[ydeve]

I skimmed through the article, and I’m very skeptical of his conclusion.

I am an active Latter-day Saint, have never participated in homosexual acts, and am bisexual. I can say with absolute certainty that my sexual orientation is not a choice. It is not something that will go away by turning to Jesus. However, if someone is extremely worried about his/her sexual orientation and is attracted to both genders, it is possible to convince yourself that you really like others of the opposite sex and aren’t actually attracted to those of your own. I suspect this is what’s happening with this guy.

Conversion therapy is harmful, don’t inflict it on anyone.

[ydeve]

If you feel that you are unworthy to give a blessing because of sin, then you should do something about it instead of ignoring it. I’ve never had continuing to do things I feel bad about make me feel better about myself or feel closer to the Spirit. As for what to do about it, whatever it is you decide, make sure it is something you’re fairly certain you’ll actually do. If you tell yourself “I’ll stop viewing porn” or “I’ll talk to my bishop/parents” when you have no intention or won’t actually follow through with it, you’re doing a disservice to yourself. Make some smaller goals that you’d be willing to action on. Be honest and prayerful about it.

I’m assuming that you are habitually viewing porn, and didn’t just stumble across it once. In the latter case, then this is like the accidentally drinking black tea “issue” where you don’t need to worry about it.

[ydeve]

Was it an answer or was it my own thoughts? Would this have happened even if I didn’t pray? I used to ask myself question like these, and I never could reach a satisfactory answer for any of them. And then I came to the conclusion that, for me at least, it didn’t really make any difference which it was. The result of the prayer (or not praying) turned out the way it did, and most of the time there was no real way for me to figure out if it would have gone differently if I didn’t (or did) pray. I no longer see the difference between coincidences and divine intervention. I no longer worry about through what methods answers come (or not come), they were often inconsistent anyways. When I pray I hope it gets answered, but I leave that to God and trust that he will provide when necessary. Yes there have been times where I’ve felt completely abandoned, yet somehow I’ve gotten through them and grown from them. Did God abandon me? Or did he know that I would make it? I’m not able to definitively answer that question, so I choose to believe.

I realize that such a choice isn’t something that everyone can just go and make. We all have to find our own paths.

[ydeve]

I think it’s important to remember who actually wrote the scriptures. It was not God. It was mortals. Inspired mortals yes, but mortals. As Moroni wrote on the title page of the Book of Mormon:

Quote:

And now, if there are faults they are the mistakes of men; wherefore, condemn not the things of God

I think it is entire possible that people who are inspired by God still say things that are incorrect or possibly even hurtful to others (It doesn’t take that deep of a study of general conference talks to find many examples). But that doesn’t, or shouldn’t, detract from the core message behind what they are saying.

Canonized scriptures are not words directly out of God’s mouth; they are the words of mortals, prophets, and thus contain mistakes, prejudices, even misunderstandings of doctrine, etc. But in spite of these mistakes, they are still inspired, are still a great treasure, and the Spirit can still teach us through them.

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