Last year a woman was punished for being polyamorous in Community of Christ. As a polyamorous person, I was heartbroken and dismayed at the outright oppression against people like me in a church that claims to to have “Unity in Diversity” and “Worth of All Persons” as enduring principles.
I wrote out a letter to my apostle and expressed my concern and asked him to help advocate for me. He in turn recommended that I modify my letter and send it to the First Presidency. I took his advice, and sent a copy to each member of the First Presidency on November 16th, 2022. You can read this letter here.
I received no response from the First Presidency. However yesterday, February 19th, 2023, I was made aware that the First Presidency had indirectly responded to my letter by creating a policy on January 28th, 2023. This policy was not released publicly until a week after it was written, and even then it was done so secretly. At the time of publishing this post this policy only has 23 views on the church’s official website.
I literally begged the First Presidency not to oppress me, but their response was to quietly create a policy which explicitly specifies that I am a second class citizen in Community of Christ.
During times of intense emotional turmoil like this, I turn to scripture for relief. Doctrine and Covenants 163:3C says:
“There are subtle, yet powerful, influences in the world, some even claiming to represent Christ, that seek to divide people and nations to accomplish their destructive aims. That which seeks to harden one human heart against another by constructing walls of fear and prejudice is not of God. Be especially alert to these influences, lest they divide you or divert you from the mission to which you are called.”
The fact of the matter is that this policy is an institutional sin which targets a hyper-minority and perpetuates their oppression. This institutional sin detracts from the core missions of the church.
Heart of Discernment fully rejects the validity of such a callous and unchristlike policy. We call upon congregations and mission centers to develop policies which stand in faithful disagreement against this policy. We call upon the First Presidency to repent and take the advice that Steve Veazey gave in the March 2015 Herald:
Until this call to repentance is enacted upon, the observation that Christ made in Matthew 15: 7-8 will haunt the First Presidency:
“Hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied correctly about you when he said, ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me”