After the passage of Proposition 8 in California there was a lot of talk about why the Mormon Church was so involved in that political fight. Mormons insisted that it was not because they hate homosexuals but rather because they believe marriage is a religious rite that should be exclusively between a man and a woman (and a few other women…). I actually had a rather heated debate with another sociologist of Mormonism (much more well-known than I am) about this here. At the conclusion of that debate, I basically agreed to not call the Mormon Church bigoted because he insisted their work on Proposition 8 was not about hate but about protecting marriage. I said I would hold off in my calling them bigoted pending the outcome of the Common Ground Initiative. For those unaware of this initiative, the goal was to get civil unions and same-sex partner benefits legalized in Utah. As I told my colleague, if the Common Ground Initiative passed in the Utah Legislature, it would be fair to say that the Mormon Church really is not bigoted towards homosexuals but that they were just trying to “protect” marriage (regardless of how retarded that is). If it failed to pass, it would mean it is fair to call the Mormon Church bigoted. My colleague admitted that was a fair interpretation.
Now, before you say, “But ProfXM, the Mormon Church didn’t kill those initiatives in the Utah Legislature, individual representatives did,” I’m going to cut you off. If the Mormon Church wanted civil unions in Utah, there would be civil unions in Utah!!! If the Mormon Church wanted equal rights without marriage rights for homosexuals in Utah, there would be equal rights for homosexuals!! The Mormon Church may not run Utah state politics, but it has enough sway over them that it could easily get this done. Go ahead and deny it. I dare you!
Well, FYI, 3 of the 5 initiatives are now dead:
- The Fair Housing & Employment initiative that would have made it illegal in Utah for people to be fired from their jobs or evicted from their homes just because they’re gay or transgender was killed in committee.
- The Wrongful Deaths initiative that would have guaranteed inheritance and insurance benefits was defeated in the Senate Judiciary Committee by a 4-2 vote.
- The Adult Joint Support Declaration that would have guaranteed rights of inheritance, insurance, and fair housing was also killed in committee.
Mormon Church, I gave you the benefit of the doubt for 4 months beyond the hateful passage of Proposition 8. No more. It’s official: The Mormon Church is a bigoted institution. Claims that they support equal rights without marriage are bull! Just as they were bigoted in not allowing blacks equality in their religion for decades and just as they continue to bar women from equality in the religion, the religion has officially taken a stand against civil rights for homosexuals. They are a hate church. The leadership hates gays and is actively working to deny them equal rights. If you pay tithing to that organization, you are guilty of supporting an organization that is opposed to equal rights. In my book, you are just as guilty as the leadership so long as you support them and they continue to oppose equal rights for homosexuals (it’s your money that is paying to disenfranchise people).
I have a lot of family and friends who are Mormons. I still will care for them, but I can’t really respect their decision to remain Mormon so long as their leaders continue their despicable efforts to disenfranchise 2% of Americans.
Oh, and just in case you missed it, everyone’s favorite Mormon state legislator, Chris Buttars, has gone on record calling gays “terrorists.” Yeah, defend Mormonism to me now…
I think that Buttars is a real jerk. I also think that his opinions, if stated a bit more tactfully, would be supported by most of the church leaders along with a substantial portion of the general membership:
1. Homosexuality is a perversion – they don’t say this anymore, so that means we’re in the “we believe it but don’t talk about it” stage. It seems to take about a generation to go from this to the “we’ve never believed it” stage.
2. Gay Marriage is the biggest threat facing America today. They obviously cared enough to get more involved in the political process in 2008 than they’d been in a generation. The membership, observing this and believing that the leaders take their cues from on high, infers that it’s the thing God is most worried about.
3. Gay Rights legislation is a bad idea. Well, obviously. Didn’t we just spend all that time and money stopping gay rights legislation in California? I think the church’s stance should be read as “we won’t spend resources to fight gay rights as long as they don’t use the word marriage.”
.
That “as long as” seems like a mighty big loophole. Impinge on the family? Given the standard mormon interpretation of family, even the existence of homosexuality “impinges.”
And if you want a real kick, go to the KSL article and read the user comments. You’ll quickly see that, among a certain constituency, Buttars’ views are quite common. In fact, relative to some of his supporters, he’s very eloquent.
“The Church does not object to rights (already established in California)”
Well, see, they’re not actually lying, because they don’t object to those rights already established in California, they object to them being newly established in other states. Or something like that.
Right. You could also read “object” to mean “raise an objection,” so that all they’re saying is “we’re not going to complain about it right now.”
Buttars is an ass. Period. Those who insist on re-electing him are worse.
You know, while I don’t believe tithing is used for these sorts of purposes, they *are* used to perpetuate the church and these sorts of ideas.
Even though the church really, truly doesn’t need it. Billion dollar mall, anyone?
And as long as they’re not lying, I’ll “not lie” too.
Oy. I, too, was hoping for better in Utah. I suppose it’s better to remain in the background and be quiet while others get the shaft?
Sounds good to me too.
/sarcasm
I can’t believe all five bills in the CGI failed.
…actually, I easily can, but somehow, I didn’t think that it would happen.
A guy can hope, right?
Newsflash – the secretive, martyred, cover-up LDS corporation has always been a hate church.
There was no financial incentive for the LDS corporation to back the Common Ground Initiatives. Until there are financial penalties, there will be changes for the Utah legislature. Their thinking has been done for them by the LDS corp.
May they (LDS corp) hemorrhage out of every bank account.
Church of the expedient, cowardly, plausible (so very barely) deniable PR positioning, thy name is “Latter-day Saints.”
I didn’t believe them for a second. That they would allow gay people to have equal footing, if not in name then at least legally, right in their own Lovely Deseret? I was laughing before Mikey Ashatterson even stopped talking.
What a lovely, kind and sweet man Mr. Buttars is. His beautiful, sweet smile just warms the cockles of my heart doesn’t it you? LOL
Can you believe what a creep he is? Chris Buttars is probably one of the worst politicians in Utah. He is sick and backwards. He doesn’t even have a mastery of the English language. What a great ambassador of Utah and the LDS Church (former Bishop). Can you imagine being in this man’s LDS ward congregation? It would be a nightmare. All I can say to Chris Buttars is “Karma is a bitch.”
The common ground initiative was a brilliant test and obviously the LDS politicians of Utah have definitely failed that test. The initiative is a powerful indictment of these leaders and it will stand in stark contrast as the rest of the country moves forward on these issues and Utah is left behind. When the California Supreme Court strikes down prop 8 very soon, Utah legislators and the LDS Church will really look like a bunch of bigots. Unfortunately these folks will likely take the persecution complex route and tell the nation that they are being persecuted for their beliefs. This is the same argument that many of the Evangelicals and other anti-gay Churches are taking. What a sad situation.
Mormonism does have it’s progressive history and there are forks in the road where choices were made that led them to this place. Since Joseph Smith ordained more than one black man to the priesthood the fork in the road happened in the 1850s when Brigham Young began denying black Mormon men that privilege. Mormon women once had far more authority and an autonomous organization (the Relief Society) but slowly and constantly through the years they have given up that authority and independence to the imbalance of pure patriarchy. They went from President Eliza Snow the prophetess, priestess and president of the Relief Society (a lifelong calling) who was a powerful leader in Utah in the late 1800’s to Sister Julie B. Beck the homemaker who sits on a few boards of education and welfare. In fact there are so many different General Relief Society Presidents in the long line of Relief Society presidents just over the past 10 years that it’s hard to keep track of the releases and newly sustained ones. In one day and out the next. The women no longer have authentic leadership and autonomy over their own organization as they once did.
These are the three issues I have with the Church.
1) the bigotry and homophobia toward the LGBT children of God.
2) The way the Church deals with its black African American historical bigotry toward black people and the fact that Joseph Smith ordained black men to the priesthood in the 1840’s and Brigham Young later denied them this right. This has never been discussed except if one does his or her own research. There is still racism within the LDS Church and that needs to be addressed directly not passively which could include a statement that Brigham Young was wrong in his interpretation of certain scriptures he used to support the priesthood ban toward blacks. They could have said (like Bruce R. McConkie) that these men spoke with limited knowledge and therefore were bound by their limited cultural world-view about race and made mistakes because of these limitations.
3) The way in which the Church treats women as 2nd class citizens as having a priesthood equivalent through their reproductive capacity and their typical ability to nurture. The Proclamation on the Family reinforces the stereotypes and subliminally explains that men and women’s worth to God is found within their roles and not within their own intrinsic selfhood. They keep repeating that we are all children of God and loved by Him more than we can imagine, however, the doctrine needs to support that and it falls short.
The brethren’s relationship to civil unions is opportunistic.
The brethren will point to civil union protections for gays if it helps to pass Proposition 8. Other than that, they would rather not extend any rights to gays.
In the brethren’s view, gays are less than human. Therefore, gays have no claim on human rights.
Paradoxically, the brethren are only dehumanizing themselves. I just hope that Mormon children will be able to escape the hate before they harm themselves.
Wry Catcher, is Mike still writing at the Washington Post?