tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1351702185582985296.post6047805322466058558..comments2018-02-17T23:26:12.392-07:00Comments on Scarlet's Letters: RevelationUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1351702185582985296.post-35144195712220583462009-05-07T08:26:00.000-06:002009-05-07T08:26:00.000-06:00I'm convinced that the "one path fits all" answers...I'm convinced that the "one path fits all" answers no longer apply. It has taken me a long time to get to this point, for, for years I was the guy who professed there was "no other way". Now, I'm embarrassed to admit that I was once so all-or-nothing.<br /><br />That said, I am a firm believer that change will come as we, the gay brothers and sisters of this community, STAY in the church and give face and voice to our predicament, working in faithfulness to increase love, tolerance and understanding where only darkness and disgust reside. LEAVING, at least for me, does less good than fighting from within.Beckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06159223254071653666noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1351702185582985296.post-15384837173716425912009-05-06T06:08:00.000-06:002009-05-06T06:08:00.000-06:00Welcome to the gray middle ground that so many of ...Welcome to the gray middle ground that so many of us find ourselves in. You bring up some profound questions that I wish I had answers to. Unfortunately, for now, we are left to our own devices to resolve this paradox of that which we are taught intellectually to be truth and that which we feel in our heart to be truth.Abelard Enigmahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13166049686152203530noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1351702185582985296.post-3070902988608325152009-05-05T20:58:00.000-06:002009-05-05T20:58:00.000-06:00All very relevant questions. And I like you rejec...All very relevant questions. And I like you reject the black/white approach to this, so I won't presume to try to give you answers to everything.<br /><br />I will say however that I believe the phrase "witnessing the faithfulness of those from whom the priesthood has been withheld" is what we in the legal profession call "obiter dicta," that is, commentary that is interesting but has no binding or precedential effect as a law, rule, or reliable guidance. It's descriptive background.<br /><br />If it does anything, it leaves open the interesting question of why the priesthood was withheld from otherwise faithful brethren. I think consensus is building that it was withheld not by divine mandate, because Joseph Smith's own actions contradict that, but rather it was withheld because certain early leaders' racism ossified into a policy and then a quasi-doctrine because nobody thought to question it. In short, it was withheld by man, not God.<br /><br />And given the persuasive scholarly, historical, linguistic and theological analysis I've read which undercuts all popular anti-gay interpretations of Biblical verses, and the absence of any reference to homosexuality in the uniquely LDS scriptural canon, I can't help but wonder whether someday the same will be said about God's gay sons and daughters from whom many blessings are currently withheld by the Church.Robhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02992194211469009236noreply@blogger.com