When those cute young Mormon missionaries come to our doors, bringing their Books of Mormon to give potential new converts they often quote this scripture from the Gospel of Mathew, 7:16 to be exact. Mormons or members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints to be exact, love to show off their good works. Their prophet and founder Joseph Smith broke with the protestant tradition of “By faith alone”. He and Mormons believe that not only must you believe in Jesus Christ, the Book of Mormon and the ordinances (aka sacraments) of the church but also must do good among men. And this doing good among men, is what our Mormon friends, neighbors and acquaintances take seriously. Those Mormon missionaries with their white shirts and black pants bicycling around sharing the Gospel according to Joseph Smith, are the most public face of their church. They try to do good, they offer to volunteer, help elderly people go to and from the pharmacy, help people moving in and out, they hold doors open and they do all of this with a genuine smile on their face and a desire to do good. As they preach their newer, more complete and restored Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Joseph Smith, they have a tough time selling to people that Native Americans are lost tribes of Jews who fled just before the Babylonian Captivity and that Jesus Christ after his Crucifixion appeared resurrected to these same Native American Jews as Quezacoatl. So more often than not, Mormons fall back on this scripture in the Book of Mathew as a means of validating themselves to potential converts who are likely skeptical of Joseph Smith’s revelation.

The Mormon Church, very much like the Roman Catholic Church, recognizes that gay and lesbian people do not choose to be gay. Their current and former President (or Pope) has acknowledged scientific evidence that homosexuality is not and has never been a choice. But despite this the church still views homosexuality, same-sex marriage, and sex between same-sex couples as wrong. Far be it for me to tell Mormons what to believe, but here’s why this matters to the rest of us. While Mormons seek the full protection of the First Amendment’s protection of Freedom of Religion, due to their own history of persecution, they themselves don’t feel obliged to respect the freedoms of others, particularly the Freedom to Marry, which gay and lesbian Californians had prior to Proposition 8. The Mormon church didn’t simply preach their version of marriage in their own churches, chapels and temples, they used their church’s vast resources and deliberately meddled in the political affairs of California, breaking not only federal law, but violating the sanctity and dignity of marriages between same-sex couples. By doing this, the Mormon church spread a campaign of deliberate lies, telling the voters of California that Prop 8 was not about being anti-gay, but pro-family. Marriage equality never threatened traditional heterosexual marriage it only extended the current legal definition to include same-sex couples, in accordance with the equal protection clause of both the federal and Californian Constitutions. The Mormon church lied, bore false witness, used its funds in complete contradiction of federal law and even it’s own church doctrine. For gay and lesbian people, particularly married couples or couples on the verge of marriage, the Mormon fruit that is being born is not one of love and kindness but of hatred, intolerance and malevolent intervention in the private contractual affairs of people.

Mormons are wondering why there is so much venom, so much anger, so much hatred being shown to them. They need only look in the mirror, for those Mormons who didn’t support Prop 8 and haven’t ever harbored homophobia, they need to look at their church leadership. The Mormon church is getting the Lion’s Share of the attention, because they donated the Lion’s share of the Yes on Prop 8 money. “What thou sowest thou shalt also reap”, Mormons have no one but themselves to blame for the venom being shown their way, for they sowed the seed of intolerance, bigotry and hatred. Gay and lesbian people have justifiably grown tired of religious based attacks on themselves and their rights. And we’re judging Mormons by their fruits, and those fruits are bigotry, intolerance, malicious and slanderous lies. And as long as Mormons continue in their quest to force and legislate their beliefs on what marriage should be, gays and lesbians will be there to stop them.

Phyllis got a (cheesy) styrofoam cross knocked out of her clenched fists and she becomes the subject of moral indignation; which begs the question: Where were you and your followers, and how did you demonstrate against the heinous murder of Matthew Shepard? Or were you comforting the the poor misunderstood murderers? Did you attend the silent candle light marches, organized by THE SISTERS OF PERPETUAL INDULGENCE?
Did you shed a tear at the young life snuffed out because of HATE?

Somehow I don’t think that she will be in the league of Matthew Shepard and Gwen Araujo, then again, it doesn’t take much to provoke the religious taliban to cry foul.

Too bad she wasn’t severely beaten and hung on a fence to die. Then maybe you would have something to whine about. Funny you people are all about violence when you’re the ones doing it to us, but when we strike back, oh the horror, the horror! Your puritanical crusades have set the tone. Dont come crying when we finally realize how the game is played and act accordingly.