“Whenever I think of the word “empathy,” I think of a small boy named Huckleberry Finn contemplating his friend and runaway slave, Jim. Huck asks himself whether he should give Jim up or not. Huck was told in Sunday school that people who let slaves go free go to everlasting fire.” But then, Huck says he imagines he and Jim in “the day and nighttime, sometimes moonlight, sometimes storms, and we a-floating along, talking and singing and laughing.” Huck remembers Jim and their friendship and warmth. He imagines Jim not as a slave but as a human being and he decided that, “alright, then, I’ll go to hell.”
– This I Believe, 172

The truth is, at this point of my life I know less now than I ever have.

I can't say I know what will happen in the next realm. I don't know that God would put obedience to laws over people needing love. I don't know that the world is as black and white as we like to believe. I don't know that confirmation bias isn’t very much a thing. I don’t know a lot of things, but to me it's means there are more possibilities than I could ever imagine.

Here’s what I do know:

I do know that I love my LDS roots. I do know that I love, so much, the ward members and leaders and family and friends that helped me become who I am today. I do know that the love of God, in whatever context God is, is very real. I do know that it is enough.

And it will always be enough.

The people who say differently, are the same people that preach about Christ’s crucifixion thousands of years ago as if it’s something that happened as opposed to something that is currently happening.

We don’t serve those around us who are suffering only because Jesus told us to. We serve them because JESUS was once the one suffering.

To me it doesn’t make a lot of sense to worship Jesus in church, while He’s outcast on the street.

Is it not true that God is in each one of us? That when the bibles says“the kingdom of God is within you” it is meant to be taken literally?

So when I read the news and see the loneliness in people’s eyes and hear the heartache in their stories, I realize that I don’t have to go back to Nazereth to find Jesus. He’s everywhere. He’s in the halls at school and work. He’s on our Facebook feed. He's in the teenagers and adults that are are now contemplating suicide. He’s in every single human being you’ve ever encountered, because every person was made in His image.

And we may not all be living on the streets, but we are all in poverty of some sort. Poverty of hope. Poverty of peace. Poverty of love.

And so the least we can do, if we are to describe ourselves as disciples of Christ, is not add to each other's pain.

And friends, this policy that has been implemented, adds to the pain. Very much so.

I like to think that when it comes to recognizing Jesus’s voice, the higher law, the law of love, it is very simple. When it comes to our treatment of people, of Jesus in all forms, the simple way is the correct way.

Have you noticed how complicated this policy has made things?

People say it's out of love. That it's "saving" people from greater sin.

But based off your Facebook feed the past few weeks, how loved do you think people actually feel?

Most of the people who say they are at peace with the new policy aren't ones that the policy actually affects. All this has seemed to accomplish is division.

Here is a prime example of what should be the simple answer becoming the (very) complicated answer:

When attempted murder, forcible rape, and sexual and spousal abuse fall under the times when a disciplinary council "might" be necessary, and same-gender marriage and joining another church fall under the times it would be"mandatory".. We know we need to rethink our priorities.

The statement above is why a gay friend of mine posted recently:

“If this is what love feels like, I want no part of it.”

Friends. This policy, this approach. This is not what loves feels like to me. I hope you’ll respect that.

I hope we can agree to disagree. Because all of this talk, this pin pointing why people are wrong, and arguing and reaffirming theories and ideas and reasons.

That’s A LOT of energy that could be used toward ACTUALLY loving our fellow brothers and sisters. Toward ACTUALLY learning to be more kind, compassionate and patient.

The second you judge something, is the second you are no longer committed to understanding it. I get that you feel like Jesus judged. I guess we’ll just have to agree to disagree on who he judged. Because the Jesus I study, judged the prideful, the hypocrites, the priests that spent their time condemning those who (according to them) wouldn't qualify for the kingdom of heaven.

Rather then defend ideas I can’t prove, i’d rather defend actual humans. The ones that look how Christ looked. How Christ looks. The ones who are currently experiencing this beautiful and hell filled life alongside me.

And maybe instead of focusing on all the reasons gay marriage is ungodly (despite the fact that God made people that way), I think our time could be better spent focusing on things that are actually ungodly. Things like the seven deadly sins:

pride. lust. gluttony. laziness. wrath. envy. greed.

Everything else is just a really great way to take the focus off our own flaws and point out everyone else’s. It’s what Jesus spoke so openly against. It’s what other spiritual leaders have called the “ego.” It’s what is happening when we put ourselves up on pedestals, and condemn those whose views we don’t agree with.

It’s what I see when I read sarcastic Facebook statuses about how people are "overreacting" to the church’s stance because now that the church has reasons everyone else's feelings must be invalid.

It’s what I see when I see that article circling Facebook titled: “Quit pretending like Christ was accepting of everyone and everything”.

It’s what I see when I see posts saying “I’m confused why people care so much about children not being able to get baptized when they don’t even believe everything the church teaches.”

I’m confused at your confusion. We aren't talking about just any organization here. We are talking about what is believed to be the the ONLY true church of the almighty God. The God who created EVERY single person in His image, and wants ALL of them to obtain salvation.

And people aren't allowed to have an opinion on it? They aren’t allowed to step in when they see their fellow humans being mistreated, and say that they don’t think an all powerful, and all loving God would be this discriminatory? Especially of his LGBTQ children acting in the way He created them?

The saying goes “To find out who rules over you, look at who you are not allowed to criticize.”

I’m blown away at how many people are saying we shouldn’t be criticizing the church, even if it is in defense of other human beings. The ones that are poor in hope and poor in peace and poor in love. The ones that are Jesus.

So yes, I have taken your advice. I’ve read the articles and watched the videos you've posted and i’ve taken the issue to the Lord. I’ve prayed about the ideas, and asked for peace and clarity about the new policy. My God must be telling me different things than yours, and to me that’s okay. I think every human beings walk with God is going to look different. We're not meant to agree on everything, but we are meant to love.

And because i’ve taken your advice and i’ve prayed about it, there’s something i’d like to ask you to pray about. When you say your prayers, ask God how your fellow humans are feeling. Ask what their experience is in all of this. Ask what’s it’s like to feel like who you are is secondary. That it requires a "mandatory" council to determine if you aren't worthy of being in God's presence again, even though you're loving the way God created you to.

Next time you pray, will you pray to know how that would feel? I think learning to feel and view life through another’s perspective is the closest we will get to God on this side.

And if that’s not the case, if that’s not what God cares about most.. Heaven isn’t a place I want to be.

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