This is part of what I posted about a few days ago with regard to youth suicide and the onslaught that church leaders and members are about to take nationwide from some in the LGBTQA community; and clearly, famous rock star church members who have a better vision than their spiritual leaders. Meaning, blaming someone’s suicide on commandments.
The lead singer of Imagine Dragons now
“hopes “to teach a lesson to church leaders (LDS President Nelson in this case) that preaching age-old universal doctrines about sexuality need to now change. I guess being a rock star now gives that person moral arbiter God-like authority.
From the article:
“Rock star Dan Reynolds was once a Mormon missionary…to urge leaders of his faith to stop shaming their LGBT members.”
“If you’re telling them their innate sense of love, which is unchangeable, is wrong, you’re going to have this problem.”
“As long as those policies are still intact,” Reynolds said, “our LGBT youth still have high percentages of depression, anxiety and suicide.”
To Dan,
I love your music. It will probably remain on my workout playlist for a very very long time, regardless of what you do or say socially or politically. Keep producing good music. I’ll buy it.
With that said, and what I won’t buy, is what you are doing teaching your fans on this particular issue. You are actually driving the LGBTQA youth into further confusion with “hopes” that God’s word is going to stop being consistent with how He’s always taught His children with regards to homosexuality and gender identity. It’s not “shaming” when God, or his prophets, talk about the real effects of sin. It’s actually the other way around; I’ll explain.
In your interview, you say the prophet needs to “have real change…Because speaking in platitudes of love will not create that change.” What exactly is the real change you are hoping for? What “policies” are you hoping to change? Ignoring universal laws of morality and true identity?
Speaking the truth with love is actually the purest possible loving thing church leaders from any denomination can do. In fact, there’s no church on the planet that shows more love to the LGBTQA community, than the LDS church does. They have an entire webpage dedicated to this issue. Disagreement in love is God’s language to most of us. We all sin somewhere. And guess what, God disagrees with our sin. That’s why He continues to teach us. And won’t stop teaching us until we ALL overcome ALL of our sins. Nobody is perfect.
If you really want irony, placating with false platitudes, like you’re doing, is more dangerous for the upcoming generation that worships people like you, more than they worship God. You’ve now become the very wedge you’re preaching against. Especially regarding issues with chastity and sexuality. God created male and female to be with one another and multiply and replenish the earth. That’s the highest order of heaven, Dan. That’s the truth. And if you’re saying that my words (or anyone who thinks/talks like me) now can be tied to the “shaming” culture and blamed for someone’s suicide, you have truly lived up to your bands cover name. There is shaming Dan, but you must look inwardly on where the shaming is coming from.
God’s word won’t change with this issue, not ever. He’s unchangeable. It’s ok disagree with homosexuality. We can do that in love. God does that in love with ALL of our poor choices we make as His Children. Having same sex attraction is not wrong in the sight of God; however, acting on same sex attraction is wrong. It’s called sin. Just like many other things that are considered sin that we do.
It’s not bigoted to teach that marriage is only between a man and a woman and ordained of God and that it will always be. Because Dan, God isn’t going to be taught a lesson on this issue. Neither are his prophets. The word “sin” is not going to be replaced because it hurts our feelings. God loves us more than that to lie to us. The manifestation of His love is His commandments.
Dan, God and His prophets have in fact “seen the faces and heard the voices of these youth”, that’s the very reason why He teaches these same youth how to come unto Him, in really simple and sobering terms. God knows better, He is better. In your language, He is the Lightning before any Thunder.
I’ll catch you tomorrow on my iPod,
Eric Moutsos
