MORMONS TO DELIVER LETTERS, PETITION OPPOSING PROPOSITION 8
Not all Mormons agree with their church’s decision to forcefully support Proposition 8, the constitutional amendment that would eliminate the right to same-sex marriage in California. Now they’re speaking out.
Hundreds of Mormons and friends of Mormons have written letters and signed a petition at SigningForSomething.org to oppose the church’s inappropriate political posturing in California. The letters and petition will be delivered to church headquarters at 2 p.m. Friday, Oct. 17, after which Mormon dissidents will be available to talk with the media about their reasons for opposing the church’s political stance. Copies of the letters and petition will also be available for the press.
Signing For Something supporters will meet at a public park in downtown Salt Lake City across from the Church Office Building. It is on the northeast corner of State Street and North Temple. (This is the southernmost part of Memory Grove Park.)
People in attendance will include:
— Peter and Mary Danzig, who resigned their LDS membership after facing church pressure for writing a letter to the editor in support of same-sex marriage rights.
— Andrew Callahan, a Mormon high priest from Nebraska who has been threatened with excommunication over his opposition to Proposition 8.
— Members of Affirmation, a support group for gay and lesbian Mormons.
— Other active Mormons who are facing potential backlash for speaking out against the church’s political position.
“The Mormon church has emerged as the largest single backer of Proposition 8 in California, and we think it’s important for the public to know that not all Mormons support what our church is doing politically,” said Derek Price, a lifelong Mormon who helped create the Signing For Something website. “For a variety of reasons, many Mormons think it’s wrong for our church to work to eliminate an existing right to marriage equality in California.”
“We hold our political independence sacred and don’t appreciate our church telling us which causes we’re supposed to support. We’re perfectly capable of making those decisions on our own,” Price said. “We also don’t think churches should try to write their doctrine into civil law, especially while feigning ‘political neutrality.'”
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Derek Price
carcolumn@gmail.com
256-338-9692
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Now that I’ve got that announcement out of the way, here’s what I really wanted to foreground:
Michelle Obama talks about fear:
“Fear is the reason this country is where it is today.”
“Fear is a useless emotion.”
“Don’t ever make decisions based on fear.”
Pictured above: Elder Quentin L. Cook, Michelle Obama, Elder M. Russell Ballard
Excerpt of a comment at Mormons for Marriage regarding the October 8th broadcast of fear-inciting messages from LDS Apostles Cook, Ballard, et al:
It was a pre-taped presentation with Elder M. Russell Ballard, Elder Quentin L. Cook and Elder L. Whitney Clayton giving the presentation. They were sitting around a small round table and reading from teleprompters, with no live audience which made it look “robotic” at times. The presentation didn’t seem inspiring and it didn’t appear to me that those attending felt inspired.
Much of the presentation was geared toward young adults and even Elder Ballard (who admitted he didn’t understand what it meant) was encouraging them to “go viral” on the Internet. On more than one occasion they implored that the conversations and web chats, etc. not be antagonistic. They showed a sample of YouTube videos and encouraged those with the know-how to post their own. A portion of the presentation was college age students asking an Institute Director questions about the proposition and its consequences.
It was obvious that the Church has gone full bore political machine on this issue with all the attendant lies, half-truths and exaggerations in an attempt to spread FUD [ Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt ] to get people to vote yes. They laid out the schedule of “phases” up through election day, and it looked like any other political campaign strategy (I’ve been involved in a few myself, so I know what they look like).
I was curious to see if they would bring up any of the “Six Consequences if Prop 8 Fails.” Sure enough they brought up the first three several times. Although they added the disclaimer that these consequences wouldn’t all happen right away, they nevertheless emphasized these consequences will surely befall us. I was a little surprised that two of the Apostles would compromise the integrity of the Quorum of Twelve by repeating these lies and encouraging members to repeat these lies in their “Get Out The Vote” campaigns … But as they say, politics is politics and apparently the only way to get your side heard is to lie. After all, the Church is clearly on the wrong side of equality on this issue and they have to present some sort of scary story.
A complete transcript of The Divine Institution of Marriage Broadcast (official title given the campaign instructions beamed from LDS HQ on October 8) is available here.
Michelle Obama: Be Not Afraid
The place to be this Friday, October 17th, at 2:00 p.m. is at the northeast corner of State Street and North Temple in Salt Lake City, where a few brave souls will be demonstrating to the rest of us what not being afraid looks like.