Individuals who have transitioned in any way — whether surgically, medically or socially — cannot work with children, serve as teachers in their congregation or fill any gender-specific assignments
Wards, and ward members, have gone to great lengths to outreach and include transgender members and investigators. These policy updates basically put two fingers up to all those efforts. Saying people who have transitioned in any way cannot work with children is tantamount to accusing them of being of harm to kids.
It’s yet another step backwards to 1950 and it completely undermines the hard and loving work done by the members.
Premise 1. Eyewitness testimony is notoriously unreliable.
Premise 2. The best evidence for the Book of Mormon is eyewitness testimony.
Conclusion. Therefore, the best evidence for the Book of Mormon is notoriously unreliable.
The Mormon account of the alleged 'pre-existence' has human beings created by their deity 'up there' with a sex that nothing they do in their subsequent mortal life can possibly change. And that's who they 'really' are, no matter how they later choose to dress or choose to name themselves.
Please correct me if I am wrong.
PS: I am an atheist myself, and I'll happily call you by any name you choose. Goodness knows life can be hard enough without us needed to make it worse than it has to be!
Maksutov:
That's the problem with this supernatural stuff, it doesn't really solve anything. It's a placeholder for ignorance.
Mayan Elephant:
Not only have I denounced the Big Lie, I have denounced the Big lie big lie.
Yeah, this is not unexpected. I am not happy about it, but the LDS Church does not care what I think.
"I have learned with what evils tyranny infects a state. For it frustrates all the virtues, robs freedom of its lofty mood, and opens a school of fawning and terror, inasmuch as it leaves matters not to the wisdom of the laws, but to the angry whim of those who are in authority.”
This must be a growing issue, otherwise I’m sure they would have preferred it to be handled quietly on a case by case basis by the bishops with the handful of cases across the world.
Or else it’s an issue which the leaders don’t think will actually affect enough people to matter, because how many trans people are really going to stay in their church anyway? So then this offers them a cheap opportunity to signal their virtue, like a pastor in Florida preaching against snowball fights.
... how many trans people are really going to stay in their church anyway?
Well, any Mormon would-be trans person familiar with the tenets of their religion might be expected to realise that the CoJCoLDS has a theology that rules them out right from the get-go.
But of course, if leaving a religion means painful and irreparable ruptures with at least parts of your family, and loss of membership in a community you have known all your life, hope is understandable, even if it is without any rational basis.
Maksutov:
That's the problem with this supernatural stuff, it doesn't really solve anything. It's a placeholder for ignorance.
Mayan Elephant:
Not only have I denounced the Big Lie, I have denounced the Big lie big lie.
I used to think, why would any LGBT member stay in a church that hates them? It doesn’t make any sense. But many Mormons marry in the temple, even when they aren’t attracted to their spouse. They really value the religion.
I would hesitate to think that every trans person has an easy decision to leave the church.
Or else it’s an issue which the leaders don’t think will actually affect enough people to matter, because how many trans people are really going to stay in their church anyway? So then this offers them a cheap opportunity to signal their virtue, like a pastor in Florida preaching against snowball fights.
There may be few trans people who have an interesting in staying in the church. But is that because they no longer believe, because of policies like this that that effectively tell them they're not welcome, or something else? Regardless, they likely still have family and friends in the church, so while policies like this may directly impact only a few, they can indirectly impact many more.
The individual hearing a Florida pastor preach against snowball fights might have recently moved from Colorado, may visit often, and still is in regular touch with friends and family who live there and who enjoy snow sports. Or maybe now feels guilty for laughing and the snowball fight scene in Dumb & Dumber because, well, not that's porn.
One day, the Church, which is totally led by the radical revolutionary of his day, Jesus Christ, will manage to find themselves ahead of the conservative social curve of the day.
[This space perpetually reserved for the Mopologist battle call, "presentism!"]
On the other hand, in the same update the handbook now states a policy that seems to back way off on strict garment wearing:
Some medical conditions or medical devices may make it difficult for members to wear one or both parts of the garment. Members should seek the guidance of the Spirit in such situations. In some cases, it may be best to lay the garment aside temporarily and wear it again when conditions allow.
When a member cannot wear the garment because of a medical condition or device, his or her religious status is not affected. The Lord focuses on the heart and a willing mind (see Doctrine and Covenants 64:34). As long as the member remains worthy, he or she will receive the blessings associated with wearing the garment.
[bolding added because I find the language used to be hilarious. Inadvertently so, I'm sure. Like Tommy Lee Jones' line from MIB: "no ma'am we at the FBI do not have a sense of humor we're aware of" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tL4DXIl_jlU ]
This policy would impact most adults and seems far more lenient than the policy I grew up with, in my opinion giving credence to the idea that the number of affected influences policy changes and descriptions.
I think the LDS leaders miscalculate the number of affected, though, because many Mormons beyond those who are transgender care about and are influenced by their church's position on this issue.
