Hi Mary
I know you said you wouldn’t read
anything more in this thread – but you must understand that we don’t hate
gays. As Christians we are commanded to love everyone. What we are
supposed to do, however, is to hate the sin, not the sinner.
I would implore you to follow this
link which will put it into perspective.
I do understand, of course, that you aren’t a Christian,
so you may not understand our feelings. What we object to is that Cameron
is proposing to change the law for the sake of just 5% of the population.
And yes, it will affect us very much. Despite his protestations to the
contrary, our churches will be compelled by the European Court of Human rights
to solemnise same sex marriage. For my particular church it will mean
having to close our temples where we have been sealing husbands and wives
together for time and eternity, as we believe that marriage between a man and
woman should endure beyond the grave.
To us, it is vitally important to
preserve this. What right has Cameron to deny this to us?
Also, it will diminish marriage in
the Biblical context as it is between a man and a woman.
Regards
Michael
Mary
Thank you for your reply. It
would appear that you haven’t followed the link I gave you which would have
saved you from writing so much about our perceived beliefs.
Our church would not have to close per se; we just wouldn't solemnise
any marriages at all in our chapels, but our two temples in the UK would as European law would
eventually require us to open them to people unable to adhere to the Christian
law of chastity, which is that there should be no sexual intercourse except
between a husband and a wife. The temple
is a place for members of the Church who have demonstrated themselves ready to
make certain covenants with God, which is known as the Endowment, and for
spouses to be sealed for time and eternity. I didn’t explain before as you aren’t a
Christian and I wouldn’t have expected you to have to read a long explanation
about what we believe.
Suffice to say that temples are where worthy members receive ordinances
for our exaltation in the celestial kingdom, and the Lord has said that they
are defiled if unworthy people are allowed to enter.
Please read the link I provided as it will explain our attitude to
homosexuals. In a nutshell, we love all God’s
children, which is why we encourage them to obey the commandments so they can
eventually return to His presence. I
explained the Christian law of Chastity above and homosexuals are just as bound
to keep it as heterosexuals, so they are welcome as long as they refrain from
sex outside marriage (ie the union of a man and woman).
We are only obeying God. What Cameron
is doing is that through ignorance he is compelling Christians to relinquish
their beliefs for just 5% of the population – and that is what we resent. Homosexuals already have civil partnerships;
they don’t need anything else. The Blair
government discriminated against Christians and Cameron is continuing to do so,
but in an even worse way – and this is why Andrew Ross has resigned and nearly
did so. As I said before, virtually all
my friends have now refused to vote Conservative and are beginning to support
UKIP.
The Conservative party is run by its grassroots supporters, of whom the
vast majority are people like myself, admittedly somewhat long in the tooth,
but we are the backbone of the party and resent being side-lined for the sake
of “modernisation.” Our values always
used to be espoused by the Party but no longer.
I repeat: we do NOT hate gays. We
believe in live and let live, but we are now being discriminated against for
the sake of just 5% of the population. I
hope you understand.
Michael
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