LDS Church pamphlet advises on same-sex attraction

Salt Lake Tribune ^ | 7/27/2007 | Peggy Fletcher Stack

[TChris]

The LDS Church has posted the contents of a new pamphlet about same-sex attraction on its Web site.

The piece, titled "God Loveth His Children," reiterates the church's long-held distinction between same-sex attractions and actions, suggesting that only the latter are immoral. According to LDS doctrine, sexuality is only appropriate within heterosexual marriage. Everyone else is expected to be chaste.

It acknowledges that some singles, homosexual and heterosexual, may never marry in this life, but "will be perfected in the next life so that every one of God's children may find joy in a family consisting of a husband, a wife, and children."

"God Loveth His Children" recommends that homosexuals continue to be active in the church, contributing money and time. It urges them to find therapists who share their Mormon values and suggests that they not "flaunt" their homosexuality or endlessly discuss it.

[TChris]

Here's a link to the pamphlet.

This matches what I've heard from Church leadership recently on this subject.

[sitetest]

In its basic premises, not much different from Catholic teaching.

[Logophile]

Last week, the LDS Church News published the stories of anonymous Mormon men who had life-long homosexual feelings. Though several of them were married to women, the church no longer officially encourages homosexual men to marry women as a way to "solve their problem."

I was not aware that the Church had ever officially encouraged homosexual men to marry women "to solve their problem." I would like to see an official document that makes such a recommendation.

[sitetest]

Dear Logophile,

I was referring to the basic concept that homosexuality, itself, isn’t a sin, but rather that homosexual behavior is a sin.

sitetest

[Logophile]

I was referring to the basic concept that homosexuality, itself, isn’t a sin, but rather that homosexual behavior is a sin.

Oh, I was not commenting on what you wrote, but on that particular sentence in the article.

I believe you are right, that the Roman Catholic Church and LDS take a similar view of homosexuality.

[sitetest]

Dear Logophile,

Okay. My misunderstanding.

sitetest

[The Ghost of FReepers Past]

The lust is also immoral.

[AnAmericanMother]

I was just about to say . . . works for me!

This is pretty much in line with Catholic teaching. If your psyche is disordered, you can't help but be afflicted with same-sex temptation. It's whether you give in or not (action) that matters.

[gondramB]

>>The lust is also immoral.<<

That’s an interesting point and one I’ve never been completely clear on.

I’m heterosexual male, not young but not so old that I fail to notice or be attracted to pretty women in their 20’s, 30’s and 40’s.

It doesn’t feel in my hear that being attracted to a woman is wrong. What would feel wrong would be to fixate on/ lust after/ persue someone who I know I am not supposed to sleep with.

Extending that I can see the LDS’s position on homosexual attraction. It could still be wrong if they let it grow to fixating on/lusting after.

[The Ghost of FReepers Past]

Are you just thinking they are attractive and likable or are you thinking about what they might look like without clothing? That's your question.

As for homosexuality, I think you have to be tougher still. The desire itself is always sin in every context. If you felt attracted to children would that be sin? If you felt attracted to your dog would that be sin? Some things are sin right out of the gate because the act is always wrong. To say the desire is unwanted doesn't go very far. To not want to want something is what we used to call having a conscience that is doing its job of convicting your heart.

I would like to know how a homosexual views and interacts with a friend of the same sex. Is there always that question of sex in the relationship? I would think it would drastically change the definition of same-sex friendship. It would have to totally invert the issues of same vs opposite sex friendship. It also should eliminate the appropriateness of any shared dressing rooms or restrooms or locker rooms or gym showers. The whole issue warps everything.

Guys should be attracted to guys in a friendship way, never in a sexual way. If your attraction is sexual then it is sin.

[Logophile]

I’m heterosexual male, not young but not so old that I fail to notice or be attracted to pretty women in their 20’s, 30’s and 40’s.

I don't think you can ever grow so old that you will fail to notice pretty women.

It doesn’t feel in my hear that being attracted to a woman is wrong. What would feel wrong would be to fixate on/ lust after/ persue someone who I know I am not supposed to sleep with.

Most males are attracted women. That seems to be part of our biological programming. If that were removed from us, we would be less than human. However, noticing an attractive woman is one thing; much more than that, and we are heading for trouble. If we give into lust—for instance, if we entertain fantasies about fornication or adultery—then we are committing sin. Often, such thoughts can lead to action.

Some males are attracted to other males. The original article stated, "LDS President Gordon B. Hinckley and others have acknowledged they don't know what causes homosexuality." In one sense, it does not matter. Arguments about whether homosexuality is the result of nature or nurture—whether it is inborn or learned—are ultimately beside the point. Whatever the cause of same-sex attraction, we believe that giving in to lust is sinful and self-destructive.

I would propose an analogy. Some years ago a member of my ward (congregation) asked for my help. He was addicted to cocaine, and had been since he was 13 or 14 years old. It was ruining his marriage and his life. No one can say why this particular fellow became an addict. Obviously, the human body is designed in such a way that addiction is possible, so in that sense we might say that addicts are "born that way." Nevertheless, we do not say that addiction is inevitable, and that addicts might just as well give in to it. My friend had to kick his addiction, and he still has to resist the urge to use cocaine.

Extending that I can see the LDS’s position on homosexual attraction. It could still be wrong if they let it grow to fixating on/lusting after.

Yes, I think you are right.

The Church's position is consistent. Homosexual attraction is just one of many temptations that may be thrown our way. Being tempted is not a sin: Jesus "was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin." (Hebrews 4:15). Giving in to temptation—thinking and then acting—is the sin.

[The Ghost of FReepers Past]

Jesus was tempted in all ways as we are, true. But define "tempted" in this context. He never desired sin. I think we tend to define "tempted" much more broadly than we should. If you define it very narrowly, like as in being presented with the opportunity to sin, then you are probably more accurate about how Jesus was tempted. His heart never ever desired sin.

When we pray to not be led into temptation but to be delivered from evil, I think we are asking to be kept from the opportunity that would draw us into sin. At the point where sin is our hearts desire then we have sinned. That sin unaddressed will inevitably lead to outward action.

Homosexual desire is itself a sin. It is the seed that becomes the act.

[Logophile]

Homosexual desire is itself a sin. It is the seed that becomes the act.

I agree that the desire—even the thought—is the seed for the act. As a man thinks in his heart, so is he, the proverb says.

However, I do not pretend to know exactly when one crosses over the line from temptation to sin. I do know that it is not easy to resist temptation. Indeed, Jesus likened it to carrying a cross:

And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. (Luke 9:23)

There are those who would say, "Deny yourself nothing; you do not have to carry that burden." The Church rejects that message.

I think the LDS Church's message to homosexuals is the correct one: We do not know why someone might be disposed to this temptation, but we know that to yield to that temptation is sinful and self-destructive. You must resist. Although it will not be easy, with God's help you can overcome.

The Church reminds the rest of us that we are all subjected to temptation. None of us has room to condemn others simply because their weaknesses are different from our own.

[The Ghost of FReepers Past]

I do know that it is not easy to resist temptation. Indeed, Jesus likened it to carrying a cross:

I disagree that the LDS position is correct.

To "take up your cross" is not directly about resisting your sinful desires. (Not that that is a bad thing.) It is about dying to self and living to God so that your desires become the same as God's desires. It is a transformation of the heart into a new person with new desires. This is a fundamental difference that makes all the difference.

The Christian life is not about pining for the sin that you cannot have. It is about hating the sin that you once loved. You are a new creature. As you grow in your knowledge of God and your understanding of the truths of Scripture, you learn through the power of the Holy Spirit to put off the old self with its sinful desires and to put on the new self with all the new godly desires and fruit that that brings. Sinful desires must be confessed just like sinful deeds. They reveal areas not fully yeilded to Christ's lordship.

[TChris]

The lust is also immoral.

Yes, but so is hetero lust.