Bad Experiences in the Church

Over the years, I have heard and read accounts of gay people having anger towards the Church. Thinking of their comments prompted this entry.

First, let me say that I have had negative experiences in the Church because of my SSA. I think an experience or two in seminary growing up and a couple experiences with bishops at BYU fall into this category. I understand people have negative experiences at the hand of insensitive Church members or leaders. It’s tough, and such experiences should not happen.

Members and leaders are not perfect. I don’t think the sins, mistakes, and shortcomings of some members and even leaders does not prove the Church is not true. I am not defending the “bad apples” or shortcomings. The Church claims the organization is “true”—not the leaders or members.

I have had to take a step back and evaluate some of the negative experiences I’ve had in a non-emotional manner. I can separate negative experiences from the doctrine. It’s tough to do, but in my experiences, it has been well worth the effort.

New Blog Title

As some of you have noticed, I changed the title of my blog. When I first started writing, there were not very many gay/SSA Mormons in the blogosphere. The title “Gay LDS RM” identified my uniqueness and the common theme of my blog. As the number of SSA bloggers has greatly increased, the time came to change the title of my blog.

This new title reflects one of the main goals of my life: to figure out why I was placed on this earth and to live up to my potential. I have a lot to learn, but I hope I can gain the insights I need.