tag:theconversation.com,2011:/institutions/kalamazoo-college-1933/articlesKalamazoo College2022-04-29T12:18:44Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1816912022-04-29T12:18:44Z2022-04-29T12:18:44ZWhat is a Latter-day Saint temple?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/460151/original/file-20220427-15-fllvtp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=16%2C4%2C1005%2C836&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints along the Capital Beltway in Kensington, Md.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/washington-d-c-temple-of-the-church-of-jesus-christ-of-news-photo/564086389?adppopup=true">Carol M. Highsmith/Buyenlarge/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Temples in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, often referred to as the Mormon church, have long been a site of <a href="https://www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/library/document/0018/4515652.pdf">curiosity, suspicion and admiration</a>. Grand, sometimes even imposing structures, temples are among the most distinctive symbols of the church.</p>
<p>Temples are where the faith’s <a href="https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/general-handbook/27-temple-ordinances-for-the-living?lang=eng">most sacred rites</a> or “ordinances” are performed, so church members were traditionally taught not to discuss some of them publicly. But Latter-day Saint leaders have worked to dispel confusion about temples by posting photographs of the interior, <a href="https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2021/02/06/so-what-happens-an-lds/">describing rites in more detail</a> and promoting public tours. Many locations include adjacent “visitors centers” that offer a brief introduction to the temple and church teachings, and new or remodeled temples are open to the public before they are dedicated for worship.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.axios.com/local/washington-dc/2022/04/19/look-inside-maryland-mormon-temple">The LDS temple in Washington, D.C.</a>, for example – <a href="https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/library/facts/">the faith’s tallest</a>, and a common landmark for commuters in the U.S. capital – will be <a href="https://dctemple.org/open-house/">open for tours</a> from April 28 to June 11, 2022, after <a href="https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/washington-dc-temple-open-house-rededication-2022">four years of renovations</a>.</p>
<p>Once a temple is being used for religious rituals, however, entrance is restricted to members of the church who hold what is called a “<a href="https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/new-era/1995/04/your-temple-recommend?lang=eng">temple recommend</a>”: a document from local religious leaders attesting that the church member is in good standing. So what happens inside?</p>
<h2>Not just ‘church’</h2>
<p>Temples are different from churches in the Latter-day Saint faith. Weekly Sunday services are held at “meetinghouses,” where congregation members teach religious lessons and celebrate Communion, which they call “<a href="https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-principles/chapter-23-the-sacrament?lang=eng">the sacrament</a>.” Churches also host other events for the local LDS community.</p>
<p>There are <a href="https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/mormonism-in-pictures-chapels-dot-the-globe#:%7E:text=Church%20congregations%20exist%20in%20over,each%20week%20for%20worship%20services.">tens of thousands of such meetinghouses</a> around the world, which are open to the public and commonly display a “Visitors Welcome” sign. These are simpler, smaller buildings that look similar to other Christian churches.</p>
<p>By contrast, temples are rarer and considered much more sacred. There are currently <a href="https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/temples/">170 operational temples</a> in the world, on every continent except Antarctica. Temples are closed on Sundays.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="An ornate white building rises above a cityscape." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/460344/original/file-20220428-4038-o6g7fg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/460344/original/file-20220428-4038-o6g7fg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460344/original/file-20220428-4038-o6g7fg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460344/original/file-20220428-4038-o6g7fg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460344/original/file-20220428-4038-o6g7fg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460344/original/file-20220428-4038-o6g7fg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460344/original/file-20220428-4038-o6g7fg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Latter-day Saint temple in Salt Lake City, Utah.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/salt-lake-city-cityscape-with-mormon-temple-temple-royalty-free-image/1307732459?adppopup=true">tiaramaio/RooM via Getty Images</a></span>
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</figure>
<h2>Holy covenants</h2>
<p>As <a href="https://religion.kzoo.edu/faculty/dr-taylor-petrey-2/">a scholar and historian of Mormonism</a>, I can confirm that temples have long been a source of controversy – even back in 1903, when the election of a prominent Latter-day Saint to the U.S. Senate <a href="https://www.senate.gov/about/powers-procedures/expulsion/091ReedSmoot_expulsion.htm">sparked a yearslong government investigation</a>. Critics argued, unsuccessfully, that the vows Latter-day Saints make in temples should disqualify them from office.</p>
<p>In the past century, temples have continued to spark public scrutiny, generally when a local community <a href="https://www.deseret.com/2009/9/17/20376878/phoenix-neighbors-voice-opposition-to-lds-temple">opposes plans to build a new one</a>.</p>
<p>The three primary rites that take place inside are marriages, called “sealings”; the “endowment,” which reenacts the Bible’s creation story; and “<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-faith/why-do-mormons-baptize-the-dead/2012/02/15/gIQAnYfOGR_story.html">baptisms for the dead</a>.” In this ritual, also called proxy baptism, church members stand in for people who died without having received an LDS baptism. Latter-day Saints believe that the deceased person has an option in the afterlife of accepting or rejecting the baptism.</p>
<p>Latter-day Saints often experience these rites as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00330124.2013.802554">deeply transformative</a> and are taught that they have eternal consequences. In <a href="https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/manual/doctrine-and-covenants-and-church-history-gospel-doctrine-teachers-manual/lesson-31-sealed---for-time-and-for-all-eternity?lang=eng">marriage sealings</a>, for instance, Latter-day Saints believe they connect with a spouse not only for their lives on Earth, but for all time in the afterlife as well, although divorce is permitted.</p>
<p>During the endowment rite, in which many adult Latter-day Saints participate, members make vows to serve God and others and receive instructions about salvation. Those who have received the endowment ritual also promise to wear <a href="https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/temple-garments">a sacred “garment”</a> under their regular clothing.</p>
<p>Some members find the rites <a href="https://zelophehadsdaughters.com/2014/09/13/i-loved-to-see-the-temple/">esoteric, strange or outdated</a>. But most return again and again to absorb the symbolism and seek answers to prayer.</p>
<h2>God’s house</h2>
<p>On the outside, temples display a variety of styles from Gothic to modernist. Today, most have a prominent steeple with a golden angel blowing a trumpet: <a href="https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix-contributor/2017/02/14/what-those-little-gold-trumpet-players-top-all-those-churches/97617766/">the Angel Moroni</a>. Moroni has a central role in the church’s narrative, as a prophet in the Book of Mormon who appeared to modern church founder Joseph Smith.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="A gold-colored statue shows an angel blowing a trumpet." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/459548/original/file-20220425-2721-fpa5ji.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/459548/original/file-20220425-2721-fpa5ji.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=888&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459548/original/file-20220425-2721-fpa5ji.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=888&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459548/original/file-20220425-2721-fpa5ji.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=888&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459548/original/file-20220425-2721-fpa5ji.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1116&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459548/original/file-20220425-2721-fpa5ji.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1116&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459548/original/file-20220425-2721-fpa5ji.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1116&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">A statue of the Angel Moroni sits atop many Latter-day Saint temples.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/MormonFinances/ef9694abd55c41309ac84d055abe3897/photo?Query=mormon%20temple&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=444&currentItemNo=64">AP Photo/Rick Bowmer</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Inside, each of the rituals has a distinct room or rooms. Baptisms for the dead are performed in the basement in <a href="https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/1993/03/i-have-a-question/why-are-oxen-used-in-the-design-of-our-temples-baptismal-fonts?lang=eng">a large font</a> on the backs of 12 oxen. Sealing rites are performed in smaller rooms with a central altar at which a couple kneels as they are married. </p>
<p>The endowment is the most elaborate. Participants sit in a small theater, with men and women on separate sides, to watch a film that depicts a sacred drama of Adam and Eve. At the end, all are admitted together to pray and converse in an elegant salon called the “celestial room,” the most sacred room, which represents the presence of God.</p>
<h2>Lightning rods</h2>
<p>The rites have often raised debate. Outsiders are excluded, which means that even immediate family members might not be present at a loved one’s marriage ceremony. Same-sex couples are excluded from sealings. Before 1978, Black church members <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1978/06/10/archives/mormon-church-strikes-down-ban-against-blacks-in-priesthood-change.html">were prohibited</a> from participating in any of the rites. Latter-day Saint feminists have criticized some of the vows in the endowment for reinforcing gender hierarchy, although some welcomed <a href="https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2019/01/02/lds-church-releases/">changes the church made in 2019</a>. </p>
<p>Baptisms for the dead also have drawn criticism. Zealous church members have used genealogical records to perform baptisms for the dead for Holocaust victims, <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna27647809">which Jewish groups have condemned</a> as disrespecting victims’ faith. Church leaders have put controls in place to discourage the practice, such as urging members to <a href="https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/manual/members-guide-to-temple-and-family-history-work/chapter-7-providing-temple-ordinances?lang=eng&_r=1">focus on their own ancestors</a>.</p>
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<p>Yet temples have also brought inspiration, and not only to adherents. The late Lutheran theologian <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/16/us/16stendahl.html">Krister Stendahl</a> once applied <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Holy_Envy/PLuPDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1">his famous idea of having “holy envy</a>,” or admiring aspects of other faiths, to describe his own appreciation for LDS temples.</p>
<p>As sacred sites where members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints engage in distinctive practices, temples are bound to spark a variety of responses for years to come, especially as the church continues its ambitious project to build more.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/181691/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Taylor Petrey does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Temples are often open to the public for a period after construction or renovation, but only church members may enter once religious ceremonies begin.Taylor Petrey, Associate Professor of Religion, Kalamazoo CollegeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1164012019-05-06T10:39:10Z2019-05-06T10:39:10ZGays cheered at Brigham Young University – millennial Mormons are increasingly tolerant of same-sex attraction<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/272287/original/file-20190502-103068-1r3kxlj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Mormons for Equality march during Salt Lake City’s annual gay pride parade in 2014.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Gay-Pride-Parade-Utah/da9c64057b204faa96fe77d0fdcf920a/21/0">AP Photo/Rick Bowmer</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>During a recent valedictorian graduation speech, student Matthew Easton came out saying he is <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/04/29/i-am-proud-be-gay-son-god-mormon-valedictorian-comes-out-graduation-speech/?">“a gay son of God.”</a> His admission was met with loud applause from the audience. </p>
<p>What makes this unusual is that Easton is a student at Brigham Young University, the flagship educational institution of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which forbids any form of same-sex intimacy. </p>
<p>What does this coming out as gay mean for the church and modern-day Mormonism?</p>
<h2>Coming out at BYU</h2>
<p>In recent times, coming out at BYU has been increasingly accepted, if not always cheered. </p>
<p>Charlie Bird, who wore BYU’s cougar mascot costume “Cosmo” from 2015 to 2018 and became the face of Brigham Young University, <a href="https://www.outsports.com/2019/2/26/18242312/byu-cosmo-charlie-bird-comes-out-gay">came out</a> just a few months ago. </p>
<p>Last year one of BYU’s official Instagram accounts was turned over to student Kyle Manwaring for one day, who <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHiPIQtij7s">talked about</a> what it was like to be gay at BYU.</p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.usgabyu.com">student group at BYU</a>, “Understanding Sexuality, Gender and Allyship,” has become a resource for many LGBTQ students there.</p>
<p>As <a href="https://kzoo.academia.edu/TaylorPetrey">a scholar of Mormonism and sexuality</a>, I would argue that what made this possible was a <a href="https://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=5684555&itype=NGPSID&source=rss">change in the honor code in 2007</a>. </p>
<p>The honor code at BYU since 2007 explicitly <a href="https://policy.byu.edu/view/index.php?p=26&s=s1164">states</a>: “Brigham Young University will respond to homosexual behavior rather than to feelings or attraction and welcomes as full members of the university community all whose behavior meets university standards….One’s stated same-gender attraction is not an honor code issue.” </p>
<p>While still prohibiting homosexual “behavior,” this revised code is accepting of same-sex attraction. </p>
<p>Under this code, students could take on LGBTQ identities but not kiss, date or show other forms of physical intimacy that are allowed for straight members. </p>
<h2>‘Don’t say gay’ policy</h2>
<p>That the church has become accepting of LGBTQ labels needs to be seen in its historical context to understand how big a change this is from a previous era.</p>
<p>Historian <a href="https://www.sltrib.com/religion/local/2017/09/26/mormon-historian-scientist-to-speak-on-why-his-church-needs-to-go-further-to-embrace-its-lgbt-members/">Gregory Prince</a> writes in his book <a href="https://uofupress.lib.utah.edu/gay-rights-and-the-mormon-church/">“Gay Rights and the Mormon Church”</a> that starting in the 1960s, LDS church leaders believed that homosexuality could be “cured” and that it had certain social and psychological causes.</p>
<p>By the 1970s, the gay rights movement was <a href="http://www.upenn.edu/pennpress/book/15524.html">gaining a lot of ground nationally</a>, and LDS leaders were afraid of its impact on the Mormon community. </p>
<p>Around this time, LDS church leaders came to believe that the use of the terms “gay,” “lesbian” and “homosexual” could contribute to same-sex sexual attractions. A 1981 <a href="https://archive.org/details/Homosexuality1981/page/n1">church handbook</a> advising local church leaders on how to counsel with young people advised: “Be careful not to label people ‘homosexual.’ This both discourages them and tends to make them feel that they cannot solve their problems.” </p>
<p>These ideas held sway for a long time. In 1995, church leaders began to regularly speak in terms of a psychological condition that they called “<a href="https://www.lds.org/study/ensign/1995/10/same-gender-attraction?lang=eng">same-gender attraction</a>.” That was their alternative to the sociopolitical labels of “gay” and “lesbian.” </p>
<h2>Change and resistance</h2>
<p>Along with the BYU honor code change in 2007 came a better acceptance of Latter-day Saints identifying as gay, lesbian and queer. In fact, the church too uses these labels actively. </p>
<p>An official church website organized in 2012, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121208042918/http://www.mormonsandgays.org/">MormonsandGays.org</a>, and its update in 2016 <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161101182721/https://mormonandgay.lds.org/">MormonandGay.lds.org</a> prominently featured Latter-day Saints who adopted these identities. </p>
<p>Not all church leaders, however, have welcomed these changes. In 2009, <a href="http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/elder-bruce-c-hafen-speaks-on-same-sex-attraction">high-ranking church leader Bruce Hafen warned</a> that “you feed the angry dog” of same-sex attraction when you “label yourself as gay.” </p>
<p>And in 2014, another top church leader, David A. Bednar, responded to a question about how to welcome homosexuals in the church, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/mormon-leader-homosexuality_us_56d5c8a3e4b03260bf782ee5">saying</a>: “there are no homosexual members of the church.”</p>
<h2>Mormon millennials and change</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/272528/original/file-20190503-103060-1qhmw1r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/272528/original/file-20190503-103060-1qhmw1r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=422&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272528/original/file-20190503-103060-1qhmw1r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=422&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272528/original/file-20190503-103060-1qhmw1r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=422&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272528/original/file-20190503-103060-1qhmw1r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=530&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272528/original/file-20190503-103060-1qhmw1r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=530&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272528/original/file-20190503-103060-1qhmw1r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=530&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Protests in Salt Lake City in 2015 against the Mormon Church position on same sex couples.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Mormons-Gays/0dd252c64d814630a1e1c221208ee488/4/0">AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Even though same-sex erotic behavior is still forbidden at BYU, I argue that the cultural and policy shifts that allow for identifying as LGBTQ at BYU are important signals of larger shifts in Mormonism. </p>
<p>Scholar <a href="https://janariess.com/">Jana Reiss’</a> new book <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-next-mormons-9780190885205?cc=us&lang=en&">“The Next Mormons”</a> documents that more than half of Mormon millennials support same-sex marriage. </p>
<p>A recent protest against the Brigham Young honor code has also called for <a href="https://www.ksl.com/article/46530636/this-is-all-about-love-byu-students-sit-in-to-protest-honor-code">changes to the way</a> it treats LGBTQ students. </p>
<p>Indeed, LGBTQ BYU students still <a href="https://www.sltrib.com/news/2018/03/15/i-thought-i-was-the-only-queer-person-at-byu-lgbt-students-host-panel-focused-on-faith-and-gender-identity-at-mormon-church-owned-university/">report</a> alienation, loneliness and judgment. But, at the same time, the cheers for Matthew Easton’s graduation speech show that a significant change is happening.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/116401/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Taylor Petrey does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A valedictorian at Brigham Young University came out in his address as a ‘gay son of God.’ And his admission met with loud applause. An expert explains how big a change this is for the Mormon Church.Taylor Petrey, Associate Professor of Religion, Kalamazoo CollegeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1150242019-04-12T10:41:56Z2019-04-12T10:41:56ZThe Mormon Church still doesn’t accept same-sex couples – even if it no longer bars their children<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/268856/original/file-20190411-44773-128bak5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">President Russell M. Nelson, center, during the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints conference on April 6, 2019.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Mormon-Conference/5bc7fc62c6ec48938486b748fe5f7dd2/15/0">AP Photo/Rick Bowmer</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Top leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/04/us/mormon-lgbt-policy/index.html">reversed a policy</a> that prevented minor children of same-sex married couples from joining the church and participating in its sacred rituals since 2015.</p>
<p>Many conservative churches oppose same-sex relationships and have done so with <a href="https://www.uncpress.org/book/9781469624112/reforming-sodom/">increased intensity</a> since the second half of the 20th century. In the case of Latter-day Saints, the reasons for opposing same-sex marriage are based in their <a href="https://www.lds.org/topics/family-proclamation?lang=eng&old=true">theology of a “real family,”</a> as willed by God.</p>
<p>However, as a <a href="https://kzoo.academia.edu/TaylorPetrey">scholar</a> of gender and sexuality in Mormonism, I argue that the 2015 decision to bar children of same-sex parents from the church was tied to the conservative fight against same-sex marriage that was finding an increasing acceptance at the time in courts and elsewhere. </p>
<h2>Mormon theology</h2>
<p>Mormon theology is based on a divine heterosexual archetype that sets the pattern for all intimate human relationships. </p>
<p>Latter-day Saints hold an ideal that heaven is a domestic paradise where families will live together in eternal harmony. In Latter-day Saints’ view of God, there is a divine Father in Heaven, but also a <a href="https://www.lds.org/topics/mother-in-heaven?lang=eng">Mother in Heaven</a>, who are believed to be the heterosexual parents of human spirits.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/268853/original/file-20190411-44810-1h5aqcp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/268853/original/file-20190411-44810-1h5aqcp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=344&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/268853/original/file-20190411-44810-1h5aqcp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=344&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/268853/original/file-20190411-44810-1h5aqcp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=344&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/268853/original/file-20190411-44810-1h5aqcp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=433&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/268853/original/file-20190411-44810-1h5aqcp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=433&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/268853/original/file-20190411-44810-1h5aqcp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=433&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Mormons protest over the 2015 rule change by church officials that bars children of same-sex couple from being baptized.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Mormons-Gays/a71a9c7d22f54479ad325fa0477bde14/30/0">AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>When the policy was adopted in 2015, the church deemed same-sex married Latter-day Saints as “apostate” and excommunicated them. This involved removing their names from the records of the church and nullifying any previous rituals. </p>
<h2>‘Protecting children’</h2>
<p>In order to explain why the children were also deserving of official sanction, the church said it was an effort to “<a href="https://www.lds.org/church/news/elder-christofferson-says-handbook-changes-regarding-same-sex-marriages-help-protect-children?lang=eng">protect”</a> them. </p>
<p>One senior church leader claimed that it was an act of “love” and “kindness” to prevent the children of same-sex families from participating and joining the church. One church leader, Elder D. Todd Christofferson, <a href="https://www.lds.org/church/news/elder-christofferson-says-handbook-changes-regarding-same-sex-marriages-help-protect-children?lang=eng">said</a>, “We don’t want the child to have to deal with issues that might arise where the parents feel one way and the expectations of the Church are very different.”</p>
<p>In the religious practice of Latter-day Saints, a child’s name on church records initiates visits to their home and an expectation of attending church-sponsored activities. Christofferson claimed, that it would not be “an appropriate thing” for a child living with a same-sex couple.</p>
<p>The church even issued an official statement about not wanting to subject children to teachings that their same-sex married parents were “apostates.” </p>
<h2>Mormons and politics</h2>
<p>What I argue is that the roots of rhetoric of the focus on family goes back to the emergence of the anti-gay politics of religious conservatives starting in the 1970s.</p>
<p>At the time, several preachers and anti-gay activists such as Billy Graham, Jerry Falwell, Tim LaHaye and others increasingly <a href="http://www.upenn.edu/pennpress/book/15416.html">spoke out</a> against the gay rights movement as a threat to “family values” that would undermine society. Latter-day Saints joined this opposition.</p>
<p>These conservatives, advocating for “family values,” opposed same-sex marriage. These efforts often relied on claims that same-sex marriage would <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20080817025036/http://www.newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/commentary/the-divine-institution-of-marriage">harm children</a> belonging to same-sex families as well as those children who interacted with them.</p>
<p>In 1977, evangelical activist Anita Bryant launched a national campaign against the gay rights movement, specifically to keep gays and lesbians out of schools, and successfully rallied conservatives to this cause.</p>
<p>Bryant’s campaign was a simple slogan, “<a href="https://www.palgrave.com/us/book/9781403980694">Save Our Children</a>,” which depicted gay men and lesbians as pedophiles recruiting young people into “perversion.” Her campaign also suggested that “our children” belonged only to heterosexual people. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/268852/original/file-20190411-44814-1jdv3ek.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/268852/original/file-20190411-44814-1jdv3ek.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=430&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/268852/original/file-20190411-44814-1jdv3ek.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=430&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/268852/original/file-20190411-44814-1jdv3ek.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=430&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/268852/original/file-20190411-44814-1jdv3ek.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=541&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/268852/original/file-20190411-44814-1jdv3ek.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=541&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/268852/original/file-20190411-44814-1jdv3ek.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=541&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Gay rights activists protest against the Mormon Church’s alleged heavy support of the anti-gay marriage initiative in 2008,</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Gay-Marriage-Protest/86b6cd5877414c89973345fad0057f36/102/0">AP Photo/Reed Saxon</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>In the 1990s, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints <a href="https://www.deseretnews.com/article/415259/3-LDS-OFFICIALS-SEEK-TO-JOIN-HAWAII-SUIT.html?pg=all">backed campaigns</a> and mobilized members and <a href="https://www.deseretnews.com/article/655422/LDS-Church-joins-gay-marriage-fight.html">money</a> to deny same-sex couples the right to create legally protected families. </p>
<p>The policy on children <a href="https://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/handbook-changes-same-sex-marriages-elder-christofferson">was a response to</a> a U.S. Supreme Court decision earlier that year that legalized same-sex marriage. </p>
<h2>What’s not changed</h2>
<p>When it was first announced, the policy was <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/14/us/mormons-set-to-quit-church-over-policy-on-gay-couples-and-their-children.html">deeply unpopular</a> among the rank and file. The truth is that many members of the church increasingly <a href="https://religionnews.com/2017/06/27/mormons-are-changing-their-tune-on-same-sex-marriage/">support</a> same-sex marriage. </p>
<p>A Public Religion Research Institute survey found that 55% of Mormons <a href="https://religionnews.com/2017/06/27/mormons-are-changing-their-tune-on-same-sex-marriage/">opposed same-sex marriage</a> in 2016. But this number was rapidly declining. In 2015, the same survey had found 66% of Mormons opposing same sex marriages. In one year, it noted, there was an 11-point drop in opposition, with a corresponding 11-point increase in support. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/268855/original/file-20190411-44773-a6c37g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/268855/original/file-20190411-44773-a6c37g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/268855/original/file-20190411-44773-a6c37g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/268855/original/file-20190411-44773-a6c37g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/268855/original/file-20190411-44773-a6c37g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/268855/original/file-20190411-44773-a6c37g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/268855/original/file-20190411-44773-a6c37g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">People holding placards at an annual conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City in 2018.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Mormon-Conference/4478704c01754a82aa19a6faabba6fed/65/0">AP Photo/Rick Bowmer</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In light of this trend, it was no surprise to see the unpopular policy reversed. </p>
<p>The reversal of the 2015 policy, however, does not change the status of same-sex relationships in the church. These relationships are still forbidden and subject couples to potential excommunication. Only their children can once again participate fully in the church without sanction. </p>
<p>In my view, the church faces a real conceptual problem when it comes to imagining same-sex families as “real families” that may include children. How can it support the children of same-sex families when its teachings claim that they are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/04/mormon-leaders-same-sex-marriage">“counterfeit and alternative lifestyles”</a> and not part of the family organization willed by God?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/115024/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Taylor Petrey has received funding from the Women's Studies in Religion Program at Harvard Divinity School.</span></em></p>In 2015, the Mormon Church barred children from same-sex marriage from the church. An expert explains why this policy was tied to a larger conservative battle against gay rights.Taylor Petrey, Associate Professor of Religion, Kalamazoo CollegeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.