The Mormons may be throwing its weight behind a gay marriage ban in California:
The Washington Blade was tipped off to a memo released by the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormon Church) regarding its political stance on gay marriage in California.
Apparently this letter will be read in Mormon churches on June 29, which coincides with some Pride celebrations and is the anniversary of the Stonewall riots. It states that the church will participate in the effort to re-ban gay marriage in California based on the November ballot initiative.
“We ask that you do all you can to support the proposed constitutional amendment by donating all of your means and time to assure that marriage in California is legally defined as being between a man and a woman. Our best efforts are required to preserve the sacred institution of marriage,” the letter says.
Here’s a PDF of the aforementioned memo.
jarvisbearcub
this is ironic considering the mormon church’s own “amendment” to the Bible.
fredo777
Really? Devote all of our means + time to the gay marriage ban? Instead of, say, donating our means + time to helping the needy, the hungry, helping to slow the spread of an epidemic, or donating to sub-par schools in order to help better educate our youth? Really?!
I hope David Archuleta doesn’t really fall in line with these kind of beliefs. I might have to stop being a fan of the kid.
key
The LDS used to define marriage as between a man and a woman, and another woman, and another woman, and another woman, etc.
CitizenGeek
Mormons are a crazy bunch. Well, all people who believe in any kind of “God” are pretty crazy, but Mormons are crazy even by their standards.
Also, like Fredo777 pointed out: why is it that Christians are so unaware of the warping of their churches from an group that looks out for the vulnerable, to one that actively campaigns to improve discrimination against vulnerable people (the gays).
emb
Fredo, you’re so right. Trouble is, “helping the needy, the hungry, helping to slow the spread of an epidemic, or donating to sub-par schools in order to help better educate our youth”, while more in line with, say, Jesus’ teachings, does nothing to consolidate theocratic power. And that, boys and girls, is the real objective of organized religions wherever you may find them.
mark
The entire maternal side of my family are Mormons, in Salt Lake City and Vegas. They aren’t particularly devout Mormons, my grandmother was the last of that type. None of my uncles, aunts or cousins have any problem with my being openly gay.
The days when the LDS church said jump and every Mormon said how high….are over 30 years ago.
dizzyspins
I have had Mormon friends and always tried to give the religion the benefit of the doubt. I mean, Judaism and Christian theology would sound pretty bizarre if they weren’t millennia old.
But hypocrisy is the worst sin of all, especially for a group whose roots are in polygamy.
Alan down in Florida
And how does this not violate IRS rules thus disqualifying the Mormon Church from tax-exempt status? Their operating budget annually is bigger than many third world countries.
Stephen In California
I am a Mormon. Mormons oppose Gay Marriage in an effort to benefit children. While some kids, because of divorcce or death, do not have a mother or father. Gay marraige says we think it’s OK for a child not to have a mother or a father. Things went exactly as planned for the Gay couple and the Child is missing either a mother or father. Mormons recognize that mothers and fathers both contribute in unique ways to the development of children. Which would you deprive a child of the unique contributions made by a mother or the unique contributions made by a father.
fredo777
Feh.
Stephen, you’re using the all-too-convenient “Oh, please, think of the children!” argument LGBT rights opponents often fall back on. It’s always a sad attempt at making gay couples seem anti-family or inferior at raising children.
Btw, if Mormons are so concerned with children’s welfare + their being deprived of families, perhaps “all of their time + resources” should be dedicated to the adoption of orphans or other children w/o stable homes. When gays want to take these kids in + give them loving homes, it’s “inadequate” + a “travesty” according to some. Yet, these same do-gooders aren’t going out of their way to adopt the poor children whom they’re apparently so concerned about.
I call B.S.
cambel
Stephen said “No. 9 · Stephen In California
I am a Mormon. Mormons oppose Gay Marriage in an effort to benefit children. While some kids, because of divorcce or death, do not have a mother or father. ”
________________________________________________
Stephen, actually what you are saying is not the reason the Mormon church opposes gay marraige. That might be the reason they are telling you in Family ward, but the reason is, because they don’t believe that gay marraiges lead to children which in turn will not assist the growth of the church. That is the main reason, as many of my ex mormon friends whos fathers were bishops and ward leaders have explained.
Oh, one thing the Mormon church IS good at…..Creating repressed closet cases who are ready to EXPLODE once they get a taste of gay life….I would just like to personally thank the mormon church for doing that, if you are single, all you have to do for a wild time is look for the BYU sweatshirt.
Guy
I thought that a church could not participate in politics as it would compromise their tax-exempt status….
mimosa
At least some mormons oppose church involvement in this. If you know any LDS folks, please encourage them to check out:
http://www.mormonsformarriage.com
August
I’m A member, and none of the above statements are true. It isn’t because the church needs replenishing, or because we’re overly concerned about children. It stems from the scriptural condemnations of sodomy, etc.
The church itself is putting no church resources toward this, thus, it is not violating tax-exempt status. The church is encoraging it’s members to vote on the issue at least, and promote it as much as possible.
This is America, we still have freedom of speech, religion and are entitled to our morals and protecting marriage. The LDS church has said nothing about civil unions with all the governmental benefits of marriage, without the religious implications.
The church is one of the largest charitable organizations in the world, and thousands upon thousands of dollars worth of relief supplies, food, clothing are donated to disaster victims and third world countries. Aside from ther massive welfare and assistance programs. Apparently not many of you actually know any true ‘mormons’, Your average mormon is a highly successful, generous, and thoughtful member of society.
Condemning the entire church because they morally oppose something that undermines something as sacred as marriage seems a bit silly to me.