welcome homosexuals, or in other words, whether or not to institutionalize homosexuality within its leadership and ranks. They are deciding whether or not to officially and publicly embrace this vice as a wholesome identity. They are deciding whether or not to publicly approve male-on-male sexuality in principle, in word, and in deed. And of course the BSA has to know that "gay" includes all manner of sexuality, the whole LGBTQ alphabet soup. Surely they must know that homosexual activists purposely target institutions founded on traditional values in order to remake them in their own image.
The fact that the BSA is even considering such a thing shows a highly ironic and blatant disregard for the safety, proper development, and well-being of boys. The possible consequences of all of this are bizarre and unimaginable. You don't have to be a prophet or researcher to foresee that not only will true masculinity become compromised and distorted as per political correctness of the worst kind, but the homosexual initiations and abuses will continue and increase, carried on in secret by greatly emboldened and entitled proud gays of all ages. Whatever is encouraged increases. Soon they won't even be secret about it anymore.
Times have changed. Through cunning propaganda the public has changed its opinion of homosexuals from perverts to victims to heroes. An unspeakable vice has become a glorified virtue. Sex activism is aimed at youth. Children and teenagers are being indoctrinated and recruited into gayness. What the BSA is now deciding is not about whether or not to include homosexuals; that's a given. It's about whether or not to jump on the bandwagon and publicly welcome homosexuals, or in other words, whether or not to institutionalize homosexuality within its leadership and ranks. They are deciding whether or not to officially and publicly embrace this vice as a wholesome identity. They are deciding whether or not to publicly approve male-on-male sexuality in principle, in word, and in deed. And of course the BSA has to know that "gay" includes all manner of sexuality, the whole LGBTQ alphabet soup. Surely they must know that homosexual activists purposely target institutions founded on traditional values in order to remake them in their own image.
The fact that the BSA is even considering such a thing shows a highly ironic and blatant disregard for the safety, proper development, and well-being of boys. The possible consequences of all of this are bizarre and unimaginable. You don't have to be a prophet or researcher to foresee that not only will true masculinity become compromised and distorted as per political correctness of the worst kind, but the homosexual initiations and abuses will continue and increase, carried on in secret by greatly emboldened and entitled proud gays of all ages. Whatever is encouraged increases. Soon they won't even be secret about it anymore.
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Wicked Thoughts Defile a Man
I know you're really strict about the homosexual-temptations-being-sinful-thing, but . . .
The above communication came to us recently, and we would like to point out that it is the Lord who is strict about these things because he cares about the welfare of our souls. Of course there is such a thing as a dirty mind! If homosexual behaviors are wrong, so are the temptations (feelings, desires, fantasies, thought patterns) toward those behaviors. If we believe homosexual behaviors to be sinful, how can we honestly say that to think about them is not sinful? That would mean that homosexual temptations are pure and holy, which is what unrepentant gays actually believe. You see, we are dealing with wickedness here.
But there is more. Gays are claiming their dirty mindedness as an identity, publicizing and celebrating it and demanding that all of us embrace this nonsense. This is the same as people proudly claiming, publicizing, and celebrating their adulterous temptations or their incestuous temptations or their temptations toward pedophilia as "who they are" and demanding special treatment and everybody's utmost respect. But then that is probably coming.
The questions arises, why are supposedly religious people so defensive about having to repent of wrong, bad thoughts? We should all be doing this all the time. If we care about the immortal souls of men, whether or not temptations toward wickedness are acted upon with the physical body is not the point. In fact, as C. S. Lewis put it, sins of the flesh are mere fleabites in comparison to sins of the heart. We must continually cleanse the inner vessel--by way of repentance through Christ--if we are to be fit for the presence of God.
On the subject of whether or not thoughts, feelings, desires, temptations, intents, minds, hearts, appetites, passions, etc. are of great importance and can be wicked and sinful and need repenting of, there are countless scriptures, many of them commonly well-known. We'll let the Lord speak for himself:
Genesis 6:5 "And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually."
1 Samuel 16:7 " . . . for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart."
Proverbs 15:26 "The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the Lord "
Jeremiah 4:14 "O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?"
Isaiah 55:7 "Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts"
Isaiah 57:7 "their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity"
Mathew 5:27-8 (3 Nephi 12:28) "Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart."
D&C 63:16 "And verily I say unto you, as I have said before, he that looketh on a woman to lust after her, or if any shall commit adultery in their hearts, they shall not have the Spirit, but shall deny the faith and shall fear."
Matthew 15:19-20 "For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts . . . these are the things which defile a man"
Matthew 23:27 "Woe unto you . . for ye are like unto the whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity."
Luke 12: 34 "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."
Acts 8:22 "Repent therefore of this wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thoughts of thine heart may be forgiven thee."
Romans 1: 24-32 "Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts . . . unto vile affections . . . women . . . and men burned in their lust toward [one] another . . . "
2 Corinthians 10:5 Paul exorts us to: "[Cast] down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and [bring] into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ"
Hebrews 4:12 "For the word of God is quick and powerful . . . a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."
Peter 4:8 "purify your hearts ye double-minded"
2 Peter 2:9 "The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations"
1 Nephi 12:17-19 "And the mists of darkness are the temptations of the devil, which blindeth the eyes, and hardeneth the hearts of the children of men, and leadeth them away into broad roads, that they perish and are lost."
2 Nephi 4:17-18 "Yea, my heart sorroweth because of my flesh; my soul grieveth because of mine iniquities. I am encompassed about, because of the temptations and the sins which do so easily beset me."
2 Nephi 4:27 "And why should I give way to temptations, that the evil one have place in my heart to destroy my peace and afflict my soul?"
2 Nephi 9:39 "Remember, to be carnally-minded is death . . ."
3 Nephi 6:17 "And thus Satan did lead away the hearts of the people . . . to be carried about by the temptations of the devil"
3 Nephi 12:28-30 "whosover looketh upon a woman, to lust after her, hath committed adultery already in his heart . . . I give unto a commandment that ye suffer none of these things to enter into your heart; for it's better that you should deny yourselves of these things, wherein ye take up your cross, than that ye should be casts into hell."
Mosiah 3:2 "Oh have mercy, and apply the atoning blood of Christ that we may receive forgiveness of our sins, and our hearts may be purified."
Mosiah 4:30 "If ye do not watch yourselves, and your thoughts . . . even unto the end of your lives, ye must perish."
Alma 12: 13-14 "Then if our hearts have been hardened. . . against the word . . then will our state be awful, for then we shall be condemned . . . and our thoughts will also condemn us; and in this awful state we shall not dare to look up to our God."
Moroni 7:48 "Wherefore . . . pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart . . . that we may purified even as he is pure."
D&C 6: 36 "Look unto to me in every thought"
D&C 38:8 "and he that is not purified shall not abide the day"
D&C 95:1 "I prepare a way for their deliverance in all things out of temptation"
D&C 121:45 "let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly"
And on and on and on.
And as for the tired argument that even Jesus was tempted, thus, being tempted is not bad, we again point out that Satan did the tempting and Jesus, a perfect being, gave no heed to the temptations. Nowhere in the scriptures does Jesus entertain those temptations. In fact, Jesus summarily dismissed Satan. In open, proud, self-identified gays, we are talking about weak, rebellious human beings who indeed give great heed to their temptations, even to the point of making them public, giving them root, as the scriptures say (Luke 8:13), and actually identifying themselves by same-sex attraction, what scripture calls "vile affections." Can you imagine Jesus identifying himself by Satan's temptations for any length of time as "who he was?" Appetite-attracted or power-attracted or glory-attracted? How far we have strayed from trying to be like Jesus!
It is incredible to us that many people, especially leaders and parents, who excuse and/or celebrate a young person's desire for homosexuality, do not care that the self-determined gay person's heart and mind is filled with very mixed up and evil stuff, the likes of which cause souls to perish spiritually if not physically.
People who doubt that the embrace of temptations toward sinful behaviors is an unholy, impure, sinful, and harmful practice (that most assuredly lead to physical acts) must take it up with the Lord, not us.
"Do not say that I have spoken hard things against you; for if ye do, ye will revile against truth; for I have spoken the words of your Maker. I know that the words of truth are hard against all uncleanness; but the righteous fear them not, for they love the truth and are not shaken. "
2 Nephi 9:40
The above communication came to us recently, and we would like to point out that it is the Lord who is strict about these things because he cares about the welfare of our souls. Of course there is such a thing as a dirty mind! If homosexual behaviors are wrong, so are the temptations (feelings, desires, fantasies, thought patterns) toward those behaviors. If we believe homosexual behaviors to be sinful, how can we honestly say that to think about them is not sinful? That would mean that homosexual temptations are pure and holy, which is what unrepentant gays actually believe. You see, we are dealing with wickedness here.
But there is more. Gays are claiming their dirty mindedness as an identity, publicizing and celebrating it and demanding that all of us embrace this nonsense. This is the same as people proudly claiming, publicizing, and celebrating their adulterous temptations or their incestuous temptations or their temptations toward pedophilia as "who they are" and demanding special treatment and everybody's utmost respect. But then that is probably coming.
The questions arises, why are supposedly religious people so defensive about having to repent of wrong, bad thoughts? We should all be doing this all the time. If we care about the immortal souls of men, whether or not temptations toward wickedness are acted upon with the physical body is not the point. In fact, as C. S. Lewis put it, sins of the flesh are mere fleabites in comparison to sins of the heart. We must continually cleanse the inner vessel--by way of repentance through Christ--if we are to be fit for the presence of God.
On the subject of whether or not thoughts, feelings, desires, temptations, intents, minds, hearts, appetites, passions, etc. are of great importance and can be wicked and sinful and need repenting of, there are countless scriptures, many of them commonly well-known. We'll let the Lord speak for himself:
Genesis 6:5 "And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually."
1 Samuel 16:7 " . . . for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart."
Proverbs 15:26 "The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the Lord "
Jeremiah 4:14 "O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?"
Isaiah 55:7 "Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts"
Isaiah 57:7 "their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity"
Mathew 5:27-8 (3 Nephi 12:28) "Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart."
D&C 63:16 "And verily I say unto you, as I have said before, he that looketh on a woman to lust after her, or if any shall commit adultery in their hearts, they shall not have the Spirit, but shall deny the faith and shall fear."
Matthew 15:19-20 "For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts . . . these are the things which defile a man"
Matthew 23:27 "Woe unto you . . for ye are like unto the whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity."
Luke 12: 34 "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."
Acts 8:22 "Repent therefore of this wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thoughts of thine heart may be forgiven thee."
Romans 1: 24-32 "Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts . . . unto vile affections . . . women . . . and men burned in their lust toward [one] another . . . "
2 Corinthians 10:5 Paul exorts us to: "[Cast] down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and [bring] into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ"
Hebrews 4:12 "For the word of God is quick and powerful . . . a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."
Peter 4:8 "purify your hearts ye double-minded"
2 Peter 2:9 "The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations"
1 Nephi 12:17-19 "And the mists of darkness are the temptations of the devil, which blindeth the eyes, and hardeneth the hearts of the children of men, and leadeth them away into broad roads, that they perish and are lost."
2 Nephi 4:17-18 "Yea, my heart sorroweth because of my flesh; my soul grieveth because of mine iniquities. I am encompassed about, because of the temptations and the sins which do so easily beset me."
2 Nephi 4:27 "And why should I give way to temptations, that the evil one have place in my heart to destroy my peace and afflict my soul?"
2 Nephi 9:39 "Remember, to be carnally-minded is death . . ."
3 Nephi 6:17 "And thus Satan did lead away the hearts of the people . . . to be carried about by the temptations of the devil"
3 Nephi 12:28-30 "whosover looketh upon a woman, to lust after her, hath committed adultery already in his heart . . . I give unto a commandment that ye suffer none of these things to enter into your heart; for it's better that you should deny yourselves of these things, wherein ye take up your cross, than that ye should be casts into hell."
Mosiah 3:2 "Oh have mercy, and apply the atoning blood of Christ that we may receive forgiveness of our sins, and our hearts may be purified."
Mosiah 4:30 "If ye do not watch yourselves, and your thoughts . . . even unto the end of your lives, ye must perish."
Alma 12: 13-14 "Then if our hearts have been hardened. . . against the word . . then will our state be awful, for then we shall be condemned . . . and our thoughts will also condemn us; and in this awful state we shall not dare to look up to our God."
Moroni 7:48 "Wherefore . . . pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart . . . that we may purified even as he is pure."
D&C 6: 36 "Look unto to me in every thought"
D&C 38:8 "and he that is not purified shall not abide the day"
D&C 95:1 "I prepare a way for their deliverance in all things out of temptation"
D&C 121:45 "let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly"
And on and on and on.
And as for the tired argument that even Jesus was tempted, thus, being tempted is not bad, we again point out that Satan did the tempting and Jesus, a perfect being, gave no heed to the temptations. Nowhere in the scriptures does Jesus entertain those temptations. In fact, Jesus summarily dismissed Satan. In open, proud, self-identified gays, we are talking about weak, rebellious human beings who indeed give great heed to their temptations, even to the point of making them public, giving them root, as the scriptures say (Luke 8:13), and actually identifying themselves by same-sex attraction, what scripture calls "vile affections." Can you imagine Jesus identifying himself by Satan's temptations for any length of time as "who he was?" Appetite-attracted or power-attracted or glory-attracted? How far we have strayed from trying to be like Jesus!
It is incredible to us that many people, especially leaders and parents, who excuse and/or celebrate a young person's desire for homosexuality, do not care that the self-determined gay person's heart and mind is filled with very mixed up and evil stuff, the likes of which cause souls to perish spiritually if not physically.
People who doubt that the embrace of temptations toward sinful behaviors is an unholy, impure, sinful, and harmful practice (that most assuredly lead to physical acts) must take it up with the Lord, not us.
"Do not say that I have spoken hard things against you; for if ye do, ye will revile against truth; for I have spoken the words of your Maker. I know that the words of truth are hard against all uncleanness; but the righteous fear them not, for they love the truth and are not shaken. "
2 Nephi 9:40
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