This was sent to me by a friend. I found it has some valid points. He didn't know the source and there are so many sites with commentary on them. I found it impossible to find the source of this. I do want to state that I agree with the man who wrote this. I hope this fosters thoughts, conversations and discussions. This post is in response to recent opinions and editorials by certain individuals who contend that majority vote should override judges' rulings in civil-rights cases such as with California's upcoming "Proposition 8" ballot measure.
Civilized people can hold "different
belief systems" and still coexist peacefully; this country is a true melting pot and its diversity in racial, cultural, and sexual orientations benefits us all. Trying to deny EQUALITY to a minority segment of the population, even in the name of faith, is still discrimination, unjust and wrong. In the distant past, the majority of the population in the South were white and overwhelmingly favored slavery. If the majority had been allowed to continue to decide law, without the wisdom and the intervention of wise individuals, blacks would still be slaves. They would also be prohibited from entering many restaurants, restrooms, schools, etc. if subsequent action had not been taken by so-called "progressive" and "activist" judges and civil-rights leaders in the not-so-distant past.
We're all here now in supposedly more enlightened times. It is more than ironic to me--it's appalling--that the "
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints" has become this hypocritical, intolerant, political-interference machine, especially with its own history of nontraditional marriage and its even longer history of being a persecuted minority. Rather recently, in several states, there were extermination orders written into law decreeing it legal and justifiable to shoot
Mormons on sight (up until 1970 in
Ohio and 1976 in
Missouri, for instance). Needless to say, such laws should never have been allowed to exist even though they were passed by a majority of citizens of those states at the time.
I have numerous LDS loved ones, family members and friends, some more progressive than others. I cherish them all for who they are. I'm thoroughly vetted and advised in their doctrine and customs, and I've attended their churches, so my associations with them and opinions about them are not based on simple ignorance or inexperience. With all due respect, I'm glad to have them in my life even though their chosen organization abuses its tax-exempt status by continuously interfering with government and politics in its efforts to oppress me. In the spirit of "Love the Sinner, Hate the Sin", a Mormon adage frequently offered as the standard anti-gay compromise.. . If I were to be completely frank with my Mormon friends, I'd admit that I view their beliefs in essentially the same fashion that so many of them have conveyed regarding my sexual orientation: as something that is illogical, freely chosen, and deserving of silent disapproval. However, I still understand that religion is personal and people's right to their faiths should be respected. There are also some "stalemate" topics not worth arguing about because people tend to cling to what they want to believe, no matter what. Beliefs and religious faiths are further ingrained in most of us based on our own life experiences (or lack thereof), so I've always tried to forgive people for their ignorance. However, regardless of my anti-Mormon beliefs,
(i, goat, do not consider myself anti-mormon) I wouldn't even consider voting for any proposed measure that would prohibit people from practicing whatever faith they choose or, say, a measure banning Mormons from marrying each other. If my Mormon friends were facing what gays are facing presently, my principles would compel me to help them just as I would help to defeat injustices toward my atheist, straight, red-headed, Hispanic, or handicapped friends.
People choose religions, even from an array of religions that teach discrimination, oppression, and even violence as acceptable. People also choose to justify their hatred and ignorance by scapegoating it onto religion. If I were God, I would be affronted. If I were LDS, I'd be incensed that my tithing dollars are being used arbitrarily in a political discrimination campaign ($24 million in Mormon money on Proposition 8 so far). I did NOT choose to be gay; I simply AM gay because it chose me. I DO choose not to pursue a same-sex marriage for myself as I think it often brings more problems to relationships that are complicated enough. Still, the rights that come with legal marriage, hetero or homo, should be available to people equally, and so should the consequences of divorce. It shouldn't be some ultra-liberal, radical notion to mind one's own business so that two consenting adults can live their lives together in the way they choose. It's so easy for people to be narrow-minded, arrogant, hypocritical, and self-righteous until they themselves become the disadvantaged minority. It should also be said that not all Mormons support this discrimination; there are vast numbers of them who want nothing to do with it. I implore my Mormon friends to remember their own roots and try to imagine themselves having to walk in others' latter-day shoes when considering California's "
Proposition 8". This inhumane and unnecessary measure will eventually be remembered as yet another shameful part of our nation's checkered history.
