The Debate of the Century: Same-Sex Marriage

Yes, the debate of the century. It's not something that I like to talk about too much because it can really hurt my relationships with friends and even some family. This debate could be talked about between two people for years. The thing is, they will likely never come to an agreement. I've found that within this debate, respect comes first. Before I find out anyone's opinion, I tell myself that I will respect their opinions not matter what. I respect other's opinions because I expect respect from them in return.

You know what debate I am talking about, yes, same-sex marriage. Let me just start off by saying that I believe in a natural marriage.  I'm LDS and it is known that we believe in a marriage solely between a man and a woman. To those opposers, have you ever asked yourselves why we think that way? Never mind the fact that you "know you're right." Just for a few minutes, listen to my perspective and take it with a grain of salt -- respecting that I feel the way I do.

Let's go back to the year 2000. The Netherlands legalized same-sex marriage before anyone else -- before then, "same-sex unions had never been given the legal status of marriage in any legal system in world history." (Hawkins et. al, 2012) That fact was interesting to me! I had no idea that the Netherlands started it all. Fast forward to today and we all know what's happening in California and all over the USA.

I don't know what happened from the 90's to the 2000's but I feel that there was some kind of switch. Maybe a generation got older and found that they could argue a little better. Maybe our world is just becoming open to the subject of sex being discussed in our judicial system. Who knows? Whatever made this occur changed the way our world is working. Some people think that it's for the better but for me, it's hurting our world more than anything.

For people to really understand my opinion, they have to go back to my belief in God. If you don't believe in God, then there's no way that you will ever understand my opinion. I could give you facts about children needing a mother and a father. I could give you statistics about why a natural marriage is better for our world but honestly, my opinion starts and ends with God.

The leaders of the LDS church composed a proclamation in 1995 stating what they believe in that defines a family. Call it perfect timing or whatever you want but this event occurred right before our world took this drastic change, defining marriage as something no one else ever has.

This proclamation states things to the point. There is no confusion as to what this proclamation is saying, giving very direct thoughts about the definition of a family. The very first line is, 

"We, the First Presidency and the Council of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, solemnly proclaim that 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." 

The first line is literally stating what we believe in, marriage between a man and a woman.

I encourage everyone to read the rest of this proclamation. It's a fast read and really shows why we believe a marriage to be between a man and a woman. The proclamation was created by the leaders of this church who receive modern day revelation. This means, to me, that God created this proclamation. There is no doubt in my mind of that.

I will not judge people for the things they do. I can promise that. People are given their agency from God for a reason and they deserve to choose their path in life. I will, however, fight to make sure that marriage is between a man and a woman. Whether or not our country's legislature believes in this, I will always believe this in my heart.

Sources: Successful Marriages and Families (Chapter 26)

              The Family: A Proclamation to the World