Our House Follows a Prophet of God

This post has been in the making for a while...in my head of course. I was hoping to somehow avoid it, but I don't think it's possible anymore. About a month ago, Aaron came home from school wanting to have a conversation with me that I know I never had with my parents. I don't think it's bad that I never had it. I think it wasn't necessary. I think it's necessary now. I'll tell you why, but first, the conversation...

Aaron: Mom, a kid told me today that being gay is a race.

Me: No. Being gay is not a race. It's not something you check when asked what your ethnicity is.

Aaron: That's what I tried to tell him. Then another kid was trying to tell him the same thing. He was trying to tell us that because they don't choose to be gay, it makes it a race. I was trying to tell him you can choose to be gay.

Me: Well.... I personally feel they they don't "choose" to be gay. I think all of us are born with tendencies. I think they are honestly attracted to the same sex. I do feel they choose who they have sex with, just like I do. You have to be careful how you say things, or people are going to think you hate gay people.

Aaron: I don't hate gay people!

Me: I know. I don't either. I know what you were trying to say was that they choose to have sex with someone of the same sex. You can't choose to be black, or white, or Asian. J (nickname), we believe in sin. Some people do not. This boy doesn't believe homosexuality is a sin and that's okay. I'm glad you would stand up for what you believe. I just want you to understand that it's okay that people think differently than you. We don't have to fight about it. 

Aaron: I'm not fighting about it. What he was saying just wasn't true.

We talked about school and then it was done. I'm glad he felt he could come to me with questions. I could tell he was confused and a little upset about it. It was probably the first time he's ever encountered someone believing totally different than he does. I'm proud that the would express his opinion. I remember my first "discussion" with people who believed totally different than me. It was about abortion. I was in the 11th grade. It was scary for two reasons, 1) it was happening in my English class and the teacher was the head of the debate. I had lots of friends in that class. Most of them were not on my side of the debate. 2) I was 1 of 5 who believed it to be wrong while the rest of the class, + the teacher, believed in it. It was a terrifying experience, but also a great learning one. She became one of my favorite teachers. I had a lot of respect for her. She had a lot of respect for me, even though our opinions on many things differed. 

Isn't it okay to believe differently? I always thought it was. But lately, I'm feeling it's probably not a good idea to go around sharing what you believe, especially when it comes to homosexuality. It's such a polar topic! I wish my kids could just steer clear of it until they are older and can understand a little more. I just don't think it's going to happen. It's in the news all of the time. The debate is not going away. I want them to understand where I sit on this topic. This is why I'm writing this.

I believe marriage was designed by God. When He created Adam and Eve, He also married them. This is the pattern He set. This is the pattern He wanted followed. One of the core beliefs in my faith is that we were sent to earth to gain a body. It was one of the greatest gifts we would be given, right along with agency. Agency. There was a war in heaven over it. That's how important it is. Two of His greatest gifts. Who knew that the two would collide? Oh, He did!

 Anyway, how do you gain a body? Through procreation. Who did Our Father in Heaven want to procreate? Everyone. That was His plan. Will everybody get that chance in this life? No. Sometimes we are expected to do hard things. We are promised, however, that if we follow His plan and His commandments, we will be able to procreate for eternity, like Him. Our goal is to be like Him. In order to do that, we have to follow His plan.

I realize not everyone is of my faith. I realize not everyone wants to follow His plan. That being the case, does He change His plan? No. Does He lessen His expectations? No. This earth was created for a purpose and He wants us to use it for His purpose. Our job is to let everyone know what his purposes are. Without judgment and belittling? Absolutely! That's what I feel my church is trying to do.

We have a prophet in our church. We believe He speaks for Christ, who speaks for God. God has used prophets since the world's creation. It's nothing new. Prophets have warned against sin since the beginning. Our church is being deemed bigoted, hateful, and discriminatory. All our prophet is trying to do is let others know how God wants it. He's warning just like Noah did. He's being a prophet. He's fulfilling his calling.

We all have our agency. I will follow my prophet. Why? Because I know it's the right thing to do. If I truly believe He speaks for God, then I would also believe God would want me defending His plan. I can do that without hating anyone. I should be able to share that belief freely. I'm afraid it's getting to the point where I cannot. I hope I'm wrong. I want to believe there are others like me on the "other side" of the argument. If there are, they are not the ones speaking up. Sadly, it's the ugliness on both sides that is getting the attention. Something I hope changes. We could use a good, decent dialogue from both sides. In the meantime, I will teach my children to love and respect all people. It shouldn't matter if we believe differently. We can still be kind, courteous, and even friends!