Musings on Mormon-dom

Hey y'all so I've been doing my homework... quite literally and I want to share with you all what this blog is gradually aiming towards, but first here is my hello to you for this week:

Not that this accurately describes the Mormon Church at all, but it does introduce today's topic...with MUSIC! Somehow music always makes it work better, think Joseph Gordon-Levitt in (500) Days of Summer

Warning: this article may contain some opinions; parental guidance suggested for audiences under the age of...well I don't know if there is an appropriate age for being able to have a mature discussion where you can agree to disagree (what a concept).

Anywho, if you've read my first post you'll remember that in addition to being gay I used to be Mormon (yes that was past tense).

But first I want to let you in on a little secret: before this blog I knew so little about gay people and more than that, believed I was one of maybe ten people that went through what I did before I decided to leave Mormonism.

I am such a bad gay: I don't have many gay friends and I avoid campus LGBT support groups like white after Labor Day. I never took time to read what's going on politically and socially...until now. In the last month, while researching the intersection of homosexuality and religion, I am stunned at the amount of resources out there for what I thought to be a narrow demographic.

So keeping in mind that I was Mormon and I am not anymore probably trips those bias detectors of yours, but hey it's a blog, take it or leave it:

See the message hits home when it's sung...remember you don't have to agree, you just have to pay attention!

I decided to leave because I couldn't stand being in Church (for three hours...) every week worrying that someone would find out, being told that I was going to hell, feeling constantly out of place. I definitely wouldn't recommend it...But as I said I have just started a research project on this very topic as the media devotes more attention to Mormons with Prop 8, Mitt Romney, and yes the 9-time Tony Award winning musical: The Book of Mormon (shown at the start of the post)

Though this may sound counter intuitive, bear with me: Being Mormon and being gay are like the same side of a magnet, you can push them together, but it is not advised. In theory Mormons and gays are opposites, but the old adage does not apply, opposites most definitely do not attract.

This doesn't mean one is right and one is wrong. I bear so much no ill will toward the Mormon community. Here is a video that I found in my exploration that I whole-heartedly agree with, there is no anger just a recognition of the fork in the road between these ideas.

But what I really want everyone to see is focal point for my research paper:

I give them sooooo many brownie points for trying, but if we're watching the same video then odds are you are more depressed than before the video started...This is the opposite of what the It Gets Better Campaign was going for.

This leaves us with limited options:

1. Stay in Church and stop being gay
2. Stay in Church and lie about being gay
3. Leaving the church...

None of these options sound appealing, but for now that's where we are.

This isn't to attack the Church I belonged to for 18 years, as Nick says in the Far Between video the Mormons teach principles that any decent person would strive for, they just need to catch up in this one issue (maybe a few others)...I will talk more about the last video next time, but let's try something new: why don't you watch and tell me what you think first and then I'll respond. 

But I've probably exceeded my generation's ever dwindling attention span so for now I will say adieu!