LDS Church Statement on Sen. Chris Buttars

20 February 2009 @ 2:38 pm | 2 comments

LDS Church Statement on Sen. Chris Buttars:

From the outset, the Church’s position has always been to engage in civil and respectful dialogue on this issue. Senator Buttars does not speak for the Church.

(Possibly) Related posts:

  1. “Mormon Church Issues Statement in Support of Gay-rights Ordinances”
  2. Elder Oaks on Religious Freedom and the Proposition 8 Aftermath
  3. The history of the three-fold mission of the Church

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  1. David B’s avatar

    David B on 20 February 2009 at 9:26 pm

    I read the comments on the news clip, and I have only one question: Why is it that so many people assume Chris Buttars is actually speaking for the church, yet they have trouble assuming that Harry Reid does?

  2. David H. Sundwall’s avatar

    David H. Sundwall on 21 February 2009 at 9:12 am

    Yeah, it’s a good point. I suppose a part of it is that I don’t hear Sen. Reid speak out on many issues where the Church has taken a position, so he can be compared against its position.

    I do remember he was asked about why he opposed the Federal Marriage Amendment which the Church endorsed. But he wasn’t very vocal about it.

    But it’s a shame that anyone would consider Buttars to speak for the Church or that he would himself if that’s the case. It appears to me that the documentary makers purposefully wanted to use Buttars to speak for the Church, full well knowing what they would get. Which seems downright disingenuous.

    Reed Cowan’s statement:

    “Our upcoming documentary ‘8: The Mormon Proposition,’ examines Mormon involvement in the passage of California’s Proposition 8. The film also examines the attitudes, beliefs & teachings of Mormon leaders on homosexuality which some say precipitated such a massive response by Mormons.

    “We sought out Senator Buttars for two reasons. First, because the Mormon Church has chosen Buttars to be a Bishop twice and because he has been a part of excommunicating gay Mormons from the Mormon Church.

    “Secondly, we interviewed him because as an acting Republican Utah Senator, Buttars has a long history of being the wall between gay people and their argument of rights denied.