Prop 8: Mormon Influence on Yes Campaign Now a National Story

[Bluebear]

The Atlantic Monthly's Andrew Sullivan picked up on the staggering influence the Church of Latter Day Saints has had on the Yes on Prop 8 campaign in his piece, "Mormons v. Civil Rights".

"People may be unaware that the top leadership of the LDS church has made banning gay couples from having any legal rights in California a supreme issue, part of a determined political campaign of unprecedented ferocity and organization," he writes.

Indeed, while figures on Mormon giving vary from around 40 percent to 80 percent, whatever the exact number, the influence clearly goes far beyond their actual population in California, which hovers below two percent.

Why are out-of-state members of a minority religion very familiar with state-sponsored discrimination so interested in spreading the wealth to California's gay and lesbian populations? Sullivan has a theory:

"This is about consolidating the Mormon church into the wider Christianist movement. If the Mormons can prove their anti-gay mettle, they will be less subject to suspicion from evangelicals."


http://www.camajorityreport.com/index.php?module=articles&func=display&ptid=9&aid=3774

[terrya]

1. Recommended. This needs to go to the Greatest Page pronto.

Good for Sullivan. This is entirely plausible.

[nichomachus]

2. So, basically this is the Christian equivalent of having to kill someone to get into the gang n/t

[EFerrari]

3. Yes. That's exactly right. n/t

[Solly Mack]

7. Well put!!!!

[Hydra]

4. Pff

The LDS church has always had this stance- at one time they thought shock therapy to "cure" gayness was perfectly within bounds. This is their normal stance, and don't expect the evangelicals to embrace them for any reason.

[bertman]

5. Kinda makes you wonder what they REALLY think about BLACK gay people. HOLY SHIT!!

[arbusto_baboso]

6. If you have some time, go on over to check out a board called "Recovery from Mormonism"

it's at exmormon.org

This topic has been a firestorm over there for weeks now, and contains some insider viewpoints from many former mormons.

The LDS church is going to be losing a lot of members over this one. And the "leadership" (which seems to be about as clueless as the McCain campaign) doesn't undertsand that no matter what they do, they will NEVER be accepted as "mainstream christians" by the fundies.

They're also not-so-subtly pressuring their members to donate to Yes on 8. LEANING on them, in fact.

[Retrograde]

8. There's some hope, though

I was listening to a call-in radio program this morning. One caller claimed that he was a firm defender of "traditional marriage" and therefore was going to vote No on 8. I hope there are enough confused fundies out there who make the same mistake and keep this from passing.

BTW, the Catholic Knights of Columbus are also investing heavily in this proposition.

[Hekate]

9. Crap. I was just polled on that question today & I had not heard of it before!

"Do you think the fact that the Mormons have funded 40% of the campaign for Proposition 8 means they have too much influence in government?" Something like that.

I was really shocked. If the rest of the poll had not been so straight-up I would have thought the question was part of a push-poll; as it was I had the caller repeat the question and said that Yes, I did think that was too much influence on the government by a church.

Hekate

[Raster]

10. This is SHAMEFUL! I am an ex-mormon. I was raised lds and was quite devout. I left the church

at 15 because I was gay. I knew I was a good person and not deserving of the institutionalized mormon gay hate. The official stance of the church is that they don't meddle in political matters. That's a steaming load of horseshit. The mormon church meddles in EVERYTHING and lies about it. Their very history is a lie. The "Book of Mormon" is one colossal lie, in which NOTHING can be verified or authenticated. Nothing. Nothing biological, nothing anthropological, nothing archaeological. Nothing genetic. Nothing. The mormon church is a self-serving religion of lies that worships money. Not god. Money. And it's time the church took its greedy, lying hands out of political matters. Bunch of fucking hypocrites.

[Raster]

11. Kick against religious hypocrites!

Religion out of politics NOW!

[Duncan Grant]

12. Kicking for the incongruous belief that "organized religion" is benevolent.

:kick: