I'm at an age in my life of realizing these really are the last days and things are getting worse and will continue to do so. I'm not rearing children. I have a testimony. I sit and munch on popcorn and watch as prophesied events unfold all around me in the world. I feel rather grounded and settled. Not whipped around by every wind of doctrine. Enveloped in a peaceful cocoon in the midst of evil.
And then I heard a 21 year old woman bear her testimony this past Sunday. Then a sweet boy, looked to be 12, also shared his love of the Gospel and the Savior. Each shared a beautiful strong certain testimony of the Gospel and it hit me hard.-- The challenge that our youth have to resist what the world is promoting. They are constantly confronted with the oft-quoted fact that...
“Vice is a monster of so frightful mien,
As to be hated needs but to be seen;
Yet seen too oft, familiar with her face,
We first endure, then pity, then embrace.”
(Alexander Pope, “Essay on Man,” Epistle II, line 135.)
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"...solemnly proclaim that marriage between a man and woman is ordained of God....
my rude thinking was ...well, of course! what else would it be except a man and a woman being married?!
it didn't take very long for me to quickly repent as I watched the world unravel and see how prophetic and protective and emphatic and necessary those words are.
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Back in the early 1970's the Equal Rights Amendment- and a new word, Feminism- were introduced to us by the likes of Gloria Steinem and Betty Friedan. They tried to convince us that we were unhappy, being distinctly our female selves, in a Church run by men and championed for all women to break through the male-dominated culture and not be in bondage. As we tried to educate ourselves of how ERA passage would impact our personal lives and what would really be the resultant vote, one item we became concerned about was the draft and that Mother's would not be exempt. They saw nothing ill-advised about sending the Mom to war and letting the Father stay home. That happens nowadays and is rather commonplace. We felt that was not good for the family. I personally still feel that way.
Feeling that we needed to understand more and hearing that some group, seems it was with Church people somehow or other, was going to have a Conference in SLC and talk about the ERA. A friend and I decided to go and learn and come back and share with our group of women friends. She had a grocery store with a spare room and an outside entrance. So we had a garage sale and all brought items to sell. My friend and I booked a flight from AK to UT and headed into the unknown.
We attended several classes (was it on the BYU campus?) and then saw one listed that we wondered what it was about. I don't remember the name but I do remember the class. It was all gay LDS men. Most were returned Missionaries. All with testimonies. All pleading with us to petition the Prophet to allow them to go to the Temple and be sealed with the man of their choice. They even had formed a group of support. Evergreen. We were stunned. We had no idea that such an organization existed and we both opted to not go back and share the "disturbing" news of this class. (nowadays I would not be silent but 40 years ago that seemed right. to stay on task and not get off subject. We saw no connection with our life and the personal choices of these few people)
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The saga of Ellen Degeneres- probably about 25 years after the above trip.
In 1994 the standup comedienne had her own weekly TV show - "Ellen". In 1997 she decided to have her character come out and she in real life, would also acknowledge, that she was gay. She wrote the Emmy winning script, "The Puppy Episode". The show caused a furor of protest, ratings plummeted, the show was canceled by 1998 and she was pretty much blackballed.
In 1994 the standup comedienne had her own weekly TV show - "Ellen". In 1997 she decided to have her character come out and she in real life, would also acknowledge, that she was gay. She wrote the Emmy winning script, "The Puppy Episode". The show caused a furor of protest, ratings plummeted, the show was canceled by 1998 and she was pretty much blackballed.
In 2001 she eventually decides to go back to her comedic routine/roots and not be poster person for gays and gets a syndicated show "The Ellen Show" . Her popularity grows and the show flourishes.
In 2003 she gets an NBC daily talk show - "The Ellen Degeneres Show". Wins award after award after award.
In 2008 she became the Cover Girl for Cover Girl make-up etc.
and also....
In 2008 she showed on her daily afternoon talk show, the home movies, of her marriage to another woman. Like any other brides...the shopping, the rings, the cake etc. etc. I had to watch as I was just struck dumb that in 10 years....10 short years!....Standards and our society had gone from a show being canceled, because she had that segment, about announcing over a loudspeaker at an airport that her character was gay and so was she. Just move ahead those brief 10 years- her lesbian marriage is featured on her talk show! NBC publicized, approved, promoted, embraced the show!
In 2012, just recently, she was announced as the spokesman for family values for J.C.Penney. This caused a bit of a fuss and a bit of a flurry but just like the Cover Girl contract it will most likely die down. We will excitedly buy merchandise at greatly reduced prices and not be concerned about anything other than our purchasing power and getting more for our money. Maybe I should just speak for myself!
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It amazes me to see how subtle change can be and exactly like the earlier quote stated, I see things go from being rejected to being embraced. My own casualness sometimes alarms me!!!
In just this week I read...
1-The NY Times, yes- very liberal. has weddings featured, announced engagements etc. of homosexuals.
2-The TV show- the Cake Boss- featured the first two women to be married, at the stroke of midnight as the first couple to do so after gay marriages were legalized in NY.
3-Now WA is ready to join 7 other states and legalize same-sex marriages. Will I accept that as an inevitable event?
In today's modern Babylonian society we have Rosie O'Donnell with a daily talk show and she said frequently on the first few shows....this show is about families and not just lesbianism. So Ellen is no longer alone.
The Tony's, awarding Broadway's finest shows, opened with a gay man (recently married to a man. adopted 2 baby boys), promoting Broadway is "not just for gays anymore" throughout the extravagant song and dance number. It was more than disturbing to see in that huge production, what appeared to be Mormon Missionaries, in full dress suits/short hair/white shirts/ties/name-tags and holding Books of Mormon, while frolicking and singing the fact that show biz is not just for gays. In fairness there were also nuns cavorting about from another play and maybe some didn't like that either.
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As I see this encroaching and pervading our lives, my concern is for the rising generation. How will LDS parents teach their children, and most especially the youth, that even if their friends or family friends or family members are homosexual, and even if they are in love and want to be married, that we believe that is wrong? How will they teach them --a basic part of our religious conviction and testimony-- is based on marriage between a man and a woman. Also that marriage between a man and woman is essential to His eternal plan. Morality cannot be legislated. Making it legal doesn't make it moral.
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Spencer W. Kimball-
http://www.lds.org/ensign/1971/06/voices-of-the-past-of-the-present-of-the-future?lang=eng
http://www.lds.org/search?lang=eng&query=homosexuality
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