GAY TRUTH

A top Mormon leader reaffirmed the religion's opposition to same-sex marriage on Saturday during a church conference watched by members around the world. Dallin H. Oaks , a member of a top governing body urged members to follow church teachings that dictate that marriage should be reserved for heterosexual men and women. He said that's the ideal home for children to be raised. Oaks acknowledged that this belief can put Mormons at odds with family and friends and doesn't match current laws, including the recent legalization of gay marriage in the United States . But he told the nearly 16-million members watching around the world that the religion's 1995 document detailing the doctrine — " The Family: A Proclamation to the World " — isn't' a policy statement that will be changed. "We have witnessed a rapid and increasing public acceptance of cohabitation without marriage and same-sex marriage. The corresponding media advocacy, education, and e

For over 10 years I lived the homosexual lifestyle, and for 34 years I have not. And there are very good reasons for that difference. To those who suggest that I never was homosexual, my response is, "Does sleeping with over 1,000 men count?" Oh yes. I was homosexual, though like most, I never wanted to have such attractions. I saw the narcissism and arrested emotional development all around me, and in me. Guys flitting around like Peter Pan were sometimes cute and funny, and certainly nonthreatening, but I wanted to be a grown up. I wanted to be a man. I wanted to be strong, solid, stable and reliable. I recognized the obsession with youth and beauty that drove their fantasies and lusts and knew that once I entered my thirties, the thrill of being wanted would quickly come to an end. I cringed at the epidemic of perverse sexual behaviors commonly practiced and celebrated by gay culture and wanted nothing to do with them. Such behaviors were so obviously perverse. Simple a

The next several years are going to be messy for Christians. We already know that some who claim to be within our fold will continue to challenge the historic, orthodox teaching about sexuality, marriage, and the essence of what it means to be made in the image of God. But even those of us who agree that marriage is what the church has always thought it was, will disagree on how best to move forward in a culture hell-bent on denying it. Case in point: Over at First Things , a premier publication of Christian thought, Ephraim Radner and Christopher Seitz have offered what they refer to as “ The Marriage Pledge,”  calling clergy of all stripes to no longer sign government documents of civil marriage. To be a “clear witness,” they have decided they “will no longer serve as agents of the state in marriage” because to do so would be to “implicate the Church in a false definition of marriage.” This is an idea that has been kicked around for some time.  Past First Things  articles hav

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid , D-NV, is the most powerful Mormon in American history . But one LDS bishop -- the equivalent of a Catholic priest -- has been forced to backtrack on recent comments denouncing Reid's faith as inadequate. According to Mark Paredes , Reid's leadership of the Democratic Party shows that he is "a Mormon who does not take his faith seriously."  Paredes cites Reid's support for same-sex "marriage," his lobbying for the casino industry, and his support for abortion as reasons to doubt the sincerity of the longtime senator's faith. And, most critically, he cites Reid's leadership in a party that he says explicitly opposes several of the LDS Church's moral teachings. He wrote: While the 2012 Republican platform is almost unreadable, at least it does not contain statements that directly contradict LDS teachings. This could be one reason why 11 out of the Mormon Church’s top 15 leaders – and the only ones