Is the mormon church jealous of gay rights?

[ihavenobias]

After watching , I've decided I despise Tony Perkins (yes, the religious zealot and leader of one of the many religious zealot "family" groups) even more. But it was satisfying to have him skewered in the commentary afterward.

And really, TWENTY MILLION DOLLARS on prop 8 from the Mormons? Couldn't they have spent that money, oh I don't know, *helping* poor people?

[laconicsax]

1. No. It's just bigoted.

[ihavenobias]

2. I'm open to both but sure n/t

[neebob]

3. Former Mormon here

Or I should say I was forced to participate for a few years as a teenager, for those of you who don't know me. I haven't posted much in the last year.

My guess is the pompous old farts who run the so-called church (it's really a cult) were worried about potential pressure to perform gay temple marriages, which would call attention to their very silly temple rituals. They probably thought they were protecting their image.

They instructed the members to donate their time and money and tried to hide their involvement as an institution. I can't think of any other logical explanation for their actions - not even extreme bigotry.

There's a great piece by a former Mormon on Salon.com, if you want to know more: http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2008/11/13/mormons_prop_8

[ihavenobias]

4. Thanks for the link, I'll check it out. n/t

[NMMNG]

5. Have you seen the letter?

There's a PDF copy of it. I myself didn't see any mention of keeping their Mormon/LDS status secret. What's more, in many of the blog posts and comments I saw on the matter I noticed that they tended to attach Mormon/LDS to themselves. Others simply said "my religious beliefs yadda yadda yadda" or "The Bible blah blah blah" but they so frequently mentioned they were Mormon. Now they turn around and ask why they're being "singled out". Sorry but if you use your religion as a weapon don't think you're supposed to be immune to any criticism about it.

There's also this video which exposes exactly how active the Mormons were in the campaign and why. This has been a targeted 11-year effort to eradicate our rights. While they may claim they're protecting "religious freedom" and such garbage it has more to with imposing their religious definition of marriage and family on everyone by force.

[laconicsax]

6. It's a tiny bit more nuanced than that.

While the overwhelming majority of it is simply tribalism, a small portion of it is presented in the video you linked. They believe in a 'supreme being' that watches everything we do, reads our thoughts, and is standing ready to convict and sentence us to eternal punishment for any transgression up to and including thought-crime.

They see that being told how to live every minor aspect of their lives from who they can associate with to what they can eat and drink is a wonderfully glorious opportunity to live in paradise after death by striving to be the best slave ever and they want others to 'benefit' from their totalitarian state by writing it into secular law. They recognize that since not everyone agrees with them, so to 'save' us, they must do everything they can to get the unwilling to comply with the edicts of their supernatural, celestial dictatorship. It's for our own benefit.

[NMMNG]

7. I've actually seen some evidence of that

Lately I've been perusing the Mormon Apologetics discussion board. It's creepy. :yoiks: They are obsessed with forcing their religion on everyone, but they don't see it as that. They see it as saving others. Then if anyone dare question or condemn what they're doing (e.g. it conflicted with my beliefs or I simply didn't agree with it) they'd cry "you're refusing to let me practice my religion as I see fit". So apparently forcing their religion, er saving people whether they like it or not, is their god-given right. As one of my wife's protest sign's said; "We're all Mormons now--whether we like it or not".

[laconicsax]

8. Too true and not limited to just their sect.

[NMMNG]

9. Indeed

Many of the RRRW fundaloons are of the same mindset. I don't need or want their "saving" yet they persist. :puke:

[neebob]

10. Yes

but I thought it had just been read in stakes and wards and not posted with other press releases on on the church website. They have at least tried to minimize their involvement, saying they're just part of a coalition and it's not fair to single them out and blah blah blah.

I'd seen the memo referenced in the video, too, and I still say the real reason is more about image (Hinckley was all about image) and, ultimately, money. Can't have all those temples he built being called what they are - i.e., profit centers, where people buy their passes to heaven.

Well, you pay (with 10% tithing) for the pass to the temple, and then you get your pass to heaven.

And what goes on in the temple ... like it's not embarrassing enough that it's all over the web. Don't want news reporters on TV asking what goes on in there, and why can't gay people go in, and what's up with the special underwear and stuff like that.

I just don't think plain ol' bigotry is enough of an explanation for the risk they took in mobilizing their members.