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SpencerMarsh (talk | contribs) (→Boyd K. Packer gives additional context) |
SpencerMarsh (talk | contribs) (→Boyd K. Packer gives additional context) |
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It was then they announced that they were going to have such a conference here in Salt Lake City. Some of us made the recommendation: "They are coming here. We had better proclaim our position.”<ref> Boyd K. Packer, "[http://speeches.byu.edu/index.php?act=viewitem&id=180 The Instrument of Your Mind and the Foundation of Your Character,]" CES Fireside (2 February 2003).</ref></blockquote> | It was then they announced that they were going to have such a conference here in Salt Lake City. Some of us made the recommendation: "They are coming here. We had better proclaim our position.”<ref> Boyd K. Packer, "[http://speeches.byu.edu/index.php?act=viewitem&id=180 The Instrument of Your Mind and the Foundation of Your Character,]" CES Fireside (2 February 2003).</ref></blockquote> | ||
− | We note that [https://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/beijing/dpibrochure.html the United Nations indeed held a conference in Beijing, China] (the Fourth World Conference on Women) from the 4–15 of September 1995 and [https://www.un.org/press/en/2004/pop897.doc.htm one in Cairo, Egypt] (the "Cairo Conference on Population and Development") in 1994. The Beijing Conference probably had little to no impact on the drafting of the proclamation given that the proclamation had already been drafted, substantially edited, and was about read to the Church by Gordon B. Hinckley on 23 September 1995. The Deseret News reported on 14 March 1995 that the United Nations was holding a conference celebrating the International Year of the Family that week in Salt Lake City.<ref>"[https://www.deseret.com/1995/3/15/19164375/world-focus-on-s-l-gathering World Focus on S.L. Gathering]," ''Deseret News'', March 15, 1995.</ref> | + | We note that [https://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/beijing/dpibrochure.html the United Nations indeed held a conference in Beijing, China] (the Fourth World Conference on Women) from the 4–15 of September 1995 and [https://www.un.org/press/en/2004/pop897.doc.htm one in Cairo, Egypt] (the "Cairo Conference on Population and Development") in 1994. The Beijing Conference probably had little to no impact on the drafting of the proclamation given that the proclamation had already been drafted, substantially edited, and was about read to the Church by Gordon B. Hinckley on 23 September 1995. The ''Deseret News'' reported on 14 March 1995 that the United Nations was holding a conference celebrating the International Year of the Family that week in Salt Lake City.<ref>"[https://www.deseret.com/1995/3/15/19164375/world-focus-on-s-l-gathering World Focus on S.L. Gathering]," ''Deseret News'', March 15, 1995.</ref> |
Thus, this is the potential narrative that arises: | Thus, this is the potential narrative that arises: |
It is claimed by some that “The Family: A Proclamation to the World” was drafted by lawyers in Hawaii in response to legal concerns the Church had over the legalization of gay marriage. Mormonr.org argues documents how "[i]n 1993, the Hawaii Supreme Court began hearing a case on gay marriage, known as Baehr v. Lewin (later Miike).[1] In 1994 the brethren begin the process of writing the proclamation in a 'revelatory process' with members of the Quorum of the Twelve."[2]
Dallin H. Oaks' new biography In the Hands of the Lord: The Life of Dallin H. Oaks (2021) authored by Richard Turley provides additional context:
During the fall of 1994, at the urging of its Acting President, Boyd K. Packer, the Quorum of the Twelve discussed the need for a scripture-based proclamation to set forth the Church’s doctrinal position on the family. A committee consisting of Elders Faust, Nelson, and Oaks was assigned to prepare a draft. Their work, for which Elder Nelson was the principal draftsman, was completed over the Christmas holidays. After being approved by the Quorum of the Twelve, the draft was submitted to the First Presidency on January 9, 1995, and warmly received.During the period that the proclamation was being drafted, Church leaders grew concerned about efforts to legalize same-sex marriage in the state of Hawaii. As that movement gained momentum, a group of Church authorities and Latter-day Saint legal scholars, including Elder Oaks, recommended that the Church oppose the Hawaii efforts…[3]
Over the next several months, the First Presidency took the proposed proclamation under advisement and made needed amendments. Then on September 23, 1995, in the general Relief Society meeting held in the Salt Lake Tabernacle and broadcast throughout the world, Church President Gordon B. Hinckley read “The Family: A Proclamation to the World” publicly for the first time.
The above quotation from Dallin H. Oaks' biography notes that the initial impetus for drafting the proclamation came from Boyd K. Packer. Boyd K. Packer related the following about the origins of the proclamation at a devotional given at BYU in 2003:
The First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve issued a proclamation on the family. I can tell you how that came about. They had a world conference on the family sponsored by the United Nations in Beijing, China. We sent representatives. It was not pleasant what they heard. They called another one in Cairo. Some of our people were there. I read the proceedings of that. The word marriage was not mentioned. It was at a conference on the family, but marriage was not even mentioned. It was then they announced that they were going to have such a conference here in Salt Lake City. Some of us made the recommendation: "They are coming here. We had better proclaim our position.”[4]
We note that the United Nations indeed held a conference in Beijing, China (the Fourth World Conference on Women) from the 4–15 of September 1995 and one in Cairo, Egypt (the "Cairo Conference on Population and Development") in 1994. The Beijing Conference probably had little to no impact on the drafting of the proclamation given that the proclamation had already been drafted, substantially edited, and was about read to the Church by Gordon B. Hinckley on 23 September 1995. The Deseret News reported on 14 March 1995 that the United Nations was holding a conference celebrating the International Year of the Family that week in Salt Lake City.[5]
Thus, this is the potential narrative that arises:
It's very likely that the Church knew about the efforts in Hawaii prior to Packer providing the initial impetus. But, according to the testimony of Packer and Dallin H. Oaks, those efforts probably weren't in leaders immediate consciousnesswhen initially drafting the Proclamation.
The doctrines contained within the Proclamation are doctrines long taught by the Church. We address this elsewhere on the wiki.
Notes
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