WASHINGTON, D.C., Feb. 14, 2016 (Gephardt Daily) ─ Elder Dallin H. Oaks, Apostle of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has commented on the recently reported spate of suicides involving gay Mormons, saying he was “aware that those tragic things happen” and “those things have to be judged by a higher authority than exists on this earth.”
Oaks comments were first reported by Mormon Stories, an online publication produced by ex-communicated Mormon John Dehlin.
Oaks, a member of the LDS church’s Quorum of Twelve Apostles, made the comments during a symposium on the free exercise of religious freedom held last week at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, in Washington, D.C.
Oaks was discussing the importance of religious freedom when he was asked a question by attendee Andrew Evans about LGBT-related suicides among LDS church members.
“Less than a year ago, right here in Washington, D.C., my friend killed himself,” Evans said. “He was Mormon and gay. You’ve gone on record that the Church does not give apologies. Does religious freedom absolve you from responsibility in the gay Mormon suicide crisis?”
“I think that’s a question that will be answered on judgment day,” Oaks replied. “I can’t answer that beyond what has already been said. I know that those tragic events happen.
“And it’s not unique simply to the question of sexual preference. There are other cases where people have taken their own lives and blamed a church – my church – or a government, or somebody else for their taking their own lives, and I think those things have to be judged by a higher authority than exists on this earth, and I am ready to be accountable to that authority,” Oakes said.
“But I think part of what my responsibility extends to, is trying to teach people to be loving and civil and sensitive to one another so that people will not feel driven, whatever the policy disagreements, whatever the rules of the church, or the practices of a church, or any other organization, if they are administered with kindness, at the highest level or at the level of the congregation or the ward, they won’t drive people to take those extreme measures. That’s part of my responsibility to teach that.
“And beyond that, I will be accountable to higher authority for that,” Oakes said. “That’s the way I look on that. Nobody is sadder about a case like that than I am. Maybe that’s a good note to end on.”
A recent spike in suicides by LGBT youths in the LDS Church was first reported in a Jan. 25 Facebook posting by Chrysteil Hunter Bird.
Bird, a therapist in Washington state, said she had personal knowledge of 34 young people, ages 14 though 20, who had committed suicide in the first 81 days since news broke that the LDS church amended its handbook regarding church membership and homosexuality.
The changes to the LDS handbook, which serves as a guide to Mormon bishops and other church leaders, reaffirmed the church’s non-acceptance of homosexual marriages or couples, and labeled people in such relationships as “apostates.”
The handbook also stated that children living with two homosexual parents would be banned from church rites, including baptism, until they reached age 18 and renounced their parents’ lifestyle.
A related blog by L.T. Downing, titled “Life Outside the The Book of Mormon Belt,” said 28 of the youth suicides since Nov. 5, 2015 took place in Utah, a state that averages 37 youth suicides per year, Downing wrote. The bottom of the page also lists suicide hotlines.
The number of youth suicides believed to be influenced by the Nov. 5, 2015 church announcement has not been undated by Hunter Bird since the January post.
In other words he does not care about gay youth – they can just die .
If there is one principle that is clearly taught in the church, it is individual responsibility. We are not victims of life’s circumstances. We make choices and will be accountable for them, at least to the degree that we understood them. No one makes someone else commit suicide. It doesn’t mean that we hate people who make bad choices, or that we do not care. Church leaders are responsible to teach correct doctrine. We alone are responsible for what we do with it.
Except being gay is NOT a choice.
That has not been proven.
I very strongly disagree! Your opinipn is largely based on religion rather than science! Science demonstrates otherwise.
Watch BYU Professor Bill Bradshaw’s presentation on “The Biological Bases of Homosexuality” on YouTube
https://youtu.be/8IHw9DVI3hE — if you begin at the 1:04:43 timeline, you’ll hear his summary wherein he states it is NOT a choice!
Choosing to act on homosexual tendencies is a choice, however. No one is denied membership in the church, the sacrament, or the blessings of the temple if they are gay. It is only when they choose to ignore the commandments that they put themselves in a position of disfavor. They are held to the same standards of sexual morality as straight people.
If there was a gene for sexual preference, I’d agree that there is no choice. Unfortunately until genetic scientist prove different, it remains a nature or nurture issue.
That is not what he said. That is what you seem to wish he said.
Umm, did you or did you not listen to the clip it’s right here:
https://youtu.be/8IHw9DVI3hE?t=1h5m12s
and I quote “Sexual orientation is not a choice”. I think his words couldn’t be any clearer at that point.
Bird is a liar – why reference her nonsense – she is not Gephardt approved and for good reason.
Bird has no reason to lie. And the only person here with an agenda is you, in your personal attack on another person in a pathetic attempt to hide from yourself a glaring truth.
Good luck with that.
Luke – that’s funny. I didn’t come to that conclusion by what he said at all. It sounds to me like he is talking about educating church members and leaders to exercise love and kindness, while still proclaiming the church’s beliefs and rights to exercise those beliefs. Be honest, “Nobody is sadder about a case like that than I am”, doesn’t translate into “I don’t care”. Because someone doesn’t agree with you, doesn’t make them evil.
Umm, did you or did you not listen to the clip it’s right here:
https://youtu.be/8IHw9DVI3hE?t=1h5m12s
and I quote “Sexual orientation is not a choice”. I think his words couldn’t be any clearer at that point.
It is a tell tale sign of prejudice and deceptive exaggeration when an article paraphrases the church’s official policy, instead of direct quotes of that policy, and uses verbs that may pass as a potential synonym, but changes the Spirit of the true message it means to communicate.
While there are good reasons to be very concerned about the danger of suicide among gay Mormons, there are also reasons to be skeptical about the accuracy of the numbers in these claimed suicides. Specifically, the number of gay suicides claimed in Utah exceeds the total number of deaths in this age group over that time period (see http://www.sltrib.com/news/lds/3473487-155/suicide-fears-if-not-actual-suicides?fullpage=1 ).
Whatever the number, suicides are tragic. The official LDS response never disputed the numbers. It said: “”Every soul is precious to God and to the church and the loss of life to suicide is heartbreaking, Those who are attracted to others of the same sex face particular challenges and pressures in this regard, both inside and outside the church. We mourn with their families and friends when they feel life no longer offers hope.”
That’s the point Wayne. It does exceed the suicides from previously counted years. It indicates there is a quantifiable problem that is a direct result of an identifiable event.
And here is the problem. Youth with same sex attraction are told they are wrong. Thus producing anguish and heartache. They are then told that the Lord will make them straight in the next life. They tried here with no success so they erroneously think let’s take a short cut and end it.
And here is the kicker the book of Mormon teaches that the Lord will not turn corruption into incorruption. What you desire in this life will possess you in the hear after.
The Lord is not going to make them straight according to church doctrine.
And yes it is church doctrine that is producing an abnormal increase in teen suicide. And parental rejection af youth with same sex attractions.
Love the sinner hate the sin. Only problem is youth can’t differentiate between what they want from who they are. So hatred of sin comes across as hatred of them.
You are in error in your interpretation. The lord does not turn sin into virtue, however, if you have an illness, say cancer, you will not be resurrected with a body rife with tumors. If you are afflicted with same sex attraction, you will not be resurrected with that imperfection of the body.
How can he love Jesus, is he gay?
I love how people try and say the church is responsible? Haha stoooooop it. Damn people if they do not have the same views as you go play somewhere else. He doesn’t say he isn’t sorry he says he or the church cannot assume responsibility that it’s going to be judged by a higher power quit it with your lgbqt entitled shit leave the church alone. Not like they rounding you up and killing you.
No but they would like to see homosexuality disapear.
What is the differance.
And what happens when your 12 years old and just figuring out you like same sex. And your Mormon dad decides to beat it out of you.
Yeah that happens all the time with Mormon parents I know….physical beatings are commonplace…..?
What planet are you from?
Physical beatings were more than commonplace. I am from earth. Grew up in the church. Beaten almost daily for challenging doctrine. It was commonplace. It was kept quiet by the church.
You are welcome to try out my life.
The church does not sanction or cover up abuse. In fact, the church handbook for leaders specifically states that in cases of domestic and child abuse the bishop is to involve the authorities.
I have spent time around many friends who have been caught up in issues with self-harm and in one case suicide. If I have learned anything from those experiences it’s that suicide cannot be broken down into a mathematical formula like a+b=suicide, in no way is it that simple. I have known a few gay Mormons and the church’s stance has been a concern for every one of them. But if people are going to say that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is directly responsible for individuals who were driven to suicide, they know nothing on the matter. Suicide victims are bombarded by an array of problems and stressors that cluster together. There is no way to know their mind and why they did it, therefore, Elder Oaks was right on point. Sad? Yes, very. But it goes beyond his ability and authority to judge such actions, and ours for that matter. We do what is right in love and kindness, we do not wish for things like this to happen. It is a shame that such matters be used as a political engine to bash the church for its divinely inspired policies.
Guess your not as close to these kids as some of the rest of us.
Maybe you should talk to a parent or 2
My thoughts delve into the area of application on an individual level. We all know members of the church that use its principles not as guidance for living a Christ like life but as an excuse or tool to judge and condemn others. The church has the right to decide who may belong and what doctrine to follow. But members need to remember that does not give us the right to condemn a child of God. Having two of my straight children driven from the church in their youth by my unthinking church members and leaders I can only imagine the stresses born by youth trying to understand their sexual feelings.
It is not the church’s fault. But I wonder how many of these suicides could be related to misguided members who figure they are doing the Lord’s work by beating these poor souls until they can see no option for life getting any better.
I think the LDS religion and their doctrine (dogma) minimizes the beauty of life. Their view of the after-life makes it too easy to shrug off and not address the temporal reality of their actions and the blood that is staining their hands.
You clearly have no idea what the doctrine is. Sad.
“Except being gay is NOT a choice.”
That has not been proven. No church can be held responsible for anyone’s choice to end their life. Please view our videos on Understanding Homosexuality at http://www.libertylineup.com
The Biological Bases of Homosexuality” on YouTube
https://youtu.be/8IHw9DVI3hE by BYU Professor Bill Bradshaw counteracts your nonsense!
Being a member of the LDS church IS a choice. So whether your choose to be gay, or it is forced upon you by the random birth lottery, it is irrelevant. The fact remains that the church considers homosexuality a sin. It has been that way forever and a day. It’s clearly written in the Bible. This should be no surprise to you people. So, your choice is to stop practicing homosexuality as a member of the LDS church, or find another church. Free agency reigns supreme, and you get to choose your actions. But you do NOT get to choose other peoples actions.
You are the only person on here that got it right … Common sense ..
You get to choose the way you live .
If you don’t want to live church teachings find another church ..
Agency is given to all.. What you do with it is personal…
This would be a lot easier to swallow, if it weren’t for the fact that the church was a fraud in the first place. The whole thing was invented, and perpetrated by homophobic, misogynistic, old men. They come up with this crap, then hold up their hands in disbelief, when it has a negative impact on the people they’ve duped into believing it.
Elder Oaks–I am more than certain that there are many people who are sadder about these deaths than you are. The friends and families of those who died are much sadder than you, and for good reason. I can only pray that those who feel driven to despair by being officially ostrasized by their church find the wisdom to recognize that any church that would do such a thing is no church at all, has no connection at all with a merciful God.
He said:. if they are administered with kindness, at the highest level or at the level of the congregation or the ward, they won’t drive people to take those extreme measures. That’s part of my responsibility to teach that…. making gay parents apostates and their children heathens is not showing kindness at the highest level in the ward. http://www.Anotherface.org
We are free to leave the church if we do not believe the doctrine. It seems there are those who want to change the church beliefs to suit themselves, instead of just finding a church (if one feels they need one) that believes the way they do. So you can’t correlate the actions of individuals to the doctrine of a church…we are all free to pick and choose. We believe our church doctrine, but if you don’t, that’s up to you. It is pure nonsense to blame a voluntary organization (church, club, group, etc.) for someone’s choices. Maybe it is easier to blame a church rather than realizing that person really needed a true friend and most likely had none.
I am hurt by the hatred shown by many on this page. The LDS church has the right to its own doctrine just as does any other church or organization. If you don’t agree no one is forcing anything on you. Find a church or organization that believes as you do.
Being a health care provider for many suicidal people I have never seen a person who was suicidal have it be related to just one issue. There are always multiple components.
Also we are all individuals with different beliefs. We will NEVER all think the same. Let us all stop condemning anyone who feels differently including churches or organizations. If we all spent a little more time loving others and less condemning others we will all be happier.
That being said a church and its doctrine is not responsible for anyone’s death. They are no more responsible than the youth’s parents, teachers, friends, coaches or any other individual that was in that individual’s life. The bottom line is suicide is tragic and we all wish we could prevent every single one… However the only way we can do that is by taking away everyone’s free agency to do and believe as they choose as we never know when someone will decide to end their life for whatever reason. I for one believe free agency is vital to happiness so I am unwilling to strip everyone of their free agency. No more blame please life is hard enough already
Thank You. Amen.
“Find another church if you believe differently.” Well, that’s the problem, isn’t it? Mormonism, like many faiths, teaches that they are the sole path to salvation. Gay Mormons are Mormon because they believe its doctrines. But because they’re incapable of “praying the gay away” they’re left feeling unworthy, unable to please the god who holds their eternal reward/punishment in its hands no matter how hard they try. If you’re unable to recognize that this is a major contributing factor to driving a young gay Mormon to suicide, then you lack an appropriate level of empathy for the many gay Mormons who live in anguish of being unable to please the god they’ve been indoctrinated to believed in. I’d much rather gay Mormons recognize that Mormonism is all a lie and choose to live a life of happiness like Tyler Glenn did, but not everybody is so easily able to escape the bonds of religious indoctrination.
What do you expect the church to do, throw away the doctrine to accommodate or appease a small group of people who reject the doctrine in the first place. Again I ask, what do you want the church to do?