Mormon 'support' for gays, pressure on the WTS?

Simon

The Mormon / LDS church has noticably changed it's stance toward homosexuality and instead of condemning it seems to be supporting protection for people's rights (of course they want to throw some protection for themselves in there as well).

How will this affect the WTS? The LDS is the more-successful counterpart to the WTS, similar age and history and same non-mainstream appeal.

I have no doubt that the LDS church is only changing because they know which way the wind is blowing and society has completely changes it's attitudes towards gay people. Maybe they just want to stay ahead pf the curve before federal legislation enforces people's rights.

Now, can we see the WTS changing their views" Will they be one of the last holdouts? How will they spin such a major change of beliefs? Will they change or would they prefer to abandon their principles if it risks putting them at odds with the government and with tax exempt status?

konceptual99

Do I see further "concessions" to accepting it's not just a lifestyle choice? Perhaps. Do I see further acceptance of gay people into the congregation if they are celibate? Perhaps. These would be to appear more open and deflect direct criticism of being homophobic but I can only ever see this being the minimum to prevent loss of some kind of charitable status.

Do I see them saying you can gay just so long as you are in a legal marriage and don't have sex outside of marriage? Never.

Finkelstein

Sorry I don't see the WTS changing its position much on homosexuality, unless they are forced to by law., even then I don't see that happening.

Certainly not in the US at least where the WTS has its Headquarters..

There are a lot of religions in the US and elsewhere that forbid homosexuality.

This relaxing of homosexuality in Christianity probably was set off by the Catholic Pope announcing that the Gay people have certain rights in their faith.

As for the JWS, they might even ostracize other bodies of Christendom for doing just that.

smiddy

I cant see that happening , but then again I couldn`t see a lot of what the JW religion is doing nowadays as ever happening .

smiddy

The Searcher

Undeniable fact - The WTBTS and its cohorts will change/adjust/compromise virtually any doctrine if it means saving them the loss of ca$h!!!

They will simply fudge things by saying "it's a matter of personal conscience, and each must decide for himself", or by some other form of double-speak. Nature of the beast!

Atlantis

If the Watchtower is willing to allow National Flags to be on display at Kingdom Halls to avoid a fine or tax, then they will do the same thing with the homosexual laws.

I have heard already that in some areas a church can be fined if it refuses to marry homosexuals. When it come to "money" the Watchtower will bow down to anyone or anything.

The 1917 Watchtower informs us that there have been 2 American Flags and a bust of Abraham Lincoln inside Bethel Headquarters when it was started around 1909.

It is only a matter of time! They changed on the vaccinations didn't they? Watch and see if they don't cave in on the homosexual laws sweeping the country.

When it comes to "money" watch how fast they spin a new doctrine!

Atlantis!

Jonathan Drake

This is what I was basing my comment on in the other thread about, "due to this wicked world our way of worship is soon to change." The problem is they really did nothing but take and didn't give anything. The United Nations submitted their findings to the Catholic Church last year or the year before after they investigated them and told them they have until 2017 to reform their policies to allow contraceptives and teach gay rights in their schools.

The Government doesn't care about whether or not they stop speaking out, they don't want them teaching their followers it's wrong. They want them to teach tolerance and acceptance amongst their community and the Mormons aren't going to do it. So all they've done is said, "We'll still not address the real issue and continue to not comply as long as you stop trying to make us."

They even said it themselves. They will support anti-discrimination laws for gay rights as long as people are allowed to disagree without consequence. So obviously, they still want to teach it's wrong, and its this that the government doesn't want.

My information came from this article:

http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/27/us/mormon-church-lgbt-laws/

OneEyedJoe

If they're forced to do it at the threat of loss of cash they'll probably dust off their tried-and-true method of not making it a DF offense, but saying that they've disassociated themselves by their actions. The end result is the same, the R/F won't know the difference and they'll be able to say that they don't DF people for being gay.

I don't think they really care too much about getting new recruits - they're happy to be the "few" that are finding the "narrow road." If they capitulate on the gay thing, I think they're likely to lose a few of the bigots that they've created since the acceptance of gays has been probably the #1 crime that they've been accusing christendom of for the last few years. They'd much rather reinforce their being the only true religion in the eyes of the R/F and if they're the last ones holding to the bible's bigoted view then that "where else will we go" question becomes just that bit more difficult.

Simon

Maybe all of those rainbow dusters in the "happy at bethel" video were the initial subliminal preparation for a future change, LOL

sir82

IMHO, the Mormons are under pressure because they are so politically active. The winds of history are blowing such that any who oppose equal rights (including marriage) for gays appear to be in the same category as the racists & segregationists of a generation or 2 ago - quite a political liability.

The WTS is not active politically, at least not so openly as the LDS. They can still preach their version of hatred and bigotry toward gays, and it won't hurt them as obviously, at least in the short term.

However, in about 20-30 years, when "gay rights" will be an issue in the past tense, continued bigotry will be less and less tolerated by society in general. That's when the WTS will likely suddenly receive some sort of "new light".

Mormon 'support' for gays, pressure on the WTS?

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