WHY Can Latter-day Saints "support" Gay Marriage on Social Media?

This post relates primarily to Latter Day Saints who are concerned or confused about recent events, what the future might hold.

Specifically, many people have been confused as to why Elder Christopherson would say that Latter Day Saints are able to back gay marriage on social media. For a long time I have questioned that statement myself.

I have found 3 reasons for what he said, and what was implied and not implied:

1. The Samuel Principle - The first and most alarming reason for what he said is a theme found throughout the history of the Saints of God. 

• The most commonly known occurrence is when the people of Israel were free of oppression, and God wanted to give them a system of judges, similar to what is found in the Book of Mormon. Instead, the people of Israel pestered the Lord begging Him for a king. 
• It was a conversation that went like this: 
• Israel: Well all the other nations have a king, why can't we have a king? 
• Jehovah (Christ): Other kings are unrighteous and will lead you to slavery, death, pain, suffering, destruction, and wickedness. Allow me to be your King, and have judges to maintain justice. I will lead you to happiness and prosperity. No other nation will have power over you.
• Israel: But Goooooooooood!! We know better than you. We have studied it, prayed about it. This is what is best for society. We refuse to have you be our King. We want to be like all other nations.
• Jehovah: Samuel, hearken unto their voice, and give them a King.
• The results of this were, as promised: slavery, death, pain, suffering, destruction, and wickedness for over 1,000 years.

How much different would the Bible had been if the ISraelites had simply listened to Jehovah, and trusted in Him? How different would their reception of Him be when He walked among them as their rightful King for over 1,000 years? Would they have honored Him instead of spit upon Him? Would the Lost 10 Tribes still be among the Jews, having been faithful to their King, never to be scattered? Could they have become like unto the City of Enoch if they had only trusted the Lord's?

• Counseling God - Another example is Martin Harris, where he and Joseph Smith tried to counsel the Lord, as though they knew what was best for them. 
• The results of this were: Literally millions and millions of people have missed out on reading and benefiting from the Book of Lehi. Let that sink in for a moment.
• The last example of the Samuel Principle I will share (there are many more where the modern Saints didn't listen to the prophets) is when the early Saints were counseled to not take their children to public schooling. 
• For years the prophets said (summarizing), "We need to educate our own children. Take the time and money and use it to benefit your children, for that is your role as parents." 
• The Saints whined and complained at the hardness of the task, and eventually the Lord said (summarizing), "Thy will, not mine, be done." (notice how backwards this concept is)

Think for a moment about how different the United States of America would be if the Saints were all educated properly. Nothing would be the same, public and private schools would be totally different, there would be less indoctrination, and so the secret combinations would have little hold over us.

I'm not saying we are dumb, I am saying our children would be much more prepared for the sins and schemes of the world if we had been educated by LDS centered private schools or home school groups. We would have a powerful and highly educated population. We would lead the rest of the country because we would be the best and brightest in business, politics, arts, sciences, and our nation would not be in the awful state that it is currently in.

This principle can be summed up with the scripture Jacob 4:10 “seek not to counsel the Lord, but to take counsel from his hand.”

2. Don't Assign Personal Meaning to the Prophets Words. If we ever think that God's word is contradictory, we can rest assured that it is not. There is simply something more we need to learn or understand to connect the two in a comprehensive way.

• On the one hand God has spoken through all 12 Apostles, as well as the First Presidency, and has CLEARLY outlined what constitutes the family, the fundamental and God-given rights of children, and the consequences for supporting the destruction of the family.
• On the other hand, He has spoken through Elder Christopherson saying that members can technically support gay marriage while being members of the Church.

So who is right? Where is the disconnect? Has God forgotten His word, or has He changed His mind for the first time in all of eternity??

Of course not.

• The law is clear, and warning of the consequence is not "hate speech." It is standing as a witness of Christ at all times and places that we may be in, for Christ, if He walked the earth, would still preach against homosexuality. 
• Some do not understand the law. They do not understand their role. They do not understand the consequences of allowing such grievous and harmful sin into a society. People who advocate for this sin, having been fooled into believing they are fighting for "agency" do not know better. They do not understand that any marriage that is not between man and wife IS harmful to children, harmful to society, and frustrates the Plan of Salvation.
• Where there is no law there is no sin. Since these people do not understand what they are doing, God will not hold them accountable. But as they grow in knowledge, they will be held more and more accountable, and one day they MUST stand with the Lord, not against Him.

3. Homosexuality is still a sin. The last item that should be addressed is that he did NOT give "permission" for members to support sinful practices on social media, nor did he encourage us to do so. He repeatedly told us that the Church's stance is based on the Lord's stance, and that it won't change. He said that if members do decide to support doctrine contrary to what the Lord commands on social media that they won't face disciplinary action. That is a very important distinction.
       
Yes, his brother has homosexual tendencies, but has that swayed his opinion? No. It has not. He is unified with the rest of the Apostles, they are firmly united with God in all things. 

       
We should also be aware that there is a difference between supporting and preaching. Those who preach false doctrine, and attempt to lead others away from the doctrine of Christ will place themselves in a much more precarious position. Doing so endangers not only their membership in God's Kingdom, but also their spiritual well being. 

So what will the consequences be for those who attempt to counsel the Lord on this subject, at this time? That is a post for another time. It is late, and this post has gone on long enough.

But I can promise you that it will not be any better for us than it was for the people of Israel, Martin Harris, or any other Saints who have defied God.