Protests at LA Temple

The No on 8 supporters are planning on protesting today at the Los Angeles Temple. This saddens me because our temple is a sacred place. For those of you that are not LDS, imagine something so close to your heart it aches to see it being disrespected, like your children or your spouse. imagine you child being protested and people holding up signs saying things filled with hate about them right in front of them. it truly hurts me to my core. They have a right to protest but i want to explain a little about this because there is some confusion on the Mormons involvement with prop 8. I hope this blog post will clarify some things for you. There have been many protests regarding the outcome of proposition 8 which is a state constitutional amendment that only recognizes marriage between a man and a woman. The protesters are preaching "love and acceptance" yet they have not been able to accept the fact the the people have chosen and the proposition was passed. They have also begun blaming the LDS church for their participation in the proposition. They held up signs that have said some very hurtful things regarding "The Mormons" One of the signs i saw on the news said "Go to Hell Mormons!" Now.... that's what i call love and acceptance! Click here for protest photos... http://www.foxnews.com/photoessay/0,4644,5585,00.html#1_0
Anyways... for those of my readers that are not LDS... the members of the LDS church gave 20 million dollars in support of prop 8. There were tons of other churches involved in the passing of prop 8. In fact... the proposition passed with 52% voter approval. The state of California is only 2% LDS. Yes... 2% so obviously a lot of other individuals/religious groups have helped this proposition to pass. Read my previous post for one example. Please read this official statement from our church regarding the outcome of prop 8. Click Here... http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/
I just want every one to know that our church does recognize that there is same gender attraction. Do we think it is a sin?.... the answer to that is NO! it is only a sin when acted on. Just like you may have feelings to steal something or hit some one or use unkind words. to have those feelings is not a sin. we are human and we all have struggles with something. some larger than others. it is only a sin when the thought is acted out. here is an article from our church on same gender attraction. http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/public-issues/same-gender-attraction
The church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has members in good standing (able to hold callings in church, go to the temple, etc) that have same gender attraction. we do not know the reason why these people are having to deal with these feelings. maybe we will never know in this life. I feel truly, truly sorry for anyone that is dealing with same gender attraction especially those that have remained in good standing with the church by not acting on their feelings. i do not know why they have to deal with this but their struggles are understood by our Heavenly Father and they will be blessed for their strength and courage to stay true to their faith.
I know that this is only the beginning of the backlash our church is going to receive regarding the passing of this proposition. We will not back down from our beliefs. We will stand up for what we feel is right. I just hope with all my heart that both sides can do this with civility and love. That is what my prayers are filled with this morning as protesters plan to stand in front of our sacred temple protesting the outcome of this proposition.