This week, I enjoyed to hear the speech “Choose the Light” by Elder Vern P. Stanfill, and posted by Brother Barnett this week. As members of the church, sometimes, we feel that we are alone when we are talking about family with non-members, but we can choose to follow our personal revelation.

This week, I was reading the Supreme Court of the United States, the highest ranking judicial body in the United States, opinion in Obergefell v. Hodges (2015) with the purpose of understand the basis of legalization of same marriage in the United States.

This opinion of the court is related with the same sex marriage, and there are two points that I found interesting in the document:

“Decisions about marriage are among the most intimate that an individual can make.”
“The right to marry is that it safeguards children and families and thus draws meaning from related rights of childrearing, procreation, and education.”
I agree with these two opinions of the court, but I still share the definition of “marriage as a union between one man and one woman.” Currently, this definition could be considered homophobic or intolerant, but Is the same to reject a definition of the family and to be intolerant? I do not think so.

After judicial sentence, what can we do who defend the traditional family institution (religious, scientific, political, etc.)? I think we cannot change the sentence, but we can strength the values in the society. In this aspect, religious leaders play an important role because they can lead and motivate citizens to choose to obey laws (commandments) that government cannot enforce.

I want to emphasis that every disciple of Christ could become a leader, as President Kim B. Clark said: “The call to be a disciple-leader is a call to minister and to serve.  It is a call to lead as Christ leads.”

Sources:

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES, Syllabus OBERGEFELL ET AL. v. HODGES, DIRECTOR, OHIO DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, ET AL. CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT.