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Difference between revisions of "Homosexuality and the Church of Jesus Christ/Boyd K. Packer October 2010 conference talk"
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President Packer's talk was presented to a world-wide audience. The original audio and visual files continue to be available [http://lds.org/conference/talk/display/0,5232,23-1-1298-23,00.html here] on the Church's official website. The originals have also been provided to those who produce material for the hearing-impaired. | President Packer's talk was presented to a world-wide audience. The original audio and visual files continue to be available [http://lds.org/conference/talk/display/0,5232,23-1-1298-23,00.html here] on the Church's official website. The originals have also been provided to those who produce material for the hearing-impaired. | ||
| − | Misrepresentation and misunderstanding began soon after the talk was delivered. | + | Misrepresentation and misunderstanding began soon after the talk was delivered. (Ironically, though President Packer did not mention same sex attraction specifically—and despite the fact that he both opened and closed his talk with a discussion of pornography—many listeners applied his wording and reasoning solely to issues of homosexual temptation.) The resulting flurry of comment and complaint led a Church spokesman to indicate that President Packer's meaning had been clarified in the published version of the talk: |
:The Monday following every General Conference, each speaker has the opportunity to make any edits necessary to clarify differences between what was written and what was delivered or to clarify the speaker’s intent. President Packer has simply clarified his intent.{{ref|scott.trotter.1}} | :The Monday following every General Conference, each speaker has the opportunity to make any edits necessary to clarify differences between what was written and what was delivered or to clarify the speaker’s intent. President Packer has simply clarified his intent.{{ref|scott.trotter.1}} | ||
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Clearly, the Church cannot be intending to suppress or alter President Packer's comments, since it continues to make his original address available. | Clearly, the Church cannot be intending to suppress or alter President Packer's comments, since it continues to make his original address available. | ||
| − | It is also clear in context that President Packer's meaning in the original talk is reflected in the edited print version. | + | It is also clear in context that President Packer's meaning in the original talk is reflected in the edited print version. For example, in both his spoken and printed version, immediately following the above phrases, President Packer said/wrote: |
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:Paul promised that “God . . . will not suffer you to be '''tempted''' above that ye are able; but will with the '''temptation''' also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” You can, if you will, '''break the habits and conquer an addiction''' and come away from that which is not worthy of any member of the Church. As Alma cautioned, we must “watch and pray continually.” | :Paul promised that “God . . . will not suffer you to be '''tempted''' above that ye are able; but will with the '''temptation''' also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” You can, if you will, '''break the habits and conquer an addiction''' and come away from that which is not worthy of any member of the Church. As Alma cautioned, we must “watch and pray continually.” | ||
Revision as of 22:32, 18 October 2010
On October 10, 2010, President Boyd K. Packer of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles spoke during the Church's semi-annual general conference.
Portions of President Packer's talk caused a firestorm of protest and, often, misrepresentation. This article examines President Packer's address, and compares it to past talks given by President Packer, as well as teachings by other Church leaders. As will be seen, President Packer's address has been misunderstood and misrepresented.
Contents
A Clarification
President Packer's talk was presented to a world-wide audience. The original audio and visual files continue to be available here on the Church's official website. The originals have also been provided to those who produce material for the hearing-impaired.
Misrepresentation and misunderstanding began soon after the talk was delivered. (Ironically, though President Packer did not mention same sex attraction specifically—and despite the fact that he both opened and closed his talk with a discussion of pornography—many listeners applied his wording and reasoning solely to issues of homosexual temptation.) The resulting flurry of comment and complaint led a Church spokesman to indicate that President Packer's meaning had been clarified in the published version of the talk:
- The Monday following every General Conference, each speaker has the opportunity to make any edits necessary to clarify differences between what was written and what was delivered or to clarify the speaker’s intent. President Packer has simply clarified his intent.[1]
The published version is now available on-line here. The key passage of interest is compared in the table below.
| Spoken Version | Edited Print Version |
|---|---|
| Some suppose that they were preset and cannot overcome what they feel are inborn temptations toward the impure and unnatural. Not so! Why would our Heavenly Father do that to anyone? Remember, He is our Heavenly Father. | Some suppose that they were preset and cannot overcome what they feel are inborn temptations toward the impure and unnatural. Not so! Remember, God is our Heavenly Father. |
Clearly, the Church cannot be intending to suppress or alter President Packer's comments, since it continues to make his original address available.
It is also clear in context that President Packer's meaning in the original talk is reflected in the edited print version. For example, in both his spoken and printed version, immediately following the above phrases, President Packer said/wrote:
- Paul promised that “God . . . will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” You can, if you will, break the habits and conquer an addiction and come away from that which is not worthy of any member of the Church. As Alma cautioned, we must “watch and pray continually.”
- Isaiah warned, “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!”
In context, President Packer was clearly speaking about being able to resist temptation. His use of the word "tendencies" led some to assume that he was arguing that such inborn temptations could be eliminated. But, such a reading is inconsistent with the scriptural citation which he uses to prove his point—Paul does not argue that Christians will be freed from temptation, but rather that they need not yield to temptation.
Past talks on the same issue
It would be unlikely for President Packer to suddenly espouse a position on issues of same sex attraction or other sexual sins which differed from his long-expressed position. In DATE, at President Spencer W. Kimball's request, then-Elder Packer addressed BYU on the subject of homosexual temptation.[2] It is clear from this early talk that Elder Packer regarded such temptations as deep, and relatively fixed. He even went so far as to indicate that those thus afflicted might have to spend the rest of their lives resisting such temptations. This view is in keeping with both his original address, and the clarification issued in print. In neither case does it match with the claim which critics wish to put in President Packer's mouth--that temptations to homosexual acts can, in all cases, be eliminated. President Packer taught precisely the opposite more than 30 years earlier. He made it very clear that in some cases at least, the member might well struggle for their entire life to resist these temptations or tendencies. After having compared such struggles to the need to undergo serious surgery, he said:
- [194] And yet our hospitals are full to overflowing with patients. They count it quite worthwhile to submit to treatment, however painful. They struggle through long periods of recuperation and sometimes must be content with a limited life-style thereafter, in some cases in order just to live. Is it not reasonable that recuperation from this disorder might be somewhat comparable?...
- [195] Now, I hope I will not disappoint you too much if I say at once that I do not know of any quick spiritual cure-all. Setting aside miracles for the moment, in which I firmly believe, generally I do not know of some spiritual shock treatment that will sear the soul of an individual and instantly kill this kind of temptation-or any other kind, for that matter. No spiritual wonder drug that I know of will do it. The cure rests in following for a long period of time, and thereafter continually, some very basic, simple rules for moral and spiritual health....Establish a resolute conviction that you will resist for a lifetime, if necessary, any deviate thought or deviate action. Do not respond to those feelings; suppress them. Suppression is not a very popular word with many psychologists. Look what happened to society when it became unpopular!...
- [196] Bad thoughts often have to be evicted a hundred times, or a thousand. But if they have to be evicted ten thousand times, never surrender to them. You are in charge of you. I repeat, it is very, very difficult to eliminate a bad habit just by trying to discard it. Replace it. Read in Matthew, chapter 12, verses 43 to 45, the parable of the empty house. There is a message in it for you....
- [197] With physical ailments we always want a quick cure. If a prescription hasn't worked by sundown, we want to get another one. For this ailment there is no other prescription that I know about. You will have to grow away from your problem with undeviating-notice that word-undeviating determination. The longer you have been afflicted, or the more deeply you have been involved, the more difficult and the longer the cure. Any relapse is a setback. But if this should happen, refuse to be discouraged. Take your medicine, however bitter it tastes.
- [198]...you yourself can call upon a power that can renew your body. You yourself can draw upon a power that will reinforce your will. If you have this temptation-fight it!...
- [198]...Oh, if I could only convince you that you are a son or a daughter of Almighty God! You have a righteous spiritual power-an inheritance that you have hardly touched. You have an Elder Brother who is your Advocate, your Strength, your Protector, your Mediator, your Physician. Of Him I bear witness. The Lord loves you! You are a child of God. Face the sunlight of truth. The shadows of discouragement, of disappointment, of deviation will be cast behind you.[3]
Editing an apostle
Some few have expressed surprise or disappointment that an apostle's remarks would be edited for publication. Others have assumed that such editing represented a "reigning in" of President Packer by other members of the "Mormon hierarchy." Such an uncharitable reading is inconsistent with the evidence that President Packer's views are not changed on this issue.
Furthermore, it is relatively common practice to edit talks prior to their presentation. President Packer himself expressed his appreciation for those of his fellow leaders who, in the past, have suggested changes in wording to avoid confusion:
- CITATION
President Packer's message was clear to many who heard it. Some honestly misunderstood him, and some seem to have actively sought a hostile reading. In this context, a clarification was appropriate so there can be no mistake.
Propaganda and tactics
Given that same-sex attraction is a charged issue with political overtones, it is not surprising that some sincerely misunderstood President Packer's talk. One would think that the clarification which he offered would be sufficient to calm any of their concerns.
As the Deseret News noted, however,
- Instead of seeking genuine common ground around issues of mutual concern, activists began this week with a grossly misguided caricature of the LDS Church's support of traditional morality.
- The tactic is now all-too familiar: take a statement out of context, embellish it with selective interpretation, presume hostile intent, and then use the distortion to isolate an entire group, in this case a church. [4]
MORE here
Endnotes
- [note] [citation needed]
- [note] "I was asked on one occasion by President Kimball if I would care to talk to the students at Brigham Young University on the subject of perversion. I begged him to excuse me from doing it, for I thought myself incapable of talking on that subject to a mixed audience. Later I repented of having declined the invitation and worked with great care to do as he had asked me to do. While "To the One" was given before a large audience at a Brigham Young University fireside, I singled out the afflicted individual for help, and also tried to inform and guide anyone who might have responsibility to help "the one" find his way." - That All May Be Edified [citation needed]
- [note] "To The One," reprinted in Boyd K. Packer, That All May Be Edified (Bookcraft, 1982), 186–200, emphasis added; italics in original.
- [note] http://www.deseretnews.com/mobile/article/700072199/A-call-for-civility-following-Mormon-Apostle-Boyd-K-Packers-address.html