Mormon Church officials say President
Boyd K. Packer “simply clarified his intent” in altering the
final text of his Sunday sermon.
The speech, given at The Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' (the Mormons) 180th
General Conference in downtown Salt Lake City, sparked
a Thursday 4,500-strong protest by local gay rights activists, who
called the apostle's words painful.
Packer, the president of the Quorum of
Twelve Apostles, originally told millions of followers that being gay
was not born of inbred “tendencies.” But in the church's online
transcript, the word “tendencies” was changed to “temptations.”
And the sentence, “Why would our Heavenly Father do that to
anyone?” was omitted entirely from the following passage: “Some
suppose that they were pre-set and cannot overcome what they feel are
inborn tendencies towards the impure and unnatural. Not so. Why
would our Heavenly Father do that to anyone? Remember, he is our
Father.”
But officials say the alterations are
commonplace.
“The Monday following every general
conference, each speaker has the opportunity to make any edits
necessary to clarify differences between what was written and what
was delivered or to clarify the speaker's intent,” Scott Trotter,
spokesman for the LDS, said. “President Packer has simply
clarified his intent.”
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the
nation's largest gay rights advocate, has called Packer's statements
“inaccurate” and “dangerous.” The group told the AP that
they'll deliver more than 100,000 letters to church headquarters on
Tuesday asking Packer to recant his statements.