What a beautiful Sunday morning! Actually it’s kind of cold and cloudy in Zürich, but I’m feeling warm rays of love coming in from all over Outer Blogness, as people post their personal photos and experiences from yesterday’s marches for equality. From Utah, from Seattle, from Hawaii, from Chicago. (Actually that last one isn’t a post-Mo — sometimes I like to include nevermo bloggers in this roundup — see if you can find the one in last week’s edition! 😉 )
And, our faithful LDS readers will be pleased to note that (even though the NY Times just ran a front-page article explaining that the Mormons tipped the scale in the ban on gay marriage, providing 80 percent to 90 percent of the early volunteers who walked door-to-door in election precincts, and despite some fears I reported on yesterday), the marriage equality movement appears to have moved past the focus on criticizing the CoJCoL-dS and other churches and instead focused their message on love, family, and equal rights.
The orgainzers of the marches report that more than a million people marched. I look forward to getting the precise numbers from the press. I also really like their proposed next step, as it goes hand-in-hand with our mission of fostering constructive cross-belief dialog here at Main Street Plaza:
Everyone in this movement must help keep the conversation going. We are asking each and every one of you to engage in 10 conversations with someone who does not understand our struggle and help them to see our point of view. We are not asking that you try to infringe on or disrespect their beliefs. Change can not occur with insult, it will only occur with respect. If all of us work hard to positively affect 10 lives, we can change this entire nation!
There seems to have been talk of boycotting Marriott until Bill Marriott posted a statement about his company’s committment to diversity. Some were impressed, other less so (and that last one includes a nay vote on boycotting Utah).
And, since there’s more to life that marriage equality, some of us posted about other subjects! Imagine that! 😉
Eric has done some beautiful original photojournalism of the Christina Noble Children’s Foundation helping working children in Mongolia. Jonathan Blake has gathered up some interesting analysis of the financial crisis. Scot has invented a fun new holiday to add to the holiday season. And some really adorable children took a visit to a scale model of the solar system, while their mom praises the local public transportation.
And now my kdis are calling me to help put up some Christmas decorations, so that’s all for this week. Happy Sunday! 😀
“… the marriage equality movement appears to have moved past the focus on criticizing the CoJCoL-dS and other churches and instead focused their message on love, family, and equal rights.”
As emotions subside and we begin to consider this entire brouhaha in the cold light of day, it’s gonna become increasingly apparent that those on the Yes side voted to amend a constitution that they never understood in the first place:
http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=9963
Ignorance is the meat-and-potatoes of the Yes side.
That more Americans have seen more gay families on display during the past week than ever before in their lifetimes is our gravy.
Chino — good article. The author makes some of the same points I made in my post on free speech, right down to the Sarah Palin quote. 😉
It’s really shocking how people have picked up this crazy “criticism violates my first amendment rights!” nonsense and have run wild with it! No matter how idiotic it is, I’m afraid we’ll be stuck responding to it for years to come…
Check this out …
Joseph Smith:
“With regard to elections, some say all the Latter-day Saints vote together, and vote as I say. But I never tell any man how to vote or whom to vote for. But I will show you how we have been situated by bringing a comparison. Should there be a Methodist society here and two candidates running for office, one says, ‘If you will vote for me and put me in governor, I will exterminate
the Methodists, take away their charters,’ etc. The other candidate says, ‘If I am governor, I will give all an equal privilege.’ Which would the Methodists vote for? Of course they would vote en masse for the candidate that would give them their rights.”
http://www.echols.info/dry%20kindling.pdf
What does it all mean?
There is that notion that freedom is happy and carefree, a return to a childlike state without worries and constraints.
In reality, of course, there will be quite a bit of conflict and resistance when you encounter other free people who have different ideas than you do.
“Thus it has been with us. Joseph Duncan said, if the people would elect him, he would exterminate the ‘Mormons’ and take away their charters. As to Mr. Ford he made no such threats, but manifested a spirit in his speeches to give every man his rights; hence the church universally voted for Mr. Ford, and he was elected governor.”
plus ça change …