We have a great family. We know we do. We need to apologize to them right now. Our last blog post hurt a lot of people in the family. That was not our intention. Our praise and thanks in the post were meant for our loved ones. We were very careful with our wording and trying to keep things positive but we realize it didn’t come across that way.
The sadness we felt during the election was specifically related to the belief that sometimes it is OK to do immoral things for a moral cause. If you feel that doesn’t apply to you, then it wasn’t meant for you. I can see how our post sounded like a blanket judgment. Really we were writing about very specific circumstances. It made us so sad partly because it was so rare.
We’ve had a lot of chances lately to talk to family and friends about political issues. We are sincerely grateful to everyone for sharing their beliefs. We keep coming to you or asking you because we respect you! Our family members are good examples of people who care about this country and want to see it moving in a moral direction. We agree with them 100%!
We don’t all agree in our political opinions. But that’s not what’s important, is it? The important thing is that we value each others’ opinions.
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Forgive me for jumping in when you might want the debate to be over, but I just read your last post along with the comments. I just need to write out some of my thoughts…
I get the feeling that you are saying the supporters of Prop 8 are the ones spreading lies, am I correct in thinking that? Elisa said, “It is my understanding that leaders of the Mormon Church have encouraged its members to do whatever they can to support the proposition to preserve the “ideal†of marriage. It would benefit us all if our focus were on strengthening marriage and teaching the positive things gained from traditional marriage rather than disparaging good well-meaning relationships of homosexuals.”
While the idea of focusing our efforts on strengthening marriages is great, that’s not the issue at hand. Prop 8 was up for vote — and of course the church is going to do whatever is needed to get it to pass right here and now. The family is what our church is all about. I don’t believe the church came out and focused their efforts on disparaging good well-meaning relationships of homosexuals. They focused their efforts on getting Prop 8 to pass because that is what we believe! It was crucial that the church step in and while there is horrible backlash going on, it’s nothing we haven’t experienced before. I don’t believe the church’s priority is to be “well liked” by the world. We have our values and beliefs and we will defend them even when “unpopular”. Do you disagree with the church getting involved? I know there are many people who are upset about the church’s involvement (members) and many who have left the church or are struggling right now because of it.
I found the mormonsformarriage website a few weeks ago and did not feel good about the things written on there at all. In fact, I was upset for a few days afterward. Chad, did you read the comments going on? Some called the church a cult and many even went so far as to say that the prophet is only human and “makes mistakes.” Unbelieveable! Call me naive, but the way I look at it is this… if you sustain the Prophet of our church, then you will follow his counsel and when he says to “do whatever you can to make sure Prop 8 passes” then you do! Of course, we all have our free agency and our own minds to think as we may — this is a personal and sensitive issue for so many people. We can educate ourselves all we want on “issues” but when the Prophet takes a stand…
This is much longer than I wanted and again, sorry I stepped in late. I really have no desire to continue the dialogue (even though I have, I guess) but this issue has really bothered me for many different reasons. It’s just a tough thing to talk about.
And, even though you have yet to come out and state your stance, I think it’s pretty obvious to everyone how you would vote- am I wrong? I don’t think you’re just playing devil’s advocate … and really, what would be the point in that? Those who support prop 8 are not gay-haters. At least not the ones I know. I really dislike how people say that yes on 8 equals hate for gays. As a side note, I’m curious to know what it’s like at the office – is this a big topic of interest since your company came out with a clear stance? Do any of the employees discuss supporting the prop?
Alright, I’ve said enough. My silly brain needs to go to sleep. Will you please post more pictures of little Eden? That’s what we really want to see!! 🙂
Holy Majolies! There are sure a lot of posts here. BTW to everyone I emailed Chad an email yesterday and he actually called me today, so I think things are cleared up for me- so I apologize for the lack of clarification between this post and my last one.
I think Chad and I simply disagree with the Parker family video. That seems to be really where the “beef” is. And thats fine. I think origionally I had the impression he had a problem with the Proclamation on the Family. Nope-pers- just an overly emotional fellow named Mr. Parker. This wasn’t a church produced video- just to clarify. And yah, alot of our Yes on 8 commercials are not lies, but they are overly cheesey.
I hope no one thought I was mad at Chad (that rhymes). It’s hard to convey positive emotion in writing without lots of smilies and exclamation points !!! 🙂 !!! 🙂
In conclusion, I drank way to much egg nog.
p.s. I am pretty much done talking politics, but I do have more random thoughts on same gender issues. Let me know if you would like me to post it on marriagelogic or whatever. Nothing special, just thoughts.
Christen: We’re happy to see you post! No one’s being forced to read this if they are tired of the issue. 🙂 I, for one, still have a lot of thinking to do before this ever appears on a ballot in my state.
I’m very sorry it sounded like we were singling out the Yes-on-8 campaign as being more negative, because I don’t believe that’s the case. That kind of question distracts too much from the point of the blog, which was to appreciate all the positive campaigning that is done on both sides. Every year there is going to be more mud-flinging in politics than the year before. So I think we are going to have to try harder every year to concentrate on the positive influences that we see–both on “our” side and the “other” side.
I agree with your appraisal of MormonsForMarriage, because on the whole I don’t think it is a wholesome site. I wouldn’t recommend anyone go browsing around there if they are looking for inspiration.
I don’t want to say how I would vote or why, and no one is likely to guess on their own.
As to your question about my work, Prop 8 was only rarely talked about. Lots of people that read this blog could not stomach the things that are said about it inside Google.
Rachel, I hope you don’t feel responsible for any discord. You’ve been so sweet to everybody, and I’m sure no one could be offended by any of your comments. Keep writing!
Chad, you are always so good at expressing yourself in a non-offensive way. These discussions remind me of a Mr. Francis class – lots of good, wholesome debate. You and Nate Cannon always had very good arguments that were never offensive or impassioned. I always looked up to you guys for that.
November 13, 2008 @ 6:00 am
Yo,
Rachel says you guys are coming to California in a bit. Nice. I know you probably have a booked schedule and time is scarce, but we’d love to sneek in some time with you guys. We’ll have to be in touch about the details.
We can even talk about one of the different propositions. Like prop 2, dealing with chickens sharing cages and being able to turn around.
-Brett