Sensitive subjects this week! But it was so good to be able to discuss these in class. I'm grateful for the opportunity to study the words of the prophets concerning these subjects. Finals are coming up and it's crunch time, so I'll just share a few things I liked.
"By abortion, the mother kills even her own child to solve her problems. And, by abortion, the father is told that he does not have to take any responsibility at all for the child he has brought into the world. That father is likely to put other women into the same trouble. So abortion leads to abortion. Any country that accepts abortion is not teaching its people to love but to use violence to get what they want. This is why the greatest destroyer of love and peace is abortion."
~ Mother Teresa
The church recognizes that there are some circumstances where an abortion is acceptable: for example, if pregnancy is caused by incest or rape or if the mother or fetus's life is endangered by the continuation of the pregnancy. In class we discussed why it would be acceptable to have an abortion in those cases; we talked about how a woman's agency is violated by incest and rape and how emotionally and psychologically trying it would be to raise the child of one's attacker. I appreciated how one woman in my class pointed out that even giving the option of abortion to church members in those cases is an emotional relief; the woman may not go through with the abortion, but she is able to use her agency to choose not to do so, and that may be the greatest help to her.
In the end, abortion is not a right or a political means or environmentalist technique to reduce overpopulation; it is the ending of a sacred life to shun responsibility.
We as Latter-day saints must let our voices be heard in respectful opposition to abortion. We must pray for a testimony of the sanctity of life and the plan of salvation, as well as the strength to follow the prophet's counsel.
Finally, we must not be violent in our opposition. Some organizations have bombed abortion clinics and shot doctors that have performed abortion procedures, but this is not the Lord's way.
Same-sex attraction:
The main thing I took away from this discussion was that people who struggle with homosexuality are NOT bad people! We all have different trials and tendencies that we need to overcome in this life; same-sex attraction is a serious conflict for many people today.
President Gordon B. Hinckley urged church members that struggle with homosexuality to know that we love them. He asked the church to give these members their fellowship and support.
It is possible to live a righteous, temple-worthy life and still have these feelings; the feelings themselves are not sinful, but entertaining them and acting upon them is.
Family members of those who confess homosexual tendencies:
1. Moderate your response to this declaration. Be grateful that the person is willing to share this burden with you.
2. Study what the church teaches on this subject; gain a testimony of the Atonement and change.
3. Maintain your love and concern for this person, but do not change your belief that homesexual activity is wrong.
4. Encourage that individual to seek counsel from the bishop.
5. Help your friend or family member gain other sources of support.
6. Don't try to take control of the situation. Encourage and be patient. Demonstrate love unfeigned.
7. Keep communicating; don't cut the person off from the family or out of your life.
8. Pray trustingly to Heavenly Father.
9. Never give up a loved one, no matter what lifestyle they may choose.
We have our agency, and with the help of the Lord anything is possible. I need to be more accepting of those that have same-sex attraction issues. I am more motivated to think of them as children of God that have a struggle just like you or I.
Love you all!
