06.24.08
Mormon Church Takes Stance Against Gay Marriage
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is asking California members to join the effort to amend that state’s constitution to define marriage as being between a man and a woman.
”The church’s teachings and position on this moral issue are unequivocal. Marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God and the formation of families is central to the Creator’s plan for His children,” the four-paragraph letter states.
”We ask that you do all you can to support the proposed constitutional amendment by donating of your means and time to ensure that marriage in California is legally defined as being between a man and a woman,” church leaders say in the letter. ”Our best efforts are required to preserve the sacred institution of marriage.”
The latest letter is a disappointment to members of Affirmation, an international support group for gay, lesbian and transgender Mormons. Last month, Affirmation called on the church not to meddle in California politics. ”This initiative will hurt so many people,” executive director W. Olin Thomas said in a statement Monday. ”The California law affects civil marriage; it has no effect on any religious institution or official.”