There is going to be a Proposition 8 protest tomorrow night outside of our temple in Manhattan, against our church. It's all over the internet. ALL over the internet. Facebook, Craigs List, Perez Hilton (I'm never reading his site again- I'm so over his intolerance & bigotry towards the church), miscellaneous websites calling for people to travel to Lincoln Center with signs & tshirts. It just makes me sick. I have no idea how many people will show up. It could be thousands. Mike was planning on going to the temple tomorrow night, to worship. He wants to go. But will he be safe? Will he get egged? Even if there are risks of verbal or even physical abuse, should he still go? We've never had to worry about something like this before. Luckily, the temple in New York has these really great double walls (with a cushion of a few inches in between) that are totally soundproof. It's amazing.
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This just makes me really sad. Really, really sad. Members all over the country are getting persecuted for voting with their conscience (& again- read my post on what percentage of the vote was actually members of our faith). The church has been singled out so viciously, & all in the name of tolerance & love. I will stand up for what I believe in, & I'll defend my church & my faith as often as I need to, but as Mike pointed out to me a few minutes ago, the church is apparently just the most politically acceptable target. In the eyes of those who are protesting, Jews, Blacks, Evangelicals or Catholics apparently had nothing to do with the vote. Can you imagine the backlash if the vote (in three states! three!) was blamed on Blacks? Or Jews?! It's frustrating, & if I were to step back with an unbiased view I would say that the treatment of the LDS church the past couple of weeks has been really disgusting.
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Sad.
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I read this talk this morning on the train. It calmed me down a bit, & gave me comfort- even with the realization that things will likely only get worse.
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To my inquiring sister and all who seek to know how we should respond to our accusers, I reply, we love them. Whatever their race, creed, religion, or political persuasion, if we follow Christ and show forth His courage, we must love them. We do not feel we are better than they are. Rather, we desire with our love to show them a better way—the way of Jesus Christ. His way leads to the gate of baptism, the strait and narrow path of righteous living, and the temple of God. He is “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). Only through Him can we and all our brothers and sisters inherit the greatest gift we can receive—eternal life and eternal happiness. To help them, to be an example for them, is not for the weak. It is for the strong. It is for you and me, Latter-day Saints who pay the price of discipleship by answering our accusers with Christian courage.
Elder Robert D. Hales
9 comments:
There is a protest planned for our temple as well, and the way I found out about it was on my friends facebook account because he's going to be there. It's a crazy time isnt it. Hmm.
Wow I just shared that talk as a lesson this morning for visiting teaching and we all discussed it in relation to all that is going on as a result of Prop 8. I was thinking of blogging about it as well. Really hits the mark. Also helped me to remember this is for sure not the first time the church or it's members have received severe persecution. Nothing will stop the Lord's work from going forward. And nothing should stop us from being examples of Christ. I would be curious to hear what happens if Mike does go to the temple during it.
So sad. I really don't like hate.
I agree with what Mike said too.
So sad. I am a little sick about that.
I especially liked the comments from the Catholic Bishop's article:
"We need to recall that marriage mirrors God's relationship with us-and that marriage completes, enriches and perpetuates humanity. When men and women consummate their marriage they offer themselves to God as co-creators of a new human being. Any other pairing-while possibly offering security and companionship to the individuals involved—is not marriage. We must support traditional marriage as the source of our civilization, the foundation for a society that can be home to all human beings, and the reflection of our relationship with God."
and
"We need to remember that we are all children of God possessed of human dignity and that each of us is created in God's image. Protecting the traditional understanding of marriage should not in any way disparage our brothers and sisters—even if they disagree with us."
Things seem to get twisted in all different directions with this issue, right is wrong and wrong is right.
I like the quote you posted from Elder Hales talk, so so wonderful. It's the perfect and kind response I was looking for.
Such reassuring words. Nothing soothes more than the Spirit. Thanks for the post. And please be safe.
No way! Really?! Wow. I am definitely watching the news tomorrow ...
hopefully it won't get as bad there as it is here... so far the count of vandalized LDS church buildings stand at seven. Thousands of dollars in damage. These people want "tolerance and love" so they are showing it by desecrating our sacred places.
And what are the odds... I first heard of a Temple Square protest from Facebook too! From a person I didn't even know had just came out of the closet... this world is crazy.
Bret's cousin, living in the upper west side. Hi, nice to meet your blog.
The good news is that it is a registered protest so there will be police there to monitor things. As of last night 600 people have signed up, which doesn't seem like a lot until you think about all the construction on that block, and the amount of traffic that isn't going to yield to protesters. I'm gonna wait for the news to tell me how it goes, but I didn't have plans to go down to Lincoln center tonight.
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