Where is the love???

This seems to be a theme with me lately.  I hear lots of stories of people thinking they can constrain others to make different choices through meanness or punishment and it gets me all riled up!  I met up with a friend who told me about another friend who had "come out" to his family that he was gay.  He tried aversion therapy, but it didn't work, so guess what?  They completely disowned him and forbade him from ever coming to any family thing again.  Nice!  I am sure that is what Jesus would do.  Then two days later I read this article about a family in California whose son said that he was gay and since there were already rumors about him being spread they just decided to be upfront about everything with the people at church.  Well, those righteous people decided that they would refuse to take the sacrament from this scared young boy and felt that they should tell the mom that her kids should be taken away from her.  Where is the freaking love?  I started walking around the house, singing loudly (which Matthew loved):

I'm trying to be like Jesus (unless you're gay or doing something else I don't approve of)

I'm following in His ways (unless you've got tattoos or doing something else I don't approve of)

I'm trying to love as He did (unless you're a feminist or doing something else I don't approve of)

In all that I do and say (unless you're being immodest or doing something else I don't approve of )

Those are just some of the topics I've heard people going on about angrily.  I guess my song is kind of catchy, but I don't really think that is the point of church!  I don't think we're there just to fill up time, go to meetings, and learn all of the rules and regulations!  I am almost positive that the main message in the Bible is about LOVE!  So I was so happy to hear Pres. Monson's talk on Sunday in which he said, "Love is the very essence of the gospel, and Jesus Christ is our exemplar."  Yes.  That is what I'm talking about!