Church Takes Advantage of HRC Petition

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is like a persecution magnet. From its very beginnings, the Church was driven from city to city, state to state, due to raging violence aimed at it by mobs and even government officials. There are countless stories of hand-built houses being burned; communities of men, women, and children being massacred by angry mobs; mothers having to bury their children as handcart companies traversed across the Great Plains in the snow, looking for a place of refuge from wicked, ignorant men.

However much damage persecution has done, though, some persecution has actually been beneficial for the Church. An example of this is the petition done by the Human Rights Campaign to denounce Boyd K. Packer's talk this General Conference. (see "HRC Delivers Petition Against Mormon Leader Boyd Packer's Anti-Gay Message"). Sometimes, angry petitioners like these bring the church into the spotlight, catching the attention of the general public. The Church couldn't pass up this opportunity! It gave a response, delivered by a spokesman that very day on October 12, 2010, that pinpoints exactly what their position is on homosexuality for the whole world to see through rhetoric.

The first thing the Church does is establishes its position through ethos. About the current state of the world and its treatment of homosexual people, it says, "We share some common ground [with the HRC]." It recognizes that gays are treated poorly, and it establishes its view that they should not be bullied, because that will not solve the issue. Through this, it is able to connect with the HRC right away, grasping them as a specific audience. Also, the Church connects with those who are being persecuted by pointing out how it has "felt the bitter sting of persecution itself" in its early days. Following this is an admonition of sorts to its members to remember that only pain and suffering comes from persecution, that no one deserves persecution. It then brings up how "it has openly supported other rights for gays and lesbians such as protections in housing or employment," furthering their argument that it shares the HRC's belief that gays are still human beings. As the Church makes a connection with those who are facing persecution for their sexual orientation, it suggests that its members have no intention of making it worse on them. Its members know how it feels to be bullied.

In its assertion that it supports the kind treatment of gays, the Church then uses an allusion to its ultimate model, Jesus Christ. When all is said and done, the real reason it teaches the value of kindness towards others is to point them towards that humble man who walked the streets of Jerusalem 2000 years ago teaching all men to come unto Him. It states that its members should make sure that their "attitudes and actions toward others properly reflect Jesus Christ's second great commandment--to love one another." His life was the perfect model for us to follow. "His interest was to lift the individual, never to tear down." This allusion to Christ demonstrates the Church's great and transcendent message: that Jesus Christ "is the life and the light of the world" (see Alma 38:9). He tells us what to do, and then shows us how to do it. He has told us that we must love even those we deem to be doing evil things, and He has shown us through His life how to be the loving people He wants us to be. Through this allusion, the Church reveals its purpose--to bring people unto Christ.

Powerful diction is used to clarify, as well as strengthen, the Church's position on the treatment of gays, as well as on the topic of homosexuality in general. Most of the words describing its views about homosexuality in the world bring those views into a perfect light--"unreserved, clear, strongly, ultimately." These are simple words of finality, of absoluteness, vividly illustrate the nature of the Church's views on this topic. They are unwavering. They are firm. They are solid. The Church declares that our view of bullying gays is "absolute condemnation." It uses these kinds of word to reveal its view on homosexuality as a practice as well. "As a church," it states, "our doctrinal position is clear: any sexual activity outside of marriage is wrong, and we define marriage as between a man and a woman". To back up this position of surety, it again alludes, "Jesus Christ, whom we follow, was clear in His condemnation of sexual immorality." Christ, whom the Church follows, was clear, so the Church is also clear, and makes sure people know it's clear by repeating the word "clear." Apparently, they want to get a point across. After the finality of its position is made obvious, it carries it further by stating that it "will continue to speak out to ensure its position is accurately understood." The Church, through these simple, powerful words, demonstrates the gusto with which it declares its position to the world.

Another way the Church makes itself known to the world is the lives of its members. As members of the Church behave in the good, wholesome way that they are taught to behave in the Church, their examples are noticed. From natural disasters to the walk of an elderly lady with a bad back, the Church's members pride themselves in being among the first on the scene with a smile on their faces. They try to let Christ's light show through them by doing the things that He would do. In this speech, the Church carries itself with a similar Christ-like mannerism. Though the HRC exhibited clear outrage at what they thought were slanderous remarks by Boyd K. Packer, though the press twisted the message of his General Conference talk and put it in a bad light, calling it an "Anti-Gay Message" (only a small part of it was even aimed at the issue of Homosexuality at all), this response didn't give a single insult in return, didn't sling a single glob of verbal mud. The most it did to address these insults was to ask that any judgment passed on its ideals not be based on "distortion or selective interpretation." This formal, even forgiving, tone is consistent with the doctrine of forgiveness, as taught by Christ, that its members follow. The Church really doesn't have a harmful bone in its body.

In the conclusion of this speech, the intended audience has taken an obvious shift from the HRC to the general public. "We are to love one another," the Church proclaims, "We are to treat each other with respect as brothers and sisters and fellow children of God, no matter how much we may differ from one another." The Church here is obvious in its desire for the whole world to hear its message--the message that while there are some things people do that God does not approve of, through the support of our brothers and sisters, every one of us can be saved from sin and feel the sweetness of His forgiveness. With a voice of authority, it proclaims boldly its views and its teachings of love and kindness and invites all people to share in those wholesome views. This is a case where persecution has brought the Church into the public light, and although the light was first made to look tinted with prejudice, its true light shines though pure and white to those seeking truth.