Musicme

Yeah, I know that but my ward did. And Prop 8 and 102 are pretty much the same thing.

Hi RachelleDrew, thank you for saying what you said. It gives me hope that there are others like us out there.

Thank you again for your input on this. What we have had to do is defend ourselves when some of the members of the ward found out that my wife and I have homosexual friends. They told us that by having them over for dinner, movie, or just to hang out we have a strong chance of "falling into their life style". Also during the elections here in November just because we didn't put a Prop 102 sign in our yard (Prop 102 is to ban gay marrige in our state) the members of the ward sent people over to say that they were worried about our salvation. It's pretty bad, and it's not just the members the bishop was involved too. Now if I remember right the church has always taken a middle of the road stance on politics. Well they stepped in and I'm sorry the church or it's members shouldn't be telling me how to vote.

dazed and confused you are not getting my point and I don't see why you have such a rude tone. Isn't church about fellowship? If your answer is no then why are we all not just learning on Sunday or any other day from our homes alone with our families? If your answer is yes then tell me why I have to defend the way that I vote, see the world, or choose to treat people outside of the church? Trust me, I know it's about my own personal salvation but if others in my ward are not being Christ like to me because I happen to have a homosexual friend how am I supposed to feel? My wife and I are not going to dictate for others how they need to live and I am not their judge at the end of this life so that is not my place. So I'll say it again, why am I pretty much shunned when I choose to not hate my neighbor just because they are gay? But others are not shunned when they hate me because of the choice I made to be kind and not full of hate.

qedd, no I don't think that friendship is 100% based on political views but it can sure make for some awkward dinner parties. Having said that I don't want to be friends with someone that I can't truly share my whole being with. glow inthe dark girl, thank you for what you said. I've had to publicly defend myself for my political views in church and I believe that is wrong. I'm also having a hard time with this question along these lines. "What type of church breeds such a large group of people that dislike me for what I socially believe?". This is where I'm suck, I'm just not sure what to believe anymore when dealing with all of this.

I'm a member of the church who was born into the church but in the last year or so I've found that I really don't socially fit in with the other members of my wards. I've lived in 3 different wards in the last 4 years and in all of them I have very little outside of the church in common with the ward members. I find that my wife and I are very progressive thinkers and we have pretty much been shunned for it. We still follow all of the standards of the church but like I said we just don't fit in. We have different political views and different social views that cause the members of our wards to turn away from us. Like I said before these views are not going against the teachings of the gospel but they sure don't line up with the social standard of our wards. Having said all of this I'm not sure what to do, I want to still go to church but I'm finding it harder and harder when I have nothing in common with my ward members outside of our Sunday meetings. Any advice would be welcome. Thanks,