 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Former BYU Instructor Hopes Gay Marriage Debate Will Push Aside Fears “Church members have a moral obligation to examine and question each other and their leaders in order to genuinely sustain church doctrines and policy”
Jeffrey Nielsen is an organizational consultant who has recently been let go by Brigham Young University for speaking out for marriage equality . He is the author of the book The Myth of Leadership: Creating Leaderless Organizations. On August 12 he published the following column in the Salt Lake Tribune. Since June 4, when my column challenging the position of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on same-sex marriage was published in The Tribune, I have spoken with hundreds of gays and lesbians. I have been touched by their moral goodness and human decency. Where before I had no acquaintances who were homosexual, now I gratefully count many as friends. In June, I could only write somewhat theoretically about the social justice of allowing equal rights for gays and lesbians. Now, after having come to know many same-sex couples, I am personally persuaded of the benefit that would come to our country by allowing same-sex marriage. There is nothing more important to me than my wife and children. The events I've recently experienced confirm in my own life the importance of the love and affection of a family in difficult times. So, I, too, believe that strong marriages and families are necessary for the well-being of our society. This is why I support equal marriage rights for same-sex couples, not just civil unions. I have been able to personally witness the goodness in the homes of these couples and observe the nurturing environment where their children experience unsurpassed parental love and support. Committed gay and lesbian couples would add unimaginable strength to the institution of marriage. I certainly respect those who honestly disagree with my position on gay marriage, and I wish we could dialogue together without malice or prejudice. I am hopeful that our common values could provide a foundation for a civil conversation and a more candid look at the research on same-sex attraction and the arguments for extending the privilege of marriage to same-sex couples. We are already engaged in this debate, and the only question before us now is whether we will participate with reason and goodwill, or with ridicule and animosity. I have also reflected on the issues of LDS Church doctrine that were brought up, what it means for my faith, and what it means to sustain our leaders. The real question is whether we are justified in viewing leaders of any organization, even those of the LDS Church, as infallible when they make a doctrinal or policy pronouncement. I do not want to challenge the position of LDS leaders to receive guidance for the church. However, if they are not infallible then I believe that church members have a moral obligation to examine and question each other and their leaders in order to genuinely sustain church doctrines and policy. If they want to be considered infallible, then they have every reason to worry about members like me who will always refuse to surrender those most precious divine gifts, namely mind and moral agency, to another human being. When I consider my own religious faith since June 4, I am convinced it must be based upon reason as well as emotion. Unexamined belief is not faith, but superstition, and we must clear away superstition to make way for genuine faith. Genuine faith includes room for doubts and questions — all made possible through the trust we have in one another. Belief that is afraid to question or disagree will be based on fear, which, history has demonstrated, leads to hatred and intolerance of that which is different. We should never forget that the true measure of the authenticity of religious belief is how well it enables believers to integrate into their life the primary moral imperative of treating one another as we would want to be treated. Ultimately, I had hoped to open an opportunity for conversations on significant issues, such as social justice for gays and lesbians and the nature of religious authority. This dialogue, I believed, would strengthen both our democracy and our churches. Many people did speak up; however, the most important conversation is still before us. It is time to allow our care for one another to push aside irrational fears so that the calm voice of reason may open our eyes to the dignity of our shared standing as children of God as well as to the great value in our differences as human beings. On this foundation of mutual respect, no matter how much we may disagree, I hope we will begin and sustain just such a dialogue. |
www.affirmation.org