Mormon Church steps into the Prop. 8 battle

Everyone's got an opinion about Proposition 8, the proposed amendment to the state Constitution to outlaw same-sex marriage. Plenty of people and organizations are voting with their pocketbooks, both from within and from outside California.

Now comes the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which grabbed some TV time in Utah to urge the 770,000 Mormon church members in California to weigh in on the matter. Here's the story from the Associated Press:

Two members of the church's second-highest governing body, the Quorum of Twelve Apostles, quoted from Mormon scripture on the sanctity of marriage as they laid out a week-by-week strategy for boosting Mormon involvement before the Nov. 4 election in voter registration efforts, phone banks and distributing campaign materials.

“What we're about is the work of the Lord, and He will bless you for your involvement,” apostle M. Russell Ballard said during the hour-long meeting, which was broadcast to church buildings in California, Utah, Hawaii and Idaho.

So far, Proposition 8 supporters have poured $19,778,208 to outlaw same-sex marriage, about $1.6 million more than opponents of the measure. Add the two sides together and that's about $38 million. Imagine the good it could be doing elsewhere.

The rest of the Associated Press story is after the jump.

-- Veronique de Turenne

Photo: Inside the LDS conference center in Salt Lake City. Credit: Associated Press

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is part of a coalition of conservative groups backing Proposition 8, which would overturn the California Supreme Court decision that legalized same-sex marriage in the nation's most populous state by amending the state constitution to limit marriage to a man and a woman.

Mormons have been active participants in the campaign both as volunteers and financial contributors, giving an estimated 43 percent — some $8.4 million — to the Proposition 8 campaign, according to the Web site mormonsfor8.com. There are about 770,000 Mormon church members in California, but Mormons from outside the state have been encouraged to give money and time to help pass the measure.

During Wednesday's taped satellite broadcast, church leaders asked for 30 members from each California congregation to donate four hours a week to the campaign. They also called on young married couples and single Mormons to use the Internet, text messaging, blogging and other forms of computer technology to help pass the initiative, saying the church has created a new Web site — PreservingMarriage.org — with materials they can download and post on their own social networking sites.

Church elder L. Whitney Clayton, who has been working as a liaison between the LDS leaders and the Proposition 8 campaign, said before the event that it was meant to energize Mormons for the weeks remaining before Election Day.

    “It's a political campaign, and time is short and there's a lot to do.”

Along with recruiting Mormons to work in California, church members from outside the state have been asked to call friends and family at home in California to encourage support for the measure, according to Clayton. He said many students attending church-owned universities have asked how they might help and could be enlisted to make calls.

“In California, the phone trees are up and running. We just want to be able to help, and one of the things we can do is we can organize,” Clayton said in an interview Wednesday.

Officially, the Mormon church is politically neutral and does not endorse individual candidates or political parties. The church does, however, weigh in on issues it considers morally important. The church holds traditional marriage as a sacred institution ordained by God and has actively fought efforts to legalize same-sex marriage across the United States since the 1990s.

Its involvement in the California same-sex marriage debate this year began with a letter from church President Thomas S. Monson asking California Mormons to give their time and money to pass Proposition 8. Monson's letter has been read repeatedly in Mormon churches, and opponents of the forthcoming initiative have credited LDS members with giving the Yes on 8 camp an edge in donations and volunteers.

Some Mormons have criticized the church for wading so heavily into the political realm.

“We know that it is not without controversy, yet let me be clear that at the heart of this issue is the central doctrine of eternal marriage and it's place in our Father's plan,” Ballard said.

Besides Clayton and Ballard, the broadcast featured Quentin L. Cook, another member of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles.

Comments

[Cory]

It's great to see the LDS church stepping up its involvement, just like they did with Prop 22. Yes on Prop 8 has new life and all polls are showing it is ahead of the No vote.

It's time to get other churches in California backing this proposition to the same extent as the Mormons!

[Dineall]

That's the conference center, not the temple. Go Prop 8!

[shocked]

Wow! Most of relatives are Mormon and none of them have ever been this closed-minded about civil rights! Religion has nothing to do with constituitonal rights of ALL citizens. What happened to separation of church and state? How is gay marriage going to affect the church? It ISN"T! It is a personal and private thing. Churches have the choice whether to embrace it or not. Gay marriage is simply a civil rights issue.

[vote4eight@gmail.com]

Good for the Mormons. Its about protecting the institution of marriage. No one is being denied any civil rights. Embodied within the California laws of "civil unions" are ALL of the "civil rights" that married couples have. The only distinction is that "married" is the traditional family anchored by a man and a woman "married" to each other. This model has sustained healthy civilizations for thousands of years. No one is being denied any "civil right" the "civil union" laws assure this. Societies fail and crumble when its citizens are not brought up and taught correct principles. The BEST environment for this is a healthy marriage between a man and a woman. This is the "Gold Standard" for rearing children to be good citizens in society. Are there dysfunctional marriages between a man and a woman? Of course. Are there instances where gay couples do an admirable job of raising children? Of course. However, on a broad societal scale marriage between a man and a woman who bear and raise their children in a postiive environment is the VERY BEST. Again the "Gold Standard." The state of California and its citizens have an interest in supporting this "Gold Standard" to the benefit of all in society. At the same time NO ONE is denied any "civil rights." "Civil unions" were created for that very wise purpose . . . to assure that gay couples have all the same civil rights. Protect Marriage vote Yes on 8. Your children (now or in the future) and society depends on it.

[Doug]

Your assumption that gay "marriage" is a civil right is contrary to the majority of state and federal cases that have weighed in on the subject. It is only valid in California (as in MA) because of activist judges which voted 4-3 to overturn Prop 22.

So far, courts in Maryland, Indiana, New York, Washington, Florida, Arizona, Vermont, New Jersey, the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, the European Court of Justice, The U.N. Human Rights Committee, and the European Court of Human Rights have held that gays have no "right" to marry. Only split decisions in two state courts have said otherwise. In both of these legal decisions it was clear (if you bother to read them) that the justices in the majority were basing their positions, not on legally defined arguments/precedents, as they are supposed to, but were creating new legislation from the bench.

It appears that the California electorate is just now beginning to realize this.

[Concerned]

In response to:
"How is gay marriage going to affect the church? It ISN"T! It is a personal and private thing. Churches have the choice whether to embrace it or not. "

The Catholic adoption agency in Massachusetts that closed-because its constitutional freedom to practice its religion was violated- is evidence of the falsehood of that statement.

Churches, institutions, and individuals that do not embrace same-sex marriage have already been persecuted in the United States and other countries, and the persecution will only worsen if proposition 8 doesn't pass.

Two gay or lesbian people having their relationship openly acknowledged by the government as "marriage" may not affect churches or people's individual lives. But the political agenda that seeks to discriminate against all who do not embrace homosexuality certainly has and will affect people's lives.

But don't take my word for this. Read for yourself at NPR's website:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91486191

[rick]

Mormons:

I wonder how your god would weight in on your infinite tolerance?

[Doug]

It appears there is a misunderstanding of what the word "tolerance" means.

Please look the word up and after that, look up the word "condone".

You will find that they have very different meanings.

Once we can agree on the meanings of these basic words, we can then discuss this topic in a more beneficial manner.

[kyrsten]

It would be nice if church and state could remain separate. It seems to me there's a whole lot of "Sodom and Gomorrah"-type fear going around.

If LGBT people were picketing the Mormon church for the right to get married in the LDS temple, that would be one thing.

But why can't LGBT people have domestic rights, and all the rights afforded to married couples, without involving the LDS church?

Everybody here has some valid arguments. But the whole thing shakes me up a bit.

[googiecat]

I'm glad the Mormon Cult and other extremists fundamentalists are showing their hands, going all out to to rewrite the state constitution to read like their bibles. Maybe now No on 8 will get off their hands and expose the backers of anti-marriage equality agenda for what they are, would be Taliban style theocrats.

[matt]

the mormon church has publicly and very recently said they do not oppose civil unions or benefits for gay-partners. the issue is marriage and the mormons are against gay marriage. taliban-style theocrats? wow, that's a smart thing to say...

[Russell Stevenson]

The "imagine the good that could be done elsewhere" argument is rubbish. I don't want to think of the hundreds of thousands of dollars that are poured into academic conferences everywhere where no goods nor services result. That kind of money is paid in just hiring part-timers in government agencies that don't even need the help. Heaven knows the millions that is poured into fine clothing each year that is ultimately unnecessary...yet we don't hear a word about it from critics. It's just accepted as a way of life. The tactic is only used when you don't agree with the agenda being promoted.

Never mind that the Church already expends tremendous resources in humanitarian efforst.

Please do come up with a better argument...*sigh*

[meltingpot]

Unbelievable....It appears that the Mormon church is once again stepping in where they Do Not Belong. These are HUMAN BEINGS. My God cares for human beings who do right by their fellow man. I love my wife and kids more than I thought I ever could. I believe that every HUMAN BEING deserves the opportunity to experience that feeling under the eyes of God and there fellow human beings. And for a Church who portrays themselves as a caring religion shows me once again how backwards and sheltered this religion is. I am tired of having to explain to my children their backwards views. Please listen to your heart. It will always lead you in the right direction. I was raised Mormon. I have been married to my wife for 11-years and I have two incredible daghters. I am the Luckiest Dad in the world. I am glad that this doesnt affect me. I am sad for the good people that the churches view hurts....

[Doug]

@kyrsten - gay couples DO have all of the rights that married couples do. It's called a civil union and by state law they are afforded every legal protection that a married couple has. The problem is, and the State Supreme Court even talked about this in their split decision, gays are a legally protected class in California. Once they are permitted to marry, their ability to marry and the marriages themselves are legally superior (by virtue of their protected class status) in the sight of the law to hetero marriages. This is not my opinion, it is fact. So in the case of a religious body refusing to perform a wedding for a gay couple, the gay couple has valid legal grounds for the state to remove that religion's legal witness authority required to perform a marriage under state law. Most people see these side issues and, in light of the availability of civil unions, don't want to go down that path.

@googiecat - it is nonsensical posts like yours that add nothing to the debate.

[Jennifer]

I am so very disappointed that the LDS Church has decided to take this aggressive public stand. I've not been active in the church for years, but I come from a long line of Mormons, have many relatives who are faithful members of the church--and many of them are quite accepting of homosexuality. Some of my Mormon relatives are gay (more likely to happen in big families!). I am sorry for all the good people who feel pressured by LDS church leaders on this issue. Saw the same thing happen with the ERA years ago.

[Jennifer]

I'm also happy to see that quite a few Mormons are taking a stand AGAINST Prop 8, as in
MormonsforMarriage.com
SigningforSomething.org
and of course Affirmation.org

[Doug]

Why are the real issues not being discussed here, instead of "that crazy mormon church that hates everyone" type posts. What good does it do anyone to moan about the mormon church? Does it add anything to the debate?

How about we discuss things like:

1. Will some charities stand to lose tax exempt status? (yes)
2. Will there be anything to legally prevent a gay agenda in elementary schools? (no)
3. Do gays gain any specific rights by being granted the ability to marry? (no)
4. Do non-gays lose rights? (yes)
5. Will those not willing to perform marriages for gay couples lose their State License to marry? (yes)
6. Will speaking out against the gay lifestyle endanger one of being arrested on hate crime charges? (yes)

The list goes on. How do I know these things? Most of them have already happened in places where gays have been granted the right to marry. Why is a civil union not good enough?

[singermom]

I am glad a large institution is supporting this proposition. I know what some of you are saying about how an institution like this shouldn't get involved, and you may not equate this the same way, since it's not religion, but I'm upset other big companies we all use, like PG&E, have donated millions to the anti-Prop 8 campaign. If I could, I would boycot PG&E. They shouldn't be getting involved either in my opinion.

Aside from that, it seems many people are arguing that this is a case of rights. Here's something to think about. What about my right to teach my child what our family feels about homosexual marriage rather than having it taught in public schools? What about my right to know what my child is being taught and not get put in jail when I say I don't want them taught that (yes, it happened in Massachusetts)? What about my right in Prop 8 doesn't pass, that traditional marriage and homosexual marriage be given equal emphasis in schools? If Prop 8 doesn't pass, you know homosexual marriage will get more emphasis in school because it's the PC thing. What about my right to be married in my church and not have my minister's license revoked because he doesn't feel comfortable marrying homosexuals? What about my right as a professional to not do something I morally or religiously feel I can't do? What about the basic first amendment religious freedoms this country was founded on? Prop 8 takes away no rights. If Prop 8 doesn't pass, the rights that will be lost will be the rights of those of us who don't agree with what society deems is "politically correct."

And no, I'm not against homosexuals. Some of my very good friends growing up were homosexual. I know too that the Mormons aren't against homosexual people either, because I associate with a lot of them. But, like someone said before, I do agree that a family with a mom and dad is where a child does best and truly succeeds. And that's a proven fact. Really, what this comes down to for me is looking at my own rights and the future rights of my children.

[Sunny]

I'm supporting Proposition 8. I voted for Prop 22 in 2000, which said the same thing but which wasn't an amendment to the State Constitution. When 4 of the 7 judges on the California Supreme Court voted to overturn Prop 22, they didn't just set it aside; they legallized same-sex marriage. That's judicial activism. Laws are to be made by the Legislative Branch, not the Judicial Branch. This is the reason I am more involved this time around than eight years ago.

[Lloyd]

Mormons are afraid of gay marriage because the US Supreme Court was wrong about 100 years ago when it said that Mormons could not practice polygamy, notwithstanding the separation of church and state.
If gays get to marry, polygamy is next, and the irony is that now the last thing the Mormons want is for polygamy to be legal, because they will have to take a stand instead of letting the "next life" resolve whether polygamy is really of GOD or not.
The social DNA will evolve slowly. Gay marriage will one day be legal throughout the U.S., including Utah. In the meantime, gay people will go on with their loving lives without interruption, notwithstanding they are not equal under the law.
Peace, out.
Lloyd from Maui

[Laura]

HI Lloyd,

Actually, As a Mormon, I think we are most naturally opposed to gay marriage because it is the inversion of our most sacred sacrament / ritual -- temple marriage. Mormons believe that only when men and women are united together in this highest ordinance and then keep the covenants associated with it, will they be able to have a fullness of joy in the kind of life God has. We believe this kind of marriage will last beyond death and through the eternities. It is one of the most beautiful concepts we cherish as a people.

Moreover, I think you are unlikely to see any return to polygamy for many reasons -- the foremost of which is that we are now a worldwide Church, not an obscure frontier sect. Hence, just the logistics alone of implementing such a radical change on a complex international scale would be vitually impossible. In other words, even if polygamy becomes legal in the US, it remains illegal in most places around the globe.

And to further clarify, Mormons by and large believe and accept that God commanded polygamy for a time -- all CHristians have to wrestle with that as it is all over the Bible. And if God ever commands such again...Well, I guess we'll all have to cross that bridge if and when we ever come to it but that's not why I'll be voting Yes on 8.

Best to you Lloyd. Sure wish I was in Maui too ;)

[Let Freedom Ring]

NO on 8. No Taliban in the USA.

[Laura]

Hi Let Freedom Ring,

You know, I think trying to associate the Yes on Prop 8 side with the Taliban makes for potentially “good” propaganda but really doesn’t engage the issue. I recently read an article by ethicist Margaret Somerville that approaches the issue from a secular perspective and still asserts that it is best for a secular society to maintain the definition of marriage as being exclusively between a man and a woman. I think she makes a compelling case with very interesting and far reaching insights that people on both sides of the issue can at least appreciate. Those interested can read her thoughts at http://www.marriageinstitute.ca/images/somerville.pdf

Best

Laura

[Dave]

I voted yes on 8 today! The biggest joy in life is being part of a family and then having a family of your own, ask any child in the adoption programs. God loves ALL of his childern, but it doesn't mean he likes what they are doing. I know I did things my parents didn't like, but they never stopped loving me, that is "tolerance". Where would you be without a mother and a father..... you wouldn't.

[Spartaco]

Prop. 8 is simply institutionalized discrimination and intolerance. Its supporters are intolerant, homophobic bigots. History will remember them in exactly the same light as those who fought giving women the right to vote and allowing African-Americans the right to an integrated education.

If you're against gay marriage, don't marry somebody of the same sex. VOTE NO ON PROP 8.