Mormon views on the family

[harmerj]

I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I am currently doing a study of other religion’s views on the family. Please take a moment to review The Proclamation to the Family (lds.org/library/display/0,4945,161-1-11-1,00.html)), which is a statement by the prophet and the twelve apostles about the family and then fill out this survey. Thank you! I appreciate ALL honest responses. Don’t be worried about being politically correct. I’m asking for honest responses because I respect your opinion.

 

[harmerj]

Please also respond to these questions…

1. What specific aspects do you not agree with?
2. What specific aspects do you agree with?
3. Do you believe that this statement is the word of God?
4. What is your general response to the proclamation?
5. What is your religious denomination?

 

[Teeliumtrozzle]

The link doesnt work for me.

 

[PaulDupre]

Here’s the Catholic view from the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

I. THE FAMILY IN GOD’S PLAN

The nature of the family

2201 The conjugal community is established upon the consent of the spouses. Marriage and the family are ordered to the good of the spouses and to the procreation and education of children. The love of the spouses and the begetting of children create among members of the same family personal relationships and primordial responsibilities.

2202 A man and a woman united in marriage, together with their children, form a family. This institution is prior to any recognition by public authority, which has an obligation to recognize it. It should be considered the normal reference point by which the different forms of family relationship are to be evaluated.

2203 In creating man and woman, God instituted the human family and endowed it with its fundamental constitution. Its members are persons equal in dignity. For the common good of its members and of society, the family necessarily has manifold responsibilities, rights, and duties.

• The Christian family

2204 "The Christian family constitutes a specific revelation and realization of ecclesial communion, and for this reason it can and should be called a domestic church."It is a community of faith, hope, and charity; it assumes singular importance in the Church, as is evident in the New Testament.

2205 The Christian family is a communion of persons, a sign and image of the communion of the Father and the Son in the Holy Spirit. In the procreation and education of children it reflects the Father’s work of creation. It is called to partake of the prayer and sacrifice of Christ. Daily prayer and the reading of the Word of God strengthen it in charity. The Christian family has an evangelizing and missionary task.

2206 The relationships within the family bring an affinity of feelings, affections and interests, arising above all from the members’ respect for one another. The family is a privileged community called to achieve a “sharing of thought and common deliberation by the spouses as well as their eager cooperation as parents in the children’s upbringing.”

continued…

 

[PaulDupre]

II. THE FAMILY AND SOCIETY

2207 The family is the original cell of social life. It is the natural society in which husband and wife are called to give themselves in love and in the gift of life. Authority, stability, and a life of relationships within the family constitute the foundations for freedom, security, and fraternity within society. The family is the community in which, from childhood, one can learn moral values, begin to honor God, and make good use of freedom. Family life is an initiation into life in society.

2208 The family should live in such a way that its members learn to care and take responsibility for the young, the old, the sick, the handicapped, and the poor. There are many families who are at times incapable of providing this help. It devolves then on other persons, other families, and, in a subsidiary way, society to provide for their needs: “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained from the world.”

2209 The family must be helped and defended by appropriate social measures. Where families cannot fulfill their responsibilities, other social bodies have the duty of helping them and of supporting the institution of the family. Following the principle of subsidiarity, larger communities should take care not to usurp the family’s prerogatives or interfere in its life.

2210 The importance of the family for the life and well-being of society entails a particular responsibility for society to support and strengthen marriage and the family. Civil authority should consider it a grave duty “to acknowledge the true nature of marriage and the family, to protect and foster them, to safeguard public morality, and promote domestic prosperity.”

2211 The political community has a duty to honor the family, to assist it, and to ensure especially:

• the freedom to establish a family, have children, and bring them up in keeping with the family’s own moral and religious convictions;

• the protection of the stability of the marriage bond and the institution of the family;

• the freedom to profess one’s faith, to hand it on, and raise one’s children in it, with the necessary means and institutions;

• the right to private property, to free enterprise, to obtain work and housing, and the right to emigrate;

• in keeping with the country’s institutions, the right to medical care, assistance for the aged, and family benefits;

• the protection of security and health, especially with respect to dangers like drugs, pornography, alcoholism, etc.;

• the freedom to form associations with other families and so to have representation before civil authority.

2212 The fourth commandment illuminates other relationships in society. In our brothers and sisters we see the children of our parents; in our cousins, the descendants of our ancestors; in our fellow citizens, the children of our country; in the baptized, the children of our mother the Church; in every human person, a son or daughter of the One who wants to be called “our Father.” In this way our relationships with our neighbors are recognized as personal in character. The neighbor is not a “unit” in the human collective; he is “someone” who by his known origins deserves particular attention and respect.

2213 Human communities are made up of persons. Governing them well is not limited to guaranteeing rights and fulfilling duties such as honoring contracts. Right relations between employers and employees, between those who govern and citizens, presuppose a natural good will in keeping with the dignity of human persons concerned for justice and fraternity.

continued…

 

[PaulDupre]

III. THE DUTIES OF FAMILY MEMBERS

The duties of children

2214 The divine fatherhood is the source of human fatherhood; this is the foundation of the honor owed to parents. The respect of children, whether minors or adults, for their father and mother is nourished by the natural affection born of the bond uniting them. It is required by God’s commandment.

2215 Respect for parents (filial piety) derives from gratitude toward those who, by the gift of life, their love and their work, have brought their children into the world and enabled them to grow in stature, wisdom, and grace. “With all your heart honor your father, and do not forget the birth pangs of your mother. Remember that through your parents you were born; what can you give back to them that equals their gift to you?”

2216 Filial respect is shown by true docility and obedience. “My son, keep your father’s commandment, and forsake not your mother’s teaching. . . . When you walk, they will lead you; when you lie down, they will watch over you; and when you awake, they will talk with you.” “A wise son hears his father’s instruction, but a scoffer does not listen to rebuke.”

2217 As long as a child lives at home with his parents, the child should obey his parents in all that they ask of him when it is for his good or that of the family. "Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord."Children should also obey the reasonable directions of their teachers and all to whom their parents have entrusted them. But if a child is convinced in conscience that it would be morally wrong to obey a particular order, he must not do so.

As they grow up, children should continue to respect their parents. They should anticipate their wishes, willingly seek their advice, and accept their just admonitions. Obedience toward parents ceases with the emancipation of the children; not so respect, which is always owed to them. This respect has its roots in the fear of God, one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

2218 The fourth commandment reminds grown children of their responsibilities toward their parents. As much as they can, they must give them material and moral support in old age and in times of illness, loneliness, or distress. Jesus recalls this duty of gratitude.

For the Lord honored the father above the children, and he confirmed the right of the mother over her sons. Whoever honors his father atones for sins, and whoever glorifies his mother is like one who lays up treasure. Whoever honors his father will be gladdened by his own children, and when he prays he will be heard. Whoever glorifies his father will have long life, and whoever obeys the Lord will refresh his mother.
O son, help your father in his old age, and do not grieve him as long as he lives; even if he is lacking in understanding, show forbearance; in all your strength do not despise him. . . . Whoever forsakes his father is like a blasphemer, and whoever angers his mother is cursed by the Lord.

2219 Filial respect promotes harmony in all of family life; it also concerns relationships between brothers and sisters. Respect toward parents fills the home with light and warmth. “Grandchildren are the crown of the aged.” “With all humility and meekness, with patience, [support] one another in charity.”

2220 For Christians a special gratitude is due to those from whom they have received the gift of faith, the grace of Baptism, and life in the Church. These may include parents, grandparents, other members of the family, pastors, catechists, and other teachers or friends. “I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you.”

continued…

 

[PaulDupre]

The duties of parents

2221 The fecundity of conjugal love cannot be reduced solely to the procreation of children, but must extend to their moral education and their spiritual formation. “The role of parents in education is of such importance that it is almost impossible to provide an adequate substitute.” The right and the duty of parents to educate their children are primordial and inalienable.

2222 Parents must regard their children as children of God and respect them as human persons. Showing themselves obedient to the will of the Father in heaven, they educate their children to fulfill God’s law.

2223 Parents have the first responsibility for the education of their children. They bear witness to this responsibility first by creating a home where tenderness, forgiveness, respect, fidelity, and disinterested service are the rule. The home is well suited for education in the virtues. This requires an apprenticeship in self-denial, sound judgment, and self-mastery - the preconditions of all true freedom. Parents should teach their children to subordinate the “material and instinctual dimensions to interior and spiritual ones.” Parents have a grave responsibility to give good example to their children. By knowing how to acknowledge their own failings to their children, parents will be better able to guide and correct them:

He who loves his son will not spare the rod. . . . He who disciplines his son will profit by him.
Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

2224 The home is the natural environment for initiating a human being into solidarity and communal responsibilities. Parents should teach children to avoid the compromising and degrading influences which threaten human societies.

2225 Through the grace of the sacrament of marriage, parents receive the responsibility and privilege of evangelizing their children. Parents should initiate their children at an early age into the mysteries of the faith of which they are the “first heralds” for their children. They should associate them from their tenderest years with the life of the Church. A wholesome family life can foster interior dispositions that are a genuine preparation for a living faith and remain a support for it throughout one’s life.

2226 Education in the faith by the parents should begin in the child’s earliest years. This already happens when family members help one another to grow in faith by the witness of a Christian life in keeping with the Gospel. Family catechesis precedes, accompanies, and enriches other forms of instruction in the faith. Parents have the mission of teaching their children to pray and to discover their vocation as children of God. The parish is the Eucharistic community and the heart of the liturgical life of Christian families; it is a privileged place for the catechesis of children and parents.

2227 Children in turn contribute to the growth in holiness of their parents. Each and everyone should be generous and tireless in forgiving one another for offenses, quarrels, injustices, and neglect. Mutual affection suggests this. The charity of Christ demands it.

2228 Parents’ respect and affection are expressed by the care and attention they devote to bringing up their young children and providing for their physical and spiritual needs. As the children grow up, the same respect and devotion lead parents to educate them in the right use of their reason and freedom.

2229 As those first responsible for the education of their children, parents have the right to choose a school for them which corresponds to their own convictions. This right is fundamental. As far as possible parents have the duty of choosing schools that will best help them in their task as Christian educators.38 Public authorities have the duty of guaranteeing this parental right and of ensuring the concrete conditions for its exercise.

2230 When they become adults, children have the right and duty to choose their profession and state of life. They should assume their new responsibilities within a trusting relationship with their parents, willingly asking and receiving their advice and counsel. Parents should be careful not to exert pressure on their children either in the choice of a profession or in that of a spouse. This necessary restraint does not prevent them - quite the contrary from giving their children judicious advice, particularly when they are planning to start a family.

2231 Some forgo marriage in order to care for their parents or brothers and sisters, to give themselves more completely to a profession, or to serve other honorable ends. They can contribute greatly to the good of the human family.

continued…

 

[PaulDupre]

IV. THE FAMILY AND THE KINGDOM

2232 Family ties are important but not absolute. Just as the child grows to maturity and human and spiritual autonomy, so his unique vocation which comes from God asserts itself more clearly and forcefully. Parents should respect this call and encourage their children to follow it. They must be convinced that the first vocation of the Christian is to follow Jesus: “He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.”

2233 Becoming a disciple of Jesus means accepting the invitation to belong to God’s family, to live in conformity with His way of life: “For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother, and sister, and mother.”

Parents should welcome and respect with joy and thanksgiving the Lord’s call to one of their children to follow him in virginity for the sake of the Kingdom in the consecrated life or in priestly ministry.

Paul

 

[Geocacher]

There was a mistake with the link in the first post, there was one of these: ) in the link, and I took it out.

Fixed link:
lds.org/library/display/0,4945,161-1-11-1,00.html

A lot of stuff is written by Man, and so I voted “Not sure”

 

[PaulDupre]

I voted “Absolutely Not” because of the heretical elements in the “Proclamation” and because it did not come through the divine teaching authority of the Catholic Church.

Paul

 

[PurpleViolets]

The stuff about the premortal realm and worshipping God there kill it as being from God IMO.

Also, the statement says that the church supports life, while in actuality it takes a permissive stance towards nearly all forms of contraception, That is a contradiction that I do not believe would have occurred if God was involved.

 

[b_justb]

In the premortal realm, spirit sons and daughters knew and worshiped God as their Eternal Father and accepted His plan by which His children could obtain a physical body and gain earthly experience to progress toward perfection and ultimately realize his or her divine destiny as an heir of eternal life.

Isn’t this the same thing that Origin said and that got him into some hot water? “Premortal”? ummm no.

 

[Pjs2ejs]

It’s hard to say. It’s like asking what makes a good school. And then making a list like this.

1. Books
2. Classrooms
3. Good Teachers
4. Safe conditions
5. extracurricular activies
6. Janitors with tails
7. Clowns in every closet.

It just makes you go, huh???

There are some things that are harmless, I guess. But some that are just out there.

 

[zerinus]

I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I am currently doing a study of other religion’s views on the family. Please take a moment to review The Proclamation to the Family

I am curious to know that is the object of your study. Is it a school project? Are you writing a paper? Are you planning to publish a book? What kind of study are you involved in?

zerinus

 

[PaulDupre]

I am curious to know that is the object of your study. Is it a school project? Are you writing a paper? Are you planning to publish a book? What kind of study are you involved in?

zerinus

Z,
I am also interested. I also want to know if he will draw the usual LDS non-sequitur conclusion - that if we don’t agree with LDS doctrine, then we don’t think the family is sacred or important.
Paul

 

[majick275]

Please also respond to these questions…

1. What specific aspects do you not agree with?

who it’s from and almost all of what it says. easier to say what I agree with in #2 and state that everything else I disagree with.

1. What specific aspects do you agree with?

“marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God”, " All human beings—male and female—are created in the image of God",
'God has commanded that the sacred powers of procreation are to be employed only between man and woman, lawfully wedded as husband and wife", “We declare the means by which mortal life is created to be divinely appointed. We affirm the sanctity of life and of its importance in God’s eternal plan”, " Husband and wife have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other and for their children. “Children are an heritage of the Lord” (Psalms 127:3). Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness, to provide for their physical and spiritual needs, to teach them to love and serve one another, to observe the commandments of God and to be law-abiding citizens wherever they live. Husbands and wives—mothers and fathers—will be held accountable before God for the discharge of these obligations", " The family is ordained of God", “Children are entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony, and to be reared by a father and a mother who honor marital vows with complete fidelity”, “Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities”, “individuals who violate covenants of chastity, who abuse spouse or offspring, or who fail to fulfill family responsibilities will one day stand accountable before God”, " We call upon responsible citizens and officers of government everywhere to promote those measures designed to maintain and strengthen the family as the fundamental unit of society" That’s as optimistic and ecumenical as I can get in regards to agreeing with this. I don’t know that once can dissect it out of it’s original mormon context like that though and be “in agreement” with even a part of it as the meaning of the whole definitely affects the meaning of each part.

1. Do you believe that this statement is the word of God?

no, nor does it’s author even appear to claim such. It is the word of men who are claiming that it is BASED on the word of God.

1. What is your general response to the proclamation?

mormons trying to appear mainstream and seeking out “allies” in their cause by trying to show an area of common interest. I think it fails because they insist on inserting their own unique doctrine of eternal progression in it that most Christians find blasphemous.

1. What is your religious denomination?

Catholic

 

[Lehl]

Absolutely NOT.

Especially…“In the premortal realm, spirit sons and daughters knew and worshiped God as their Eternal Father and accepted His plan by which His children could obtain a physical body and gain earthly experience** to progress toward perfection ** (which I know means “to become a god” )and ultimately realize his or her divine destiny as an heir of eternal life. The divine plan of happiness enables** family relationships to be perpetuated beyond the grave** (oh yeah, and be married and have celestial sex and create spirit babies ). Sacred ordinances and covenants available in holy temples make it possible for individuals to return to the presence of God and for families to be united eternally.”

Also…“We affirm the sanctity of life…”
LDS do NOT “affirm the sanctity of life” as a Catholic would affirm it. The LDS church not ONLY allows for contraception, but also allows for ABORTION!!!

This “proclamation” is most definetly by seriously misguided men and NOT God.

 

[orgel_maestro]

Please also respond to these questions…

1. What specific aspects do you not agree with?
   I do not agree at all with the spirits existing in heaven before being given a physical body on earth. I believe that souls start and are created by God at the moment of conception.
2. What specific aspects do you agree with?
   I believe the part where those who abuse their spouses and children will be accountable before God. I also agree that marriage is sacred and that one of the primary reasons is for procreative purposes and that the parents have responsibilities to raise the children in a loving and God-filled environment.
3. Do you believe that this statement is the word of God?
   Not at all. I dont believe in the LDS’s teaching that the 12 apostles still are alive. I dont believe there are anymore prophets.
4. What is your general response to the proclamation?
   It sounded kinda repetitive and I dont really take it to heart. At some points, it sounded a little sexist, the way it described the roles of mother and father. I dont think that it should be only the mother’s responsibility to oversee the child’s spiritual upbringing etc. I think these are things that both parents should contribute to and that it shouldnt be assigned to one particular sex. I am in favor of the traditional family structure, but I dont think that women should be housewives while their husbands bring back the bacon.
5. What is your religious denomination?

Roman Catholic

 

[Allweather]

I got to the second paragraph:

“All human beings—male and female—are created in the image of God. Each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and, as such, each has a divine nature and destiny. Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose.”

and stopped reading. This is about Mormon heterodoxy, not Christian orthodoxy. The error is mixed in with the good stuff. Someone who isn’t reading carefully can get deceived.

I admire the Mormon family structure. Mormons have an awful lot of truth in their plan. Ultimately, however, the errors lead to separation from Christianity, disunity, disobedience, isolation.

 

[Allweather]

Please also respond to these questions…

1. What specific aspects do you not agree with?

I disagree with every aspect of it that is not in complete harmony with Catholic teaching. I stopped reading after the second paragraph. Errors were already apparent. I don’t see any point in reading the rest of it.

1. What specific aspects do you agree with?

I agree that we are made in the image of God, but I don’t agree with the Mormon interpretation of this as meaning that God was once a man.

1. Do you believe that this statement is the word of God?

Not possible, really. Not that God’s eternal truths don’t find a home in some of Mormon ideology. But the Mormon leadership is not a mouthpiece for God’s word, not by a long stretch.

1. What is your general response to the proclamation?

No response worth mentioning.

1. What is your religious denomination?

Catholic