Why I'm no longer a Mormon

Here is an article I found from the Associated Press. Stay tuned after for why I'm pissed.

Mormon Church Enters California Gay Marriage Fight

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is asking California congregants to join the effort to amend that state's constitution to define marriage as being between a man and a woman.

A letter sent to Mormon bishops and signed by church president Thomas S. Monson and his two top counselors calls on Mormons to donate ''means and time'' to the ballot measure. A note on the letter, dated June 20, says it should be read during church services on June 29, but the letter was published Saturday on several websites.

Church spokesman Scott Trotter said Monday that the letter was authentic. He declined further comment, saying the letter explains the church's reasons for getting involved.

The LDS church will work with a coalition of churches and other conservative groups that put the California Marriage Protection Act on the November 4 ballot to assure its passage, the letter states.
In May, California's supreme court overturned a voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage, saying gay and lesbian couples could not be denied marriage licenses.

''The church's teachings and position on this moral issue are unequivocal. Marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God and the formation of families is central to the Creator's plan for His children,'' the four-paragraph letter states.

''We ask that you do all you can to support the proposed constitutional amendment by donating of your means and time to ensure that marriage in California is legally defined as being between a man and a woman,'' church leaders say in the letter. ''Our best efforts are required to preserve the sacred institution of marriage.''

California Mormons -- there are more than 750,000, according to a church almanac -- have heard and heeded similar calls from their leaders before.

In 2000, a letter from the pulpit asked members to give time and money in support of Proposition 22, a ballot measure defining marriage in California as between one man and one woman. It passed with 61% percent of the vote.

The LDS church also fought same-sex marriage legislation in other states during the 1990s. As recently as 2006, it signed a letter to Congress seeking an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would define marriage as being between a man and a woman.

The latest letter is a disappointment to members of Affirmation, an international support group for gay, lesbian, and transgender Mormons. Last month, Affirmation called on the church not to meddle in California politics. ''This initiative will hurt so many people,'' executive director W. Olin Thomas said in a statement Monday. ''The California law affects civil marriage; it has no effect on any religious institution or official.''

Affirmation leaders are scheduled to meet with the head of LDS Family Services, a church social services agency, in August to begin a conversation meant to bridge the divide between Mormonism and gay members hurt by church teachings that homosexuality is a sin.

It will be the first meeting between any arm of the church and Affirmation, which was formed in secret in the 1970s by students at the church-owned Brigham Young University in Provo.

''We're not going to let this stand in the way,'' Affirmation spokesman David Melson said. ''The church has said they are open to finding new avenues and new solutions to minister to gay members, and we are taking them at their word.'' (Jennifer Dobner, AP)

© 2008 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.


So my first issue with this whole thing is that the Mormon church is crossing the line between church and state. Aren't the two things supposed to be kept separate? The article makes a good point, "California law affects civil marriage; it has no effect on any religious institution or official.'' It has nothing to do with religion! This law isn't going to force every church to marry gay people! All it's doing is allowing gay people to have the same legal rights as straight people! Yes, they are rights. Every person living in this country deserves the same legal rights as the next person. If Joe Hetero has the right to have a legal marriage and not get fired from his job because of his sexuality and to adopt kids and give them a good home, so should every gay person! The Mormon church is essentially fighting to keep people from having equal legal rights. Does that sound like something a religion needs to meddle in? Why do they not want us to have the same legal rights as them? Am I a second-class citizen that doesn't deserve the same rights as my brother or my neighbor or my boss?

When the Mormon church makes statements about gay marriage they always feel that they have to include comments about family. "...the formation of families is central to the Creator's plan for His children''. This makes me so damn angry! I think it is so narrow minded that they only consider one man and one woman having sex and poppin' out kids to be a family. If I didn't live in the backwards state of Utah, Chris and I could adopt children and "form a family". Does that not work for their Creator's plan? If heterosexuals can adopt and be considered a family, why can't I? It just boils down to the fact that in the last 20 to 30 years the notion of family has morphed and changed so much that to only qualify a family in their terms is narrow-minded, out-dated and hurtful.

It seems that most church goers, regardless of faith, have a tendency to blindly follow what their leaders tell them. So when the president of the church sends out a letter like this, people are going to just do what he says and not think for themselves. They won't take to time to ask themselves one very important question, "how will this affect me?" Guess what?! It won't! Will it raise your taxes? NO! Will your marriage collapse because gays get married? NO! Will the Earth start spinning into the sun because I get the same legal rights as you? NO! Canada and many other countries have made gay marriage legal for years now and has Canada fallen into the ocean or collapsed into ruin because of it??? HELL NO!!!

So why does everyone care so damn much? Is it because they want ''...to preserve the sacred institution of marriage"? Let's just talk about that for a minute. Which group of people have taken the national divorce rate to 50%? That's right, it's straight people. When you see celebrities trot down to Las Vegas and get married to a stranger then annul the thing 18 hours later, which celebrities are doing that? Oh yeah, it's the straight ones! So who, in my opinion, has pissed all over the "sacred instituion of marriage"? The straight people!!! I'm not talking about all straight people and all straight marriages of course, but seeing as how they are the only people that have been allowed to get married thus far, the blame has to fall on them for the state of things. Will allowing two committed people, who happen to be the same gender, to get married really do more to screw up what the straights have done to the "institution of marrige"? I seriously doubt it.

Well, the more I write, the more upset I get so I think I need to sum up before this turns into just a big rambling rant.

I think that what the Mormon church is doing and how they are going about it is horribly horribly wrong. It hurts me that people I know and love will have to sit in church this Sunday and hear these narrow-minded words from their leaders. Narrow-minded words that make me, JD Ramey, a second-class citizen who doesn't deserve the right to legally be joined to the man i have loved for the past 13 years. I can say now without any regret that I am glad I'm not a member of the Mormon chruch any more. I can't support or respect any group that wants to treat me that way.