A warning voice to the United States

The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that California's Proposition 8 (the voter-approved measure that outlawed gay-marriage there in 2008) was unconstitutional on the grounds that it "lessen[ed] the status and human dignity of gays and lesbians in California" (Michael De Groote, "Reaction swift to latest Prop. 8 ruling", Deseret News, Wednesday 8 February 2012, A1).  In view of the above statement made by Judge Stephen Reinhardt of the 9th Circuit, The Mormon Eagle feels to raise a warning voice to the people of the United States at large concerning the decrees of God on the subject of homosexual activity, and the fate of the United States of America if she does not keep the commandments of God as revealed through ancient and modern Prophets and Apostles.

Homosexual Activity Wrong

The Eagle must first here state that God views all individuals as His children, and has an infinite love for them.  However, He has given commandments through His Prophets against certain actions, homosexual activity being one of them.


The Lord said through His servant Moses, "Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination" (Lev. 18:22).  1,500 years later, the Apostle Paul taught, "For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet" (Romans 1:26-27).  The Apostle Jude taught, "Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire" (Jude 1:7).  Lastly, President Boyd K. Packer explained that "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. . . . 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" ("Cleansing the Inner Vessel", October 2010 General Conference).

Now, before one calls me a bigot, I must here state that I am not a bigot.  I try to love all people, no matter their sexual orientation, for that is what the Savior Jesus Christ did.  However, my stating what Prophets and Apostles in both past and current dispensations have said does not make me a bigot.  One is free to do as he will, but neither he nor the United States can escape the consequences, both here and in the hereafter.

Fate of the United States on her present course

The United States of America faces a dreadful fate if she continues rejecting the words of God's Prophets and Apostles.  The Prophet Moroni taught, "And thus the Lord did pour out his blessings upon this land, which was choice above all other lands; and he commanded that whoso should possess the land should possess it unto the Lord, or they should be destroyed when they were ripened in iniquity; for upon such, saith the Lord: I will pour out the fulness of my wrath" (Ether 9:20).  Elder Mark E. Petersen warned that "no people can fight God and live!  Every nation will feel a chastening hand if it turns its back upon the Ruler of Heaven and violates his eternal precepts" ("O America, America", October 1979 General Conference).  President George A. Smith gave the most stern warning of all.  Said he, "When God has a Prophet on the earth, and that Prophet tells the people what to do, and they neglect to do it, they must suffer for it.  I bear witness before you, this day, in the name of the Lord God of Israel, that no people can treat lightly the sayings of a Prophet of God, whom He places on the earth to direct His people, and prosper. I know it is impossible" (Journal of Discourses 1:193).  President Brigham Young said of America and the Civil War, "If [the United States] had hearkened to the counsel of [the Prophet Joseph Smith], this nation would have had no wars; there would have been no division in the Government, but it would have gone on in harmony and prosperity" (JD 12:120-121).

The actions of the people of the United States will turn to her destruction unless the people repent and follow the teachings of Jesus Christ as revealed through Joseph Smith the Prophet and currently taught by President Thomas S. Monson, the Lord's representative on Earth today.  I know this is hard to hear, but it is true.  In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Prop 8 supporters win California court ruling - Deseret News

The Eagle takes the following from the Friday 18 November 2011 issue of the Deseret News, found on pages A1 and A13:

SAN FRANCISCO — The California Supreme Court ruled Thursday that supporters of Prop 8 have the right to defend the ban on same-sex marriage in court.  The decision sends the case back to the federal appeals court to resolve the broader questions at the heart of the constitutional showdown.

Voters approved Proposition 8 in 2008, but California Gov. Jerry Brown and the state attorney general have declined to defend it in court.  Without anyone to defend it, both sides believed same-sex marriage activists would win their case and overturn Prop 8 by default.

Prop 8 supporters cheered the decision.

William Duncan, director of the Marriage Law Foundation, told the Deseret News it is important to understand that Thursday's decision is not about the constitutionality of gay marriage.  Rather it asserts government officials do not have the right to effectively veto laws they don't like.

"The Supreme Court of California has made what seems to be a simple decision...," he said, "that it is not fair to voters not to allow them to defend a law they approved."

The 2008 ballot initiative banned same-sex marriage in California, but was overturned in 2010 as unconstitutional by U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker.  Walker imposed a moratorium on same-sex marriages in the state while Prop 8 supporters appealed his ruling.

A panel of judges in the 9th Circuit Court requested a clarification from the state supreme court about whether proponents of a ballot have the legal standing to defend their proposition in court.   Thursday's decision established they do and clears the way for the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, and potentially the U.S. Supreme Court, to rule on the constitutionality of same-sex marriage.

In her opinion for the court, Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye said, "It is essential to the integrity of the initiative process … that there be someone to assert the state's interest in an initiative's validity on behalf of the people when the public officials who normally assert that interest decline to do so,"

In the 61-page opinion, the seven justices said denying ballot proposition backers a seat at the table would effectively grant the governor and attorney general veto power over initiatives with which they disagreed, a situation the justices said would undermine the law-making powers California gave voters in 1911.

"We are delighted that the Supreme Court has clearly reaffirmed our right, as the official proponents of Prop 8, to defend over seven million Californians who amended their own State Constitution to restore traditional marriage," Protect Marriage General Counsel Andy Pugno told the Associated Press.  "This victory is an enormous boost for Proposition 8 as well as the integrity of the initiative process itself."

But lawyers for the same-sex couples said they're ready for the 9th Circuit to rule on the legality of California's gay marriage ban.

"This frees up the 9th Circuit to go ahead and decide the constitutional issues on the merits," said Theodore Olson, former U.S. solicitor general during the George W. Bush administration, in an interview with the San Jose Mercury News.  "We're anxious to get to a decision on the merits that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional."

The 9th Circuit must still resolve the legal question of whether Proposition 8 sponsors have standing under federal court rules to press the appeal, but legal experts have generally predicted the court would allow the case to proceed if gay marriage opponents secured a favorable ruling from the California Supreme Court, particularly because the federal judges themselves said they would follow the state Supreme Court's guidance.  In fact, the lawyers for same-sex couples conceded Thursday the issue is probably dead in the 9th Circuit.

Catholic Bishop defends traditional marriage amid scrutiny

Catholic Archbishop Timothy Dolan, who was appointed nearly three years ago as the head of the Catholic Archdiocese in New York City, has defended traditional marriage vehemently in the Empire State, often amid scrutiny from both the right and the left.  Some issues faced head-on by Dolan are in conformity with the doctrines and principles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  The Mormon Eagle's examination of them, as Dolan puts them forth in the Sunday 30 October 2011 issue of the Deseret News, follows.

Boldly Stated by the Catholics and the Mormons
Archbishop Dolan stated, "We are, as a people of faith, against any attempt by anyone anywhere to diminish the pure definition of marriage.  We're against adultery, we're against a frivolous divorce, we're against cohabitation before marriage" ("A Man of Faith: How the Battle Over Same-Sex Marriage is Defining "America's Pope'", Deseret News, Sunday 30 October 2011, A4).  Stated plainly and simply enough, but to make the point further, I quote from "The Family: A Proclamation to the World", given by the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

We, the First Presidency and the Council of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, solemnly proclaim that marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God and that the family is central to the Creator’s plan for the eternal destiny of His children. . . . We declare that God’s commandment for His children to multiply and replenish the earth remains in force. We further declare that God has commanded that the sacred powers of procreation are to be employed only between man and woman, lawfully wedded as husband and wife. . . . we warn that the disintegration of the family will bring upon individuals, communities, and nations the calamities foretold by ancient and modern prophets. ("The Family: A Proclamation to the World, October 1995 Semiannual General Conference).

Not Anti-Gay, But Pro-Family
Both The Church of Jesus Christ and the Catholic Church has received flak for defending traditional marriage so strongly.  Many have stated, at least to the leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, that Mormons are anti-gay.  This, however, is untrue; the Mormons aren't anti-gay, but rather pro-family.  President Gordon B. Hinckley stated,  

People inquire about our position on those who consider themselves so-called gays and lesbians. My response is that we love them as sons and daughters of God. They may have certain inclinations which are powerful and which may be difficult to control. Most people have inclinations of one kind or another at various times. If they do not act upon these inclinations, then they can go forward as do all other members of the Church. If they violate the law of chastity and the moral standards of the Church, then they are subject to the discipline of the Church, just as others are (Ensign, Nov. 1998, p. 71).

He stated elsewhere, "We want to help these people, to strengthen them, to assist them with their problems and to help them with their difficulties. But we cannot stand idle if they indulge in immoral activity, if they try to uphold and defend and live in a so-called same-sex marriage situation. To permit such would be to make light of the very serious and sacred foundation of God-sanctioned marriage and its very purpose, the rearing of families" (Ibid., p. 71).

Bishop Dolan stated, "[Gays and lesbians] have our love, they have our acceptance, they deserve our dignity and respect, and so we can't allow this ever to be reduced to an anti-gay question" ("A Man of Faith: How the Battle Over Same-Sex Marriage is Defining "America's Pope'", Deseret News, Sunday 30 October 2011, A4).

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints stands with our friends of other faiths who support traditional, God-sanctioned marriage.  We will fight alongside you, ever willing to keep the commandments of God.  In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

A Lie About Human Nature

In the 29 June 2011 issue of USA Today, Maggie Gallagher wrote a forthright commentary on the gay marriage issue, and what it all really means.  She wrote, "USA Today's editorial board is bending over backwards to find a way of engaging the marriage debate that escapes the key question: Is there a reason why marriage is the union of husband and wife, not only in our culture, but in almost every known human society?"

I answer that the reason why marriage is only between one man and one woman is because the Holy One of Israel hath spoken it.  In Genesis 2:24-25, we read, "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.  And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed."  Our dearly beloved Brother Paul also hath said, "For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet" (Romans 1:26-27).

The above scriptures agree with the teachings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that homosexual relations are grevious sins.  Well did President Boyd K. Packer state,

We teach a standard of moral conduct that will protect us from Satan’s many substitutes or counterfeits for marriage.  We must understand that any persuasion to enter into any relationship that is not in harmony with the principles of the gospel must be wrong. . . . 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. ("Cleansing the Inner Vessel", Ensign, November 2010)
 
Sister Gallagher stated in her article also that "Gay marriage is not an increase in liberty; it is a government takeover of an institution [marriage] that government did not create and should not redefine.
 
When the government endorses a lie about human nature, there will be consequences."
 
I say also that there will be consequences when finally the United States sinks into this debouchary known as gay marriage.  The Mormon Eagle warns that unless the Fulness of the Gospel as taught by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is followed in a strict and saintly manner by the people of the United States, God will stand aloof from this nation because of our choice to disregard His words.  He will then cease to protect and help us, for He hath said through His servant Moroni,
 
And now, we can behold the decrees of God concerning this land, that it is a land of promise; and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall serve God, or they shall b swept off when the fulness of his wrath shall come upon them.  And the fulness of his wrath cometh upon them when they are ripened in iniquity. . . . Behold, this is a choice land, and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall be free from bondage, and from captivity, and from all other nations under heaven, if they will but serve the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ, who hath been manifested by the things which we have written. (Ether 2:9, 12)
 
In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.