Subscribe to Breaking NewsRuby-Sachs: Mormons the victims of bigotry?
A story ran in the LA Times yesterday that detailed the efforts of gay rights activists to vilify the Mormon Church.
Since the push by Mormon organizations in partnership with many evangelical groups to bolster the Yes on 8 campaign, the Mormon church has been receiving hate mail, faced protests and even witnessed the burning of the Book of Mormon. Now they are, “amazed to think there was such bigotry in the country.”
Even a Harvard professor muses that Mormonism is the religion everyone loves to hate.
Well, I’m not a proponent of hate. But I’m pretty sure that Mormons hate, if not a large group of people, then the actions of many of the writers and readers here on 365gay. Why else would they spend countless hours and hundreds of thousands of dollars to deny LGBT people equal constitutional protection?
Some insiders suggest that the Mormon Church worked so hard on the Proposition 8 campaign in order to solidify relationships with mainstream religious organizations. Which just goes to show that we never really leave high school: the proverbial loser in the back of the class will always throw spitballs at the geek in the corner just so the jocks will think he is cool.
Whatever the reason, the distrust and anger directed at the Mormon Church is justified.
This is not an instance of a group of people freely acting upon their faith. This is a moment where one group of people actively campaigned to relegate another group of people to second class status. That is not faith, it is not the word of God and it is definitely not acceptable behavior.
This country has been through a long line of struggles where fundamental rights were denied a group of citizens. Those who opposed that progress have been painted as villains in the American story. Why are the Mormons so surprised that they are now hated as much as slave owners in the South?
I have no comment on the mormons being treated as a minority. Wonder if they get it yet? As for Newt. He is absolutely right. We will sieze power and a gay man will be in the White House. It’s in the book.
If the mormans can’t stand the heat, they should stay out of the fire.
A few years ago, All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena was threatened with the loss of their IRS tax exemption because the pastor, from the pulpit, asked parishioners not to vote for Geo. W. Bush. I believe that the Mormon church should definitely lose theirs for their participation in the Yes on H8 campaign.
I will tell the Mormons when they come to my front door that I will never trade my gay welcoming Episcopal church for their antigay Mormon church. And that I support gay marriage for all of the USA and that I oppose Prop 8 and all other related amendments for the rest of the ststes.
If they don’t agree and want to counter my point of view, then it’s “I support my community in this. Thanks for your visit. Have a nice day. Goodbye!”
Mormonism from a web article:
“The leadership of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints likes to portray a happy, healthy family image for itself. The Mormon commercials may portray this, but the irony is that Utah leads the nation in anti-depressant use, mental health problems related to depression, and has the highest teen suicide rate.
An article that appeared in the March 8, 2008 edition of the Salt Lake Tribune had a headline that proclaimed that Utah has the highest percentage of adults in serious psychological distress.”
I’ve participated in the rallies for visibilty of this issue but I wish I knew how to somehow go after the mormons in a way that gets their attention on what a horrible thing they have done.
As the saying goes, “You reap what you sow,’ and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has sown a lot of hate over the years. It is neither shocking nor, in my opinion, inappropriate that they are reaping an equal, if not a slightly greater, degree of hatred now. They should have listened to their Namesake when He said, “do unto others, as you would have them do unto you,” because sooner or later, they will.
Darryl: Check with your local gay civil rights groups and find out what local businesses there may be in your area that are owned by Mormons and other evangelical right-wing groups. Get their names and email everyone in your contacts list. Don’t let the topic die.
While agreeing with the criticism of the Mormon Church and the boycott of many Mormon-owned businesses, I have to remember that I have received many acts of kindness from individual Mormons in Utah. I think we should not forget the Catholic Church’s part in the Prop 8 struggle. The Catholics deserve as much vilification as the Mormons, perhaps even more, because it was the Catholic Archbishop of San Francisco who asked the Mormons to participate. We should actually organize opposition to these two groups and to right-wing evangelical churches and express that opposition in the media and through boycotts on every possible occasion.
this fight is so worth fighting but reading these comments I’m worried:
-myself and a few others (one of 38 here) are calling for LOUD, IN YOUR FACE tactics. No more mr. nice gay for sure. People say no, lets be nicey-nicey or they won’t like us. If we don’t get MEAN and stay LOUD they will know we will roll over and go away.
-Mormons are a cult? Ha???? ALL religions are cults…look it up, they ALL fit the definition. Not religious people (brainwashed to be afraid) but religions and their leaders are cults and cultists. If we continue to try to appease ANY form of religion, we will become irrelevant, like HRC.
-Worry about the gay mormon kids? Of course I do..but how do we help them? We ATTACK the church that is causing them harm. We don’t coddle them or worry about collateral damage (see first point). We must fight these evil churches until they no longer exist.
-Facts: we won’t win if our facts are wrong. I have the president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation investigating the Knights of Columbus. The mormons did not break IRS rules and the knights likely did not, but she is trying to find an angle. The rules say no endorsing a candidate. Issue advocacy is clearly allowed. Saying they broke rules when they did not does not help our cause.
-Funny: someone said the churches should worry about the “soles” more. I love that…they should worry about the worn out shoes of all their followers walking a life that leads to no pleasure, no good being done and in the end, no afterlife.
Lastly, we have to take the moral high ground. We cannot say one religion or another has hurt us. We have to point out what is so wrong with religion and DEMAND they practice their cults in privacy and stay out of politics.
WE have these civil rights like everyone else. They have falsely and temporarily taken them away from us. WE have the right to be angry and WE must show the world we are. It would be immoral to roll over and let them f*$# us again!
Go do something. I called the local bishop yesterday and told his secretary to tell him I am reporting him to the IRS for illegal politicking (I know, unlikely his open letter to congregants was illegal, but these people live by fear, so what the heck). I told her he needs to stay out of politics, my life is none of his business.
Have you warned someone today? Marching is great, but have you told an OPPPONENT that we are not giving up and we plan to retaliate (non violently, of course)?
What have you done?..get dialling.
Good points about real ACTION. When I discovered the Catholic bishops had asked their communion to take the Yes on 8 side, I wrote a sharp letter to each of the 20 bishops. Now I am writing to the Archbishop of San Francisco and shall try to get that published as an “open letter” in as many California newspapers as possible. I shall also write to my state and congressional representatives to ask for action to change the laws on the following:
1. Marriage should be a civil union only, as it is in France and Mexico.
2. Religious institutions must not be locations for electoral activities and church leaders must be prevented from openly demanding that their followers vote for or against a proposition, as the Mormons and Catholics did. Pulpits can indicate church doctrine on a topic, but must also state clearly every time that how a citizen votes is a matter of individual conscience.
3. Only residents and corporations registered in a state should be allowed to donate to proposition campaigns. Campaign headquarters MUST be in-state, unlike Yes on 8 which was based in Arizona. Out of state factions must not be allowed to interfere in any way. If they do, the states in which they are located will be held liable and heavily fined.
We should encouraqe friends and neighbors to take similar action. If possible, letters to representatives should also be sent by concerned groups and institutions.
I have one question for the Mormons….Woulld God discriminate ????
Christopher Coleman: fighting on two fronts is never wise; let’s stay on beam with the Mormons, then tackle the others in due course.
While the archbishop of San Francisco taking orders from the German in the Vatican is reprehensible, the Catholic Church is far more nuanced that the Mormons, so it’ll require more skillful tactics.
The Mormons think/thought that they were beyond the reach of lesbians and gays, and now they’re muttering in their ranks: “Our holy-wallets are in peril!”.
Good grief, the Mormons donated millions of dollars that stripped rights away from me and the rest of the GLBT community, and THEY are the victims here?! Give me an effin break! If we can pay taxes, so can they. Fork over your chunky wallets Mormons!
Oh, pity the poor Mormon Church, everybody is picking on them! Well, they “pissed off the wrong group of people this time”. So let’s see if I have this correctly now: you put out a whole bunch of money to push forward your agenda on the masses, against the civil rights of a minority group, you win, the minority loses and you think by the grace of God that you have done nothing wrong! What the heck is wrong with this picture? The Mormon Church, along with every other religious institution that was behind this Proposition 8, have absolutely no right at all coming into anyone’s home and telling them who they can and cannot be married to. They have trampled on the civil rights of a people and for that they must stand up and take the heat, if not from their fellow humankind, then from their maker!