This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

According to a just-released ABC News/Washington Post poll, 55 percent of Americans favor legalizing gay marriage, a whopping 63 percent favor allowing gay boys into Scouting and 56 percent oppose banning gay men from being Scout leaders.

Those numbers will only increase. Soon, three out of four American will favor integrating gays into society, including marriage and Scouts. Already, gays may share the same drinking fountains, bathrooms and public schools.

Why then should we allow a shrinking minority to tell everyone else what to do? No one is proposing to force the Catholics or Mormons to perform gay marriages in their cathedrals and temples, so why are they so intent on making everyone else practice their beliefs?

After all, a Mormon article of faith asserts: "We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege." So do just that. In marriage and Scouting, allow all to follow the dictates of their own consciences.

Thomas Campbell

Salt Lake City