This LDS press release on scouting makes me feel sick

[MikeWaters]

Originally Posted by Archaea

The Church's response makes it worse, not better. Does the Church believe gay scout leaders are going to be coming out of the woodworks? There would still be Church sponsored troops.

Sometimes it seems as if nobody is thinking it through.WTF?!?

My guess is that the church is primarily concerned with its image of not being seen to condone gay sex. They don't say "gay sex". That's too crude. But since it's hard to express what they want to say, without saying it directly, they say "openly gay." And that confuses everyone. Because "openly gay" doesn't mean "gay sex."

I think these guys sit back and think, "are members, and the rest of the world, going to take away from this Boy Scout thing, that we are okay with gay marriage and gay sex? Well, we better say something here. We should not be afraid. We are representatives of Christ. We will now bow to the world."

And so forth. They've trapped themselves in the box of their own making. Where allowing Unitarians to have a gay scouting advancement coordinator in Massachusetts means that the LDS church has accepted "the gay agenda".

This is a messaging war. It's not about the boys. It's not about molestation. It's not about gay scoutmasters in LDS wards. It's not about gay camp counselors in summer camps.

It's about image. I don't think these guys want to be known as anti-gay. They just don't want to be seen as accepting of gay sex.

[MikeWaters]

More press.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/...b0a13f9d1abe5a

The LDS church, on the other hand, already runs a scouting program for young women. Utah-based conservative activist Gayle Ruzicka suggested the church may decide to create its own units for boys.

"There's not any reason why the church can't start their own boys' program — one that will teach the same things," she said.

I snorted when I read that the church has a scouting program for young women. LOL. Hardly.

[MikeWaters]

From the BCC article comments:

Julia S says:
July 29, 2015 at 1:04 pm
I think they used the word “doctrine” of the church on purpose. I got my August Ensign today and there are three articles on gay marriage. The first one in by Elder Nelsin and he states, “Disciples of the Lord are defenders of traditional marriage. We cannot yield.” He goes on to speak of judgement day for those who differ in opinion. I think it’s fair to say any conciliatory speech before this has been for show.

[MikeWaters]

Feminist Mormon Housewives:

http://www.feministmormonhousewives....scout-leaders/

If you read the comments you can see that many of these folks are not happy about the press release, but they do support ending the relationship with the Boy Scouts (for other reasons).

The left and the right will join forces in support of ending LDS BSA.

[Archaea]

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

My guess is that the church is primarily concerned with its image of not being seen to condone gay sex. They don't say "gay sex". That's too crude. But since it's hard to express what they want to say, without saying it directly, they say "openly gay." And that confuses everyone. Because "openly gay" doesn't mean "gay sex."

I think these guys sit back and think, "are members, and the rest of the world, going to take away from this Boy Scout thing, that we are okay with gay marriage and gay sex? Well, we better say something here. We should not be afraid. We are representatives of Christ. We will now bow to the world."

And so forth. They've trapped themselves in the box of their own making. Where allowing Unitarians to have a gay scouting advancement coordinator in Massachusetts means that the LDS church has accepted "the gay agenda".

This is a messaging war. It's not about the boys. It's not about molestation. It's not about gay scoutmasters in LDS wards. It's not about gay camp counselors in summer camps.

It's about image. I don't think these guys want to be known as anti-gay. They just don't want to be seen as accepting of gay sex.

I am very upset at the utter stupidity of the response on this issue. Talk about providing fodder for enemies. This response came from somebody with a pea-sized brain. Who the hell is running the ship?

[MikeWaters]

Mitch Mayne, the only publicly recognized openly gay man with a calling as elevated as executive secretary in his ward, and really an important figure in the gay Mormon scene weighs in with the Washington Post:

For his part, Mitch Mayne, a gay Latter-day Saint in the Bay Area, was disappointed by the church’s response to the Scouts’ move.

The BSA policy change “explicitly included room for us, as Mormons, to continue to call Scout leaders we deem worthy according to our principles,” he said, “a form of religious freedom that we’ve heralded as critical, and that we have been granted.”

Given that, the church’s statement seems “more than just unnecessary — it feels angry, afraid and punitive,” Mayne said. “These are not qualities most of us associate with our Savior.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/nation...3c2_story.html

[Archaea]

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

Mitch Mayne, the only publicly recognized openly gay man with a calling as elevated as executive secretary in his ward, and really an important figure in the gay Mormon scene weighs in with the Washington Post:



http://www.washingtonpost.com/nation...3c2_story.html

Let's hope cooler heads prevail. They can dismiss it as an overzealous, underinformed functionary.

[MikeWaters]

Originally Posted by Archaea

Let's hope cooler heads prevail. They can dismiss it as an overzealous, underinformed functionary.

Yeah, that's what a lot of us are hoping for. Throw an intern under the bus.

But lots of people are saying that a PR does not get through unless it has the imprimatur of a member of the First Presidency. And that fact that they have since put the PR on the front page of the LDS website.....

It seems that the wording is what they intended and they stand behind it 100%.

It also seems all the conciliatory stuff they said in the past may have been smokescreens.

Now we are seeing the anger come out.

[MikeWaters]

this is a great comment from BCC:

Cynthia L. says:
July 30, 2015 at 7:41 am
The whiplash of our warming acceptance of gays punctuated by outbursts of hating them is frustrating and painful. I am so tired of this transitional phase of the church reconciling with gays, which I assume is inevitable. Can we just get there already? It’s like watching some horribly tedious romantic comedy where the couple obviously are meant to love each other but must first torture the audience’s patience with an hour of colossally stupid misunderstandings and willful insults and spats.

Pride and Prejudice from Hell, with real people being directly and indirectly harmed.

[MikeWaters]

People say BSA needs LDS.

But does LDS need BSA?

http://www.bloombergview.com/article...the-boy-scouts