YAWN....yet another Prop 8 letter from the Mor(m)ons .. they're feeling the heat!

[cboy4]

First Presidency Urges Respect, Civility
in Public Discourse

SALT LAKE CITY 14 November 2008 Five months ago, the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints sent a letter to members of the Church in California, encouraging them to join the millions of other Californians from many religious denominations, ethnic groups and political persuasions in a broad coalition to defend marriage as it has been defined for millennia.

During the election campaign, both sides of the argument on Proposition 8 had ample opportunities to express their viewpoint. The result was conclusively in favor of traditional marriage. More than 40 states in the United States have now voted to protect traditional marriage, either directly or through their elected representatives.

Today the First Presidency issued this statement about the democratic process:

Since the people of California voted to reaffirm the sanctity of traditional marriage between a man and a woman on November 4, 2008, places of worship have been targeted by opponents of Proposition 8 with demonstrations and, in some cases, vandalism. People of faith have been intimidated for simply exercising their democratic rights. These are not actions that are worthy of the democratic ideals of our nation. The end of a free and fair election should not be the beginning of a hostile response in America.

The Church is keenly aware of the differences of opinion on this difficult and sensitive matter. The reasons for this principled stand in defense of marriage have already been articulated elsewhere. However, some of what we have seen since Californians voted to pass Proposition 8 has been deeply disappointing.

Attacks on churches and intimidation of people of faith have no place in civil discourse over controversial issues. People of faith have a democratic right to express their views in the public square without fear of reprisal. Efforts to force citizens out of public discussion should be deplored by people of goodwill everywhere.

We call upon those who have honest disagreements on this issue to urge restraint upon the extreme actions of a few that are further polarizing our communities and urge them to act in a spirit of mutual respect and civility towards each other.

http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/news-releases-stories/first-presidency-urges-respect-civility-in-public-discourse

ON EDIT: to add story information

AP-Gay Marriage

Mormon church condemns gay activists for 'attacks'

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - The Mormon church is blaming opponents of
California's gay marriage ban for what it says are recent
"attacks."
Hoax letters containing white powder were sent to the Salt Lake
City headquarters of the church and a temple in Los Angeles. The
FBI says both packages were nontoxic and investigators have not
publicly said the mailings were linked to the church's support of
Proposition 8.
The church says they are disturbed at being singled out and
assailed the "attacks" and vandalism of church property.
A Utah gay rights group is calling the hoaxes and vandalism
"deplorable," and says gay rights activists weren't behind them.
At the same time, a coalition of civil rights groups is mounting
the fourth legal challenge against the ban, saying it sets a
precedent that could be used to undermine the rights of racial
minorities.

[madmadmad]

1. 'cuz they've always shown me such respect and civility.

you can call ME an ABOMINATION, write hate into the constitution of a state not your own, and i should be civil towards you? well, fuck you, mr mormon spokesbigot! you started this shit, now deal with it.

ps- on a lighter note, my first thought when it was reported that a mysterious white powder was sent to the mormon church, was that some gay was trying an unorthodox "party diplomacy" by sharing their coke with the mormons- you know, the first taste is free, but if you want more you have to play nice with us... ;-)

[Berry Cool]

5. Please...let's not forget that when a wingnut mailed white powder to Keith Olbermann,

his fellow wingnuts, reading the news initially, made jokes like "He probably snorted it" and so on.

They were trying to intimidate him, too...trying to silence him with terrorism and fear.

How can it be right to do the same to the Mormons? It isn't. What you tell them is "We recognize your right to vote as you wish...but here is why the way you voted is wrong. Here is how you are using your religion to hurt people. We will not admit you to the circle of civilized human beings so long as you do."

It has worked in the past. There's only one way Mormons change. They can't be terrorized or frightened into doing the right thing and abandoning their prejudices. The only thing that works is political pressure. It forced the majority to abandon polygamy via a "revelation," and it also forced the end of racial discrimination, through another "revelation."

They never admit to having been wrong. Instead, subjected to sufficient pressure from outside forces, they announce that they have had a "revelation" and that they will no longer continue a former practice to which they stubbornly clung.

It's all about saving face.

They'll have a "revelation" about gay marriage too. If everyone else forces them into one with enough pressure. But adopting the tactics of terrorists won't work--it will just make the people who are right look more evil to them.

[MikeE]

2. Good, I hope they feel a lot more

We also need to be protesting every Sunday outside Catholic and Baptist churches as well. We need to confront this at it's roots!

[MNBrewer]

3. So when Prop 8 is overturned, or voted out (which it WILL be eventually)

Will he say "the people have spoken" and leave it alone? I doubt it.

[bluedawg12]

4. Victimizer playing victim.

The people haven't spoken. The vote are still not counted.

>>Further indications of problems with the vote count are already coming in from multiple sources, including incident reports from voters and election observers. Among these are indications that disenfranchisement targeting communities likely to have a high proportion of 'no' votes on Proposition 8 led to huge numbers of provisional ballots being cast. Because each provisional ballot must be individually determined to be qualified before counting, hundreds of thousands throughout the state remain uncounted to date.<<

http://www.velvetrevolution.us/electionstrikeforce/