Utah's Catholic bishop: "We stand with our Mormon friends against gay marriage!"

[Bluebear]

The head of Utah's Catholic parishes expressed solidarity with the Mormon faith's support for a constitutional amendment that banned gay marriage in California.
Rev. John C. Wester, bishop of the Salt Lake Catholic Diocese, said his church took a strong stand in support of Proposition 8.
Wester said the debate invoked strong feelings on both sides - thousands of angry protesters marched around the headquarters of the Mormon church Friday - and called for civility and respect in the gay marriage debate...

"Like our friends in the Mormon faith, the Catholic Church has long championed and promoted the sacredness of traditional marriage and the importance of the family in our society," Wester said.

"While acknowledging that this position is not universally held in our society today, our churches are committed to proclaiming the truth and we cherish our ability to participate in the democratic process," he said.

http://www.sltrib.com/ci_10937437

[LeftyMom]

1. Well fuck him and his silly hat.

:grr:

[Bluebear]

2. At least he's admitting that churches are "participating" in elections.

[LeftyMom]

5. Unfortunately with propositions they don't have to half-assed hide it.

They get to legally interfere with another state's elections with their tax-free money. :(

[dbonds]

3. Organized religion is the problem, not the solution.

(not referring to anyone's spirituality, just the thugs that abuse everyone beliefs for their own power structures)

[AlCzervik]

4. The Knight's of Columbus were the other big funder of yes so i'm not surprised at all.

[LeftCoast]

6. If they want credit for it, then certainly they should get some blame

Strange, that criticizing either the Mormon or Catholic church around here is 'unfair' according to so many.

[WolverineDG]

7. Hmmm, the Catholic Church has some prime real estate

If they want to participate in the democratic process, surely they're not averse to paying property taxes!

:think:

dg

[NAO]

8. The Mormons are getting the blame for this, when really

it was massively backed by Evangelical Christians and Roman Catholics.

I don't like the Mormons, but they are not as evil, or as dangerous, as groups like James Dobson's Focus on the Family. Mormons *usually* keep to themselves, while Focus on the Family has been RABIDLY involved in politics for over 20 years.

[Bluebear]

9. Unfortunately, the Mormons did overwhelmingly back this measure, financially speaking

[kiva]

19. Sorry, I disagree on your point.

Mormons have steadily increased their political and economic clout for the last several decades, and I view them as much more of a threat to society than evangelical sects or the Catholic church. Government agencies such as the FBI and CIA have actively recruited Mormons--as someone said in another thread, their missionary program and self-vetting makes young Mormon men attractive to various security agencies. Unlike many evangelical groups, the LDS church encourages its young men to get an education and participate fully in business and political ventures. Many Americans who reject fundies as too loonie for the mainstream will say that they admire the Mormons for taking care of their own. Mormon missionaries have expanded the power of the LDS church far beyond the U.S.

Part of my view on this comes from the fact I've always lived in the West (Colorado, Utah, and Nevada), where Mormons have controlled political discussion for years. Most Catholic I've known have reached a sort of detente with their church--most do what they choose when it comes to birth control and political activism, then nod politely at their priests at mass. Again, perhaps my view is colored by regionalism, but I see the Mormon church as far more threatening to progressive politics.

[cboy4]

10. I hope you're taking lots of notes Internal Revenue Service.

What a hater. :puke:

[Name removed]

11. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[plaintiff]

12. I wonder if he fucks little boys.

:shrug:

[IndianaGreen]

16. and the Mormons marry young girls

I see no difference between Jim Jones and the founders of LDS. They are all wackos!

[cboy4]

27. If I knew now what I didn't know when I was an altar boy....

:scared:

[Unvanguard]

13. The religious bigots are ganging up on the rest of us.

Wonderful.

[IndianaGreen]

14. All the pedophile enablers are banding together, the Vatican and LDS

When the Mormons, acting under orders from Brigham Young, slaughtered the Arkansas settlers on Sept 11, 1857 at Mountain Meadows, they spared the lives of the young girls which they quickly took up as their wives.

[Hepburn]

15. FUCK YOU AND THE CHILD-MOLESTING PRIESTS YOUR CHURCH COVERED UP FOR!!

:grr:

[malaise]

17. The alliance of pedophiles

Interesting.

[Reader Rabbit]

18. If you consider marriage so damned sacred, why don't you allow your priests to get married?

As a fallen away Catholic, I feel perfectly qualified to call these holier-than-thou mo-fos on their hypocrisy.

Take your friggin' Inquisition back to the 15th century where it belongs.

[Loki]

20. If marriage is so fucking sacred

then make divorce fucking illegal!

[aquart]

24. There is no Catholic divorce. Just annullment.

[tomg]

26. Which as a number of my Catholic

relatives have found out can only be granted under certain conditions - and a check.

[IndianaJones]

21. I find it interesting to compare the reaction to religions role in this vs racial minorities.

It seems to be ok to place a large portion of the blame on religion, and rightfully so, yet it is labeled racist to even explore the voting trends of minorities.

[Bluebear]

22. The churches organized and donated millions for this proposition.

That is known and demonstrable.

[IndianaJones]

23. I agree wholeheartedly. It is just an observation on the reaction to religions role in this...

vs the reaction to pointing out some alarming trends in the voting by minorities - African Americans, Hispanics and Asian Americans, which to me is just as alarming.

[tomg]

25. Well, this former Catholic stands with

his GLBT friends against bigotry and for full equality.

[PassingFair]

28. The Catholic Church here in Michigan spent FIVE MILLION

in '04 to amend our constitution to prohibit
gay marriage, and I didn't the outburst against
Catholics that I see here against (rightly so)
the Mormons.


I bet if you look deeply into the numbers on
Prop 8, you will find the Catholic Church
funding equaled the Mormon funding.

The Catholic church sometimes hides behind
other churches in their social programs.
They did the same hiding behind Baptist churches
during anti-choice initiatives.

[grassfed]

29. Fresno Catholic priest used pulpit to speak out against Proposition 8

The Rev. Geoffrey Farrow, a Fresno priest, used the pulpit Sunday to speak out against Proposition 8, the California ballot measure that would amend the state constitution to forbid gay marriage.

Fresno was a major battleground for prop 8.

http://www.jewishjournal.com/thegodblog/item/catholic_priest_comes_out_supports_gay_marriage_20081008/

[marlakay]

30. Okay now they can all pay taxes since they want to be

involved politically!