Politics, Religion....Life

I was up at 4:30 this morning tossing and turning trying to go back to sleep but not able to turn my mind off. I couldn't sleep because of this blog post rolling around in my head. I lay there until 6:00am at which time I got out my tablet and started reading (I should have got out my scriptures but I wanted to do research on the thoughts in my head) at 7:00am I went for my Friday 5 mile run to clear my head which didn't really work because I ran the whole way thinking about this post.

I said awhile ago that I post when something is on my mind a lot or really important to me. So here I am again with something on my mind making it hard for me to sleep and something very important to me.


I read yesterday a discussion on facebook about Gay and Lesbian Marriage. I need to learn to stay off of facebook. Anyway one of the comments made during this discussion was the need to take religion out of politics. I have heard this argument before and will hear it again especially when it comes to disagreements because of beliefs. There may be many who agree with the comment. For me, it doesn't make sense. I don't know what it means or how one would do that.


My religion is not just some place I go on Sundays to do what I call worshiping my God. It is not just a belief system that I have that I can use for my benefit or discard when it is not beneficial to me. My religion is the gospel of Jesus Christ, taught by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints which I am a member of because I performed ordinances and entered into covenants with my God only by the authority of the Holy Melchizedek priesthood. It is my life. It is my moral compass, it influences my daily interactions with my children, my husband, my friends in and out of the church. It influences the clothes I buy and wear, the way I speak, the way my children speak, what I read, what I watch, what I do and how I live. To really claim to have a religion, I believe it should be this way---- your life.


Our founding fathers when drafting the constitution and then trying to get it ratified did not take religion out of the process. It was their life. Their strong belief in God is what helped them write it and get it ratified.

Washington called religion, as the source of morality, "a necessary spring of popular government," while Adams claimed that statesmen "may plan and speculate for Liberty, but it is Religion and Morality alone, which can establish the Principles upon which Freedom can securely stand."

Benjamin Franklin said during the constitutional convention "the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this Truth--that God governs in the Affairs of Men." "I also believe," Franklin continued, that "without his concurring Aid, we shall succeed in this political Building no better than the Builders of Babel."


So why do some want us to take our religious beliefs out of politics? Because if we can separate out the different aspects of our lives that way then we should have no problems with things like the Affordable Health Care Act which infringes upon religious freedom as the Catholic church has found with the birth control coverage. It doesn't matter if it is a firmly held religious practice and belief not to use it or support its use, they now have to provide the coverage of it for their employees and students attending THEIR schools. And what happens if the board in charge of what is covered decides to allow coverage of abortions for everyone then our premiums go to pay for abortions when we may have firmly held religious beliefs that that is wrong. That is an infringement on our religious freedom.

Gay and lesbian Marriage does the same thing. As I said before I am a member of the LDS church which strongly defends traditional marriage. It is not because of a hatred for Gay and lesbians. I do not hate gays and lesbians. We aren't opposed to them having certain rights that they are fighting for. But we can't be silent on something which interferes with our doctrines, for instance we know that marriage should be between a man and a woman and also that children have the right to be raised by a mother and father and any other situation, although there are many, are not as healthy for the children, more than this though, marriages and families are to last beyond the grave.  The only families that can last beyond the grave are those who have been sealed together by the Spirit of Promise in the temples of God.  This can be done after a couple dies or here on earth.  But, it can only be done for families living God's laws, keeping his commandments and their covenants.

The LDS church released a statement in 2008 which said

"We are not anti-gay, we are pro-marriage between a man and a woman. And there's a huge difference between those two points," Elder L. Whitney Clayton, of the Presidency of the Quorum of the Seventy told KSL News.

One day after last year's election -- in which the Church supported California's Proposition 8 -- Elder Clayton stressed the support of traditional marriage.

The Church's First Presidency also released a statement, which reads, in part, that the Church "does not object to rights for same-sex couples regarding hospitalization and medical care, fair housing and employment rights or probate rights."


Elder Ballard said in an interview during a temple open house (which is before a temple is dedicated unto the Lord people can go in and view the rooms inside the temple) when asked about our stance on gay and lesbian marriages in a room where marriages are performed and families sealed together for eternity...

"It is 'for all time and eternity,' as Ballard puts it. 'And the families are to be together forever.' It is 'not just an earthly matter,' he adds."

"'That sense of eternity is symbolized by two massive mirrors on opposite walls. Couples look in them and see cascading reflections that seem infinite.'

"Eternal marriage for Mormons always involves a man and a woman. "That's exactly as God declared it," Ballard says. "Because only between a man and a woman can children be born. And children are inheritance of the Lord."

"'There is some very careful study, very careful evaluation being made, as to what would be appropriate and what isn't doctrinally,' Ballard answers. 'But if anything interferes with the basic fundamental principle of marriage being between man and a woman, doctrinally we're locked in. We don't have the capacity to call upon God and tell him to change his mind, that he made a mistake.'"

Just like we cannot ask God to change His mind. He is the same yesterday today and forever. We cannot take our religious beliefs out of different parts of our lives especially politics. Our religions should be a big part of us and that includes the things we do and say and our political beliefs as well. It should be our lives.


Our religious freedoms are being eroded away. We can't as a people sit back and let that happen, the consequences are too great. In the name of Jesus Christ Amen.