Never thought it would be this obvious, but...

The following was posted by Daniel Bell on Derrick Beckstrands FaceBook page (hopefully this link works). Permission to re-print here thankfully granted by Daniel. Thanks Daniel!

"I'm glad that Prop 8 passed. I can understand (and indeed sympathize with) those who don't share my beliefs and voted against it. I'm pretty sure that were I not a member of the Church, I wouldn't have supported Prop 8.
But this note isn't really about you guys. Welcome, read the note, comment or question if you like, you're awesome, but you're guests here."

"The really troubling issue, from my point of view, was the section of the Church that actively opposed Prop 8. They have some cognitive dissonance to work through---and perhaps some covenants to remember."

"The foremost complaint I've heard from anti-8 members is that "The Church is trying to take away our agency."

"No offense (maybe you'll take it anyway), but that seems like a very immature argument. I've heard it used to argue against everything from the Word of Wisdom to the BYU Honor Code."

"Did the home teachers storm your house to force you to the polls? Anyone who's served a mission has felt the complete impotence of the Church to force anyone to do anything---and, if they learned, realized that even trying is a bad idea."

"I suppose some might say that the Church is blackmailing them with their temple recommends with the "Do you sustain the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints?" clause. Perhaps---if you don't feel like you can oppose Prop 8 and answer "Yes," to that question, then supporting Prop 8 is a condition of entering the temple. But we have to remember that it was never a "right" anyway."

"I say unto you that if ye should serve him who has created you from the beginning, and is preserving you from day to day, by lending you breath, that ye may live and move and do according to your own will, and even supporting you from one moment to another—I say, if ye should serve him with all your whole souls yet ye would be unprofitable servants." (Mosiah 2:21)"

"If God doesn't "owe" us our lives, he certainly doesn't "owe" us temple privileges."

"A few days ago I was riding in my friend's car and we were talking about how hard the mission could be sometimes. A thought surfaced. I don't even remember what the topic was, but the logical equivalent was "I worked really hard on my mission. The Lord owes me."

"The Atonement was a no-strings-attached deal. And so is every act of obedience we perform. We GIVE to the Lord, and receive GIFTS in return. If anyone is in debt, it is not the Lord. And (this is important) nor is the Church---at least not to us."

"This isn't just a trivial matter, either. The Lord has made it clear how strict a line we walk here:

"He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad." (Matt 12:30)"

"Some would say that this is a doctrinally murky issue. If it was, it sure stopped being murky when President Monson asked all members to work to support Prop 8. It then became an issue of following the Prophet or not. That one's so non-murky we have a Primary song about it."

"I think I've made my point, but there's one nagging issue I want to address. That is the feeling some might have that I'm being divisive or hateful or contentious---especially in light of that quotation from Matthew. I don't intend to "call anyone out" in Fast/Testimony Meeting or anything equally dreadful. Nor have I advocated that "anyone who doesn't like it can get out," because that's really for their priesthood leader to say or not say (I'm a Family Home Evening Group Leader, which basically authorizes me to make brownies and call on someone for the opening prayer). But I'm not going to stop supporting the Prophet (even vocally) just to make you comfortable."

I love you all.

Okay. I'm done. But here are some quotes that are always good to read anyway.

“I will give you one of the Keys of the mysteries of the Kingdom. It is an eternal principle, that has existed with God from all eternity: That man who rises up to condemn others, finding fault with the Church, saying that they are out of the way, while he himself is righteous, then know assuredly, that that man is in the high road to apostasy; and if he does not repent, will apostatize, as God lives.” ---Joseph Smith, History of the Church, 3:385

“You may not like what comes from the authority of the Church. It may conflict with your political views. It may contradict your social views. It may interfere with some of your social life … Your safety and ours depends upon whether or not we follow … Let’s keep our eye on the President of the Church.” Harold B Lee, Conference Report, October 1970, p. 152–153. (And, for those who are sure that President Hinckley would NEVER have done this...)"

“Even in the Church, many are prone to garnish the sepulchres of yesterday's prophets and mentally stone the living ones.” (Spencer W. Kimball, Instructor, 95:527.)"