From a Mormon } "Morally Wrong to Oppose Gay Marriage"
I am 16 years old and I am a Mormon. I have been a Mormon all of my life. I have always been glad to be born to a Mormon family, and my baptism at the age of eight, was one of the happiest days in my life.
When I was introduced to the concept of gay marriage and the gay rights movement, I was amazed. How could such an issue be the cause of friction between so many people? It seemed to have been blown incredibly out of proportion. How could adults that I had respected and looked up to all of my life, be so completely consumed by petty bickering about who someone else was allowed to love? Of course gay marriage should be legal; there was no logical reason it shouldn't be.
I looked up the topic of gay marriage in conference talks and church magazines, finding to my dismay that same-sex marriage was indeed considered a sin. I was heart broken. I knew that the church was true and I could not in good conscience leave it. Yet, I knew it was wrong to oppose gay marriage, and could not in good conscience do so. I had no idea of how I could reconcile such apparently opposing beliefs. So I did what I felt was the only thing I could do. I prayed that God would help me to understand why the most important truths in my life contradicted.
I did not receive an answer for many months, until one day, my attention was drawn to a scripture I had glanced at before but never pondered.
I read in D&C 134:4 the following words: "We believe that religion is instituted of God; and that men are amenable to him, and to him only for the exercise of it, unless their religious opinions prompt them to infringe upon the rights and liberties of others; but we do not believe that human law has a right to interfere in prescribing rules of worship to bind the consciences of men, nor dictate forms for public or private devotion; that the civil magistrate should restrain crime, but never control conscience: should punish guilt but never suppress the freedom of the soul."
This passage remains one of my favorite scriptures, and increased the substance and beauty of my testimony more than any other spiritual experience I have had, with the exception of visiting the temple. I believe in the doctrine taught in the Mormon church.
For the same reason that I do not campaign against liquor stores, or shun those who use them, for the same reason I do not decide if someone else will smoke, I do not campaign against marriage equality. Separation of church and state is a doctrinal principal, and it is wrong in every sense to impose our religious beliefs on non-members.
One of the key elements of Mormon doctrine is the idea of agency. Agency was what separated God's plan from the devil's. People deserve to choose which of the commandments they will follow, if any. It is morally wrong to oppose gay marriage; it takes away another person's agency and forces a foreign world view on them. No matter how hard I try, I cannot see Jesus, defender of the outcasts and Savior of the weak, rallying against the most fundamental right to choose. I do not support marriage equality in spite of my religion. I support marriage equality because of it.
• Emily Wright lives in Orem.
