Whether you like it or not, things are happening, my friends. A dear friend of mine posted a facebook status earlier today informing her friends that she will not be shopping at Target for the entire month of June because they have released a Pride line, and proceeds collected from that line in the month of June will be donated to the Family Equality Council. While I adore this friend and in no way wish to single her out, this just makes me want to go buy a few of those Harmony t-shirts.
Now, while I agree with the Church's stance about the importance of family, I do not always agree with the exact definition. I learned right around the time I was about to graduate from high school that friends are the family you choose. I have a huge, amazing, warm and loving family of all shapes and sizes, and I want them to know that I love them. So much. I don't care what anyone says about what constitutes a family. Casey and I are a family, even though there are only two of us. All my friends are my family. If you're reading this, I probably consider you family, too. My family is my family.
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| Although, not all families should get to do whatever they want. via |
I don't think the government has the right to tell me who is and isn't my family. I don't think they should tell anyone in love that they can't have a family. (Also, if we're supposed to be "protecting the sanctity of marriage," who is going to be in charge of keeping Kim Kardashian away from her next victim?)
Now, I don't want to pick any fights or start anything, so back to the message at hand. Love. Respect. Support. It's everywhere. If you don't have it, find it. As the woman in the video on Fox13 mentioned (see the first link), Utah has "the highest teen suicide rate in the nation."
This, my friends, is not okay. A recent Mormon Matters podcast on suicide talks a lot about this, and specifically mentions that many of these suicides are a result of teens coming out to their parents and being kicked out, having nowhere to go. I would hope that if I had ever been in such a situation (and I thought my teen years were hard) that my parents would still have loved me and taken care of me.
Joanna Brooks on her blog Ask Mormon Girl put it so well in her post here, speaking about the famous near-sacrifice of Isaac at the hand of his father, Abraham. "When God spoke, the child sacrifice ended... What would happen if parents refused to sacrifice their children or their relationships with their children in the name of God?"
Parents, family members, friends, leaders, etc. We do not have to sacrifice any relationship--especially not those of our own flesh and blood--to be stronger in the Church or to look better in the eyes of our own parents, family members, friends, leaders, etc. The message is love. It is now, it was for Christ, and it always should be.
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| Um, I think you missed the point. |
Mormons Building Bridges has the right idea if you ask me. Whatever happened to the Sunday School lessons on charity? Or at least practical application?
