[To be honest. . .]

For a long time, my husband worked 60 hours or more per week (which didn't include his long commute), so there was rarely any time for myself. His last job was so stressful, I started to really worry about his health. When lay-offs began, he took a lower paying, way less stressful job and he works four 10 hour days. It came with financial stress though and he talked about getting a part-time job, which would not have improved things much at all. What he needed was overtime, but then he was told they couldn't work overtime anymore unless it was approved or they were on-call. I finally decided it was time to start teaching piano lessons. Why have my husband be gone a lot more for $12 an hour when I could make $50 an hour and spend more time together? I also love teaching and it's great to show my parents the 7 years they paid for my piano lessons was well worth it.

$50 an hour for teaching piano lessons? Wow!

[Gay marriage...again.]

I'm saying that I believe the Book of Mormon is the word of God and that His standards mean more than what anyone wants. You disagree with me, but between your opinion and God's, guess whose holds more esteem?

I have felt some angst over the issue. I have a gay cousin who is more like a brother to me. I never discuss this issue, especially on Facebook, for his benefit. I've tried really hard to have a loving relationship with him. I never debate it with him. We talk about family and music and other things we have in common. Never a negative word from me. Even though he's constantly posting really insulting, ignorant things about the Church and about Mitt Romney being a Mormon, I haven't un-friended him or gotten into verbal sparring. I tell him that our family loves him. I tell him that I believe God will be more merciful and understanding than we can imagine. But even though I NEVER talk about this with him or anywhere else really, he has said hateful things to me, about me personally and about my church, unprovoked. He has insulted other people in my family as well. The cherry on top is that he took me off of his friend list right before he came into town to visit recently. Not because of anything I've said, but because I'm a Mormon.

Who is intolerant there?

I'm just not very concerned about the arguments I've heard and read over and over and over and over anymore. I'm concerned about Heavenly Father's promise that inasmuch as we follow Him, we will prosper in the land, and inasmuch as we become a society who won't heed his commandments, we face destruction. I'm not going to be swayed from that by anyone, even someone I love, even when he accuses me of hating him. To me, I know him by his fruits. I don't know you at all.

We don't know the full scope of God's plan. All we know is what as Latter-day Saints we believe that God has revealed to His servants the prophets, which gives direction to how we are currently supposed to be living our lives.

Currently, we are instructed to not engage in polygamy. However, in prior times, God has endorced polygamy.

Do any of us know that homosexual marriage cannot be like polygamous marriage, in that it may be something that God sometimes endorces?

The Book of Mormon does not adress homosexuality. Perhaps a portion of the sealed pages of The Book of Mormon that we don't have, adresses homosexuality. Perhaps God instructed some Book of Mormon prophets that homosexual marriage could be offered to certain individuals. Perhaps, if this were the case, part of the reason the pages were sealed was because of the uproar it would cause for people to read about such things.

Perhaps, instead or additionally, women were allowed certain priesthood powers.

Perhaps, the ancient City of Enoch or Zion instead or also consisted of different laws of God.

God is an unchanging God, but God does give different laws to different people based on what they are willing to accept and based on many other factors, but I don't know, I'm not God and I don't know his purposes.

What am I saying / what's my point? Maybe part of it is that people should be slow to judge others, slow to anger, humble, submissive, patient, and long-suffering. I'm talking to everyone here, including myself.

We know that modern-day Latter-day Saint prophets have revealed to us the value that should be placed on the sacred institution of marriage between one man and one woman. God may once again open up polygamous marriage or other marriage scenerios. We probably don't know one way or the other.

Sometimes people wrongfully treat gays very badly, but the anguish that some gays experience goes much deeper than just how they are wrongfully treated. Sometimes gays wrongfully treat others very badly. Please try your best to forgive your gay cousin. Life can be really tough for gays. He told you that he unfriended you because you're "a Mormon"? That's unfortunate. He probably was feeling very upset at how some members were or had been treating him. I know it may be hard, but please continue to try to follow the spirit and treat him as God would want you to treat him.

[Gay marriage...again.]

Why on earth would they want to call it quits?

Can no one here understand where they're coming from or put themselves in their shoes to realize how important this is to them?

I answered the question of the OP. Then, prisonchaplain responds to me by saying that he feels like he has been had. Did the gay community promise the state of Washington that they would stop pushing for more if "Everything But Marriage" passed?

[Gay marriage...again.]

How could a gay or lesbian couple who love each other and who want to get married, NOT want their union to be called a marriage? Certainly they don't want to be thought of as lesser people. It seems like a no brainer to me.