In the Rough - The Blog of Joel McDonald Jr.

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.

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.

No charges will be sought against the Mormon missionaries from the Colorado Colorado Springs Mission who posted pictures of themselves online disrespecting a Catholic shrine in Colorado. The local parish in San Luis responsible for the shrine had voted to seek charges, but reversed their decision after receiving an Easter letter from Bishop Tafoya urging forgiveness. He wrote,

“. . . we as Catholics, who believe in the forgiveness of Christ, will ourselves forgive, and pray for the young men who showed such a lack of tolerance and understanding.”

It should be noted that these missionaries, two of which were already home when the pictures were discovered, and one who was sent home upon the discovery, still face or have already faced discipline from The Church of Jesus Christ of Later-day Saints.

Link: Salt Lake Tribune

SAN LUIS, Colo. (AP) - An investigation into whether three Mormon missionaries defaced a Catholic shrine has been dropped after Roman Catholic Bishop Arthur Tafoya urged forgiveness.

Costilla County sheriff’s investigator Cpl. Scott Powell said Friday that the investigation had just gotten under way when Tafoya asked that charges not be pursued. [Read More]

The Salt Lake Tribune posed an important question in response to the incident involving Mormon missionaries making a mockery of a Catholic shrine in Colorado: Do Mormon missionaries receive sufficient training in cultural sensitivity before entering the mission field?

In response, a teacher at the church’s Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah, admitted that there is no “regimented sensitivity training”, meaning that lessons on being sensitive to the culture and faith of others are not included in the regular MTC curriculum.

From personal experience as a Returned Missionary, I can testify to the fact that I received NO training about the proper way to act while visiting the sacred sites of other faiths. I never thought much about that, as reverence and respect seemed like obvious choices.

In the church’s defense, President Robert Fotheringham, who overseas the Colorado Colorado Springs Mission where the incident occurred, pointed to a missionary guideline which states that missionaries should, “Respect the culture, customs, traditions, religious beliefs and practices, and sacred sites in the area where [they] serve”. While this guideline is among others that missionaries are encouraged to review often and adhere to, no specific training on this guideline was provided at the MTC or in the mission field.