Wednesday, July 15, 2015

UNIT 1

In my Family Foundations class, it is based off of "The Family: A Proclamation to the World." This document was given in September 1995 by President Gordon B. Hinckley of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This is what the document looks like:



With the way the world is redefining the traditional family unit, this document has become even more critical. This is a document that answers what God's standards are regarding the family.

In our first unit, we talked about the first paragraph of this document. It goes like this:

"We, the First Presidency and the Council of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, solemnly proclaim that marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God and that the family is central to the Creator’s plan for the eternal destiny of His children."

As a member of the LDS faith, I have learned so much. Covenants (promises made with God) are important part of God's plan. And I thank the Lord that covenants are a part of family life especially as the world is going down hill to the point of immorality - adultery, fornication, gay marriage, and more. 


In Handbook 2: Administering the Church with the section on "Families in the Church" it states: "Eternal life is God's greatest gift to His children" (D&C 14:7). This is one of the reason of covenants and commandments. 


Another part in this book states, "The nature of male and female spirits is such that they complete each other. Men and women are intended to progress toward exaltation." 


God has instructed as in 2 Nephi 1 to be "one in heart" and "one in mind." Another quote from Handbook 2 states, "Being one in marriage requires a full partnership. For example, Adam and Eve worked together, prayed and worshiped together, sacrificed together, taught their children the gospel together, and mourned over wayward children together. They were united with each other and God. 


Just look how many times it says TOGETHER. How important that must be!



Sister Julie B. Beck




Sister Julie B. Beck, former Relief Society General President said in her talk "Teaching the Doctrine of the Family" : "The Creation of the earth was the creation of an earth where a family could live. It was a creation of a man and a woman who were the two essential halves of a family. It was not about a creation of a man and a woman who happened to have a family. It was intentional all along that Adam and Eve form an eternal family It was part of the plan that these two be sealed and form an eternal family unit. That was the plan of happiness." She later states, "Without the family, there is no plan; there is no reason for it."

Another part of Julie B. Beck's talk says, "...if it's anti family, it's anti-Christ. An anti-Christ is anti family." 

Elder Bruce C. Hafen


Elder Bruce C. Hafen in his talk "How We Lost the Plot" stated: "...some extremist critics went far beyond this much-needed movements, using 'rights' language to challenge many laws and customs that had long supported traditional family relationships." He later continues: "...a noted advocate of individual rights said in 1978 that he feared any kind of 'domination' by one person over another. So he argued that American law should liberate 'the child - and the adult - from the shackles of ... family' commitments. In that way, 'individual rights' attitudes began to challenge one spouse's right to keep a marriage together and parents' right to raise children as they thought best, claiming the traditional family ties interfered with the individual's right to be 'free' from the demands or needs of other people, even in the family. To these advocates, the right to be free was simply more important than the right to be together, because being expected to stay together seemed to them like bondage." 

Bruce C. Hafen, in the same talk as above mentions, "When one believes that starting or ending a marriage is just a personal choice, one is less likely to think of one's own marriage as a serious social or moral obligation. Without even realizing why they assume and expect what they do, some people therefore feel less committed to making their marriages work and more willing to walk away when they're not getting what they want." 


Bruce C. Hafen also talked about gay marriage. "Same-gender marriage also alters society's judgment about preserving the best home environment for raising children. Once a couple of the same gender is entitled to a legal marriage, a family court would have more difficulty denying them the right to raise children. Until now, we collectively believed that, whenever possible, children should be raised by both a father and mother. As recently as 2004, for example, a twelve-judge federal appeals court upheld the constitutionality of a 1977 Florida law that forbids homosexual parents from adopting a child. The law was based on the state legislatures' finding that children are better off in homes that have a mother and father." 


In conclusion to this part of the blog, I quote another thing Bruce C. Hafen stated. "Marriage, like religious faith, is no more satisfying than we are willing - striving - to make it." 


In order to keep families together and the traditional family at that, striving to keep it together is what will make the family a happy family. 








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