1500 Mormons resign from the Mormon church over anti-gay policy issues (Photo : Reuters)
After the Mormon Church had banned baptizing children belonging to same-sex couples, the 6-million-Mormons-church now has 1500 fewer members, after they resigned for the same reason in front of the LDS temple in Salt Lake City.
According to CNN, Mark Naugle, a member of the church, said that the Church resignation had a great turnout, and he was slammed for over three hours while some people stood in the line more than an hour.
Naugle, whose family departed from the church over 15 years, took letters from what was presented as a "Mass Resignation from Mormonism" on Facebook. With notaries and lawyers on hand, participants planned to sign letters of submission and march around the temple in advance before depositing some of them in the mailbox near the church office, The Washington Post reported.
A letter from President Thomas Monson and two counselors, Dieter F. Uchtdorf and Henry B. Eyring said that children should be respected and treated with care. The letter also suggested that children would be welcome participate in church activities and to attend Church meetings.
Additionally, the letter said that children may receive spiritual guidance and priesthood blessings of healing. However, it continued by stipulating that members of the church were obligated to act with that perspective for the welfare of both children and adults. The newly added Handbook provisions affirmed that adults who chose to enter into a same-gender marriage or similar relationship would commit a sin that warrants a church disciplinary council.
Before the event, last week on Friday, LDS Church leaders tried to tweak the policy before the protest, as they clarified that the policy could only apply to children whose "primary residence" is that of same-sex parents. It meant that those who visited a homosexual parent only during weekends would also receive the same blessings as other Mormon Youth.
They also claimed that the policy would not be retroactive to children who got previously baptized but currently live with same-sex parents.
The resignation has prompted some of the Mormons who resigned to explain their reasons on the event's Facebook page while the church controversy continues.
