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The Nature of Ritual
I heard this story this morning- about an exhibit at the Jewish Museum in New York: An exhibit at the Jewish Museum in New York looks at some of the many ways people are re-imagining Jewish ritual. From “green energy” synagogues to a prayer shawl that doubles as an apron,…
The LDS Church, Proposition 8, and the Federal Law of Charities
Brian Galle*: In the days before and after the passage of California’s “Proposition 8,” a ballot initiative barring legal recognition of same-sex marriages in the state, it was widely reported that the LDS Church, together with other religious organizations, played a significant role in supporting the initiative. National attention peaked…
The Horrors of Anti-Mormon Persecution
Probably in a weak effort to defend the clearly ridiculous statements of Dallin Oaks that have led to a well-deserved uproar over the last week, the LDS Church linked to this report from The Heritage Foundation: The Price of Prop 8. While I don’t mean to make light of the…
the statement that “it’s better to be dead than homosexual” leapt out at me. It’s a statement that has been made often enough by Mormons, and been heard often enough by gay Mormons.
Factor that statement in to what’s going on in the “Bring Them in From the Plains” video, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipXyQGCtCtk
and any claim that the Mormon church does not advocate violence against gays becomes completely disingenuous. The church has advocated and in some ways still DOES advocate violence against gay people–it’s just that it advocates SELF-INFLICTED violence. Plenty of gay Mormons have gotten the message: it’s better to be dead–even by your own hand–than be gay.
So until the church atones for that, and frankly even after, it will have far more blood on its hands in this matter than gay rights advocates. A few spray-painted churches don’t even compare.
This is a bit of a tangent, but I hadn’t seen that “Bring Them in From the Plains video before. The Martin and Willie handcart company example gives a good illustration of a constructive path towards reconciliation.