Mormon Church Wages New War Against Gays and Their Children

Like the Roman Catholic Church, the Mormon Church is more or less run by a bunch of bitter old men who take supreme joy in flexing their power over those in the pews and in punishing those who fail to adhere to their fairy tale beliefs (If the Bible is based on myth, the Book of Mormon is truly based on fairy tale).  Having lost the battle to stop civil law same sex marriage, the gaggle of old men at the top of the Mormon Church have decided to punish gays by attacking their children and barring them from participation in the Mormon Church until they reach 18 years of age and with the proviso that they dishtowel same sex marriage and, by extension, their parents.  Once again we see the least Christian conduct on display by those who most loudly proclaim their own piety.  Hopefully, what these bastards achieve will turn out to be an acceleration of the exodus Church members.  The New York Times looks at this ugly new tactic.  Here are highlights:

The changes to the Mormon handbook — disseminated last week to church leaders around the world — say that being in a same-sex marriage warrants ousting from the religion and that children of gay parents must wait until they are 18 and disavow homosexual relationships to be baptized.

The revisions set off a wave of anger, confusion and sadness for a growing faction of L.G.B.T.-supportive Mormons who were buoyed in recent years by church leaders’ calls for more love and understanding for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender members.

In a video interview posted Friday night on a church website, a Mormon leader, D. Todd Christofferson, said the changes had been prompted by questions that arose after the United States Supreme Court in June made gay marriage legal throughout the United States.

The church, he said, considers same-sex marriage a particularly egregious sin that requires mandatory church discipline.

“There was the need for a distinction to be made between what may be legal and what may be the law of the church and the law of the Lord,” said Mr. Christofferson, a member of the religion’s governing Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. “It’s a matter of being clear. It’s a matter of understanding right and wrong. It’s a matter of a firm policy that doesn’t allow for question and doubt.”

The new rules stipulate that children of parents in gay or lesbian relationships — be it marriage or just living together — can no longer receive blessings as infants or be baptized at about age 8. They can be baptized and serve missions once they turn 18, but only if they disavow the practice of same-sex relationships, no longer live with gay parents and get approval from their local leader and the highest leaders at church headquarters in Salt Lake City.

The handbook revisions also for the first time list being in a same-sex relationship as an offense that can lead to being ousted from the religion. This is a category known as apostasy, which until now has been reserved primarily for people who practice polygamy, teach inaccurate doctrine or publicly defy guidance from church leaders. 

Ms. Montgomery said news of the new rules left her son sobbing and forced her and her husband to consider leaving a religion they have been desperately trying to stay in, despite a harsh reception to their son’s coming out.

Ms. Montgomery echoed a response shared by many on social media: She can somewhat understand the hard stance on same-sex marriage, but she can’t comprehend singling out gay couples’ children.

“We just put a scarlet letter on these kids,” she said. “This isn’t my church. I don’t see God in it. I don’t see divinity it. It just feels evil.”

It is pure evil and sadly it reflects religion's main contribution to the world: hate, division, and the desperate attempt of the few to control the lives of the many.  A religion free world would be a better place.