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[Anthesian]

Our Petition to the Leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints



The Constitution of the United States of America assures us that no person or group’s religious views are allowed to be binding on the public. It is vital that members of our society be able to express themselves according to the dictates of their own conscience and work to forestall enactment of laws and amendments that would reverse this capacity for any segment of the population.


Support of policies that seek to force the morality of our belief system on others who believe differently goes contrary to core doctrines of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as outlined in the Articles of Faith: “We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may,” and the Doctrine and Covenants: “We do not believe it just to mingle religious influence with civil government …” (Doctrine and Covenants 134:9). Our prophets, scriptures, and the history of our own people warn us of the destructive force that such actions can have. We are dismayed at the dilemma of choosing between our allegiance to leaders of the LDS Church and our own conscience on this matter.


We, the undersigned, have diverse views about the issue of same gender marriages but we stand united in the belief that each individual should have the civil right to marry the spouse of their choice and to have that union recognized by civil authorities. We affirm the LDS Church’s right to define doctrine and policy for its own members. However, we ask that the leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints cease their political organizing efforts and financial support of attempts to use the government to restrict the secular and religious rights of gay and lesbian individuals and publicly retract their request that members of the LDS Church support such measures.