Mormon Church Responds to the passage of Proposition 8. It covers defending the integrity of marriage, church involvement in politics, bigotry on both sides, and members who opposed the Church’s position.
We hope that now and in the future all parties involved in this issue will be well informed and act in a spirit of mutual respect and civility toward those with a different position. No one on any side of the question should be vilified, intimidated, harassed or subject to erroneous information.
It is important to understand that this issue for the Church has always been about the sacred and divine institution of marriage — a union between a man and a woman.
Allegations of bigotry or persecution made against the Church were and are simply wrong. The Church’s opposition to same-sex marriage neither constitutes nor condones any kind of hostility toward gays and lesbians. Even more, the Church does not object to rights for same-sex couples regarding hospitalization and medical care, fair housing and employment rights, or probate rights, so long as these do not infringe on the integrity of the traditional family or the constitutional rights of churches.
Some, however, have mistakenly asserted that churches should not ever be involved in politics when moral issues are involved. In fact, churches and religious organizations are well within their constitutional rights to speak out and be engaged in the many moral and ethical problems facing society. While the Church does not endorse candidates or platforms, it does reserve the right to speak out on important issues.
Before it accepted the invitation to join broad-based coalitions for the amendments, the Church knew that some of its members would choose not to support its position. Voting choices by Latter-day Saints, like all other people, are influenced by their own unique experiences and circumstances. As we move forward from the election, Church members need to be understanding and accepting of each other and work together for a better society.
As politically cliched as it sounds, there will have to be a lot of healing after this. Although Prop 8 passed, there’s not a lot to celebrate. I feel like the Church and supporters of traditional marriage were forced to enter into a tough fight and everybody got badly bruised.
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Dave,
Link isn’t working
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Fixed. Thanks.
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Rather than waste 20 million dollars to support a ban on Gay marriage why doesn’t the Mormon church do something useful like spend it to feed the poor or provide shelter for the homeless.
What kind of message does it send to nonbelievers when you spend money on gaudy temples and burn money on political campaigns while the poor go hungry.
Handing 20 million dollars over to television stations for anti gay ads is a big waste of money in a world of suffering
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This has been very hard on me.
I understand completely that my zealous friends here in CA believe that they’re doing the right thing, but prop 8 is the wrong way to address gay marriage. I am vehemently opposed to inserting unnecessary language into our state constitution, particularly when it’s being done explicitly to discriminate. I am sad that the battle for the proposition escalated to the point that it did, and I’m certainly sad that the church played such a large part in that escalation.
This is not what the church should be doing. This is not what Christians should be doing.
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All this pretty talk of “understanding and accepting” seems to contradicted by today’s Deseret News, which quoted from one of the general authorities who led the crusade:
When asked about whether Latter-day Saints who publicly opposed Prop 8 would be subject to some kind of church discipline, Elder Clayton said those judgments are left up to local bishops and stake presidents and the particular circumstances involved.
“All we can say is that the LDS Church gives way to the spiritual discernment of local leaders in the handling of any matter that might involve the kind of question you have raised.”In other words, those who dared disagree with Monson & Co. will yet face his wrath, indirectly or not.
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Mr. Hall,
It was its members, not the Church itself, who donated the money for prop 8. The Church leads a huge effort throughout the world to feed the hungry and clothe the naked. In fact, its members are the first to help when needed, as it happened after hurricane Katrina — while FEMA was still figuring out what to do next, LDS members were already on the ground providing much needed relief. It is important to know the correct facts before judging, wouldn’t you agree?
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“Even more, the Church does not object to rights for same-sex couples regarding hospitalization and medical care, fair housing and employment rights, or probate rights, so long as these do not infringe on the integrity of the traditional family or the constitutional rights of churches.”
Prop. 8 does not eliminate homosexual families who must still function within our society. What the above statement defines is an alternate legal construct which any couple can use, gay or straight. In other words, rather then expanding marriage to be more inclusive it will become marginalized by other alternatives that must now be created.
This has not strengthened marriage at all. What it has done is put in on the path to irrelevance.
In the mean time California has a large thorn in its side and that thorn has ‘MORMON’ clearly stamped on it.
I wonder if this is really the outcome the church hoped for.
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Exit polls were interesting this was passed more by minority groups (Blacks and Latino) than by whites. The LDS church is predominately white so while we may have helped fund the drive it was other religeous groups that stepped up to vote it in.
Now if the church wanted to really pull the thorn out of its side they could help drive the legal definitions and laws to accomplish rights mentioned.
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I find it distasteful but not surprising that the protesters are choosing to target our Church specifically. Yes, it was a vocal proponent of the proposition, but Church members are still a minority in California. If only Mormons were interested in Prop 8, it would have failed miserably. These people are really just angry about traditional values, and the Church is a convenient face to attack in that hostility.
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Cora,
St. Anthony’s dining room spends a dollar to provide 3 meals.
The total amount spent on Prop 8 so far is about 75 million dollars.
Thats equivalent to feeding 75,000 hungry people for 1,000 days.To use it to instead deny equal rights to citizens who have served honorably in the military (and in some cases died fighting for your freedom), police, firemen, EMTS, etc is an obscenity.
Nathan,
Ben Franklin said, “He that lieth down with Dogs, shall rise up with Fleas”
Enjoy the fleas, they will be with you as long as gays are treated as second-class citizens by people like you.
BTW what traditional values? Segregation was a traditional value until a few decades ago. Anti-miscegenation laws were a tradition until 1967. The Mormon Church as well as other churches still discourage interracial marriage to this day. Hang your tradition.I hope every day there are people outside every Mormon Church in this country holding pink triangles. I hope gays and straights boycott Utah, American Express, Cadence, Black & Deccker, Dell Computer, and every other company run by Mormons, the Catholic church, the 7th Day Adventists, Baptists, etc..
Joe,
Separate but equal is what you want and it is the same obscenity that it was during the fight against segregation. If you’re a dominionist fine, but move out of this country then because the real law of the land is the Constitution and the same 14th Amendment that is used to help protect Mormons from persecution has to apply to gays as well, otherwise it’s worthless. -
“integrity of marriage”? “traditional marriage”?
My husband and I have been together for 27 years in a committed, faithful, loving, monogamous marriage (no matter what you bigots may call it). The “integrity” of our marriage is solid, complete, unbroken, whole, sound, of sound moral principle, upright, honest and sincere (all words my dictionary uses to describe that word).
I heard a Mormon complain that we gays weren’t boycotting African Americans just because 70% of them voted for Prop 8. They are NOT an organized religion receiving tax-free status from government while, at the same time funding bigotry and preaching it from the pulpit!
As for “traditional”, what is more traditional than a couple in love committing themselves to each other and to spending the rest of their lives together in mutual respect and support? What is the matter with the Mormon Church that it was become such hate-filled, narrow-minded supporter of HATE?
I will be checking the address on products I buy. If it’s made in, or distributed from, Utah, I will put it back on the shelf. Why Utah? Well Utah IS Mormonism. Why don’t you go after polygamists? The nerve of you bigots to look down on gays while supporting polygamy.
Talk about hyprocrisy!
Joe Leslie
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I’m grateful for the church’s moral stand, and for the strength that the coalition of churches brought to this fight. I also appreciated the consistent tone of love and compassion that the LDS Church leadership has expressed in its public statements, especially in the wake of vandalism and violence against church facilities.
For more, visit the designated conservative at http://dcon2012.wordpress.com/.
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I’m thankful that the church exercised its constitutional rights to speak out and be engaged in the many moral and ethical problems facing society.
Very refreshing to see other churches and people from all walks of life join together and take a stand on this issue.
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I voted yes on 8, I believe in the bible and its teachings, to blame the passing of 8 on all the religious groups is just wrong. I am not Mormon and myself and hundreds of friends did not receive any money to vote the way we did. We don’t want one nation under God to have one more word of God taken away from our country. It seems we that follow our religious convictions are being bullied and threatened by the Gay community, Hate is not coming from the people for traditional marriage, it is obviously coming form the Gay community. I do not judge or dislike any Gay person, so why are they so hateful as to judge us?
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@ Gail,
We don’t want one nation under God to have one more word of God taken away from our country.
Taken away? Are you kidding? God was added to the pledge of allegiance over 60 years after it was written.
First proposed by Catholics, the idea went absolutely nowhere until Presbyterians independently adopted the idea half a decade later in a fit of anti-communist hysteria, WASP supremacy, and religious sectarianism. So much for Christian unity! Lucky for them that Eisenhower was also Presbyterian. Talking about mixing Church and State.
And to be clear, I don’t hate you. I hate your bigoted ignorance. Since you forgot to include mandatory loving of hateful oppression in Proposition 8, it looks like you’ll just have to pass another Constitutional Amendment. Maybe you can suppress your own dislike of Mormons long enough to get them to fund that for you too (Can you believe they actually think that you think that they are actually Christian! Don’t worry, I won’t out you. Hate will out soon enough.)
Enjoy your self-righteous nonjudgmentalism. I think I’ll stick with judgmentalism myself. It’s so much more honest, don’t you think?
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Gail: “And to be clear, I don’t hate you. I hate your bigoted ignorance…. Enjoy your self-righteous nonjudgmentalism. I think I’ll stick with judgmentalism myself. It’s so much more honest, don’t you think?”
Nice try Gail. Hate cannot be parsed – if you choose to hate then that is what you do. One can disagree with, dislike, debate, and even argue about an idea or concept (like ‘bigoted ignorance’), but when it comes to hate it is only a person or group of people that can be the subject of hate.
It’s a real bummer that you’ve chosen to let hate into your heart. Once it’s there, hate tends to crowd out joy, love, and forgiveness – those better parts of our nature that will save us from greater misery if we choose to exercise them.
For more, visit the home of a designated conservative at http://dcon2012.wordpress.com/.
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Oops! Sorry, Gail. I meant to correct the quote to refer to Dan Weston.
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The Mormon Church is a racist, sexist, heterosexist, and anti atheist hate group which shares nearly all the same values and agenda with the Ku Klux Klan. I am boycotting Utah and Mormon owned businesses.
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libhomo, if you are going to stand by your stated principles, you need to boycott Catholic and many Protestant businesses, as well as Muslim-owned establishments. Have fun at the four stores you can still patronize.
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I understand not being for samesex marriage, but what the Mormons don’t seem to understand for some odd reason… maybe they choose not to, but here are the real FACTS. For the first time in America’s history we VOTED to TAKE AWAY the RIGHTS of AMERICAN citizens. And before you start with that old… no rights were taken…. you’re wrong. Marriage in California at the time for same sex couples was LEGAL, regardless to how, it was still LEGAL, the ballot was clear, it said basically… if you vote yes, YOUR YES vote indicated you wanted these rights removed from Gay couples. Yes, very shameful. Now for me, this was not a “gay” issue, but about being an American. At a time we’re fighting two wars to protect our freedoms and the Mormon church has the nerve… I’m telling you. Saddam threatens Americas rights and we go to WAR, the Mormon church does it and we do nothing. (???) I don’t think so.
Regardless to how you feel about samesex marriage, it’s wrong to vote and take away rights from American Citizens. And I personally thought it was ILLEGAL to do this. And if it is… by LAW, we need to go after these people that have done this. It’s wrong and immoral. These people should be in PRISION. It is not acceptable to take away rights from any AMERICAN… and because these people are “Gay” it should be considered a hate crime too. It’s wrong to take away rights from American Citizens!!! WRONG WRONG WRONG. How can anyone not understand this?
Sure, I understand freedom of speech and to have ones faith, but when you go after another Americans rights and you try to take them away… YOU should be in PRISON!!! Like any other terrorist. It’s not acceptable to go after the rights of another American. They’re is no justification for doing such. Who’s next? Should we ban Mexicans from marrying blacks? Where does it stop? It’s wrong to vote on social issues and flat out immoral and evil to go after the rights of an American citizen!!!
I’m serious… I think we should go after these people Mormons are accomplished LIARS! Look at the television spots… the lies were incredible… they exploited the truth and children. Heck, many thought they were voting to keep the teaching of homosexuality out of the schools and this had nothing to do with that.
I will boycott Utah, Marriott, Overstock.com, American Express and anyone else I hear of doing business with the Mormon Church. In my mind, it would be like giving money to the Nazi’s or the Taliban. It is wrong!!
Where will you stand in the future on this issue?
What the Mormon church did was wrong and the government should go after them like we would any other terrorist group. Speaking of… Can you imagine churches wanting to define words for us??? Like marriage??? Why don’t I gather signatures to define the word Mormon? We could define them as a terrorist group and then insist the government go after them for what they did to Gay community in California. When you take a single right away from any American, you take it from all Americans. Speaking of… when the right was taken away… 1500 federal rights went away too. Anyone that voted YES to take away rights from Californians should have to answer to the government. We made Saddam answer.. and the taliban… what makes the Mormons any different?? Just American Terrorist…. similar to the taliban or the nazis. Because let’s face it… as nice as the Mormons would like you to think they are… there is NOTHING NICE about taking away rights away from AMERICAN CITIZENS!
And lastly, does the Mormon church care about other churches?? or just theirs? That alone should say it all, because they’re many mainline churches in America that would happlily marry samesex couples. I was reading about a church in Pasadena with 4000 members, they’re now being told they can not marry people of the same sex. Normal Christians should be outragged when the government starts telling our churches who they can or can not marry legally. It’s shameful and wrong. Sure, I think the government will step in and do the right thing, as they did in 1967 when the christians didn’t want black people to marry whites… thankfully the government stepped in and I think this will happen here. 60 million Gay people in American, and another 150 MILLION Gay friendly and becoming friendlier as the years go by… things will change, but we need to deal with things day by day… and we should go after ANYONE that would go after the rights of American Citizens. And any American, that would go after the rights of another… should have NO rights at all!
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lets go back to separation of church and state. Mormons, don’t forget that although you think speaking your mind in political matters is well within your rights, you are suggesting that religion should be involved in government. You might think differently if we get a president who decides that the mormon church should be treated like waco, hildale, el dorado, short creek etc. so, the simple phrase “think before you speak” should be addressed.
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Chuck, you speak truth! Proud to be an American!
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one last comment before i go back to living in the real world, i heard this comment once and it makes so much sense. If you are against gay marriage, don’t marry one! Do you really think that a gay american is going to sneak in your room at night and secretly marry you!? The mormon church should have been on trial with the flds.
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I think it is depressing that more and more the world is turning to theocracy to make decisions. Alexander Pope said it best – “Presume not God to scan – the proper study of mankind is Man.” As a nationally recognized scientist I wish I could have the belief and faith that others have, but I am now convinced that the truth is no supreme being is out there shepherding this blue orb in the cosmos. I do not claim to understand how it all began, but this I know. Research as shown as populations grow and overcrowding becomes a problem, social structure moves rapidly away from rational thinking and becomes very irrational. The populations move towards superstition and the fringe. There is no room for any kind of understanding of those that do not fit the norm, because these theocracies become very strict and require that everyone adheres to their beliefs. The bottom line, populations need to place controls on population for its own self preservation.
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