(no subject)

[theweaselking]

Largest subfaction of Mormons admits that their previous position on homosexuals was wrong and stupid.

They still haven't admitted that their position on homosexuality is wrong, and, given their past and current positions on miscegenation and women's suffrage we shouldn't hold our breath about them joining the rest of the 20th century on that any time soon, but, hey, it's a start. They've given up and joined the 20th century in one respect one one of the many "on the wrong side of history" hills they're currently dying on.

Comments

[sparkindarkness.livejournal.com]

Bah i call PR move.

They've basically saying "yes we've been mean - please don't leave us in droves. But you're still evil sinners who need to be celibate and your love has no value". They urge parents not to reject their children - just convince them to be alone and celibate and think their love is sinful. Don't expect many less suicides from this, or one drop less blood on their hands

It's bullshit. All they've done is manage to update to catholic-style homophobic "love the sinner hate the sin" crap. It's still hate, still homophobia, they've just got wise to the need for better PR

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

Bah i call PR move.

Well, yes. Just like their "newly Revealed" position on the status of women was bullshit, and their "newly Revealed" position on the status of non-white people was bullshit.

At the same time, since those two "revelations", the church has devoted less effort to enforcing second-class citizenship on nonbeliever women and POC.

So, yes, it's a PR move aimed at keeping the rubes paying tithes and remaining members of the bigoted cult for as long as possible - but it's ALSO, historically, a precursor to "stopping fucking with other people quite as much".


It's not as good as the current Prophet admitting that he and all the others have been making shit up since Joseph Smith, Professional Con-Man originally launched this particular make-money-fast scam, but it's marginally better than continuing to insist that homosexuals are inherently satanic and deserving of death by nature.

[sparkindarkness.livejournal.com]

But they haven't changed all that much. They're still treating gay people as shit. Their "revelation" hasn't affirmed out humanity or denied homophobia. It's still dehumanising, just in a more weasley mouthed way. We still inherently satantic and sinful. Our love is still evil. Our lives still lesser. They've just learned to put smarter words around it. The substance is the same as it was before.

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

I'm not saying this move is good, and I apologise if I've given that impression. I'm saying this move is "a baby step in the direction of less evil, and, while still evil, is an analogue to several previous baby steps they've taken that have in the past led to marginally better outcomes".

It doesn't FIX things. It doesn't even address the real problem - but it's a marginal step TOWARDS addressing the problem rather than away from it, and that's remarkable from this particular bunch of backwards bigots.

If the KKK admitted that "being non-white" wasn't inherently evil, I would report that as "a start, now keep going, assholes". Like this.

[sparkindarkness.livejournal.com]

I just don't think they HAVE made that step. They've said they don't want gay mormons cast out - but they still say being gay is sinful, that gay people should spend the rest of their lives celibate and alone. They're still denying that gay identity exists and they're still pushing ex-gay therapy.

They're still saying being gay is evil. And I don't think they're really saying gay people are less evil either. They've just found a way to word their contempt and hate in a more societally acceptable way They haven't appreciably changed their position in any meaningful way. Buuuut they did realise they needed a PR revamp - this is about trying to salvage their bigoted name, not about the gay kids they keep putting in the ground

[publius1.livejournal.com]

the fact that they feel they needed to do any outreach at all is 1) Telling, and 2) At least... something.

[andrewducker]

I'm with you here. We need to recognise improvements, even when they're from "appalling" to "bad", because (a)otherwise it's easy to think nothing ever gets at all better and (b) reinforcing progress encourages people to move further.