“Sincere question for you here. You have a teenage daughter, so I'm guessing you have to be at least mid-40s correct? Average life expectancy of the American male is 76 years. So, assuming you're 45, and will live to be 76, you're approximately 60% of the way through your life. Up to this point, you've been a faithful member of the Church, paid your tithing, etc. So, you've only got 40% of life to go and if you can just keep on the path for that last stretch, you'll very likely receive exaltation and be together with your family, as the LDS Church teaches.
“On the other hand, if you choose to live a homosexual lifestyle, you've got, on average, 31 years (assuming you're 45) left. Keeping in mind that after 65 you're pretty much "old" (no offense intended) which brings the "wild oats" years down to roughly 20. Are those 20 years worth it?
“I'm not your bishop so I don't think what you do directly effects me very much, but I'm just curious about your thoughts on whether those 20 years are worth what you're giving up.”
This comment struck me as representing what is unfortunately common thinking among most members of the LDS Church with respect to homosexuality. Because of this, I asked for readers of my blog to contribute their own responses to this comment before I prepared a response. Over the course of the next two weeks, I then wrote eight "letters to Anonymous," incorporating both my own words and those of others who posted replies to the comment. During the course of publishing these letters, Anonymous identified himself as "Bryan", but, as I explained to him, I continued to address the letters to "Dear Anonymous", representing all those Mormons who hold beliefs and opinions similar to those expressed by Bryan.
