Mother's Day, Family and Marriage - Butler West 33rd Ward - Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints - Cottonwood Heights, UT - May 11th, 2014

 

         Mother's Day...when I think of Mother's Day I think of a celebration of all Mother's regardless of their gender, sexuality, nationality, past or present. I experienced some of that here in the final talk, but the first talk left a bad taste since the legal expression of it has been witnessed in the world today in places like Uganda and Russia...

      First, for new readers I am an ex-Mormon. This is largely due to my disagreements with doctrine and the past of the Holy Books and history of the faith and the fact that the Supernatural is unknown and cannot be tested so I cannot by the very nature of it believe in the supernatural (same reason I'm not part of any religion outside of Unitarian Universalism really). I'll go into more detail as I talk about the service.

     The service began with a song from the old hymn, which was pretty and after the Bishop made the opening remarks and a woman did the opening prayer.

   After was another song and finally the first talk.

     The first talk started out okay (the man thanked all the women in his life and who he admired in the congregation), it could have easily continued on the theme of humanism and still remained just...instead it used Cicero to argue for the Nuclear family and put Cicero in agreement with conservative religion. The man than tied the talk into how other families are against God's plan (implying divorced, gay, lesbian and queer couples are bringing about the end and second coming). I hadn't heard that much implied hate since visiting the Muslim Association of Olympia, Mars Hill and Calvary Chapel...

    What does attacking different families actually do? I agree that marriage is good for society, it is one reason I support Gay Marriage. Marriage promotes stability and acceptance and connects us all together. It recognizes the love a couple shares and with it the community who would be there anyway will help raise the child. Nothing is gained and only harm is given when LGBTQ families are attacked and their children taken from them.

    The argument against these relationships hinges on arguments from authority. The weakest of the arguments since it says nothing for the content of the argument which is usually always circular in nature. It is right because it is right, basically.

     After was another song and finally the last talk which was more more inclusive. The woman who spoke recognized all the women in her life and how important motherhood is. Except for her mentioning Satan destroying the Kingdom of God on Earth if people don't stay righteous at the beginning (Red Flag for me with any religion - see the ones I mentioned above), it was a good talk. It was personal stories of her life as a mother and growing up with an adopted mother. The message was nearly universal except for defining women purely by their sex which happened once during the talk.

     Today was one reason I don't like visiting religions with a conservative bent...because it is never just kept in the group, it is brought out into law that seeks to criminalize or separate those who are different. Religions and groups that I connect to do not seek to tear apart families that differ in gender or sex, nor do they seek to destroy "Traditional families," (The 1950's Nuclear Family ideal). All are welcome, which is one thing I admire so much about secular humanism. It gives the freedom for each person to worship and live as they will without infringing on their freedom. The golden rule of "Do no harm," is lived in practice and all families are recognized. I hope this can happen worldwide for there is so far yet to go.

    A religion has every right to live by its own rules as long as those rules do not infringe upon another's well being, love and happiness. For it is in that legalism that love and justice die replaced by a religious form of tyranny.