A voice of sanity attempts to bridge the LDS/LGBT divide!

I like this very, very much, and I recommend it highly:

http://www.flirtingwithcuriosity.org/?p=208

Things would be so much better if it were understood that neither the leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, nor the Church’s mainstream membership, nor opponents of gay marriage, nor the vast majority of homosexuals are people of ill-will motivated by hatred and a desire to cause pain.

Heck, the proposition ought not to be even controversial.

Just imagine, though, how much less anguished and angry many of the conversations of the past days would have been had all of those involved in them simply adopted so transparently obvious a premise.

“Disgusting,” “sick,” “hateful,” “cruel” — these are a few of the adjectives that I’ve seen applied to the newly-announced Church policy regarding homosexual couples and their children.

“The Mormon leaders have gone mad with hatred,” says one commenter.

I’m seeing predictions of horrors and cruelties to be visited upon innocent children that I’m absolutely certain aren’t intended by the Brethren or this policy and that I’m quite confident won’t actually occur.

I wish people could ratchet it down a bit.  I strongly advise everybody to calm down, wait, and see how the new policy plays out.

There’s been a lot of inflammatory stuff thrown about, and a lot of angry words have been spoken and written.

But come on.  The Brethren haven’t suddenly taken leave of their senses or turned into monsters.  The very leaders who’ve been supporting legal accommodations to guarantee the civil rights of homosexuals and taking other related steps (as discussed, for instance, here, here, here, and here) haven’t abruptly “gone mad with hatred.”

That assertion is simply absurd.

Some critics, of course, assume that Church leaders long been either insane or monstrous or both.  But reasonable people know better.

The General Authorities are good men, sincerely and prayerfully trying to do their best.  But even if you don’t believe that, surely it’s unlikely that they’re all crazy, or, all of a sudden, out of the blue, collectively drunk with stupidly self-destructive hatred.

They aren’t denying salvation to children, or branding children “sinners,” or trying to punish parents through their children, or demanding that children publicly denounce their parents, or wanting to hurt children, or anything of the sort.

Even if you think them wrong and the policy mistaken, surely the charitable thing would be to grant their basic good will and sincerity.  That’s a pretty fundamental starting point for any kind of conversation or human interaction, unless and until there’s powerful evidence to the contrary.

And, for believers who’re upset, the words “Be still and know that I am God” ought to be helpful.

I remain quite confident that there isn’t going to be mass suffering as a result of this newly-announced policy, and that it was never the intent to cause harm or agony.  Let’s see how it actually goes.  However, if sensational and inflammatory rhetoric is allowed to turn this into a kind of “total war,” there will be a great deal of damage done.  To everybody, all around.