Today we’re cutting to the chase. Melissa e-mailed yesterday with a link to their article. The only comment she made was, ‘It always comes back to sex with them, doesn’t it?’.
My reply was, ‘yes, it does’. To read the article in full, see link above. The one notable item in their announcement was a comment made by a female member of the Church who said that she was chided the week before when stating she wished she could’ve been an official witness at the baptism she attended. This week she wouldn’t have felt that way if the new rules were in place.
Below are a couple of the things their leaders had to say –
“President Russell M. Nelson announced a historic change in policy for women… that will enable them to act as official witnesses during two of the faith’s core saving ordinances, baptisms and temple sealings…”
“Dallin H. Oaks…reiterated the importance of the 23-year-old Family Proclamation, clarified God’s law of chastity and the divine nature of men and women…”
Mr. Oaks also reiterated the importance of sex for salvation in the way the Church doesn’t accept anything outside of temple marriages…
“Church leaders manifest their love for God and “for our neighbors by helping them come unto Christ, repent and keep his commandments,” President Oaks said. This is part of bearing one another’s burdens that they may be light. That requires sharing what the church considers God’s revealed doctrinal truths regarding gender, marriage and family. …”
Question: how does someone manifest love for God by implementing rules?
How does this lighten the load for people like my mother? She’s elderly, and suffers from a debilitating spine disease. She’s not mentioned that anyone from her ward has come over to mow the lawn, clean her house, or do her grocery shopping.
Mr. Oaks continued on by stating the following –
“One of those doctrines is that God created “male and female” and that this “binary creation is essential to the plan of salvation,” he said. … Another doctrine is that “eternal life, the greatest gift of God to his children, is only possible through the creative powers inherent in the combination of male and female joined in an eternal marriage. That is why the law of chastity is so important.””
I can hear my mother’s voice now in response to their all important announcement, ‘That’s nice dear’. She wouldn’t dream of speaking out against them, yet her doorstep hasn’t been darkened by the shadow of anyone from the Church.
Like Melissa said, ‘it always comes back to sex with them’.
In conclusion, God’s greatest gift to man isn’t the ability to have sex. God’s greatest gift to man is providing salvation through the death of His Son. John 3:16
Pray for those who continue to live in the lies of these men. The woman they mentioned in the article is a good example of what’s wrong!
With Love in Christ;
Michelle