Should a Man Marry a Man?

I recently came across a discussion on someone’s Facebook wall with regards to the question of whether homosexuals should have the right to marry one another.  The laws of many lands have been altered such that sodomy is no longer even considered a crime and those with same gender weaknesses can openly live with each other.  I am now told that they want to have the right to take their relationships one step further by marrying each other.  I can only assume that if this were to be granted it wouldn't be long until they were lobbying for the right to be sealed for time and all eternity in the temples of our Lord.  This needs to be stopped. 

In the discussion that took place a bishop of the Church presented as evidence (against homosexual marriage) the essential point that Adam and Eve, our first parents, were married by God. 

This led to much reflection in my mind and I believe this good bishop has hit the nail on the head.  If Adam and Eve were in fact the first humans, were real people and were married by their (and our) creator, even God the Eternal Father, then we humans have absolutely no right to make alterations to the definition of marriage.  To do so would be to put ourselves above our creator and would cause his judgments and wrath to come upon us.

If on the other hand Adam and Eve were not real people and the story of them is simply made up, and if marriage is in fact simply a man made institution then man does have the right to change the rules. 

So what do we know about Adam and Eve and what are the arguments used by those who do not accept them as real people? Allow me to briefly summarize.

As far as I can tell most Christian groups agree that the Fall of Adam took place about 6,000 years ago.  The Old Testament timeline that we give to our seminary students (and that I will happily attach to this post, if requested) and statements made by Church leaders show that we in the LDS Church also accept this.  We know from the scriptures that no death occurred for any forms of life before Adam’s fall (see “Death” in the bible dictionary), indeed it was his fall that caused death to occur upon the earth.

The so-called learned people of the world scoff at this assumption and claim that humans have been living (and dying) on the earth since well before 4,000 B.C.  The Sumerians for example supposedly had civilizations in operation some 1,300 years before the first human was even created! 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sumer

The problem with accepting these conclusions is they can lead us further back in time such that one may even erroneously conclude that man is merely a product of evolution.

All of these theories of men are of course complete and utter nonsense.  The problem with the world is that they look at the evidence and then draw conclusions.  As more evidence comes to light their conclusions change and thus they find themselves being in the unfortunate predicament of ever learning but never coming to a knowledge of the truth. 

As members of the Lord’s church we have the distinct advantage of already having the answers/conclusions through direct revelation.  This allows us to interpret any evidence in such a way that it always supports that which has already been revealed.

Here are some quotes that have been revealed to the world from actual prophets of God and can be found at lds.org:

In the March 2008 Ensign, Apostle Boyd K Packer who may very well become the next President of the Church wrote the following:

“We are taught in Genesis, in Moses, in Abraham, in the Book of Mormon, and in the endowment that man’s mortal body was made in the image of God in a separate creation. Had the Creation come in a different way, there could have been no fall.”

I should add here that if there was no fall then there was no need for man to be redeemed from the fall by a saviour.  This could of course lead one to conclude that Christianity is a completely false man made religion. This line of thought is utterly preposterous.

Below are some quotes from the current Old Testament institute manual with regards to the evils concerning the theory of evolution:

http://institute.lds.org/manuals/old-testament-institute-student-manual-1/ot-in1-02-gen-a-2.asp

“Of course, I think those people who hold to the view that man has come up through all these ages from the scum of the sea through billions of years do not believe in Adam. Honestly I do not know how they can, and I am going to show you that they do not. There are some who attempt to do it but they are inconsistent—absolutely inconsistent, because that doctrine is so incompatible, so utterly out of harmony, with the revelations of the Lord that a man just cannot believe in both.”

“. . . I say most emphatically, you cannot believe in this theory of the origin of man, and at the same time accept the plan of salvation as set forth by the Lord our God. You must choose the one and reject the other, for they are in direct conflict and there is a gulf separating them which is so great that it cannot be bridged, no matter how much one may try to do so. . . .”

Brothers and Sisters I testify to you that Adam and Eve were real people and that they were the first human beings upon the earth.  I know this because the scriptures and modern day leaders within The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have told me so.  The scriptures tell us that Adam and Eve were created and placed in the Garden of Eden, a real place that existed in the United States of America.  I know without a shadow of doubt that God married them and that marriage is ordained of God to be between one man and one woman only.  The Church has and always will support this view. 

Let us not defile the sacred institution of marriage by allowing perverted forms thereof. 

We have been warned in a proclamation to the family given to the whole world by our leaders “that the disintegration of the family will bring upon individuals, communities, and nations the calamities foretold by ancient and modern prophets.”  We are seeing the fulfillment of this prophecy right before our eyes. 

To the faithful readers of this blog I beg you to please vote for political leaders who support the equal rights of all of God’s children to be born and raised in a home with both a mother and father.  In this way all families will be able to emulate the exemplary first family that was set up by God Himself, even that of Adam and Eve and their children which included Cain, Abel, Seth and many others.  I leave these thoughts with you in the sacred name of Jesus Christ, amen.