Gay Mormons are not the problem. Small-minded religious paradigms are
The Church of Latter-Day Saints needs a more productive ways to deal with adherents’ critiques than excommunicating us
Kate Kelly and John Dehlin both faced excommunication for critiquing the Mormon church’s stance on women and LGBT people. Photograph: Courtesy of Kate Kelly
Friday 6 February 2015 11.45 EST
Kate Kelly
As a young Mormon girl I was taught a powerful hymn, and the chorus became ingrained in my life: “Do what is right; let the consequence follow.” Paradoxically, speaking out against gender inequality in the Church and founding a group called Ordain Women is what led to my excommunication from the Mormon Church in June 2014. But it was my Mormon upbringing and sense of personal integrity that helped me stick to my principles even in the face of being forcibly ejected from my community. Mormons, after all, do what is right and we let the consequences follow.
Now, a dear friend is facing a church trial for supporting marginalized Mormons and the ordination of women. John Dehlin, a popular Mormon podcaster, LGBT ally and supporter of the fight to ordain women, is on the proverbial chopping block. His trial for “apostasy” is scheduled for Sunday in Utah . I can acutely relate to the excruciating path Dehlin is facing because of the painful road I’ve traveled this year. Expulsion from your faith community is agonizing, no matter how rooted in your convictions you are. Excommunication is particularly heartbreaking when the negative effects go beyond you and your immediate family, engulfing a worldwide community deeply tied to the movement for equality.
The disciplinary process in the Mormon church is simply a draconian form of bullying. Punishing people for questioning women’s rights in the church, or daring to think gay people should be treated as equals, is disgraceful. As Mormon author Joanna Brooks said, forcibly silencing dissent through coercive means is, “a 15th Century solution to a 21st Century problem.”
Dehlin is speaking out on important issues that are a matter of life and death to many; the honorable response is not spiritually shooting the messenger. A healthy organization would grapple with these issues in a transparent way that would move the entire Mormon community forward. Mormon scripture explicitly condemns those in positions of power who “exercise control or dominion or compulsion” over others, and says, “Amen to the priesthood or the authority of that [person].” (Doctrine & Covenants 121:37)
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/feb/06/gay-mormons-not-the-problem-small-minded-religious-paradigms
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