Talk:Same-sex attraction

The whole article seems more advocative than informational. Exhortative lines like "It is time that members of these groups stop pretending to be aligned with the Church" seem very out of place in an encyclopedia.

What he said

I concur. While it is inevitable that our values will express themselves in our contributions, I feel it is not appropriate to put overt value judgements in an article. Particularly one that seems to advocate a specific course of action.

Thus, while I agree in principle that "it is time that members of these groups stop pretending to be aligned with the Church," I feel that a better approach would be to say something like, "while these groups sometimes represent themselves as being aligned with the Church, it does not endorse them."

You're Right

You're both right. I posted here what I wrote for a different audience. I should have edited it. I have now re-writen this to be explanatory rather than evaluative. User: Richman9

I think this is well written, but I'm wondering about the need to carefully define Mormon beliefs (and refer to them as such) on these topics. There certainly are quotes from G.A.'s that could be added. The purpose of this would be for a reader who is wanting to learn what Mormons believe to be able to distinguish between Mormon doctrine on the matter and the author's (very good) insights.--Ideastoday 16:24, 4 November 2006 (MST)

Quotes from G.A.'s are always welcome additions. It would be good to add some to this article to help clarify what Mormon doctrine is on the subject. There was even a talk about it this last general conference. Amaranth 16:31, 4 November 2006 (MST)

Would it be helpful to have a direct link to this [issues resource] wherein Elder Oaks and and Elder Wickman are interviewed? Rickety 17:49, 24 January 2007 (MST)

Yes, we should add a link to http://www.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=27f71f1dd189f010VgnVCM100000176f620aRCRD&vgnextchannel=726511154963d010VgnVCM1000004e94610aRCRD&vgnextfmt=tab1 Since the page is locked for editing, let's ask the administrator to add it.

I would suggest a further step of quoting from the interview and adding the link. Perhaps:

PUBLIC AFFAIRS: What would you say to those members in society, members of the Church, who may look at same-gender attraction as different than other temptations, than any other struggle that people face? First of all, do you think it’s a fair assessment that some people have that feeling? What would you say to them?

ELDER OAKS: I think it is an accurate statement to say that some people consider feelings of same-gender attraction to be the defining fact of their existence. There are also people who consider the defining fact of their existence that they are from Texas or that they were in the United States Marines. Or they are red-headed, or they are the best basketball player that ever played for such-and-such a high school. People can adopt a characteristic as the defining example of their existence and often those characteristics are physical.

We have the agency to choose which characteristics will define us; those choices are not thrust upon us.

The ultimate defining fact for all of us is that we are children of Heavenly Parents, born on this earth for a purpose, and born with a divine destiny. Whenever any of those other notions, whatever they may be, gets in the way of that ultimate defining fact, then it is destructive and it leads us down the wrong path.

However, I will be guided by what you say, it is a sensitive subject. I am a sysop and will be happy to update the article in the way you think is best. Rickety 22:34, 7 July 2007 (MDT)

Revisions 10/2016

Thanks, Larry. I agree with your revisions. Gboyd (talk) 10:23, 6 October 2016 (MDT)