During the last few weeks other members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint have reach out to me about their beliefs on immigration laws.  I wanted to lay out my beliefs here. First I think we should review the church's statement on immigration:

A couple of years ago when I was serving as second councilor in the Elder's Quorum we had a guest instructor who passed out a handout from an other faith.  As I glanced through this handout to see if it was appropriate for our quorum I noticed that it called for religion in schools.  I was caught off guard I hadn't heard a member make an argument for religion in schools before.  I told the instructor that this handout was not appropriate as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints did not have stance supporting religion in schools. He countered that "my daughter's college professor taught that there are 36 genders, that's a religion itself". There was the crux of the matter.

We don’t usually think of restrictive abortion laws as limiting the religious freedom of Latter-day Saints, but in fact they do.  Because this is the case, I encourage members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to implement policies at least as generous as the Church’s statement on abortion.

In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints we are taught that we fought a war in heaven over the power to choose. In the book of Moses we learn that Satan rebelled against God over the agency of humanity.  Satan wanted to take away the power we were given by God to choose our own fate. Satan wanted to take away our sovereignty, and by so doing came in direct conflict with our Heavenly Parents and Jesus.  

When it is safer to be a police officer than it is to be a student at school, you know we have a problem.

Since Republicans seem to be on the cusp of something they've spent more than my entire lifetime trying to make illegal (abortion), can they please come back and start working on actual problems instead of just non-stop complaining?

I find it extraordinary how much I agree with Republicans when we get down to the nitty gritty details. What's important to me is usually important to my Republican friends and family I talk to about politics. What I find fascinating is that the breakdown in policy occurs in execution. Here's where I'm trying to wrap my head around what they are doing. In so many cases what the Republican party says what they want to do and then how they decide to get there are completely at odds with each other.

I loved the stories of the Ammonites in the Book of Mormon. Growing up they were my heroes. Fearless in the face of death, they laid their weapons down and refused to lift them up while all around them friends, daughters, sons, fathers, mothers - everyone they knew, were dying. Then when the same people who were killing them asked for their forgiveness, they welcomed them with open arms.

There have been a lot of conversations recently around abortion and I wanted to share something I read recently by Gabrielle Blair.  She does an incredible job articulating the Church's stance and why being pro-choice is actually more in line with what the Church teaches than being anti-abortion.  The original is found here.  I reached out an received permission to copy her words here.  Enjoy.

Hey fellow #LDS #Mormons, I know this stresses some of you out, but the Church stance is pro-legal abortion. If we want abortions available for incest, rape, or health of the mother, that requires legal abortion. If you agree with the Church, you are also pro-legal abortion.

Throughout the month of June I've really tried to build a deeper understanding of LGBTQ lives.  This last week I stumbled across a Twitter post that helped me understand non-binary and trans-gender a little better.  I hope that by posting it here, you too will build a greater understanding.  I find it a fitting end to the blog posts celebrating pride month.  Enjoy this piece by Michaela Nicole.