In a rare public announcement last week, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said it would endorse anti-discrimination laws that protect the LGBT community, provided that the same rights were extended to those acting on faith convictions.
According to CNN, Mormon leaders last week pledged to support anti-discrimination laws for gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people. There was one caveat, however; the laws must also protect the rights of religious groups.
The American Pastors Network (APN, americanpastorsnetwork.net
“Increasingly, we’ve seen churches and other religious groups distance themselves from God’s commands in order to accommodate the culture,” said APN President Sam Rohrer, who is also President of the Pennsylvania Pastors Network (PPN, papastors.net). “But once anyone or any organization sets aside biblical standards for cultural considerations, God’s blessings cease and His discipline begins. When Truth is compromised, the light goes out and the culture decays. Endorsing special protections for the homosexual community is a compromising of the Truth and a step toward validating the gay lifestyle.”
According to a 2014 report by the Pew Research Center on where major religions stand on same-sex marriage, many churches now either endorse same-sex unions, openly sanction same-sex marriage, or allow individual ministers to make their own decisions. These include the Episcopal Church, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the United Church of Christ, the Unitarian Universalist Association of Churches, the Society of Friends (Quakers), the Reform Jewish Movement and the Conservative Jewish Movement.
The Mormon Church has not necessarily joined the ranks of the above, as it continues to oppose same-sex unions as “contrary to the laws of God.” However, Mormon leaders endorsed the Boy Scouts’ decision to allow gay scouts in 2013. “The Book of Mormon” and “Doctrine and Covenants,” two publications that the LDS Church considers to be Scripture, are silent on subjects specific to homosexuality.
“Certainly this is not the only area where major denominations, organizations and individuals stray from God’s Word,” Rohrer continued, “but the pattern is clear. Seeking to avoid controversial topics, Truth is compromised if not fully rejected. There is no room in God’s justice for compromise on the moral standards He has established. History shows that cultures decay not from singular events but an incremental ceding of Truth and corrupting of God-established universal moral standards. The return to God’s blessing as a nation will occur when individuals, led by pastors in the pulpit, once again preach the ‘whole counsel’ of God and understand that blessing arises only from complete obedience to God’s Word.”
The American Pastors Network is the largest, national network of pastors who believe in the authority of scripture; who boldly preach the whole counsel of God with a disciplined application of a biblical worldview to public policy; who are building a permanent infrastructure of biblically faithful pastors and lay leaders; and who are mobilizing congregations to participate in the political process on a non-partisan basis. For more information on APN, visit americanpastorsnetwork.net.
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