"The Devil Can't Make You Do It"
President Packer
General Conference October 2010
Bold as he was in the October General Conference, Boyd K. Packer made some enemies. In the morning session of General Conference on October 3, 2010, President Boyd K. Packer talked about the sanctity of the family and bravely presented his feelings on the Family Proclamation and the sins of homosexuality and pornography. He answered my questions and although no new doctrine was presented, his message brought about a protest on Tuesday because of how straight forward and logical he was, not beating around the bush.
The night before, I found myself asking my date why she thought we, as a church, were so against the gays having an opportunity to get married. It was a question that had bothered me, because I felt it went against the LDS philosophy of agency. Luckily, the Lord knew that this concern would be on my mind and had President Packer give a talk on it the next day (I love how that works). President Packer gave me the answer I had known all along, but never connected. From the Family Proclamation, he quoted “marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God and that the family is central to the Creator’s plan for the eternal destiny of His children.” Wow, it's so simple. Marriage is something that only applies to a man and a woman, not a man and a man or a woman and a woman. Your agency allows you to be gay together, but don't call it marriage. It's not marriage. Marriage is ordained of God and perpetuates life and the family.
Apparently, the gay community along with a few disgruntled members of the Church weren't spiritually ready to hear this message. On Tuesday, a group protested against President Packer's conference address. It's funny, President Packer addressed people like this in his talk. He implied that you wouldn't vote on absolute truths, asking “what would a vote against gravity do?” His clever remarks helped me to realize that God's truth can't be altered or voted on.
President Packer couldn't have been more bold in his remarks. He used a great sense of logos to present his message in a way that answered my questions, and I'm sure others' as well. His speech couldn't be taken any other way than the way he intended it to be. Great talk, President Packer.
Great post!
ReplyDeleteI agree. It amazes me how powerful words are. The gay and lesbian community wants marriage, not just all the civil rights associated with it, but because of all of the implications of that word. We hold marriage between a man and a woman sacred.
ReplyDeleteThose are some valid points. There are several people that have a gorked perspective of our eternal nature. God's laws don't change, and there's nothing that we can do to change them.
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