Mormophobia

Can I soapbox? I need to soapbox. You don't have to read it if you don't want to. Just go check your email or something, and hang tight until tomorrow, when I'll probably post a fun recipe, or cute pictures of Peter or something. But for today, I need to get this off my chest.

I've been a little sad these past couple of weeks. No doubt you're all familiar with the whole mess in California right now in the aftermath of Proposition 8. I knew there would be some backlash if it passed, but I wasn't expecting the overwhelming antagonism toward the LDS Church specifically. It makes me sad to see members of the Church being persecuted for their beliefs.

Since when in America are people criticized and persecuted for exercising their right to vote (and donate money) in favor of legislation that supports their values? Isn't that the whole point behind voting? It's frustrating to me that people look at the LDS Church and think we're all a bunch of hateful bigots because we won't tolerate their intolerance of our beliefs. Tolerance is a two-way street. Yes on 8 had just as much right to fight as No on 8. And it had just as much right to pass.

I've heard the argument that the LDS church, because it's a religion, had no legal right to get involved in politics. Here's the reply from the LDS Newsroom:

Some . . . have mistakenly asserted that churches should not ever be involved in politics when moral issues are involved. In fact, churches and religious organizations are well within their constitutional rights to speak out and be engaged in the many moral and ethical problems facing society. While the Church does not endorse candidates or platforms, it does reserve the right to speak out on important issues.

There's also the argument out there that the LDS Church unfairly "bought votes." First of all, the Church wasn't exactly writing out checks to the campaign fund. They encouraged members to support the proposition, and it was the individual members donating their own money that provided so much of the funding. Second, didn't people also donate money to the No on 8 campaign? Didn't people also donate money to Obama and McCain and Romney and Hilary?

The No on 8 campaign also seems to be misrepresenting the motives of those who voted Yes on 8. It doesn't take much searching around to see the idea spreading that Mormons hate homosexuals and love discrimination, and fought for Prop 8 because we were just dying to take away their rights--because we obviously hate them that much.

I've spent a lot of time in the last couple of months looking at this issue and reading comment threads on blogs and websites and Facebook, etc. etc. . . By and large, those who supported Prop 8 held the opinions they did because they cared about the sanctity of traditional marriage, and wanted to protect their religious rights. That's all. In all the comments in all the threads in all the blogs, I never saw a single Yes on 8 supporter say anything about hating homosexuals, or wanting to take away anybody's rights--because those weren't their motives. Yet the No on 8 camp is twisting things to make us look like the bad guys.

On the other hand, it was easy to pick out the people who didn't support Prop 8--those were the comments peppered with insults and profanity and angry words and, well, hate, ironically enough. People hating those #%$@ Mormons. People hating God. People hating the neighbors across the street with a "Yes on 8" sign in their yard. That hate has extended past the cyber world, and has managed to rear its ugly head in demonstrations and vandalism at our sacred places of worship. I don't care who you are, you don't attack someone's sacred place of worship.

I guess this is all a very round-about way of saying that I'm frustrated with the double standard here. Members of the LDS church have to silently "tolerate" (read: embrace, support, celebrate) something that we believe to be wrong, or else we're labeled as homophobic and hateful. Heaven forbid we should fight for a cause that others don't agree with. I would lose all respect for any religious organization that sold out and buckled under pressure just because their doctrines were unpopular.

Whatever happened to standing up for what you believe in?

Ah, I'm done. Time for a bowl of ice cream.