Monday, July 7, 2008

Look who's on the cutting edge of progress!

I read an interesting article this morning in my local paper. For those of you who don't pay attention to what's going on in the state that's run by a guy who beat The Predator (no - not Minnesota - their former governor was killed by The Predator!), there has recently been a Supreme Court decision to overturn the ban on same sex marriage. Some of the fallout of this decision has included: boils, frogs, locusts, water turning to blood, and pineapple no longer being refreshing and delicious. Also, all of the straight men have become gay, and every traditional marriage has now completely collapsed.

Probably the most significant bit of fallout (apart from the whole pineapple thing) is that certain people are moving forward to amend the state's Constitution to ensure that marriage remains between a man and a woman. These people are known as the T.F.A., which stands for Total Fucking Assholes. (Oh, I'm sorry, opponents of same-sex marriage - does that offend you? How does that feel? As bad as not being able to be with your loved one who's dying in the hospital because you're not technically "family"? As bad as being told that you're going to hell because of who you love? As bad as being called degenerate, perverted, etc? Man, that's gotta suck. I really should care more about your feelings.)

Anyway, the article stated that there are apparently a significant number of Mormons who aren't getting behind this whole Constitutional amendment thing. This is significant for two reasons. One, the church leaders are urging them to get involved with it. Two, the Mormon Church was one of the biggest voices in the anti-gay marriage proposition of eight years ago. Apparently, the times are changing.

I'll be honest with you. There are some things about Mormonism that really make me scratch my head in bewilderment. However, that's pretty much true of any religion, so there's nothing special about them in that regard. The one thing that I find interesting about them though is that they believe that God continues to reveal Himself. In other words, it all doesn't end with The Bible, nor does it end with The Book of Mormon. The revelations keep coming, and this allows them to change their values with the times - which I personally see as a positive thing. Now, sometimes they can be a bit behind (took a while to finally let black people join the church), but at least they're able to adapt and evolve. I think that this is a reason why Mormonism will continue to be strong long after many other Christian denominations blur into one another.

So, obviously the Mormon church as an institution isn't quite where it should be in terms of equal rights for all people, but it looks like many of the Mormons themselves are using their reason and compassion istead of just blindly following what their leaders tell them.

It gives a guy like me hope.

4 comments:

Ranting Student said...

Ha ha ha.

I agree though Mormons at least consider the thought of "things change".

I also am a resident of California[I'm guessing that's where you're from].

Nice post, and I love your blog name.

Lance Christian Johnson said...

Indeed I am. And stick around, I sometimes actually write about those three things (although never in the same post - yet!)

Weemaryanne said...

Intrade.com has 35% odds that the anti-gay-marriage amendment will make it into the California Constitution, and the odds are dropping steadily. It was 40% just a couple of days ago.

See their home page, about halfway down.

Lance Christian Johnson said...

Sorry, no links. Bwah ha ha! Just kidding...what do I look like, Ray Comfort? (Perhaps I should get a program to morph a photo of myself and him.)

That does sound pretty promising - here's hoping, and damn these boils and locusts!