I returned to Utah for my birthday weekend. As with many of my trips home, it just so happened to coincide with the LDS General Conference. To the unfamiliar, born and bred outside of Utah, I would describe General Conference as a cross between a hajj and a State of the Union Address. It is a time to gather the flock and show them how to graze for the next half of a year.
In any case, the top hierarchy of the Mormon church consists of a president and a Quorum of Twelve Apostles, the leader of the latter known by the name Elder Boyd K. Packer, a man of intense conviction. This morning as I read the paper, preparing to catch a plane, I caught some of Elder Packer's words on the subject of same-sex marriage, including my favorite quote, "A law against nature would be impossible to enforce. Do you think a vote to repeal the law of gravity would do any good?"
In any case, the bloggers and pundits are all weighing in, but I'd like to take a moment to point out one glaring flaw in his tirade. Addressing the evidence that homosexuality is an innate tendency, he replied with "Not so! Why would our Heavenly Father do that to anyone? Remember he is our father." And there, Elder Packer, is our spiritual flaw. Allow me to elaborate.
Why would our Heavenly Father do that to anyone? Surely, He would not be so cruel as to condemn an innocent baby to a life of ambient animosity or an onslaught of pity. One can spend one's entire life denying science as the Devil's sceptre. One can label genetics an urban legend all one wants (and reference the marriages between uncles and nieces on FLDS compounds), but if God truly controls the way we turn out at birth, then God is one fickle father. Why would God allow a child to be born with Cystic Fibrosis, Hemophilia, Lou Gehrig's Disease, Sickle-Cell Anemia, or Asperger's Syndrome? Or would He? Are these infants willful sinners who just need to pray more? Are there camps for that?
If Elder Packer can confirm God's role in genetic disorders while refuting God's role in homosexuality, or else condemn all of the above without distinction, I may lend his words a bit more credit. If he can clarify how the sinful lack of procreation only applies to LGBT people and not sterile or celibate ones, I may pay more attention. If he can explain why the LDS Church had to restore face after funding Proposition 8 if the Church is the true source of righteousness, I may respect him more. For now, I only hear the recitations of an angry old man, and empty recitation, I have found, is the death of spirituality.
In any case, the top hierarchy of the Mormon church consists of a president and a Quorum of Twelve Apostles, the leader of the latter known by the name Elder Boyd K. Packer, a man of intense conviction. This morning as I read the paper, preparing to catch a plane, I caught some of Elder Packer's words on the subject of same-sex marriage, including my favorite quote, "A law against nature would be impossible to enforce. Do you think a vote to repeal the law of gravity would do any good?"
In any case, the bloggers and pundits are all weighing in, but I'd like to take a moment to point out one glaring flaw in his tirade. Addressing the evidence that homosexuality is an innate tendency, he replied with "Not so! Why would our Heavenly Father do that to anyone? Remember he is our father." And there, Elder Packer, is our spiritual flaw. Allow me to elaborate.
Why would our Heavenly Father do that to anyone? Surely, He would not be so cruel as to condemn an innocent baby to a life of ambient animosity or an onslaught of pity. One can spend one's entire life denying science as the Devil's sceptre. One can label genetics an urban legend all one wants (and reference the marriages between uncles and nieces on FLDS compounds), but if God truly controls the way we turn out at birth, then God is one fickle father. Why would God allow a child to be born with Cystic Fibrosis, Hemophilia, Lou Gehrig's Disease, Sickle-Cell Anemia, or Asperger's Syndrome? Or would He? Are these infants willful sinners who just need to pray more? Are there camps for that?
If Elder Packer can confirm God's role in genetic disorders while refuting God's role in homosexuality, or else condemn all of the above without distinction, I may lend his words a bit more credit. If he can clarify how the sinful lack of procreation only applies to LGBT people and not sterile or celibate ones, I may pay more attention. If he can explain why the LDS Church had to restore face after funding Proposition 8 if the Church is the true source of righteousness, I may respect him more. For now, I only hear the recitations of an angry old man, and empty recitation, I have found, is the death of spirituality.
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