Doesn't "The Family: A Proclamation to the World"
Denounce Civil Same-Sex Marriage?
"The Family: A Proclamation to the World" was issued by the First Presidency in response to voter initiatives in Hawaii and Alaska to allow Civil Same-Sex Marriage. It basically restated well known doctrine.
The only controversy comes from the
"Proclamation"'s closing paragraph which states - "WE CALL UPON
responsible citizens and officers of government everywhere to promote
those measures designed to maintain and strengthen the family as the
fundamental unit of society."
This is a less than subtle call for lawmakers and voters to vote
against laws legalizing Same-Sex Marriage.
The issue is whether to promote the ideas of
"The Family: A Proclamation to the World" via persuasion through
our words and example or by using force (which passing a law is.
Laws are enforced by men with guns. Law and government is force).
Brigham Young said the following regarding force vs. persuasion,
"There is not a being upon the face of the earth who is made in the
image of God, who stands erect and is organized as God is, that
should be deprived of the free exercise of his agency so far as he
does not infringe upon others' rights, save by good advice and a
good example." (Brigham Young, JoD, 10:191).
D&C 121:41 agrees when it states that, "No power or influence
can or ought to be maintained by virtue of the priesthood, only by
persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by
love unfeigned;" Those that use force and threats are condemned a
few verses earlier as exerting "unrighteous dominion".
1 Cor. 10:29 and
D&C 134:4 also condemn the use of force to impose subjective
moral tenets on others.
Regarding D&C 134:4,
consider this quote from a Doctrine & Covenants commentary -
"Religious freedom does not imply nor provide license to infringe or impose upon the rights and liberties of others."
(L. G. Otten and C. M. Caldwell, Sacred Truths of the Doctrine and Covenants [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1982-1983], 2: 375.)
Denying Civil Same-Sex Marriage violates another First Presidency Statement:
"We say again, as we have said many times before, that we believe that all men are the children of the same God and that it is a moral evil for any person or group of persons to deny any human being the rights to gainful employment, to full educational opportunity, and to every privilege of citizenship, just as it is a moral evil to deny him the right to worship according to the dictates of his own conscience.
We have consistently and persistently upheld the Constitution of the United States, and as far as we are concerned this means upholding the constitutional rights of every citizen of the United States.
We call upon all men everywhere, both within and outside the Church,
to commit themselves to the establishment of full civil equality for
all of God's children. Anything less than this defeats our high ideal
of the brotherhood of man." (Conference Report, October 6, 1963, Third Day - Morning Meeting 91.)
Some feel that the words of our modern prophets prevail over any
contrarian verse in the
scriptures. This idea is patently false.
The Prophets have consistently stated that the
scriptures are superior to their words. Please consider the
following quotes -
"The 'lay' members of the Church are under obligation to accept the
teachings of the authorities, unless they can discover in them some
conflict with the revelations
and commandments the Lord has given. There are times when the
leading brethren have expressed their own opinions on various
subjects."
(Joseph Fielding Smith, Answers to Gospel Questions, 5 vols. [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1957-1966], 2: 112.)
"Members do not nominate persons to office, but are asked to give
their sustaining vote to decisions of presiding councils by raising
their right hand, and anyone may give an opposing vote in the same
way. This procedure is also followed in accepting important
revelations and scriptural additions."
(Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 1-4 vols., edited by Daniel H. Ludlow (New York: Macmillan, 1992), 298.)
New scripture comes when "the President of the Church...will declare
it as revelation from God, and it will be so accepted by the Council
of the Twelve and sustained by the body of the Church. And if any
man speak a doctrine which contradicts what is in
the standard Church works, you may know by that same token that
it is false and you are not bound to accept it as truth."
(Harold B. Lee, The Teachings of Harold B. Lee,
edited by Clyde J. Williams [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1996], 544.)
For several additional quotes from the prophets on the supremacy of
scripture over the words of the prophets, please see
"What Do The Prophets Say About Their Words vs. Scripture?
"
"The Family: A Proclamation to the World" is not to be considered
as scripture or equal in authority to scripture. Here's why -
"The Family: A Proclamation to the World" has never been claimed by
the prophet to have been a revelation as required. The
"The Family: A Proclamation to the World" was written by a
committee that went through at least three drafts before President
Hinckley put his red pencil away and accepted it.
"The Family: A Proclamation to the World" has also never been put up
to the membership to sustain, via Common Consent, as being officially binding
upon the Church.
In summation, the
scriptures provide the ONLY OFFICIAL doctrines and teachings of
the Church. As done throughout history, existing scripture can only
be superseded by new scripture. Popular statements, like
"The Family: A Proclamation to the World", from the First
Presidency are not scripture and therefore not official doctrine.
Many well meaning people feel that we should ignore scripture and
impose an even higher law (reflecting their idea of how Christ
will reign upon his return) on society. The scriptures denounce this
concept. See
2 Nephi 25:24,
Alma 25:15, and
3 Nephi 1:24. Others wish to ignore scriptural guidelines to
prevent bad things from happening which otherwise would occur if
they don't ignore the scriptures. This is called
"steadying the ark".
Many believe that the prophets are basically the Lord's ventriloquist
dummy whose mouth only opens when the Lord pulls the strings and
casts his voice. This is obviously not the case.
Please visit our essay - "Do The Prophets Always
Interpret The Scriptures Correctly?" for other examples of where
the prophets have misinterpreted scripture.
See also
"Aren't The Brethren Always Right And Will Never Lead Us Astray?"
for other examples of where the Brethren have said things which
aren't true.
The bottom line is that
"The Family: A Proclamation to the World" is doctrinally sound
unless one interprets its call for "citizens and officers of
government everywhere to promote" "family friendy laws" as a green
light to "infringe upon the rights and liberties of others..."
(D&C 134:4), which is in obvious contradiction to scripture.
