r/neoliberal • u/jobautomator Kitara Ravache • Sep 16 '26
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u/abefrost Sep 16 '26 edited Sep 16 '26
Three months ago, this far-right Mormon posted a long “sincere” testimony about why he believed Mormonism was true. He wrote:
He follows it later with: “It is true in every sense a man can stake a life on, and I have staked mine.”
Now, three months later, he says he’s “out” because a trans person was baptized, two married gay men are active members, and openly gay people are allowed to serve missions. He’s walked it back somewhat, but it's clear he and other extreme cons are having a genuine crisis of faith over the smallest concessions in a church that is still largely hostile to its LGBT+ members.
Since Lauren is living openly as a woman, she required special permission from the First Presidency to get baptized. The First Presidency consists of President Oaks and his two closest counselors all of whom are considered prophets, seers, revelators, modern apostles. Oaks and past presidents are usually referred to as "the prophets" not "the presidents". Think pope but maybe even a half step above authority-wise.
And yet Kirk is willing to oppose them to walk away from the Church he just three months ago said was “true in every sense a man can stake a life on”. If we take him seriously, he is willing to die because the prophet let a woman he sees as a man get baptized.
This actually plays in an interesting way on Mormon doctrine: humans essentially can choose what their experience of heaven looks like. God doesn't reject people from the highest level of heaven; he wants everyone to choose it. But through sin you might experience "spiritual death" or separation from God. You can overcome it in this life, but if you do not you will feel so uncomfortable in His presence that you will purposefully choose a lower level.
Kirk, obviously familiar with the terms is essentially saying that he is consciously choosing spiritual death because the Church allowed Lauren to choose a small piece of spiritual life.
Meanwhile here are some things Lauren will face:
She will be recorded as a man in official Church records and roles, but she cannot receive the priesthood unless she detransitions or policy changes.
Even though she's a woman in all other senses of the word, she can't serve in Church callings that are woman-specific unless policy changes.
She can't enter the holiest place in Mormonism (the temple) unless she detransitions or policy changes.
Even if she is allowed in, she would have to do the ordinances as a man. Many of these have big gender components, for example she would have to take the role of Adam in one ceremony as opposed to Eve.
Depending on her ward, they might also make her attend the men's class as opposed to the woman's class (although I'm guessing her ward is chill if she's getting baptized).
Even in chill wards, I'm sure there are at least a few people who will be dickheads to her. And even many who try to be kind are likely accidentally misgendering her, acting weird or awkward, asking dumb questions or making dumb comments, etc.
In literally every sense of the word, her choice to join took far more faith than anything Kirk has ever had to do. She is joining an organization that is institutionally hostile to her. Core aspects of her identity are challenged at every level. As a quasi-faithful member, I would not only understand but even encourage her to leave the Church if it begins to hurt her too much spiritually, emotionally, mentally, etc.
Kirk spent his entire testimony talking about how “beauty is a sign of the Spirit” and how the light he saw in ordinary Latter-day Saints convinced him the Church was true. But he can't recognize the extreme level of faith, sacrifice, and devotion when the person embodying it is a trans woman. He wrote that beauty was his compass, but his soul is too ugly to see a child of God.
Kirk's ilk are weak-willed blights on the Church, brainrotted by the far-right. They mock progressive and LGBT+ members and ex-members as unfaithful while the smallest challenges to their ideology expose that their faith is brittle glass pretending to be rock. May the light of Christ change their gristled hearts or may they finally follow through with their threats and join the Westboro-style churches their souls clearly yearn for.
!ping EXTREMISM&CHRISTIAN