LDS Church Response to US Supreme Court Marriage Decision

http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/

church-responds-supreme-court-marriage-

rulings

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints released the following statement today regarding the decisions announced by the United States Supreme Court on cases involving marriage:

"By ruling that supporters of Proposition 8 lacked standing to bring this case to court, the Supreme Court has highlighted troubling questions about how our democratic and judicial system operates. Many Californians will wonder if there is something fundamentally wrong when their government will not defend or protect a popular vote that reflects the views of a majority of their citizens.  
 
"In addition, the effect of the ruling is to raise further complex jurisdictional issues that will need to be resolved.
 
"Regardless of the court decision, the Church remains irrevocably committed to strengthening traditional marriage between a man and a woman, which for thousands of years has proven to be the best environment for nurturing children. Notably, the court decision does not change the definition of marriage in nearly three-fourths of the states."

My opinion:

The LDS Church is in support of same-gender couples receiving any and all insurance, tax, and welfare benefits that traditional married couples do.  What makes marriage different than civil union is children.  This issue is a great civil-rights issue.  However, the issue is not tax, welfare, and inheritance benefits. The real issue is that children are raised best in homes with both a mother and father.  Producing and raising children is the issue here, NOT benefits.

When a couple bring children into a community, how those children are cared for is a community concern. Children are a great asset to any community, but if neglected, can become a liability.  History has proven that children raised by both a mother and father do best.

Also, there may be significant under-appreciated genetic benefits involved with having a male and female reproduce who experience a natural attraction. Genetic studies demonstrate genetic compatibility involved in the natural attractive pheromones between males and females. This genetic compatibility cannot be simulated by a same-gender couple who use donor sperm, and egg from a third party or even cloning their own gametes.

New York Times on Problems with Sperm Donors:

According to the New York Times, the same seemingly healthy and intelligent sperm donors may father 50-200 (Christian, Doctor, High IQ, blue eyes). They may have the same rate of genetic disease as natural couples. But if one donor fathers 200 children, that will propagate that individual's genetic errors in the population which may then show up at a much higher rate in just a few future generations down the road.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/15/

health/in-sperm-banks-a-matrix-of-unteste

d-genetic-diseases.html?pagewanted=all

Opinion of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia: 

"Some will rejoice in today's decision, and some will despair at it; that is the nature of a controversy that matters so much to so many. But the Court has cheated both sides, robbing the winners of an honest victory, and the losers of the peace that comes from a fair defeat. We owed both of them better. I dissent."