marriage, prop 8, mormon, morality, love, homophobia, homosexual, lds, gay, tradition, traditional,
I figured out the problem with trying to convince a Mormon Prop 8 supporter that we should not deny the love of two people, gay or straight.
To mormons, marriage and love are unrelated concepts.
Mormon women are encouraged to marry not the man they love, but the man who will get them the closest to the Celestial Kingdom (mormon heaven).
From exmormon.org:
In the car on the way back to school, she told me her story. They had dated for 3 years, then she was ready to get married but he wasn’t ready yet. So she dated other people and found a guy to marry. She had thought about waiting for this young man until he was ready to get married, but didn’t know if he would actually decide to marry her when he was ready to marry. Then came the comment that just about did me in. She said that looking at both of these guys, she chose the guy she eventually married because he would be able to get her closer to the celestial kingdom than the young man she dated for 3 years and loved! She didn’t have the same feelings for her husband as she did for her old boyfriend, but by golly she was sure to get closer to the celestial kingdom! Her heart was still hurting.
To a people for whom love is just another word, trying to discuss Prop 8 in terms of love is like trying to discuss art with an alien. Your perspectives are simply too divergent.
Just as a refresher: the divorce rate for mormons is 24%. The divorce rate for atheists is 21%. This is especially remarkable when you consider that while atheists would be the least likely to be ashamed of being divorced, mormons should be the most ashamed of divorce. So why are more mormons divorced?
Perhaps because love and marriage should be very closely related concepts?
Saturday, February 28, 2009
1 comment:
Comments are for you guys, not for me. Say what you will. Don't feel compelled to stay on topic, I enjoy it when comments enter Tangentville or veer off into Non Sequitur Town. Just keep it polite, okay?
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This is woefully unrelated, and I apologize in advance.
ReplyDeleteA lovely quotation [coincidentally, this is the only role in which I have ever enjoyed Angelina Jolie's acting] from the little-seen movie "Playing By Heart":
"I have a friend, jazz musician...trumpet player, really terrific. And I go and hear him jam every month or so and he plays this piece I love, an old Chet Baker song. And he blows the same notes every time and every time it sounds so different. And we had drinks one night...when I used to drink....and I tried to tell him how that song made me feel, how the music made me feel, how his playing made me feel. And he just kept shakin' his head and he said 'Joan, you can't talk about music! Talking about music is like dancing about architecture,' and I just said, 'Well fine! Gonna get all philosophical on me, it's just as pointless as talking about a lot of things, love for instance.' And my friend laughed and he said, 'Definitely, most definitely, talking about love is like dancing about architecture.' So I don't know, he might be right...but it ain't gonna stop me from trying."
Since you're talking about people who consider "love" as "just another word" and all.