My thoughts. My belief.

I truly believe that you can love a person and not love their choices. I believe that you can love a person yet not condone their choices or their lifestyle. Love is and should be unconditional. But unconditional love doesn't mean you have to give up what you believe in or stand for, to love others. 

In the past couple days there has been yet another uproar and protest about same-sex marriage, particularly stemming from an LDS General Conference talk given by Elder Boyd K. Packer, of the twelve Apostles. His talk "Cleansing the Inner Vessel" is being petitioned by the Human Rights Campaign. His talk was directed at teaching us that we can make changes in our lives so that we can enjoy happiness and that God is there to help us and not judge us. Also, for those that struggle with same-sex attraction that they can overcome the feelings that beset them. Here are bits and pieces of Elder Packer's talk.     

There is something very liberating when an individual determines of his or her own free will to be obedient to our Father and our God and expresses that willingness to Him in prayer.

     We are free to ignore the commandments, but when the revelations speak in such blunt terms, such as “thou shalt not,” we had better pay attention.

The adversary is jealous toward all who have power to beget life. Satan cannot beget life; he is impotent. “He seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself.”⁸ He seeks to degrade the righteous use of the life-giving powers by tempting you into immoral relationships........

     Years ago I visited a school in Albuquerque. The teacher told me about a youngster who brought a kitten to class. As you can imagine, that disrupted everything. She had him hold the kitten up in front of the children.It went well until one of the children asked, “Is it a boy kitty or a girl kitty?”

Not wanting to get into that lesson, the teacher said, “It doesn’t matter. It’s just a kitty.”

But they persisted. Finally, one boy raised his hand and said, “I know how you can tell.”

Resigned to face it, the teacher said, “How can you tell?”

And the student answered, “You can vote on it!”

You may laugh at this story, but if we are not alert, there are those today who not only tolerate but advocate voting to change laws that would legalize immorality, as if a vote would somehow alter the designs of God’s laws and nature. A law against nature would be impossible to enforce. For instance, what good would a vote against the law of gravity do?      

     There are both moral and physical laws “irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world” that cannot be changed.¹⁷ History demonstrates over and over again that moral standards cannot be changed by battle and cannot be changed by ballot. To legalize that which is basically wrong or evil will not prevent the pain and penalties that will follow as surely as night follows day.

     Regardless of the opposition, we are determined to stay on course. We will hold to the principles and laws and ordinances of the gospel. If they are misunderstood either innocently or willfully, so be it. We cannot change; we will not change the moral standard. We quickly lose our way when we disobey the laws of God. If we do not protect and foster the family, civilization and our liberties must needs perish.

     It has been said, unfortunately there has always been a tendency to "shoot the messenger." I don't think Elder Packer originated the concept that homosexuality was not a moral practice. You cannot change God's laws it doesn't happen like that. 

     You can love a person and not love their choices. I believe that you can love a person yet not condone their choices or their lifestyle. Love is and should be unconditional. But unconditional love doesn't mean you have to give up what you believe in or stand for to love others.