{"id":6901,"date":"2017-12-11T19:41:12","date_gmt":"2017-12-12T03:41:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newsmolo.com\/EDC\/2019\/?p=6901"},"modified":"2025-12-09T19:42:13","modified_gmt":"2025-12-10T03:42:13","slug":"opinion-love-one-another-despite-differences-a-family-oriented-churchs-view-on-gays","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.newsmolo.com\/EDC\/2019\/2017\/12\/11\/opinion-love-one-another-despite-differences-a-family-oriented-churchs-view-on-gays\/","title":{"rendered":"Opinion — “Love One Another Despite Differences” a Family-Oriented Church’s View on Gays"},"content":{"rendered":"

LDS Elders Oaks and Ballard. Img: Trevor, a gay mormon]<\/em><\/p>\n

Elder Oaks and Elder Ballard say the Mormon Church should be a place of refuge and peace for all, including homosexuals.<\/p>\n

We need to love each other \u201cdespite the differences that inevitably exist in the world along so many different lines,\u201d Elder Dallin H. Oaks said. Bridging the gap between us \u201cis the commandment [of Christ] to love one another and help bear one another\u2019s burdens.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elder Oaks’s comment above was in response to questions from Brazil and New York about same-sex attraction \u2014 specifically concerning how Latter-day Saints can show love to those who disagree with Church teachings on the topic.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to be cautious and willing to listen. We have to be willing to talk to one another about this issue,\u201d Elder Ballard added. Echoing comments he made last week at a Brigham Young University devotional, he said those who are gay \u201care God\u2019s children. He loves them. There\u2019s a place for them [in the Church] and for all of our Father\u2019s children, regardless of what their circumstances may be. The Church is a place of refuge, to come and find peace and answers to life\u2019s questions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both apostles reminded viewers of the promises Latter-day Saints make in choosing to follow Christ \u2014 among them to live a chaste life, but also to simply be kind. Elder Oaks condemned verbal and physical abuse toward those who are gay, encouraging the audience to confront disagreement \u201cin an atmosphere of love.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe most important label any of us can carry throughout our life is \u2018I am a child of God,\u2019\u201d Elder Oaks said. \u201cThat\u2019s the important label that stays with us all our lives. We shouldn\u2019t label ourselves as \u2018anti this or that,\u2019 but carry on as children of God and realize that all of us have temptations, problems, inclinations [and] burdens we are wrestling with.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elder Oaks also fielded a question from a woman in Utah about whether women can and should pursue both family and career. Pointing to the experience of his mother, who was fortunate to have a college degree when her husband died when Elder Oaks was 7, he said there\u2019s no reason a woman can\u2019t have both.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe contest is not between a family and a career. And it\u2019s not between a family and education. Women can have both,\u201d Elder Oaks said. \u201cThe question is timing in the individual circumstances. I\u2019m glad my mother had both an education and a family. In other individual circumstances, it may work out differently. But in the timing of our individual lives, we don\u2019t have to choose one or another.\u201d<\/p>\n

The apostles answered a wide variety of other questions from young adults in Peru, Mexico, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Uganda, California, New York and Utah. Of some 4,000 questions submitted prior to the broadcast, others chosen touched on topics of how to gain knowledge of spiritual truth, understanding the difference between genuine questions and doubts, how to deal with anxiety, what the Church is doing to foster historical transparency and how to help others keep the faith.<\/p>\n

Watch the full broadcast from Logan, Utah, of Elder Oaks and Elder Ballard.<\/p>\n