My humble thoughts...

Things have been getting a little crazy with Prop 8. Some of my thoughts...should anyone care to read them... are as follows;this is a very emotional and difficult issue for a lot of people. This is not an issue where there is a clear right or wrong in the minds of many people. It's not like deciding if we should pass a bond measure to build another school or something political. This is not political, it's moral. That is where the problem is...it's difficult to argue a moral issue with people who don't have the same values as you do or really the same religious views. I do not want to offend people, but at the same time I don't want to have something I hold sacred, my marriage, mocked. That is the problem. I have dear friends who are gay, I adore them, I want the best for them and want them to find happiness in their lives although I don't agree with their lifestyle. There are plenty of heterosexual couples that don't respect marriage, that cheat on each other and I don't agree with that either. But cheating on a spouse is not being put up to a vote deciding that people who do cheat are just as moral as those who don't and cheating should be recognized as being okay by a traditionally religious ceremony as if to say that God thinks it's okay....and if it were recognized as a moral way to behave, it is taught to my children in school that cheating on your spouse is a perfectly good way to behave. I know that sounds ridiculous, but that is how I see this issue. Some gay couples will sue religious institutions who refuse to adopt to them causing them to have to shut their doors, or sue doctors who refuse to artificially inseminate them. It has been happening in states where gay marriage is legal. In the future will they sue pastors, priests, ministers and other clergy who refuse to marry them? Not all but I'm sure it will happen. I know some people think that that is fine because they feel that it is discrimination...what about disregarding the religious views of others? Since when do we have to condone immoral behavior by law and ignore our good conscience? Isn't that discrimination too? Being force by law to teach something or do something that is so against our religious beliefs, isn't that wrong? Under California law gay couples already have all of the same rights and benefits as any other couple. The only difference is the wording of the union. Now they want to take the word marriage, which has a sacred religious significance to so many, so they can feel like religious people must accept their lifestyle as being morally clean. In doing so it opens doors to take rights away from religious people who feel gay marriage is wrong. I am really sorry, I hate to offend people, but it is wrong. Now this is where the argument of beliefs comes in. I believe that God created man and woman to work together, to have families, to become one under a sacred covenant. I believe that we all have weaknesses and temptations in different areas. I believe that just because we have a weakness for something, or tendencies toward something...it doesn't mean we are just that way, or it's not a choice so it's okay to give in. I know some temptations are terrible and strong but we all have the choice to give in or not to give in. I know the Bible is true, I know the Book of Mormon is true, and I know we have a living prophet, Thomas S Monson, who guides us through revelation from our Savior who loves all of us more than we can understand. He sees a bigger picture than we do and knows the direction this will take our country. I know that many LDS people have struggled with their support of Prop 8, hence the special broadcast to further explain the church's position. We are a people who are sensitive to discrimination and intolerance because of our history. We are still teased and made fun of because of our beliefs. But we do not force our beliefs on others...we don't pass laws to teach children in school that our church is the true one or sue people for discrimination who don't listen to the missionaries. Should gay people be teased and targeted for violence? Absolutely not. Should their beliefs be forced on me and my family as being correct? Again, I have to say absolutely not. I know many people won't agree with me and that's okay and I respect that. Sometimes I just think we need to stand up for what we believe in even if it's a hard thing to do.