Church Responds to HRC Petition
And if you don't want to read the whole statement, here are a few of my favorite parts:
"This past week we have all witnessed tragic deaths across the country as a result of bullying or intimidation of gay young men. We join our voice with others in unreserved condemnation of acts of cruelty or attempts to belittle or mock any group or individual that is different – whether those differences arise from race, religion, mental challenges, social status, sexual orientation or for any other reason. Such actions simply have no place in our society."
"As a church, our doctrinal position is clear: any sexual activity outside of marriage is wrong, and we define marriage as between a man and a woman. However, that should never, ever be used as justification for unkindness. Jesus Christ, whom we follow, was clear in His condemnation of sexual immorality, but never cruel. His interest was always to lift the individual, never to tear down."
"The Church’s doctrine is based on love. We believe that our purpose in life is to learn, grow and develop, and that God’s unreserved love enables each of us to reach our potential. None of us is limited by our feelings or inclinations. Ultimately, we are free to act for ourselves."
"God’s universal fatherhood and love charges each of us with an innate and reverent acknowledgement of our shared human dignity. We are to love one another. We are to treat each other with respect as brothers and sisters and fellow children of God, no matter how much we may differ from one another. "
7 comments:
I did not know about the "hubbub" but thank you for sharing the statement released by the church. The title you chose, "Clarity and Peace", sums up what I feel when reading it.
I had only just heard about this yesterday, and I don't know what the petition was about. Do you?
Thanks for sharing the Church's response. I guess I must live in a bubble world of my own making, because when Packer gave that talk I had no idea it would be so inflammatory, and re-reading it again I had a hard time finding the spots that people would object to.
Also, in the Church's response they referred to acts of bullying and worse, was that coming from inside the church as well? I mean, it's horrible for anyone to do... I hadn't heard about any violence though, and I just wondered.
I'd been following this story and saw Church's response in the Newsroom shortly after it was posted. I was so happy to read this well-articulated response myself as well.
Amy- no, the acts of bullying were totally separate, and did not have anything to do with the Church. But, the timing of the incidents was such that the Church, and Pres. Packer's talk was brought up in reference to them from certain groups. What I know about the petition is only that it was calling for an apology from the Church for Pres. Packer's talk. Kind of crazy, in my opinion, since they support Human Rights. One of the fundamental human rights in our nation is freedom of speech.
Ah, thanks for clearing that up, Charity. Like I said, violence and bullying are never acceptable forms of expression, it would be alarming to think members of the church had perpetrated some as a response to Packer's talk (which is what I was afraid of, not having all the facts)
Do you ever read c jane's blog? She wrote about this topic some, and I've been thinking about what she wrote all day today.
Charity, you'd think I was one of those heathen's inside the church. I didn't post my feelings anywhere on the net or Facebook or any of that ridiculousness but I must say, I was glad that Pres. Packer's talk was slightly revised from the spoken one given in GC. I felt like the talk as originally given was saying something slightly different than what the Church has been saying about homosexuality these past couple of years.
And I really like the statement given by the Church to the HRC but I think the statement was also slightly different than Pres. Packer's given talk.
Awesome response by the church! Thanks for sharing!
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