I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. AKA Mormon. I understand and I believe the teachings of my religion. After all, religion is a choice and if I didn't believe it or love it I have the choice to not attend church, not read my scriptures, not participate in church activities. Religion is a choice. However, when you choose to belong to and be a member of a church, you do not get a choice as to what you believe. You either believe the teachings completely or you don't really believe at all. This is why I'm having a really really really hard time with the LDS mother who wrote about how the song "Let It Go" from Frozen was only put in the movie to promote a homosexual lifestyle. Really? Because of this she is choosing, which is her right, to keep this movie from her children. This is her opinion, and I understand and respect that, but lucky for her I also have an opinion about this very same topic. My advice and my comments to her... LET IT GO!!!!
In my church we believe that marriage is between a man and a woman. However, we also believe in loving one another regardless of lifestyle choices. Whether a person is gay or straight, whether religious or not, whether they are divorced or married, Republican or Democrat, whether they have a rough past or not, our Heavenly Father asks that we love our neighbor. Now, I highly doubt that "Let It Go" was written with a gay agenda. Capital B and Capital S. I believe that every person has had a time if their life when they are faced with difficult changes and during that time they are required to let things go and to move on and to experiment and discover who they really are and what the right life path for them is. That is life. And that song perfectly demonstrates that. In fact as silly as it it, that song has helped me move on from some of my past. It has helped me realize that I can let it go, stop trying to appear to be perfect and that I can still be great and wonderful despite my past. I think that it is people like that, who refuse to demonstrate the teachings of the church, who give Mormon's a bad rap. So many of my closest friends do not share my faith and they are some of the best people! In fact they are less judgmental and more kind and loving and accepting than almost everyone in Rexburg (where I live) who are LDS. I have never lived in such a judgmental community and it shames me. It makes me really sad, because we are taught to love everyone, but it seems as though as soon as a person makes perhaps a mistake, or they choose to live a different lifestyle many LDS people forget to love them still and instead turn to judgement. Maybe it's my fear of being judged myself that keeps me from judging others, but I love everyone! Well... mostly. Unless you've screwed me over big time or have demonstrated something incredibly evil or if you hate Les Miserables or Taco Bell, I can respect you. I can understand you. I can love you. Speaking of Les Miserables, I also ran across this clip this morning and it combines one of my true loves in life and also one of my husband's, Wolverine. Isn't Hugh Jackman the best?
I read this article this morning and it broke my heart. There are lots of Latter-Day Saints who are gay and choose to still live worthily, and then are treated like a disease. Seriously? Why? Why would we treat a young 13 year old boy like he is garbage? There is no reason and no justification for that. The treatment that this child and his family received does not demonstrate love and it does not set an example of my religion. Maybe I have the understanding that I have because I grew up in what we call "the mission field". I didn't grow up in the "Mormon bubble" of Utah and Idaho, thank goodness! I grew up where being a member of the church made me a minority, and I was able to experience life. I was able to learn about others and to love others regardless of religion, sexual orientation or race. My mom taught me to love everyone. My mom also sets such a fantastic example of love. She hugs everyone she sees. She doesn't care if you haven't bathed in weeks or if you have lice, she will hug you and love you and make you feel special. What an amazing gift. What an amazing blessing that I have in my own life to have been raised by such a wonderful woman!
I recently saw of Facebook a mother asking for people to support her in asking the local grocery store to move the location of their wine selection because it is currently placed directly across from the juice and she was tired of explaining to her children what alcohol is. God bless those poor children. We cannot live in a world where we hide everything from our children. We cannot not teach them and expect them to go out into the world and to make good decisions. They will not completely understand. If we shelter our children like that we are losing out on so many teaching opportunities. We are not teaching our children the difference between right and wrong, we are not teaching our children to love one another. Basically, we aren't teaching them the gospel. We are picking and choosing what we teach them, and that's not true religion. I understand that this is all my opinion and it's how I feel and you may think I'm wrong, but I am choosing not to hide the truth or the world from my child. I am going to teach her everything about the world, but I am going to teach her to be not of the world. I can introduce her to challenges and life without promoting evil.
I am not going to keep Aniston from watching Disney movies because I'm afraid she is going to "dress in drag and do the hula" or that she is going to decide that she can cut her hair off and pretend to be a man. I don't think Disney movies have ever had bad intentions. Disney is amazing! When I think about my time in Disneyland, you see some rough people there. But you never hear swearing, I have never felt judged, people just love because they can feel the love and wholesomeness of Disney. Really give me anything and I will make it evil. I can make anything sound bad like that mom chose to do with Frozen, but I choose to see the positives to see the love and to set an example that I think will benefit my child and others around me in the future. I will teach my child to be in the world and not of the world. And I will be there for her when she has questions and I will answer them honestly. I won't be making up some crazy stories about a stork. I will catch her when she falls and I will help her to be strong. I will teach her to LOVE.
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