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Loading ...Mormon Church admits it spent 100 times more for Prop 8 than reported
02.02.2009 8:54am EST
(San Francisco, California) Six weeks into an investigation by California’s Fair Political Practices Commission, the Church of Latter-Day Saints has admitted that it spent nearly $188,000 more on the campaign to approve Proposition 8 that it had initially stated.
The Mormon Church previously insisted that it spent only $2,078 to support the ban on same-sex marriage, something LGBT leaders said was implausible in light of a number of visits to California by high ranking church officials, ads allegedly produced with church funds and the large number of church staffers working on the campaign.In November, Californians Against Hate filed a complaint with the Fair Political Practices Commission accusing the church of failing to report the value of work it did to support Prop 8.
An investigation began in late November.
In a new filing with the state, the church now admits that among other expenses were $96,849 for “compensated staff time” for church employees who worked on the campaign, $20,575 for the use of facilities and equipment at its Salt Lake City headquarters, $26,000 for audio-visual production and travel expenses for church leaders to go to California.
“This is exactly what we were talking about when we filed the suit,” Fred Karger of Californians Against Hate told the San Francisco Chronicle.
The Church put an estimated $25 million into the battle to end gay marriage in California.
If the Commission finds the Church broke state election laws it could be fined up to $5,000 per violation. The Commission also could file an additional civil lawsuit.
There have been protests at Mormon churches in California and Utah. In Utah, a number of churches were vandalized and hoax mailings containing a white powder were sent to Church leaders in Salt Lake City. No group has claimed responsibility, but some LDS officials have accused gays.
Later this year, the California Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a case seeking to nullify Proposition 8, which overruled the court’s decision in May legalizing gay marriage.
Last week in a separate case, a federal judge has denied a request by supporters of Prop 8 to keep secret the names of donors. The group behind the measure said public disclosure of their financial supporters put the donors at risk of personal harassment or boycotts to their businesses.
In denying the motion, the judge said the public had a right to know who gave money to state ballot measures.
No surprise here. Our enemies lie.
LMFAO!! Put these whacko cult creeps out of their misery! Run them out of california and back to moron land where they belong(after they pay their taxes that is)!!
Guess honesty is not one of the the churches beliefs.
The only people who would really benefit from the ‘vandalizing’ and the ‘hoax mailings’ are the lying Mormans themselves.
These ‘Christians’ lie about how much money they spent, so that there demonstrates (although there is much more) that they cannot be trusted.
It is sick that such a fanatical group of people have so much power in your country.
Surprise-surprise!
Nearly $188,000? That’s it? I thought they spent more effort than that. They fixate themselves with what non-Mormons do in their bedrooms above other issues.
Isn’t it time we learned what churches are all about? I will continue to write my representatives requesting a repeal of the law granting religion tax exempt status.
With the evil they do in society, we need their income and property taxed since we already pay for the damage they do to our children and weaker minds.
Then we can start a campaign to nationalize church property. The government could at least put it to productive work or develop it.
I am certain that the true number is so much higher than $188,000. They produced all those television ads. Each one of those probably cost a couple of hundred thousand to produce. And then there’s the actual cost of the air time. And what about the production and co-ordination of the simulcast that went to over 200 churches in the runup to the election? What did all that satellite linking cost?
Since the entire campaign was a lie, it’s no surprise that the stated contributions were a lie as well. Unfortunately, it’s not just the Mormons who engage in this approach. I find it appalling that US christians claim their religion actually has some connection with the teachings of Christ. (BTW, there sure are a lot of us JAYS here! I thought we were all supposed to be “Bruce”!)
Ok, you want to blast the Mormons for not being accurate and then have inaccurate information in your story! Come on!
1. The Church did not put an estimated $25 million. The church MEMBERS did.
2. Church officials have NEVER accused the gay community of the vandalizing and intimidation tactics. The public has.
Is this America or not? Do we have a voting booth to make laws or not? If it was not an issue for the ballot, then where was the outcry before it went to the ballot?
Shame on any church officials for not making full disclosure. The final amount was a drop in the bucket compared to the actual monies raised on both sides. It wasn’t worth having your name tarnished.
Please, have opposing views, but do it with civility.
Shelly Girl,
Thank you for your even-tempered response. Maybe you should start with some blogging. : ) It’s nice to escape from smug self-satisfaction for just a moment. Don’t get me wrong, I’m pissed at the Mormons too, and also the non-christians and other types of christians that worked to take away queer rights in California, but, unless we conduct ourselves with dignity and compassion and use cold logic tempered with emotion, we will never win this fight.
That is shady beyond words. And they wonder why we are so pissed off? Unbelievable, yet believable.
“Religion is the worst thing ever foisted on human-kind. It is used to control and enslave. Siddhartha Gautama and Yesuah, the annointed, attempted to free us from such insanity.” ~ ME, former Orthodox clergy
“Last week in a separate case, a federal judge has denied a request by supporters of Prop 8 to keep secret the names of donors. The group behind the measure said public disclosure of their financial supporters put the donors at risk of personal harassment or boycotts to their businesses.”
How brave. Now that they’re facing backlash from their decision to support hate, they come crying to the courts for protection. Luckily they were denied, as they justly should be. The public does indeed have a right to know who contributed to institutionalizing segregation in the state.
Shelly Girl, please check your facts. “The Church did not put an estimated $25 million. The church MEMBERS did.” What’s the difference? Is the church not made up of its members? No one is claiming that the money was raised solely by church bureaucrats. Please don’t insult us with semantic trickery.
“Church officials have NEVER accused the gay community of the vandalizing and intimidation tactics. The public has.” This is as absurd as it is false. They have been accusing plenty, and there have been numerous quotes from them in various media. Here is just one: http://www.gaylesbiantimes.com/?id=13503.
“Shame on any church officials for not making full disclosure. The final amount was a drop in the bucket compared to the actual monies raised on both sides.” This is more semantic trickery. You can’t seriously include funds from both sides; the funds from No on 8 were raised out of defensive necessity, not a hateful and/or misguided desire for discrimination.
Your call for civility and accurate information is admirable, but please don’t try to accomplish it by blaming the victims.