I have always wondered how gay men of hold handled relationships and their lives. I am sure we all understand that homosexuality was much less accepted societally than it is today. My father thinks that it is because the world is getting more wicked--which could be the case. Or, it could be because the world is learning to become more Christlike and learn to love everyone. Regardless of what the world is becoming, or how many openly gay men there are compared to in the past, the point is is that there were gay people in the past. Some were brave enough to live openly...albeit it in their own homes or abroad.
The other day, I stumbled across a beautiful website. It's called Woolf and Wilde. They chronicle homosexual relationships as far back as the early 1800s. They include pictures and either poems that relate to the photo or, a first hand account of what the photo is.
To me, their entire website simply shows, that gay men and women--even when faced with a greater social adversity than we do--still found love. They still were able to find someone whom they could appreciate, care for, and cherish. And to me, they seemed happy.
Now, what does this have to do with the Book of Mormon? I just love how some members of the Church say things like, "Being gay is wrong. It talks about it in the Book of Mormon." Actually, it doesn't. It never once explicitly states anything to do with homosexuality. Of course, it talks about sexual transgression, but that's another story.
But I've always wondered: What about the gay Nephites? The gay Jews? The gay Laminites? There had to have been at least one. And, I think I may have found him.
If you go to the book of Omni, chapter 1:25, you can read about Amaleki. He only wrote a few verses, but he had no seed. There's the kicker. No seed? No children. Did that mean he had a wife? I'm not sure. He could have been single.
What? A single man, no children, living in the time of the Nephites? Preposterous. He would have had to get married to receive all the blessings of eternal life, right? Well, maybe. We can tell that he was trusted enough by the church and his family to be in charge of the plates of brass until he died. Since he had no children, there was no one to give the plates to.
Could this man have been a gay Nephite? I would like to say so. If we can only speculate if he had a barren wife--thus producing no children--we can also speculate that he may have been gay.
To me, all of this gives me hope. The gay men of the past, who found ways to find love; the gay men in our Church's history and now; the knowledge that I have all help me continue on every day.
If these men can do it, so can we.
I found what you said about the world getting more Christlike very interesting. I really never thought of it that way. I mean, I didn't think that their were more openly gay people because the world was getting more wicked. I just thought that people where getting more accepting but I never thought of it as Christlike. But I think you are right. I mean...there is more hate created around the subject but that doesn't stop all the other people who are accepting from being Christlike. I think that the wickedness comes from those people who are willing to go out and stone people who don't agree with them.
ReplyDeleteKatrina,
ReplyDeleteYou're absolutely right.
Speaking about stoning--Did you know that if you talk back to your parents, they have the right to stone you?
Well, you are supposed to according to what's written in the bible.
I just think our lives would be pretty crazy if we followed everything that was written down in the bible or standard works and called it doctrine.
Does that make sense?
"I just think our lives would be pretty crazy if we followed everything that was written down in the bible or standard works and called it doctrine."
ReplyDeleteThat's a pretty bold statement Andy because I'm pretty sure the standard works are canon for a reason, but you really have to look at what the law is teaching and understand where it was coming from to recognise weather or not it was meant for us. For instance, most of the law of moses is just that, the law of moses, and was a lower law that was taught prepratory to the higher law that Jesus taught. But I think you could be safe to say that if we lived every law that was meant for us, the world would be a much better place.
It is an interesting point you raise about weather or not the world is getting more wicked or more Christ-like. Perhaps it is both? There are things that are better than they used to be. For instance, people are much more open minded of other cultures and races then we once were. It is also much easier to be a non-smoker because people are much more concious of what is and is not good for them, so living the word of wisdom is much less strange then it would have been 50 years ago. At the same time however, sex is much more culturally acceptable. The standards of things we see in television and the media has dropped too. I know where I am from, single adults at church seem to be going out clubbing much more then they were only a few years ago when I was the same age. The scriptures also say that the world *will* get more wicked before the second coming...
Nice posting man!
ReplyDelete@Tim--I think you're right when it comes down to living the letter of the law and the Spirit. I mean, if every single Mormon doctor refused to work on the Sabbath, there would be a lot of doctors unavailable on Sundays. I'm pretty sure that Maxwell--was he the one who was a heart surgeon?--worked on Sundays.
ReplyDeleteMy point is, of course, that even though the Bible and Mormon Doctrine command us to never work on Sundays, there are times that it is 100% absolutely necessary.
In addition, if we did live by everything written down in the Bible, parents would have the right to stone their children if they spoke out of turn. I do agree, however, that more revealed truth--aka, the more modern revelation--is correct for our day and age.
And again, I do believe it is better to live by the Spirit of the law, rather than by the Letter. But, that's just me and how I best deal with religious questions and situations.
The End
@AkGayN.LDS--Haha, thanks!
ReplyDeleteDoctors work on Sunday because it's good to do good on the Sabbath. They can't let the people die. Ambulances still have to pick up injured people and so many lives would be lost. That's why in the new testament, Jesus said it's lawful to do good on the Sabbath.
ReplyDelete