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A couple of Sundays ago we had Stake Conference. We were getting a new Stake Presidency, so we had an Apostle present - Quentin L. Cook. During the Priesthood Leadership session he took the last half of the meeting and openned it up for questions. He accompanied by the Ogden Mission President and a 70 who's name I never could figure out how to spell - and had them help answer some of the questions.
I was impressed when a couple of men had the guts to ask about immigration and Prop 8. And I wanted to share Elder Cook's response. He indicated that he shares responsibility for Public Relations - so I'm going to assume that he would have been involved when some of this went down and would know what he's talking about.
First - Immigration. An attorney asked about the church's position on this. Elder Cook basically said "The church has been about as clear as they can be" when it comes to immigration. He reiterated that the church has not taken a position on what should be done with the borders or what the process should be to gain citizenship. Simply that these decisions effect a lot of people - discussion should be held with civility and decisions made keeping in mind the need to be caring and thoughtful of others.
He also reiterated that the church has always taken the position that missionaries will teach the gospel to whoever wants to hear it wherever they may be. They may live in the area, be on vacation, and may be documented or not.
The Ogden mission president told a story of getting a call from a concerned citizen that the missionaries were about to baptize someone who was in the country illegally. His response to them was that the two missionaries who were going to baptize the family were also here illegally, so it was OK. He went on to tell them that if the prophet saw fit to call them to serve as missionaries, that was good enough for him.
On Prop 8: A man stood up and asked what the church's next move would be on Prop 8 in light of the dominant role that they took in the initial ballot initiative.
Elder Cook's first response is that he felt that characterizing the church's role in the ballot initiative as "dominant" was open for debate. He stated that other religions in the area worked to have it put on the ballot. Catholic Bishop Neiderhauer (currently in San Francisco, who was in SLC prior to that) wrote a letter to President Monson asking that the LDS church participate in support of the ballot initiative.
After some discussion, the First Presidency sent a letter in support of Prop 8, and the members responded. He didn't outright say this, but I got the impression that some of the members (and local leaders) responded just a little more strongly than what had been anticipated. I also got the impression that there may have been some disappointment in how the thing snowballed after that.
While I got the impression this was not a fight the LDS church was going to pursue, Elder Cook went on to say that the doctrine is very clear. Families are important. Marriage is between a man and a woman, etc. He followed that up with saying that those who live the gospel - regardless of their inclinations one way or another - will recieve all of the blessings of the gospel.
Anyway - I found this stuff interesting and figured some of you might as well.
I was impressed when a couple of men had the guts to ask about immigration and Prop 8. And I wanted to share Elder Cook's response. He indicated that he shares responsibility for Public Relations - so I'm going to assume that he would have been involved when some of this went down and would know what he's talking about.
First - Immigration. An attorney asked about the church's position on this. Elder Cook basically said "The church has been about as clear as they can be" when it comes to immigration. He reiterated that the church has not taken a position on what should be done with the borders or what the process should be to gain citizenship. Simply that these decisions effect a lot of people - discussion should be held with civility and decisions made keeping in mind the need to be caring and thoughtful of others.
He also reiterated that the church has always taken the position that missionaries will teach the gospel to whoever wants to hear it wherever they may be. They may live in the area, be on vacation, and may be documented or not.
The Ogden mission president told a story of getting a call from a concerned citizen that the missionaries were about to baptize someone who was in the country illegally. His response to them was that the two missionaries who were going to baptize the family were also here illegally, so it was OK. He went on to tell them that if the prophet saw fit to call them to serve as missionaries, that was good enough for him.
On Prop 8: A man stood up and asked what the church's next move would be on Prop 8 in light of the dominant role that they took in the initial ballot initiative.
Elder Cook's first response is that he felt that characterizing the church's role in the ballot initiative as "dominant" was open for debate. He stated that other religions in the area worked to have it put on the ballot. Catholic Bishop Neiderhauer (currently in San Francisco, who was in SLC prior to that) wrote a letter to President Monson asking that the LDS church participate in support of the ballot initiative.
After some discussion, the First Presidency sent a letter in support of Prop 8, and the members responded. He didn't outright say this, but I got the impression that some of the members (and local leaders) responded just a little more strongly than what had been anticipated. I also got the impression that there may have been some disappointment in how the thing snowballed after that.
While I got the impression this was not a fight the LDS church was going to pursue, Elder Cook went on to say that the doctrine is very clear. Families are important. Marriage is between a man and a woman, etc. He followed that up with saying that those who live the gospel - regardless of their inclinations one way or another - will recieve all of the blessings of the gospel.
Anyway - I found this stuff interesting and figured some of you might as well.
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