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Mormon Bigots Slammed in Film for Anti-marriage Work
Sarah & Angi - A beautiful couple loves each other, marries in Canada; civilization goes on -
From Prop Eight Trial Tracker:
By Julia Rosen
This weekend the documentary “8 – The Mormon Proposition” has it’s limited release in 13 cities across the country. The movie which documents the LDS Church’s involvement in the passage of Prop 8 is being reviewed in newspapers across the country. Here’s the NYT take on the film.
The film dives angrily into the fray. It uncovers the classified church documents and the largely concealed money trail of Mormon contributions that paid for a high-powered campaign to pass Proposition 8. The Mormon involvement, the film persuasively argues, tilted the vote toward passage, by 52 percent to 48 percent, in its final weeks.
That involvement was concealed under the facade of a coalition with Roman Catholics and evangelical Christians called the National Organization for Marriage. Mormons raised an estimated $22 million for the cause. In the final week of the campaign, the film says, $3 million came from Utah. The money financed a sophisticated media barrage that involved blogs, Twitter and YouTube videos, as well as scary (and, according to the movie, misleading) television ads, and an aggressive door-to-door campaign whose foot soldiers were instructed on how not to appear Mormon.
Those who were following the Prop 8 campaign closely know most of this stuff, but I am told by those who have seen the film, that it is quite another thing to see this documentary.
After the passage of Prop 8 there was a lot of backlash against Mormons themselves, as opposed to the more accurate target the LDS Church. You can see how this line/distinction slips in this NYT article. The author writes “The Mormon involvement”, when it is more accurate to say “The Mormon Church’s involvement”. While, the vast majority of Mormons in California voted for the passage of Prop 8, they are not our opposition. The LDS Church is the one who organized all of those donations, broke the law by not reporting their in kind donations and recruited all of those canvassers. It’s a relatively small thing, but important as we all work to do outreach to those who opposed us in 2008.
How many of you have seen the movie already? What did you think? If you haven’t seen it yet are you planning on it?
I for one am curious to see it, even if I already know will happen.
Short URL: http://www.veteranstoday.com/?p=36844
Posted by Yanira Farray on Jun 20 2010, With 0 Reads, Filed under Arts & Entertainment, Living, Of Interest. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
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I have not seen the film yet, but hope to see it!
Thank God for the Mormons, they are our our only hope to exist as families and to give our children a chance in this country.
Wow, David, spoken like a true moron, sorry, meant morMon. I would say lay off the wine but you psychotic cult @$$holes only drink water during your “church” “worship” service.
Ahhh – such sweet words. You better hope the liberals don’t get your hate speech laws passed. You are a perfect example of the hate speech you claim to want to stop.
“Thank God for the Mormons, they are our our only hope to exist as families and to give our children a chance in this country.”
Heh. As a Mormon myself, I must admit that I am bemused by this kind of statement.
I think Prop 8 was a mistake, practically and morally:
Practically, because it is going to affect the CA Constitution (and constitutional law in general) in a very negative way, creating an unwise precedent, and leading to future legal ramifications that have not been carefully considered.
Morally, because it entrenches the attitudes and behaviors responsible for the frighteningly high rate of suicides among Mormon youth who experience same-sex attraction. Homosexuality (at least among LDS folk) has been and continues to be the ‘new leprosy.’
Regardless of what people think should be done about the issue (anything spanning the ideological gamut from “support same-sex unions,” to “enforce mandatory ‘reparative’ therapy”––such as the electroshock aversion therapy/torture carried out at BYU from the 60′s until 1995), the fact remains, if young Mormon men and women continue to be driven to putting guns in their mouths or poisoning themselves, WE ARE FAILING THEM.
All the rhetoric about protecting “our families” and “our children” seems to conveniently ignore the fact that every single gay Mormon suicide WAS part of somebody’s family, WAS somebody’s child.
[...] Mormon Bigots Slammed in Film for Anti-marriage Work : Veterans Today [...]
Our world is going to hell in a handbasket. Stand for traditional marriage, stand for the principles of ordered liberty & civil society upon which our country was founded, including the rock of Judeo-Christian principles. The Israelite law, Ciceros’ ‘natures law’ and English common law were all the principle foundations of our Republic…and all recognized the traditional family unit as the very basic denominator of our government.
Now is a time for choosing. Choose wisely.
“…and all recognized the traditional family unit as the very basic denominator of our government.”
Balls. You say that “now is a time for choosing”; well, Rosie, you should *choose* to study some history/sociology. The notion of the “traditional” nuclear family is basically a product of the industrial revolution. Indeed, for Mormons, the “traditional” family model as we know it today was very strenuously resisted in the early days of the LDS Church. (This has nothing to do with the Mormon history of polygamy actually.) They originally emphasized the earlier (and more extensive) “Elizabethan” family model.
It is true that the birth of the US was very strongly influenced by Judeo-Christian values, drawing on “Israelite law, Ciceros’ ‘natures law’ and English common law.” But, do you know what practice Israelite law, Cicero, and English common law defended and accepted as legitimate? SLAVERY. Each of those systems/philosophies saw no problem with people owning people. Just because something is traditional does NOT mean that it is good.
Arguments like yours above are only so much smoke being blown up our collected [orifice(s)].
(Sorry. That should have been: “…our *collective* [orifice(s)].”)
Woe is us. The Mormons are not as enlightened as we are, therefore they are not entitled to have an opinion on any subject or entitled to participate in the political process. Moreover, since they are only a minority, lets take away their right to vote until the time that they come to agree with our enlightened viewpoint.
yep, that’s about it. Or, better yet, let’s take away their church’s tax exempt status! That will teach us to vote our conscience!! I mean, the nerve!
Wow, talk about a one-sided headline. An equally one-sided, equally true headline would have been: “Anti-religion bigots slam Mormons in film”?
Squid, are you familiar with the term “straw man argument”?
L-dG, are you familiar with the Idaho Test Oath? It’s called History.
It’s also completely irrelevant to this situation. The voting rights of Mormon US citizens are not at risk here, not even remotely. Suggesting differently is just rankest hysterical fear-mongering.
The participation of a tax-exempt religious organization in any election is (and ought to be) bounded by law. If the Church overstepped those bounds (which I do not think was the case), then they should be treated like any other tax-exempt organization who does so. If the leaders of the Church want to give up the Church’s tax-exempt status in order to engage in varieties of political activism that would be otherwise precluded, they are perfectly free to do so.
As far as I can tell, the Church acted legally (apart from reporting some in-kind contributions after the prescribed deadline, for which the church paid a tiny fine). I don’t think the Prop 8 campaign was a good idea, but that’s another matter altogether. (In the interest of full disclosure, I must admit that the practice of using members’ tithing records in order to calculate how much their priesthood leaders should ask them to donate strikes me as ethically troublesome. Not “illegal” per se, but a bit sketchy.)
In any case, the kinds of shrill comments one hears from LDS folk today about how persecuted we are––as though being picketed were somehow comparable to Haun’s Mill––are just like the kind of ridiculous rhetoric that was being used during the campaign: “If gays marry, then [insert biblical plague here] will happen!” Probably the most well-known example of this was the document “Six Consequences if Prop 8 Fails.” Without exception, those “consequences” twisted the circumstances of the events they marshaled as evidence; they were also thoroughly debunked by legal scholar and Latter-day Saint (and adjunct BYU law professor), Morris Thurston.
The hysteria now is no more legitimate than the hysteria evinced by Mormons (and hangers-on) DURING the campaign: only approaching close enough to blow kisses at reality from a safe distance.
Actually I see a lot of similarity between the Radical Republicans of the late 19th Century and the Romantic Liberals of the late 20th Century. The Mormon Crusade of the latter half of the 19th Century was initiated in the press and prosecuted by the Government.
Haun’s Mill is an interesting extreme, but nothing so damning as the Government’s assault on a minorities basic Civil Rights. An assault that was publicly popular and upheld by the US Supreme Court. The progressive eroding of one’s basic Civil Rights (If you don’t happen be be politically correct – either in 19th or 20th Century terms) is a very basic concern. And that process begins the moment one starts dehumanizing the opposition: The title of this article is, after all, “Mormon Bigots” not “Gay Bigots” or “Homosexual Bigots.”
So lets see, if Mormons don’t share your enlightened view- what? They’re Bigots by definition. They’re difference of opinion is nothing more than bigotry. Their belief that there is a moral question is to be unequivocally rejected. Only your opinion is worth any value – Yes, tell me about bigotry!
Yes, the title of the article is inflammatory; I don’t defend it, and I see no need to try.
What Mormon civil rights have been eroded during the Prop 8 campaign or its aftermath?
Have people said mean things? Have people protested and picketed? Have people boycotted Mormon businesses? OF COURSE! But there is no such thing as a right to be liked and admired; we are guaranteed no freedom from protest or boycott or disagreement.
Starting with Prop 22, years ago, members of the Church picked this fight. Then, when the CA Supreme Court ruled that the law was unconstitutional, Mormons (and other members of the coalition) upped the ante and decided to push for a change in the state constitution. They succeeded. Understandably, some people have negative feelings about Mormons now.
But the rights of Mormons haven’t been violated in the smallest degree. For members of the Church to claim otherwise is INSANE. Mormons aren’t being oppressed or disenfranchised. Not at all.
Can you cite a single case of Mormons losing their right to voice an opinion? Have any Mormons been prevented from casting a vote? No, you can’t. Because being UNPOPULAR is not the same as being OPPRESSED.
You have done very well enumerating some of the oppressive behaviors:
1- a one-sided bigoted article bout Mormons
2- Mormons having lost work and jobs
3- protests at private and religious establishments (Mormon)
4- white powder (reminiscent of terrorist activities) delivered to Mormon sites
5- vandalism of property private and religious (Mormon)
But the Mormons brought it on themselves for exercising their basic civil rights. Now, Let’s switch it around:
1- how many one sided anti-gay bigoted articles appeared because they opposed proposition 8
2- how many gays lost work or jobs because they opposed proposition 8
3- how many anti-gay protests took place at private or gay-established property because they opposed proposition 8
4- how much white powder was sent to private or gay-established properties because they opposed proposition 8
5- how much vandalism of private of gay-established properties because they opposed proposition 8
When did that happen? Based on this very article and on the film this article is supporting, how committed to respecting both sides of the political process is the author of the article or the producers of the film?
A. Does this film mention the fact that those opposed to prop 8 had something like $3-6 million MORE than those for prop 8?? (depending on who you talk to). They had MORE money!! what happened to it? Why didn’t they spend it to get out the votes??
B. Are you SURE it’s the LDS church that’s driving young Mormon men and women to killing themselves? I believe that the GLBT “community” should take it’s fair share of the blame! NO ONE, and I mean NO BODY, has to have sexual relations with anyone in order to survive this life. There have been many many people who have lived a long, fruitful, successful life, and have NEVER EVER had sexual relations.
C. What EARTHLY GOOD does it do to throw temper tantrums that are guaranteed to totally piss off the people you are trying to intimidate? Because, whether they admit it or not, those opposed to prop 8 who come out like this, or the protests at the temples, etc., are trying to intimidate Mormons, and the LDS church, into backing off, and even accepting, homosexuality, and their demands. But all it does is piss people off. Next time, people might find Mormons donating $40mil instead of the 20 they gave California.
[...] Mormon Bigots Slammed in Film for Anti-marriage Work : Veterans Today [...]
I grew up in the 70′s being taught that the Mormon church was a cult. After moving to California and meeting so many wonderful people who were of the Mormon faith, I gave up that belief until Prop 8 passed. Now, when I meet someone of the Mormon faith, I instantly dislike and distrust them. It’s something I’m working on overcoming and I know it’s a knee-jerk reaction…but having to sit in front of a news report to see if my marriage had been annulled as a result of that initiative has taken a toll. The Mormon church made millions of enemies that day who wouldn’t shed a tear if the entire organization collapsed. In fact, some of us pray that it would. I’m not proud of those sentiments, but I also didn’t start the war.
The one thing that every pro-Mormon commentator on this piece neglected to say was that not one Mormon lost a constitutional right as a result of Prop 8. Gays and lesbians did…it had already been granted and existed in California. Prop 8 took it away. I don’t live in a Mormon church…I live in the USA. I pay my taxes and I try to help my fellow human beings in any way I can. Prop 8 taught me that it doesn’t matter what I do as long as I’m a gay man…the bigots will try to force their morality on me when all I want is to live a quiet life married to the man of my dreams.
I have no shame to call what the Mormons did bigotry, but I don’t hate them in return. I hate that they put me in a position against my fellow human beings. Life-long friendships were lost over this proposition. I truly believe the masterminds behind this hateful and divisive piece of legislation will burn in hell for the pain and suffering they have caused millions of people.