The Mormon Church announced minor changes to one of its new antigay policies Friday, but it may well not satisfy the many people offended by the church’s stand – hundreds of whom plan to resign their membership Saturday.
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Mormon Church officials have said the rules are meant to prevent children from being caught in a tug-of-war between teachings at home and church.
The new rules introduced by the church includes the refusal to baptise children of same-sex couples, even if the child is straight and estranged from their parents.
One policy prohibits the “natural or adopted” children of parents in same-sex relationships from receiving a name and a blessing in a ceremony performed by the Mormon priesthood, according to the handbook.
The rules, issued to local leaders around the world on November 5, prompted a flurry of discussion on Mormon websites, with the idea of targeting kids ruffling even conservative Latter-day Saints who rarely question church decisions. Both liberal and moderates Mormon gatherings have reprimanded the progressions.
Submitting the letter through an attorney allows these individuals to circumvent lower levels of church leadership and speeds up the process of resigning significantly.
“This is the first time I can remember disagreement with a Church policy cutting through the orthodox-heterodox divide”, said Lorie Winder Stromberg, a Mormon who is on the board of ordainwomen.org, a group advocating for Mormon women’s ordination.
The agenda posted on the Facebook page notes they will have tables for people to submit letters of resignation from the church and official notaries will be on hand.
“And in fact”, Wilcox says, “we took it very personally, in terms of immediate self-doubt that we had been leading people down a false path”.
Before the new policy regarding children of same-sex couples became public, Naugle had performed the service, pro bono, for about 300 people. “It’s giving them a grace period to make a decision on their own”.
Then the church issued the letter on its same-sex marriage policy and, last week, a juvenile court judge ordered a 9-month-old girl to be removed from her lesbian foster parents’ care and placed with an opposite-sex couple. She actually called for a meeting with Mormon church leaders to discuss their new “peculiar” policies. Leaders gave multiple speeches preaching a “fairness for all” approach that encourages compassion for gays while protecting religious liberties.
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Church authorities have not remarked on the progressions, but rather Mr. Mason said the backfire has been great to the point that congregation authorities may be compelled to change the guidelines.
