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MormonTimes.com: LDS Church issues new Prop. 8 overview

Hmmm...Finger pointing?

"not me - I didn't do it alone"

Stupid excuse, too late.

The more sane members of the "homosexual community" need to step up and tell their radical members that they are only hurting themselves. The way I see it now, all members of this group are loons and I presume that they want us to perceive them as anarchists, as well as outside the norm of American culture. The political process worked and the PEOPLE of three states have spoken. Let it go - you/they have a civil union which should be enough if you/they were true to their espoused agenda.

Homosexual hate directed against LDS will backfire. The attention and calls for boycotts will serve to increase the stature of Mormons in the eyes of socially Conservative Americans. It will assist in overcoming false negative stereotypes groups such as evangelicals have about the LDS Church.

It seems the desire of the so called "gay" community is to have their way - no matter what. They tried lawful means, and failed - although now the issue will be heard by a California court - again. So now they resort to violence and anger.

Sounds like people who are unable to control their emotions and passions - spoiled brats who have decided thay can have what they want as they want it without regard for the feelings and rights of others!

The after-vote violence certainly confirms that the churches and people advocating Prop 8 may have been right all along: the goal of "gay" marriage is not really about marriage at all; it's about agressive people forcing their "rights" and life-style on a society that is offended by the very nature of homosexual behavior. It's not "gay" - it's offensive!

Looks like we all need to prepare for a tough and violent fight ahead.

I agree.

I would, however add a sentence:

All people of faith have cause for concern when others try to remove rights from their fellow citizens by voting on their lives.

I think that has to be the central method of every person of faith: we ALL get to live our lives.

People of faith need to be just as vigorous in fighting for the rights of others as fighting for their own.

"All people of faith have cause for concern when others try to remove their legitimate voice from the public square."
- Making Prop 8 somehow a referendum on CHURCH rights is a sick example of confusing the victim with the perpetrator. The one group DIRECTLY losing rights here is the gay/lesbian community. The biggest donor to that effort is the church. The church is not the victim here, they are the perpetrator. If they want to establish a respected and permanent place in the public square in the future, they should choose to support topics that help people, not hurt people.

Let's not forget that the overwhelming majority of "No on Prop. 8" protesters across the United States have been perfectly peaceful and respectful.

And if any genuine anger has been expressed, IS IT ANY WONDER? Proposition 8 went far beyond simply prohibiting Gay couples from marrying. It also took away an existing right. The Supreme Court of California correctly ruled that there is no constitutional basis to deny Gay couples the right to marry; yet after over 18,000 such marriages had already taken place, now those marriages may ultimately be declared null and void, thanks in large part to the Mormon church.

For all those who either voted for Proposition 8 or contributed financially to its passage, do you now feel righteous and smug now that you may have helped invalidate over 18,000 existing marriages? And if it was YOUR marriage that had put up for a popular vote, don't you think YOU'D be just a little bit perturbed?

Anyway you cut it, the decision to deliver such a highly visible position on Prop 8 may end up setting back the LDS church more than 30 years in public relations goodwill. Its decision to reverse more than 100 years of doctrine on the worthiness of Blacks cleared the way in 1978 for the Mormon Church to enter mainstream society and take a seat at the table of public acceptance. In a puff of smoke, suddenly that goodwill has evaporated. It's not too late, but it will take different thinking and leadership to make the necessary changes.

To be clear, any and all physical attacks against people or property should be condemned. These sporadic bits of illegal activity or threats to personal safety do not JUSTIFY the churches support of Prop 8. The Church should recognize that Prop 8 hurts people and they should be prepare to pay a price (as long as everything is kept legal and everyone is kept physically safe) for hurting people if that's what they choose to do. If they didn't want to be confrontaional, they shouldn't have thrown their weight behind stripping a class of people of their rights. THAT was very confrontational. Aside from scattered examples of illegal reprisals, stop whining about civility - stripping rights from a class of Americans is not civil. If you believe in what you did, stand up and take your justified backlash like someone who stands by their convictions. Or could it be that you are starting to see what you did as maybe a little bit wrongheaded? And that's painful and you wish the protestors woldn't put you through that pain?

Montors: Why was my comment not posted? I wrote a thought provoking comment that in no way maligned Utah or the LDS church, nor was meant to be offensive.

No one is trying to interfere with the beliefs of the LDS Church. It is a question of civil rights. If couples wish to marry that is their right and its exercise hurts no one. If the LDS Church disagrees with this right they can say so but funding popular bigotry against a minority group is immoral and possibly illegal. Religious groups opposed civil rights for Blacks and Women more or less on the same grounds. As the LDS Church stands for so much that is admirable, the present obsessive opposition to same-sex marriage is all the more puzzling.

Recall when Kramer wouldn't wear his Aids ribbon during the Aids march, look what happened to him,

and when Kramer was guarding the armoire and he got strong armed by the two gay dudes?

These are calm, concise, and evenhanded comments on the miserable, violent homosexual aftermath of losing an election. Tolerance and individual rights should go both ways in our culture.

As usual, the representatives of the LDS Church have hit the nail on the head. Why should a 1% minority dictate family norms, laws and values for the remaining 99%? In Massachusetts, where gay marriages are legal, there have been documented incidents where Christian parents have been jailed for protesting against having their 5 year old children taught gay values in Kindergarten. It is very unfair for the family-oriented majority to suffer for the anti-family minorities.

Homosexual politics and gay life style is a major and fast growing danger to family, home, community and national social standars. If left unopposed it will contaminated civilization as we now accept it beyond rerovery. All church groups, social institutions and goverment agency need to work together to stop it before it is too late.

As ususal, the church is nothing more than self serving. I would suggest that you read the New York Times article and analysis of what happened for an unbiased and much more accurate account.

The common portrayal of gays in the movies and other media is of the handsome, wise, sympathetic and artistic man who is the only true friend to the beautiful woman. It is this type of portrayal that has brought many people to support gay "rights" and encouraged the reduction of bigotry towards them. While there may be some of those types of gays around, it is now obvious that there are at least some who are intolerant, hateful, selfish and violent. It is quite possible that the reactions of this group to a public referendum which they lost will create fear in the observers and make all of us wonder if we ought to be granting any type of "rights" to such a group. Do we grant such rights to members of the KKK? The tactics of intimidation, hate and fear are pretty similar. Do we grant such rights to street gangs? This minority of gays is putting them in the same category.

Sorry, you can't vote for anything you wish. If people were allowed to vote for ban on inter-racial marriage, for example, the courts would have every right under the constitution to wipe away such a ban. Please remember that not too long ago in our nations history it was felony to marry someone of a different race!

At any rate, under the constitution, the courts have every right to strike down the voter approved ban of gay marriage. It's a moral duty to do so.

I'm saddened by the religious intolerance that is currently so evident in our country. In spite of the rhetoric about religion during our recent political process, so many people today are not civil nor do they respect spirituality or religious thought.

There will be differences of opinion on political issues that affect our moral beliefs--abortion, stem cell research, euthenasia, same-sex marriage, etc. As well as differences in religion among people of all faiths, and of no professed faith.

Peaceful protests are part of the political process, but extremeism in any form leads to terrible outcomes.

Let's each one of us embrace civility, dignity and respect in our associations with others who differ with us, no matter who the "us" may be.

When a statement is issued advocating a strong position to take away something another group feels are rights, make that statement after years of persecution for your wanting your own rights and then finally to cap it off with a final statement urging a respecting of rights in spite of the strong position against another groups view of rights, shows a basic lack of understanding of people.

No one is questioning the LDS churches right to have their position. They can enforce it in their church. What bothers people is their desire to enforce that belief on to others through the political process. There is no live and let live in their position.