One thing that most religions are good for is trying to control people’s morality by shaming them for their natural sexual impulses. Newsweek has published the findings of a leaked 1981 Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ guidebook, provided by a group called MormonLeaks. Here’s an important bit of information to pass on to your children.
“Early masturbation experiences introduce the individual to sexual thoughts which may become habit forming and reinforcing to homosexual interests,” the guidebook claims. “Self-masturbation is almost universal among those who engage in homosexual behavior, and is a very difficult habit for most to overcome.”
The Mormon church believes homosexuality is “of grave concern” because it may involve violent or criminal behavior and is as sinful as heterosexual adultery and fornication, the guidebook says. The book also claims that homosexuality is a learned behavior influenced by unhealthy development in early childhood, and says that absentee fathers and dominant mothers are among the main culprits for these developmental problems leading to homosexuality.
The guidelines also include excommunicating LGBT people from the church as well as from any Latter-day Saints’ affiliated institutions (schools, etc). Since that time the Mormon Church has loosened up some of its more restrictive rhetoric around the issue of homosexuality—including finally coming out against conversion therapy and other barbaric homophobic practices. But it’s still a big “no-no” for the church.
“I now speak directly to church members who experience same-sex attraction or identify as gay, lesbian or bisexual,” L. Whitney Clayton, an elder in the church, said in a video posted to the site. “We want you to know we love you. You are welcome. We want you to be part of our congregations.”
The tweaks to the religion’s official rhetoric, however, do not include changes in its doctrine. Being LGBT is still considered a “sin” in the Mormon Church.
Western religion practiced with “orthodoxy” has one thing you can see across the board: people are very nice but they are not kind. “We love you, but you are a sin” isn’t a kindness: it’s a cruelty.