Mormonism and politics/California Proposition 8/Post-Election Events

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California Proposition 8: Post Election Events

The outbreak of attacks on the Mormon church since the passage of Proposition 8 has been chilling: envelopes full of suspicious white powder were sent to church headquarters in Salt Lake City; protesters showed up en masse to intimidate Mormon small-business owners who supported the measure; a website was created to identify and shame members of the church who backed it; activists are targeting the relatives of prominent Mormons who gave money to pass it, as well as other Mormons who are only tangentially associated with the cause; some have even called for a boycott of the entire state of Utah.

—Editorial, "Legislating Immorality," National Review Online (Nov. 24, 20-08)

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Get over it. It's easier to wash a paint stain off a church than to take off the stain they left on the California Constitution.

—Robin Tyler, activist for lesbian rights, justifying vandalism by stating that Prop 8 supporters have "no right to complain about any physical and verbal attacks they've encountered since election day" during a rally at the steps of the California Capitol.

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The Mormon church has had to rely on our tolerance in the past, to be able to express their beliefs...This is a huge mistake for them. It looks like they've forgotten some lessons.

—San Francisco supervisor Bevan Dufty, at a protest in front of the Oakland Temple

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Members of the Mormon church have experienced significant intolerance ranging from expulsion from Illinois in the dead of winter to an extermination order by the Governor of Missouri. It has seen its members raped and murdered as the result of state sponsored intolerance, acts you seem to condone by implication. Are these the lessons you refer to, and are you proposing to apply those lessons again? Are you suggesting that Mormon’s need your permission to participate in the political process or to practice our beliefs, and what remedy do you propose for failed compliance?

—FAIR's response to Supervisor Dufty, which remains unanswered.

Aftermath

Upon passage of Proposition 8 by the California electorate, and despite the fact that LDS members constitute a small minority of those who voted in California, the Church came under attack for its role in encouraging its members to support the "Yes on 8" campaign. This produced a number of negative and positive effects.

Threats from "No on 8" supporters

• "Burn their ******* churches to the ground, and then tax the charred timbers"
• "While financially I supported the Vote No, and was vocal to everyone and anyone who would listen, I have never considered being a violent radical extremist for our equal rights. But now I think maybe I should consider becoming one. Perhaps that is the only thing that will affect the change we so desperately need and deserve."
• "Can someone in CA please go burn down the Mormon temples there, PLEASE. I mean seriously. DO IT."
• ""I'm going to give them something to be ******* scared of. … I'm a radical who is now on a mission to make them all pay for what they've done"

There were some more measured and thoughtful responses however. One "No on 8" blogger made the following observations:

...notice how these protests overwhelmingly target the Mormon Church. Why? Because these protesters and boycotters are cowards...What is required in these protests is a target. But the very nature of identity politics precludes the two most obvious demographics who voted for the initiative - Hispanics and African-Americans. Could anyone imagine a parade of mostly white gays and lesbians descending on black communities and churches in protest? No, and those pushing the protests know that tactic would never fly in America. Why not go after Catholics, a demographic that supported the proposition with both cash and votes? First, because Catholics comprise roughly 25% of the American population. In addition, California is a heavily hispanic state, and hispanics are overwhelming Catholic. Would any smart GLBT [gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, transgender] organizer have their activists and supporters declare war on the Catholic Church and expect support from hispanics and a large portion of white voters? No, not even in that liberal state. This leaves us with the Mormons, the red-headed stepchild of American religion...They’re the safe target. The only target. The one target that invites almost no recrimination among a large swath of conservatives, liberals, the religiously devout, and atheists.

Church response

The Church issued the following statement:

It is disturbing that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is being singled out for speaking up as part of its democratic right in a free election.

Members of the Church in California and millions of others from every faith, ethnicity and political affiliation who voted for Proposition 8 exercised the most sacrosanct and individual rights in the United States — that of free expression and voting.

While those who disagree with our position on Proposition 8 have the right to make their feelings known, it is wrong to target the Church and its sacred places of worship for being part of the democratic process.

Once again, we call on those involved in the debate over same-sex marriage to act in a spirit of mutual respect and civility towards each other. No one on either side of the question should be vilified, harassed or subject to erroneous information.

Negative reactions

The Mormon church has had to rely on our tolerance in the past, to be able to express their beliefs...This is a huge mistake for them. It looks like they've forgotten some lessons.

—San Francisco supervisor Bevan Dufty, at a protest in front of the Oakland Temple

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There were, unfortunately, negative effects from the vote in the days immediately following the election. Members of the gay community (and their supporters) were vocal and visible in their negative demonstrations. Some of those negative effects are documented in the following sections.

This documentation should not be taken as a blanket indictment of those in the "No on 8" camp. While leadership of the "No on 8" group have been negative toward LDS involvement, that negativity did not reach the level of vitriol and "over the top" behavior noted in some of the sections below. Various GLBT (gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, transgender) groups have organized, encouraged, or participated in the demonstrations targeted specifically at the LDS Church (such as those conducted outside LDS temples).

The first call that we know of by an GLBT group to not target the LDS Church specifically was by JoinTheImpact.com, which organized the nationwide demonstrations that (for the most part) occurred at government facilities on Saturday, November 15. (See the JoinTheImpact mission statement.) It is unfortunate that the actions of extremists specifically targeting the Church went uncriticized or rebuked by "No on Prop 8" leaders or state politicians until several days had passed—one would have hoped that they would immediately speak out against such inappropriate behavior, no matter who the target.

It still remains to be seen whether the moderating efforts of JoinTheImpact to express displeasure across the board instead of toward a single group will be accepted by the GLBT community and the other GLBT groups who have chosen to target primarily the LDS.

Accusations

Accusations of hatred and bigotry

The tactics of those who oppose the decision are to label LDS "haters" and "bigots." The accusation is that LDS are attempting to remove the rights associated with marriage. However, passing Prop. 8 didn't remove any of the rights that were already granted to same-sex couples under domestic partnership laws in California. They have all of the same rights, privileges and protections that they had before. What is disputed is the use of the word "marriage" to describe these unions.

The words "hatred" and "bigot" are emotionally charged and intended to produce a specific effect. Note how the following strategy of "Direct Emotional Modeling" is being applied to supporters of Prop 8:

The trick is to get the bigot into the position of feeling a conflicting twinge of shame, along with his reward, whenever his homohatred surfaces, so that his reward will be diluted or spoiled. This can be accomplished in a variety of ways, all making use of repeated exposure to pictorial images or verbal statements that are incompatible with his self-image as a well-liked person, one who fits in with the rest of the crowd....When he sees someone like himself being disapproved of and disliked by ordinary Joes, Direct Emotional Modeling ensures that he will feel just what they feel—and transfer it to himself. This wrinkle effectively elicits shame and doubt...our effect is achieved without reference to facts, logic, or proof. In short, Jamming succeeds insofar as it inserts even a slight frisson of doubt and shame into the previously unalloyed, self- righteous pleasure. The approach can be quite useful and effective—if our message can get the massive exposure upon which all else depends.

The protests that have spread to temples across the country certainly qualify as achieving the "massive exposure upon which all else depends".

On the other hand, the Church has repeatedly called for its members to "act in a spirit of mutual respect and civility," and has repeated that its position "neither constitutes nor condones any kind of hostility toward gays and lesbians."

Protests

Protests at LDS places of worship

Temples

A number of protests were held in front of LDS temples:

• Los Angeles Temple (Westwood, California). Protests held daily beginning November 6 through November 9, 2008.
• Mesa Temple (Mesa, Arizona). Protest held on November 28, 2008.
• Manhattan Temple (New York City, New York). Protest held on November 12, 2008.
• Newport Beach Temple (Newport Beach, California). Protest on November 16, 2008.
• Oakland Temple (Oakland, California). Protests held on October 26, 2008 and November 9, 2008.
• Salt Lake Temple (Salt Lake City, Utah). Protest on November 7, 2008.
• San Diego Temple (University City, California). Protest on November 9, 2008.
• Seattle Temple (Seattle, Washington). Protest held on November 9, 2008).
• Spokane Temple (Spokane, Washington). Protest held on November 12, 2008.
• Washington Temple (Kensington, Maryland). Protest held on November 15, 2008.

The Church has hired extra security to watch over the Sacramento temple, and has been "asking members to drive by church buildings late at night." In addition, Latter-day Saints who work in law enforcement "are keeping track of Internet chatter to find out where protests will be held."

Meeting houses

Protests have also been held at regular meeting houses:

• Vallejo, California. Protesters attempt to disrupt worship services.

Protests at other Christian places of worship

Protests were not limited to Latter-day Saint places of worship:

• The Saddleback Church (Lake Forest, Orange County) was the target of one protest.
• Mount Hope Church (Lansing, Michigan) A "gay anarchist group" disrupted services at the Mt. Hope Church. According to the Rev. John Elieff, they "disrupted the service by bursting into the sanctuary, throwing fliers, hanging a banner from the balcony and pulling fire alarms."

Vandalism

Vandalism of LDS Chapels by "No on 8" supporters

The indignation of gay Californians and their allies is understandable. All committed couples should have an equal right to marriage, as the state Supreme Court ruled they did earlier this year. And civil protest is healthy. But some extremes we're seeing are just plain wrong. For example, the vandalism of Mormon churches might be interpreted as a hate crime if it were directed at gay and lesbian institutions. Some other tactics are legal but equally counterproductive.

—Editorial: Vandalism, coercion are counterproductive to fight for gay marriage, The Mercury News (Nov. 17, 2008)

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So far, no gay-rights activist has had the brass to burn a Qu’ran on the doorstep of a militant mosque where—forget marriage!—imams advocate the stoning of homosexuals.

—Editorial, Legislating Immorality, National Review Online (Nov. 24, 2008)

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Opponents of Proposition 8 have resorted to vandalism against LDS chapels. A San Francisco Bay Area newspaper expressed the opinion noted above after observing the results of two weeks of protests—they finally associated the term "hate crime" with the attacks on LDS meetinghouses. The following incidents of vandalism have occurred:

• Orangeville, California. Opponents of Prop 8 spray painted 'No on 8' on the meetinghouse.
• Arapahoe County, Colorado. A Book of Mormon was burned on the doorstep of an LDS chapel outside Denver.
• Utah. As of November 14, there had been reports of vandalism at seven Utah meetinghouses, all being investigated by the FBI.
• Farmington, Utah. Opponents of Prop 8 spray painted 'Nobody's born a bigot' on a meetinghouse.
• Sacramento, California. Ten church buildings in the Sacramento area have been vandalized since the election (more than usually occurs in an entire year.
• Olympia, Washington. A group vandalized a LDS chapel, and then boasted of their act on the internet. "Last night, under the veil of fog, we visited the Church of Latter Day Saints. We left their locks glued with anarchist messages scrawled in spray paint over their boring veneer." The vandalism was confirmed by the Olympia Police Dept. The same group is responsible for the invasion of worship services in the Mount Hope Church in Lansing, Michigan on November 9th.
• Ukiah, California A LDS chapel was spray painted with the words ""separate church and state Prop. 8 cult."

Vandalism at other Christian places of worship

• San Francisco, California. The Most Holy Redeemer Catholic Church was spray painted with black swastikas and the words "Ratzinger" and "Niederauer."

Threats

Death threats

• Fresno, CA The Pastor of the Cornerstone Church and Fresno Mayor were sent death threats.

Harassment

• Palm Springs, CA Gay Marriage Proponents Attack Elderly Woman An elderly woman carrying a large cross is harassed by a large man during a Prop. 8 rally.
• Los Angeles, CA Racial epithets were used against Blacks who were driving through Westwood, near UCLA. They were "accosted in their cars and, in addition to being denounced, were warned, 'You better watch your back.'"
• San Francisco, CA A Prop 8 supporter writes a letter to the editor of the San Francisco Chronicle. According to the editorial page editor, "Within hours, the intimidation game was on. Because his real name and city were listed - a condition for publication of letters to The Chronicle - opponents of Prop. 8 used Internet search engines to find the letter writer's small business, his Web site (which included the names of his children and dog), his phone number and his clients. And they posted that information in the "Comments" section of SFGate.com - urging, in ugly language, retribution against the author's business and its identified clients."

Mormons have "forgotten some lessons"?

• San Francisco supervisor Bevan Dufty at protest: "The Mormon church has had to rely on our tolerance in the past, to be able to express their beliefs....This is a huge mistake for them. It looks like they've forgotten some lessons."

Apparently, this supervisor believes that freedom to express one's religious beliefs is something which only exists if he and others choose to grant it. One wonders what "lessons" the Mormons have forgotten—the lessons of state persecution, disenfranchisement, or mob rule? It is unfortunate that elected officials in San Francisco can make such statements without repercussions. If a supervisor said something similar about homosexuals, would his job be safe?

Terrorist tactics

On Thursday, November 13, 2008, envelopes containing white powder were received by the Church at two locations and by a facility of the Knights of Columbus. Both organizations were prominent supporters of the "Yes on 8" campaign.

• Los Angeles and Salt Lake Temples. An envelope containing white powder was sent to the Los Angeles and Salt Lake Temples, forcing their closure while Hazardous Material teams were called in to investigate. The powder turned out to be harmless.
• Windsor Locks, Connecticut. An envelope containing a suspicious white powder was found at the Knights of Columbus printing plant.

No group has claimed responsibility for the actions. The FBI continues to investigate the incidents.

Hacking of Church related web site

• The web site which hosts Meridian Magazine was hacked. Content was replaced with "horrible, explicit lesbian films," according to the site owner.

Threats to revoke the Church's tax-exempt status

The California Fair Political Practices Commission investigation

The organization "Californians Against Hate" made an unusual request of the Enforcement Division of the Fair Political Practices Commission, asking them to investigate the Church's alleged "undeclared" donations to the Prop 8 campaign, which the FPPC agreed to examine. First, they claimed that "[t]he Mormon Church has been highly secretive about its massive involvement in the campaign." Then, they proceeded to accuse the Church of not sufficiently hiding its involvement from the general public:

"Then the Newsroom of the Mormon Church issued a Press Release (attached) about this broadcast making it available to California voters and anyone with internet access. This video was not password protected and was promoted by the Church and available to nonmembers."

"...Certainly this web site was put in place to reach California voters. It is on the internet, and therefore available to all."

"All of these commercials as well as their web site were clearly designed to communicate with the public."

Critics can't have it both ways—either the Church was "highly secretive," or it was offering presentations that were "clearly designed to communicate with the public." The absurdity of this approach speaks for itself.

Blacklists and boycotts

The resulting protest movement has devolved into anti-Mormon bigotry which has been met with silence by liberal civil rights groups. The anti-Mormon fervor has become so nasty, and is growing at such a pace, that it is time to speak out against the "Mormon boycott."

—William A. Jacobson, It's Time to Speak Out Against The 'Mormon Boycott', American Thinker (Dec. 4, 2008)

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Public records containing donor information are being used to create blacklists of individuals and businesses who supported Prop 8.

• AntiGayBlacklist.com
• "Californians Against Hate" also created what they call a "Dishonor Roll," which lists donors, the amount they donated, place of business, addresses and phone numbers. It is notable that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints does not appear on this list, with the largest single donor listed being the Knights of Columbus ($1,425,000).
• Alison Stateman, What Happens If You're on the Gay "Enemies List", Time (Nov. 15, 2008)

Blacklist targets

• A woman working in Silicon Valley whose name was on the blacklist said the someone contacted her employer and tried to have her fired from her job.
• The owner of a Subway franchise who apparently donated $2500 under his company name was indentified on the Prop 8 donor list. The gay blogger who identified the donor "threatened to rally a major boycott of Subway sub-shops if his demands weren’t addressed: repudiating the gift, adding ‘sexual orientation and gender identity’ to the company’s nondiscrimination policy and giving an equal gift to the other side." According to the letter sent to the owner by Subway, "You have represented to us that your bookkeeper inadvertently used one of your business accounts that included the trademark to make the actual contribution." Subway requested that the donation be rescinded, and added the nondiscrimination clause as requested. The third demand of "giving an equal gift to the other side" was dropped.
• The franchise owner of a chicken restaurant who donated $6000 of his own personal funds has his restaurant picketed.
• The owner of a health food and vitamin store became the target of boycotts after it was discovered that he made a $27,500 donation to support Prop 8 through his business.
• Boycott of LA radio station (K-Earth 101) called for when it was found out one of the on-air personalities donated to "Yes on 8."
• Boycott of an ice cream store in Sacramento (Catholic owned).
• "Soft Boycott" of Bolthouse Farms dropped after the company was pressured into giving $100,000 to support gay political causes.
• Protest in front of a LDS bookstore in Dallas, TX.

Missing the target

Sometimes in their zeal to punish, the boycotters miss the target.

• "The Sacramento Theater Company is being confused with the California Musical Theater. That separate company was blacklisted this week by same-sex marriage supporters. They found out one of the directors gave money supporting prop 8. But, the Sacramento Theater Company is now swamped with calls and e-mails from people promising to pull their ticket subscriptions."

Intimidation and forced resignation of donors by identifying their religious affiliation as LDS

Public confrontation and humiliation

• Boycott of El Coyote restaurant (Los Angeles, California). According to an editorial in The Mercury News, "One ugly case was the boisterous protest by dozens of gay marriage supporters outside a small Los Angeles restaurant where the owner's daughter had contributed $100 to Proposition 8. The loss of customers threatened the livelihoods of employees, some of whom were gay and opposed the initiative." Ex-Mormon suggests that boycott can be averted by equal donation to campaign to overturn Prop 8. The manager eventually resigned.

Intimidation to resign

• Scott Eckern, Artistic Director for California Musical Theatre for seven years, resigned after the theatre was threatened by some in the entertainment industry. Eckern gave an apology and donated an equal amount to the effort to overturn Prop 8. (Background info: Scott Eckern, “Seek the Truth. Tell the Truth”, Speech, 2007 College Honored Alumni Lecture Series, College of Fine Arts and Communications, Brigham Young University, 20 September 2007)

• Richard Raddon, LA Film Festival director, resigns after "anti-Raddon bile continued to bubble in the blogosphere" and "No on 8" supporters "berated Raddon personally via phone calls and e-mails."

• Calls for resignation of Mark Paredes, national director of Latino outreach for the American Jewish Congress (Paredes is LDS). It was "demanded that Paredes retract his financial contribution to the Yes on 8 campaign, donate money to the anti-Proposition 8 campaign or resign his position at the Jewish communal organization."

Intimidation of gays and lesbians

The backlash from Prop 8 has not only affected those who supported the measure:

Intimidation to resign

• A lesbian mother was forced to resign her position as President of the PTA at a Catholic school in Fresno, California after she publicly voiced her opposition to Prop. 8.

Absence of support from political leaders

Through November 15, 2008, there were no expressions of support from political leaders, no requests for civility, and no denouncing of the post-election activities of "No on 8" proponents. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, however, did encourage those attempting to overturn the proposition to "never ever give up...They should never give up. They should be on it and on it until they get it done." A petition was initiated requesting that Governor Schwarzenegger "respect the voter's will."

By November 19th, California Assembly Speaker Karen Bass said that she "appalled" at the "hostility that has been directed at African-Americans since the passage of Proposition 8." Ironically, Ms. Bass made no mention at all of the Latter-day Saints being the main target of the protests.

Positive effects

Expressions of support from other Christians

• Catholics Appalled at Anti-Mormon Slur (YouTube Video)
• Catholic Bishops Decry Religious Bigotry Against Mormons, LDS Newsroom, Nov. 11, 2008.
• Prop 8 Supporters speak out about the vote, KABC - Los Angeles, (Nov. 11, 2008)

Condemnation of criminal activity by those who opposed Proposition 8

• The Anti-Defamation League made the following statement:

Although we strongly opposed Proposition 8, its passage does not justify the defacement and destruction of property. We urge Californians to channel their frustration and disappointment in productive and responsible ways to work towards full equality for all Americans. To place anyone in fear of threat to their houses of worship or their personal security because they have expressed deeply held religious views is contrary to everything this nation represents. Our Constitution's First Amendment protects freedom of speech, freedom of assembly and freedom of religion for all of us.

Petitions to thank Latter-day Saints for their support on Prop 8

Dear President Monson:

We write firstly to express our deep gratitude to you and the entire LDS community for the large and impressive contributions of your church and its members in protecting marriage in California and Arizona.

Anyone who participated in this process has come to admire the competence, diligence and moral courage that so many members of your faith community displayed as part of this coalition effort—as Catholics, Evangelicals, Mormons, and people of other faith communities all came together to fight this great battle for marriage.

But we write for an even more important purpose: to express our outrage at the vile and indecent attacks directed specifically and uniquely at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its members because of your courage in standing up for marriage...

—Above the Hate, Letter Against Hate to President Monson (Nov. 15, 2008)

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Above the Hate

An organization called "Above the Hate" has posted a Letter Against Hate to President Monson, and invited the public to add their signatures. Signatures include those of the leaders of a number of Christian organizations.

American Family Association

The American Family Association issued an "AFA Action Alert" asking people to "Thank the LDS church for its support of Proposition 8." The petition states:

We express our appreciation to the Mormons for their support of Prop 8 in California. We find it detestable that homosexual activists will not accept the passage of Prop 8 in a democratic vote. We also find it detestable that gays would organize a hate campaign toward people of faith who vote their convictions. For a group which is always promoting “tolerance,” we find this attack a gross offense.

Notes

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