#elder oaks

[oleander-teacup]

memes made during the oaks talk

for your post-conference enjoyment if you couldnt make it to the google doc for The Horrors

[inth3world]

Dude just prayed for Sister Oaks

[obsessingoverl]

oh boy

Seminary is fun today

I actually think the overall principle is good and kinda queer positive (don't judge except when it is appropriate and it gives context) but I don't like way oaks says it

[nerdygaymormon]

Any thoughts about last night's devotional? I've heard some stuff about it but didn't watch it so I was hoping you could provide some insight and opinions (if you saw it).

Elder Oaks encouraged young adults to get married...soon! He lamented that the average age of marriage has gone up significantly since 1970 and that people are having fewer children.

He acknowledged that the cost of education and housing have increased tremendously (and wages haven't kept up), but reminded everyone that pioneers left their homes and possessions and encouraged young adults to forego material comfort and start a family.

Sister Oaks, who didn't get married until she was age 53, chimed in with some better advice. "Prepare yourself for life — by education, experience and planning. Don’t wait for happiness to be thrust upon you. Seek out opportunities for service and learning. Most importantly, trust in the Lord."

As a queer Latter-day Saint, let me point out that he put a lot of emphasis on getting married, he put it as the first thing he chose to speak about. He will later say marriage is only between a man & and a woman, which excludes many queer people. This is a typical example of what queer members of this church experience, having marriage praised but also that it's denied to us. There is a dissonance.

—————————

Honestly, I am tired of commenting on Elder Oaks' queerphobic statements, but he keeps choosing to make them and so I keep responding.

Elder Oaks decided to share a letter he received. He receives thousands of letters a year, and instead of choosing any that express their discomfort at his queerphobia (I guarantee he gets many), Elder Oaks chose one complaining that church members aren't queerphobic enough.

I honestly thought Elder Oaks was going to use this to agree, I mean, why else would he choose THIS letter to share. He didn't agree or disagree (although choosing this letter was quite a choice).

Elder Oaks reiterated that the church only approves of marriage between a man and a woman and encouraged trans people to follow the church's rules.

He used the story of the woman caught in adultery who was brought before Jesus. Jesus refrained from judging the woman. Likewise, we should refrain from judging others and instead should examine ourselves.

Let me point out that adultery betrays the person to whom they've made a commitment and is called out as a sin repeatedly in the scriptures. Gender diversity is not a sin and there's no scripture saying that it is. Therefore, I don't think it's a great use of this scripture story, but I appreciate that Elder Oaks is saying even if we think the other person has done something wrong, we don't condemn them, but treat them with love. Unfortunately he also added we should tell them about God's law and then to "Go, and sin no more."

A few years back, Elder Oaks came up with a novel approach by saying the 1st and 2nd great commandments were in conflict and encouraged us to prioritize love of God by being careful not to love our LGBTQ neighbors too much. But at the 2023 young adult broadcast, he changed this.

Elder Oaks admitted that his tendency is to emphasize keeping the commandments and he gives less attention to loving his neighbor. He finds it easier to judge someone by how well he thinks they keep the commandments.

"I now believe that goal to be better expressed as trying to live both of these commandments in a more complete way. Anyone who does not treat individuals who face gender identity challenges with love and dignity is not aligned with the teachings of the first and second great commandments."

I'm not thrilled that he refers to this as "gender identity challenges" or as "issues of confusion of identity," because that implies challenges can be overcome and identities can become unconfused. However, saying saying that loving your queer neighbor is not in conflict with loving God does seem to be progress. In my opinion, he could have apologized for his past statements and the consequences they had, but he didn't take that opportunity.

Then he followed that up by saying "we need to remember that God has revealed again and again that He created male and female." Elder Oaks just can't help himself. Let me add that God also created the transgender, genderfluid, nonbinary, and intersex people.

Now that he addressed trans people, time to move on to people experiencing same-sex attraction. He warned that we should be careful not to label ourselves (in other words, probably avoid calling yourself gay, lesbian, or bisexual) because these labels won't lead us to eternal life in the Celestial kingdom.

What I find from this broadcast is that mere crumbs are being offered to queer people by Elder Oaks, when Christ would offer us a seat at the feast in the banquet hall.

[mormonmew]

TIL that apparently Elder Oaks was a lawyer before he became an apostle. That... Explains a lot about his talks and the way he gives them.

[stone-cold-groove]

Love under the oaks.

[balluprojects]

Wierd Dina-sour, 2016

From the series Génesis Estoica (=Stoic Genesis): Macro lenz experiments with 3D organic subjects collected. Am I the only one that sees a dinasaur on this picture? xD

[prettywhenyoudrain]

tangled in the oaks 

tranquillity fills my spirit 

safety in the trees 

home among the leaves