Same Sex Attraction

I am somewhat distressed when I see some of the social media comments of LDS friends who claim to be true to the doctrines of Mormonism. They bewail the church's stand on same sex marriage. They are openly critical of the church's positions on transgenderism.

I believe that many Mormons have come to feel that sexual satisfaction is a divine right, ordained by God for all to experience. Sexual satisfaction is a type of divine bliss, an entry into the presence of God.

Baloney!

Let's pose a fact scenario. A man and woman marry. They consummate their marriage but within a few years and months the wife contracts a wasting disease that means that sexual intimacy must end. Let's say it is rheumatoid arthritis. Back, knees and hips are severely affected and sexual relations become unendurable for the wife.

She asks her husband to end intimacy.

Well that doesn't end the husband's desire. Is he given a dispensation from his vow of fidelity so that he can seek satisfaction elsewhere? Which is a higher virtue: fidelity to one's spouse or sexual bliss?

Faithful LDS must choose fidelity. 

Same sex attraction can be seen in the same light. Acting on the attraction is not lawful. What is the higher virtue: obedience to God's law or sexual satisfaction?

What about a single person with heterosexual desire? Can they satisfy themselves in unmarried relations? Can they satisfy themselves in auto-eroticism?

I think that we have to say no.

But saying no introduces a voluntary discipline for healthy married LDS who can lawfully enjoy sexual relations and the pleasure that attends them. They need to examine their motivations for sexual intimacy and seek for ways to channel it into godliness. 

We do know that godly sexual relations are intended for two purposes:

1. Procreation

2. Marital unity

But is the satisfaction of physical lust a feature of marriage or is it a hindrance to procreation and unity? How does one control the demands of the body while fulfilling the divinely ordained purposes of sexual intimacy? 

How does one consecrate their marital relations to the good of the body of Christ so that those relations sanctify all members of the body of Christ, the married with disabilities, the members with same sex attractions or other disordered attraction, and, the single with normal attractions and desires.

These are some topics I want to address in this blog.