Prophecy or Policy?

Well, the donation forms have gone around church twice now. My wife and I have discussed the issue some, but have not reached a conclusion on what level of support to give. She was with a friend this week, whose husband is bishop of the ward we used to attend. They discussed the issues some and boiled them down to whether one believes the directive from the First Presidency to support Proposition 8 is prophecy or policy. The Church has many "policies" that are not doctrine. How does one know? The other interesting thing that this friend reported is that she was aware of several people in the single's ward of that stake who walked out of sacrament when the First Presidency's letter was read. I know of at least one visitor in our ward that day who walked out.

Yesterday, a member of the stake presidency visited each unit in our stake to provide a presentation during a combined priesthood/Relief Society meeting to teach doctrine and encourage support for the coalition. I think the presentation was a rush job. There was definitely sound doctrine taught, but without thought to the divorced and single members of the ward. Taken out of context, the presentation could have been used as a basis for supporting an anti-divorce proposition.

There was talk of "activist" judges in "San Francisco" and seeking to have their appointments revoked. First of all, people only hate "activist" judges when the judges rule against them. Otherwise they are champions of the law and civil rights. Second, removing them from office will not change the law.

Another fallacy with the presentation was with the dollar amount that the stake wants to raise. The goal was set by doubling the amount raised in the friends of Scouting drive earlier in the year. "Isn't this twice as important?" I wanted to say, "No." I think supporting BSA is greater in the long run. (As a side note, I enjoyed scouts to an extent growing up but didn't really fit in with the other boys--no surprise--but have served in scout positions as an adult and can really appreciate a well-run, even if imperfect, scout program.)

Anyway, I didn't leave the meeting feeling disgusted, but I wasn't motivated or impressed. My wife asked me how the meeting went, but it wasn't great, so I didn't elaborate much. I'm still equivocating about my vote in November. That makes it hard to feel excited about donating money or participating in surveys.