My letter on SigningForSomething.org: Repect the faith while protecting others from it
Sign for Something is a diverse group of members and friends of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) united in their desire to speak their conscience on the matter of civil marriage. We each have our own views on this issue, but we stand united in the belief that each individual should have the civil right to marry the spouse of their choice and to have that union recognized by civil authorities. This runs contrary to the LDS church’s current policy, which asks its members to actively work toward making marriage between one man and one woman the only legal option. Our goal is to empower members of the LDS church in sharing their views and making political decisions for themselves.
The group is currently collecting letters to be submitted on their site from which they will be later printed and hand delivered to the Church Office Building in Salt Lake City.
You can head over and read my submitted letter by clicking here.
Celebrating the United States of America
I’m a half and hour late as I begin writing this, but I really want to post a few thoughts I’ve had running around my head this Independence Day. I hope you don’t mind my tardiness.
Today we celebrate the happy accident that was the creation of the United States of America as an independent nation, sovereign apart from Great Britain. I call this a happy accident because such an event had never happened in the history of the world. Was there any who could have foreseen from the outset that the colonies of Great Britain in the new world would one day up and decide that they could hold their own as an independent nation? Going even further, did any have the idea that these colonies would take their independence by force, putting their ill trained army against what could have been argued as the greatest military force of that age?
Some would argue that the creation of the United States as a new nation was not an accident and that independence was destiny. This sort of aggrandized thinking has fueled our political rhetoric and has pushed the growth of the nation from 13 colonies, to 50 by way of manifest destiny; a doctrine very connected with the idea that independence was predestined from God so that it should spread from one ocean to the other. Time and time again, we expanded our borders through the sacrifice of treasure and lives.
We are never finished. The signers of the Declaration of Independence knew that the act of signing would only be one step. The framers of the Constitution knew that their system of Government was not perfect, clearly stating that their goal was to create a “more perfect union”. As we move forward and face new challenges and gain a greater understanding of who we are and what out place is in the world, we must continually make needed sacrifices in order to abide by the destiny we accepted on July 4th, 1776.
I don’t think anyone would argue that we are living in a time where our decisions will have an extremely significant impact on our future. But then again, why should there be any argument about this? Every age has had its challenges to overcome. Over and over again we have accepted these challenges, and have overcome. I believe that we will overcome the challenges we face now. Through sacrifice and innovation, we can find acceptable solutions that will propel us to whatever future challenges our destiny as a nation holds. It’s a never ending cycle. We’ll never be a perfect union, but each decision we make as a nation should lead us to be more perfected. The failure to act and improve will be our only stumbling stone in our attempts to achieve this goal.
For something that shouldn’t of happened, the outcome of this accident has transformed the world, and I am grateful to have the privilege of being a citizen of this great nation.
Happy Independence Day
Also Read:
Don’t Tread on Me at Mike’s Doc Blog
McCain and Obama on Patriotism at Time Magazine
Obama picture with Virginia Beach rally volunteers
It’s taken me a while I get around to finding someone who had a copy, but I finally got the picture of Barack Obama with the volunteers who worked the Virginia Beach rally this past February. Here it is!
Click for a larger picture. I’m toward the right of the group (your right).
Mormonism’s battle against gay marriage
You may have already read an AP article about a Florida man excommunicated for being gay writing his friends and family in California asking them to stand up and walk out of church services this past Sunday as leaders throughout the state read a statement from central church leadership in Salt Lake City asking Latter-day Saints throughout California to rally in support of a state marriage amendment in reaction to homosexuals being allowed to marry.
Today I joined a Facebook group called “Sign for Something” which is taking a stand against ecclesiastical encroachment in government, especially where gay marriage is concerned. There is also a website under construction at http://signforsomething.org/.
I believe strongly that no person should should be affected by the beliefs of any church unless that person submits themselves to the authority of that church by becoming a member.
And for members of a church that don’t agree with the actions of their church, they should respond by leaving. There is a growing movement of disaffected Latter-day Saints to do just this. A current thread at PostMormon.org is organizing such a movement, and believes they will see over one thousand current members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints submit their resignations in response to the church’s meddling in the politics of California. This group should also have a website up to facilitate this action soon.
