Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Dallin Oaks Imposes Anti-Gay-Marriage in New Zealand





by Brig Bagley

20 May 2014

A regional conference in New Zealand had Mormon Apostle Dallin Oaks address them as a keynote speaker. In his address, Oaks re-emphasized the importance of man-woman marriage and that local laws do not change God's laws concerning a proper family unit. He stated that children are best reared by they two biological parents that conceived them. 

Members in the area were confused why they were being targeted for laws that they couldn't change. Same-sex marriage was legalized over a year ago in the country. Some members believed that the movements in the US motivated Oak's speech. Others thought he was upset because the members in New Zealand were clearly not as adamant about the topic as he was.

It is thought that when leaders broadcast to "foreign" countries, they should have public relations advice before addressing topics insensitively to a different community in the world. "Not only aspects of the topic can be understood quite differently in a foreign context, but also the style may disturb," says a Belgian Mormon.

It is well-known that the Mormon culture is extremely influenced by western society. Imposing such western ideas on other countries in the world has posed great problems to missionaries and leaders of the church in other areas. This culture-forcing often strips locals of their own culture and traditions that define them. Accepting same-sex marriage is a popular trend in other democratic societies around the world, and some cultures have had it integrated in their cultures for centuries. 

Soon, the LDS Church will be one of the last entities standing against marriage equality. They will either crumble from the dissent internally, or be forced to integrate the social change into doctrine to survive, as they have done before with polygamy and blacks.

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