Is there a middle ground? The Church and gay marriage

[LukeAir2008]

In Europe LDS couples are married civilly by the law of the land in the chapel and then immediately go to the Temple to be sealed by the sealing power of God. Two very different things.

The Church could get out of the civil marriage business altogether. Bishops could just cease to perform civil marriages and let the Government or some licensed person carry that out and make sealing just some weird thing that LDS do in their Temples.

The Church could then comply fully with the law of the land - let the Government marry whoever they like. The LDS Church doesn’t marry anybody and it then can’t discriminate against anybody. It just does LDS stuff in LDS Temples.

I know Church members in the US love turning up en masse at the Temple like it’s some fancy high class Vegas wedding chapel but they would just have to get used to it.

I don’t see any other way around this problem. And the Church better act soon or we’ll live to see the Temples being closed down.

[BruceRGilbert]

In Europe LDS couples are married civilly by the law of the land in the chapel and then immediately go to the Temple to be sealed by the sealing power of God. Two very different things.

The Church could get out of the civil marriage business altogether. Bishops could just cease to perform civil marriages and let the Government or some licensed person carry that out and make sealing just some weird thing that LDS do in their Temples.

The Church could then comply fully with the law of the land - let the Government marry whoever they like. The LDS Church doesn’t marry anybody and it then can’t discriminate against anybody. It just does LDS stuff in LDS Temples.

I know Church members in the US love turning up en masse at the Temple like it’s some fancy high class Vegas wedding chapel but they would just have to get used to it.

I don’t see any other way around this problem. And the Church better act soon or we’ll live to see the Temples being closed down.

And LUKE, that is prophetic. It is worthy of re-posting because there is always hope that there is a light on in the Church Office Building. "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

President Nelson has made the statement that this next conference will be memorable. Let's hope that there is "ample" evidence of his prophetic mantle. I hope that he will act upon, at least, some of the items that have been brought forth from this quorum . . . we aren't the only ones concerned.

[Trucker]

I think a middle ground would be acknowledging a civil union of a gay couple, but not recognize it as marriage. That also would not allow adoption of children. I know we are way past that now, but that would have been a middle ground. Recognize the relationship between two people, but not as a marriage equal to that of a man and woman raising kids. Obviously that would still infuriate a lot of people which is why there is no middle ground. It was all or nothing, and we lost.

[mahalanobis]

In Europe LDS couples are married civilly by the law of the land in the chapel and then immediately go to the Temple to be sealed by the sealing power of God. Two very different things.

The Church could get out of the civil marriage business altogether. Bishops could just cease to perform civil marriages and let the Government or some licensed person carry that out and make sealing just some weird thing that LDS do in their Temples.

The Church could then comply fully with the law of the land - let the Government marry whoever they like. The LDS Church doesn’t marry anybody and it then can’t discriminate against anybody. It just does LDS stuff in LDS Temples.

I know Church members in the US love turning up en masse at the Temple like it’s some fancy high class Vegas wedding chapel but they would just have to get used to it.

I don’t see any other way around this problem. And the Church better act soon or we’ll live to see the Temples being closed down.

I agree.

However, if we use the sealing loophole, we will be leaving other churches out in the rain to fight this battle without us. AND If we make a bunch of virtue-signaling statements upon our exit from performing marriages, it will even seem like we're throwing the other churches under the bus.

Many of those other churches do not have a collective centralized voice like we do. So they'll be waging a grassroots battle against the government, sustaining persecution while we sit comfortably in our homes watching on the sidelines, hoping to stay out of the spotlight.

I know that 95% of those churches have no love for us and straightup dislike us. But that's no excuse for us. If we abandon them during the fight they'll only hate us more.

In buildup to the return of the Savior, the saints are supposed to be on the front lines. It's not going to look good if we chill on the sidelines while all the other principled churches are getting imprisoned for their belief.

[Thinker]

In Europe LDS couples are married civilly by the law of the land in the chapel and then immediately go to the Temple to be sealed by the sealing power of God. Two very different things.

The Church could get out of the civil marriage business altogether. Bishops could just cease to perform civil marriages and let the Government or some licensed person carry that out and make sealing just some weird thing that LDS do in their Temples.

The Church could then comply fully with the law of the land - let the Government marry whoever they like. The LDS Church doesn’t marry anybody and it then can’t discriminate against anybody. It just does LDS stuff in LDS Temples.

I know Church members in the US love turning up en masse at the Temple like it’s some fancy high class Vegas wedding chapel but they would just have to get used to it.

I don’t see any other way around this problem. And the Church better act soon or we’ll live to see the Temples being closed down.

They don’t do that probably because temple marriage is what brings in the most tithe$/money and control - even if it breaks up families who cannot witness the wedding.

But yeah, civil marriage separate from temple marriage makes sense to those who aren’t focused on money and control.