Firstly, as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, more commonly known as the Mormon Church, I believe that gender is an essential characteristic of our identities. I believe that we are born male or female for a purpose, and that even our souls have a gender. I believe that gender is either male or female, there is no in-between or other. That's not to say that some men don't have more feminine characteristics, and some women don't have more masculine characteristics. I'm also not saying it's bad if that happens. I'm saying that when people start saying they're not male or female, or when men say that they're women (not jokingly), or women say they're men, I personally don't agree with that. This is not an attack on those people, and it's not to say that they're all evil, terrible people who are headed straight to Hell. That is NOT what I'm trying to say. I'm just saying I don't agree with it. I feel bad that they are confused. I feel bad that they may be made fun of for feeling that way. But, I don't agree with it. Anyhow, for those of you who wonder what the purpose of gender is, outside of a religious perspective, there actually has been a lot of research done on this topic. I've learned that without those gender roles, without those necessary divisions between men and women, society cannot function. Don't believe me? Research it. Don't GOOGLE it, RESEARCH it. You know, actually legitimately go find a study done about it. 90% of the stuff google comes up with is terribly biased and almost completely inaccurate. When doing a scientific study, if there is even a HINT of bias, you will not be published, so you can count on the research to tell the facts without a bias. So go research if you don't believe that gender roles are important, or that society benefits from differences in gender. In this class, I learned that it is needful for differing genders because they balance each other out. Men were created to be more logical, and women were created to be more emotional. This doesn't always happen, but on the whole men are more logical. The differences between our genders can be utilized to help improve ourselves, our relationships and society.
As for same sex attraction. I have learned a lot. I learned there's a difference between same sex attraction and being gay. The difference being that you can be attracted and not act on it, and when you act on it, that's when you're "labeled gay." I learned that we need to be more tolerant and accepting. We can't just dismiss people out of hand because we may not agree with their lifestyle. I learned that there is no biological component that "makes" someone gay or straight. My heart goes out to those who struggle with this. I know that people believe that Mormons hate gays, or that we're completely intolerant of them, or that we don't support them. I also know many Mormons who believe that the leaders of our Church will magically change their minds, and eventually say that being gay is okay, and that it's okay for gay people to get married. Well, that's not going to happen. There will never be a time where God will be okay with same sex marriage. The way I see it is, had there been a time foreseen where gay marriage would be okay, the church would not have released The Family Proclamation. The proclamation clearly states that marriage is between a man and a woman. Always has been, always will be. There are beautiful people out there who are gay, and I love them, and I think they're great people, and very fun. However, I don't agree with their lifestyle. You can still love someone and not be okay with the way they live their lives. You just have to draw a clear line. Let it be understood that you will be their friend, you will love and support them through anything, but you don't agree with people dating people of the same gender. If you still don't believe that Mormons don't support or even like gay people, feel free to check out their website. The Church has recently come out with a website concerning our beliefs with same sex attraction and gay people. The website says, "This official website does not offer a comprehensive explanation of everything related to same-sex attraction, but it does reflect the feelings of Church leaders as to how we should treat each other as part of the human family."
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