Proposition 8 is something that has attracted huge amounts of attention especially after its passing. Yes mormons were involved in its passing but the amount of critisism that they have received for their involvment is not even remotely proportionant to their involvment. Which leads one to ask the question why are they being singled out for their involvment when other groups of people were much more significant in their efforts to pass proposition 8?
To begin with I would like to state what the actual mormon involvment was. It is the perception of the public that the mormon church itself donated millions of dollars to the cause this is not true. The lds church's total involvment was around $190,000. None of this was in cash contributions but was most often in the form of travel expenses. When you look at the campaign that costed 83 million dollars 190,000 is a very small part of the total picture. The mormon church did encourage its members to support the campaign but understood that not all its members would support the measure, and the letter that was read in all mormon church services was a recomendation not a commandment or an ultimatum. There are mormons who were opposed to the campaign who still remain active in the mormon church today.
Now the question is how much did individuals members of the mormon church contribute? This is impossible question to answer. Because the state of California does not require donors to list their religion. So there are many estimates on this. Usually ranging from 14 million to 22 million. Its one thing we will never know. Blacklists were created by some opponents of proposition 8 that attempted to single out mormons but then again I don't see how they were able to distinguish who was mormon and who wasn't. Because the only way to know for sure would be to gain access the the mormon church's membership records, which are not publically accessible. So this statistic is merely guess work that is all their is to it. Next thing is I am confused why opponents of proposition 8 get so worked up about campaign funding to begin with. Seeing how more money was donated to their side of the campaign. All campaign funds do is see that both side get equally represented. It was a very aggressive campaign on both sides.
The other major mormon involvment occured in call centers. Proponents of proposition 8 would meet in individual mormons homes and would call people and conduct polls on what people thought on this issue and how they would vote. They would keep track of who said they would vote yes or maybe yes and proceeded to call those people later on to remind them to vote. This was not a sale's call to convince people of their view just simply ensuring that all people who supported the measure were given every opportunity to go out and vote.
Now that I have stated the involvment. I would like to state some of the many things that have been done to mormons as a result of proposition 8. Vandelism has been rampant. There has been countless attacks on mormon buildings of worship. There has been an attempt to create a sterotype that mormons are consumed with hatred and are full of bigotry. There have been numerous protests in front of mormon buildings of worship. Death threats have been issued to prominent mormons. An elderly lady was attacked and sent to the hospital after she choose to remove anti mormon signs that had been posted on church property. Mysterious white powder was sent to church headquarters in Salt Lake. There have also been blacklists created and boycotts organized. Which has caused some mormons to lose their jobs or go out of business.
So why is this why have mormons been singled out? Though similar things have happened to other groups of people that supported proposition 8 mormons have been the obvious primary target. I think a quote from someone who opposed proposition 8 gives a great insight on why this is. " ...notice how these protests overwhelmingly target the Mormon Church. Why? Because these protesters and boycotters are cowards...What is required in these protests is a target. But the very nature of identity politics precludes the two most obvious demographics who voted for the initiative - Hispanics and African-Americans. Could anyone imagine a parade of mostly white gays and lesbians descending on black communities and churches in protest? No, and those pushing the protests know that tactic would never fly in America. Why not go after Catholics, a demographic that supported the proposition with both cash and votes? First, because Catholics comprise roughly 25% of the American population. In addition, California is a heavily hispanic state, and hispanics are overwhelming Catholic. Would any smart GLBT [gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, transgender] organizer have their activists and supporters declare war on the Catholic Church and expect support from hispanics and a large portion of white voters? No, not even in that liberal state. This leaves us with the Mormons, the red-headed stepchild of American religion...They’re the safe target. The only target. The one target that invites almost no recrimination among a large swath of conservatives, liberals, the religiously devout, and atheists." That quote was taken from the malcontent.
What is happening is wrong. Trying to coerce people to silence who have a different viewpoint than you is wrong no matter how justified you feel you are. Even people among the gay rights movement recognize this. Mormons are being singled out unfairly. Even without mormon votes the proposition still would have passed. Because mormons make up less than two percent of the voting populous in California, but somehow they became the sole cause of proposition 8's passing. It is an obvious form a scapegoating. The hypocrisy is so glatantly obvious when people accuse mormons of being full hate, but yet ignore their own prejudice towards mormons. Which is very unfair especially to mormons who were opposed to Proposition 8.
One of the great things about U.S.A to me is that I can have a fundamental disagreement with my neighbor about a political issue and not have to fear any backlash for expressing an opinion that is different than his. As is evident from the response to Proposition 8 this is something that is in danger of disappearing. When you realize that the tactics being employed are designed to intimidate and coerce people into silence. Just because they have a different perspective in life and see things in a different light.
My intent in writing this is in no way meant to influence anyones viewpoint on this issue in one way or the other. Just to simply express my opinion that the mormon church is being unfairly targeted by some opponents of proposition 8.
To begin with I would like to state what the actual mormon involvment was. It is the perception of the public that the mormon church itself donated millions of dollars to the cause this is not true. The lds church's total involvment was around $190,000. None of this was in cash contributions but was most often in the form of travel expenses. When you look at the campaign that costed 83 million dollars 190,000 is a very small part of the total picture. The mormon church did encourage its members to support the campaign but understood that not all its members would support the measure, and the letter that was read in all mormon church services was a recomendation not a commandment or an ultimatum. There are mormons who were opposed to the campaign who still remain active in the mormon church today.
Now the question is how much did individuals members of the mormon church contribute? This is impossible question to answer. Because the state of California does not require donors to list their religion. So there are many estimates on this. Usually ranging from 14 million to 22 million. Its one thing we will never know. Blacklists were created by some opponents of proposition 8 that attempted to single out mormons but then again I don't see how they were able to distinguish who was mormon and who wasn't. Because the only way to know for sure would be to gain access the the mormon church's membership records, which are not publically accessible. So this statistic is merely guess work that is all their is to it. Next thing is I am confused why opponents of proposition 8 get so worked up about campaign funding to begin with. Seeing how more money was donated to their side of the campaign. All campaign funds do is see that both side get equally represented. It was a very aggressive campaign on both sides.
The other major mormon involvment occured in call centers. Proponents of proposition 8 would meet in individual mormons homes and would call people and conduct polls on what people thought on this issue and how they would vote. They would keep track of who said they would vote yes or maybe yes and proceeded to call those people later on to remind them to vote. This was not a sale's call to convince people of their view just simply ensuring that all people who supported the measure were given every opportunity to go out and vote.
Now that I have stated the involvment. I would like to state some of the many things that have been done to mormons as a result of proposition 8. Vandelism has been rampant. There has been countless attacks on mormon buildings of worship. There has been an attempt to create a sterotype that mormons are consumed with hatred and are full of bigotry. There have been numerous protests in front of mormon buildings of worship. Death threats have been issued to prominent mormons. An elderly lady was attacked and sent to the hospital after she choose to remove anti mormon signs that had been posted on church property. Mysterious white powder was sent to church headquarters in Salt Lake. There have also been blacklists created and boycotts organized. Which has caused some mormons to lose their jobs or go out of business.
So why is this why have mormons been singled out? Though similar things have happened to other groups of people that supported proposition 8 mormons have been the obvious primary target. I think a quote from someone who opposed proposition 8 gives a great insight on why this is. " ...notice how these protests overwhelmingly target the Mormon Church. Why? Because these protesters and boycotters are cowards...What is required in these protests is a target. But the very nature of identity politics precludes the two most obvious demographics who voted for the initiative - Hispanics and African-Americans. Could anyone imagine a parade of mostly white gays and lesbians descending on black communities and churches in protest? No, and those pushing the protests know that tactic would never fly in America. Why not go after Catholics, a demographic that supported the proposition with both cash and votes? First, because Catholics comprise roughly 25% of the American population. In addition, California is a heavily hispanic state, and hispanics are overwhelming Catholic. Would any smart GLBT [gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, transgender] organizer have their activists and supporters declare war on the Catholic Church and expect support from hispanics and a large portion of white voters? No, not even in that liberal state. This leaves us with the Mormons, the red-headed stepchild of American religion...They’re the safe target. The only target. The one target that invites almost no recrimination among a large swath of conservatives, liberals, the religiously devout, and atheists." That quote was taken from the malcontent.
What is happening is wrong. Trying to coerce people to silence who have a different viewpoint than you is wrong no matter how justified you feel you are. Even people among the gay rights movement recognize this. Mormons are being singled out unfairly. Even without mormon votes the proposition still would have passed. Because mormons make up less than two percent of the voting populous in California, but somehow they became the sole cause of proposition 8's passing. It is an obvious form a scapegoating. The hypocrisy is so glatantly obvious when people accuse mormons of being full hate, but yet ignore their own prejudice towards mormons. Which is very unfair especially to mormons who were opposed to Proposition 8.
One of the great things about U.S.A to me is that I can have a fundamental disagreement with my neighbor about a political issue and not have to fear any backlash for expressing an opinion that is different than his. As is evident from the response to Proposition 8 this is something that is in danger of disappearing. When you realize that the tactics being employed are designed to intimidate and coerce people into silence. Just because they have a different perspective in life and see things in a different light.
My intent in writing this is in no way meant to influence anyones viewpoint on this issue in one way or the other. Just to simply express my opinion that the mormon church is being unfairly targeted by some opponents of proposition 8.
