Yesterday the Utah Statesman ran a front page article about a man who had stolen 44 books and sold 40 of them back. When he was arrested he said that times were hard for his family, and that they had just had another child.
This got me thinking, and I believe that the LDS church is complicit in this crime. For years the state of Utah has seen it's age at first marriage be the lowest in the nation. For years the LDS church claimed that it was not doctrine that people marry so young, but this is simply not true. This year during April conference there was an emphasis on marriage. The priesthood session was about men needing to "buck up" and marry. If it is coming from the priesthood itself, that is doctrine.
The man in this story was 24 married with children and a recent graduate of USU. I do not think that anyone would claim that stealing is a decision made by a rational or reasonable mind. I have seen the church stance on marriage change, as well as the church stance on self sufficiency become more extreme. This young man had other options, but if he was raised to think that using public assistance was a sign of moral weakness, he would not avail himself of it.
The simple fact is this.
The LDS church's leadership are engaging in reckless and irresponsible behavior by telling young people to marry while they are too young. We are still in a recession, and to tell college age kids to marry and start having children in this weak economy is terrible advice. Nothing is lost if you let these young people grow up and start a family a little later in life, but so much could be gained. The divorce rate within the church would go down, and these couples would have a chance at bringing children into a more financially stable home.
I am not absolving this young man of his guilt, but the religious and societal pressures to marry and start having kids no doubt played a part in his desperate decision to steal for his family.
I believe that the LDS church preaches for young people (18 to mid 20's) to get married so that they will abstain from having sex before marriage. They also say go forth and multiply. So in order to have a "full" family of 3-6 kids (or more) they need to start early on while they are young enough to raise that many children.
ReplyDeleteI know that's not doctrine but it is what is told to the followers. I felt like an old maid getting married at 21. Nearly everyone of my friends were married and pregnant with their first or second child at the time.
Today, and even 14 years ago, it's bad advice.
I do understand with all the unwanted(I hate that word)pregnancies and how the youth is exposed to sex in an everyday environment why church officials are worried.
It's not really a question of marriage instead a polite way to address the issue of sex.
At the risk of sounding totally controversial. I think these kids should have sex, just once before they marry, so that it won't be the REASON that they get married. They need to kill the idea that having sex will "ruin" you for eternity.
ReplyDeleteThe church has a huge pornography problem, because they wont talk about sex.