Mormons get deserved contempt for homophobia revealed in documentary ’8: Mormon Propo$ition’
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints gets well-deserved scrutiny and disdain in the documentary “8: The Mormon Propo$ition,” which opened in limited theaters Friday. We saw it at Harkins’ Camelview in Scottsdale. It chronicles the painstaking effort of the Mormon Church to overturn same-sex marriage in California when Proposition 8 was put on the November 2008 ballot.
The activism and money by Mormons turned the tide and got the measure approved 52 to 48 percent. While only 2 percent of California’s population is LDS, it appears that 71 percent of the financial support ($40 million) came from the Mormon Church, a veritable river of money from the Mormon stronghold of Utah. The film takes advantages of records to show how carefully the church worked to establish a coalition with Catholics, evangelical Christians and clergy to bring an unabrupt end to same-sex marriage in the largest state by population. Some documents included the words of Mormon leaders who repeatedly said they wanted to give every appearance that the church was not involved and sought to work it so blame never came back to them.
But investigators found an insidious practice of Mormon authorities down to the ward level using their “obedience” hammer and members’ income records to exact heady donations from them to use for the battle to “preserve traditional marriage.” Much of the film features the rhetoric of church authorities and Mormon politicians condemning homosexuals and their argument that being gay is chosen and the result of troubled personality and identity. Many gay Mormons told their stories of being cast out by their families who chose church doctrine and teachings over their children. Included in the film were Carol Lynn Pearson of Walnut Creek, Calif., whom I have interviewed several times about her story of staying in a marriage with her gay husband as Mormons until he died of AIDS. Another of my past interviewees in the film was Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, who was astonished at the audacity for the Mormon Church to shamelessly carry out political action and advocacy while trying to preserve its tax-exempt status. Far, far lesser acts by churches in the political arena have been punished by the IRS.
Of course, like most faiths, the Mormons hide behind the notion that what they are doing is only what God wants done.
There are detailed accounts of Mormons tortured by their sexual identity and family shunning to the point of committing suicide and attempted suicides. One male couple from California, throughout the film, asked repeatedly why their love for one another and the happiness that had brought wasn’t what all Mormon parents would also want. The film revealed the homophobia in the Mormon Church but did not touch on the same homophobia that permeates the African-American community whose members also contributed in high vote counts to the passage of the nasty proposition in a state where conservative tripe normally has less chance for adoption.
It is hard to see how the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will ever have the public acceptance and respectability it covets as it remains hellbent on denying the humanity of gays and lesbians and their right to be equal in every way in the human family. It has been repeated so many times that it seems weird that a religion so persecuted for its theology and practices would persecute gay people. Certainly much of it lies in the groupthink/peer pressure world of very old men who took so many years to get to the high places of authority in the Mormon Church. Now, they are not about to change hateful, perverse practices and policies embraced by their forbears. There’s just no way light and enlightenment can reach them.
Those who hold up religions for ridicule because of the terrible and unthinkable things they do to others surely have easy-going with stalwart Mormons who don’t get it right with marginalizing women and rejecting their gay brethren.
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So said the homosexual_child_molesting_perverts at Sodom & Gomorrah 2000 years ago b4 God’s Archangels Gabriel & Michael destroyed them…hehehe…”Praise the Lawd” & bless the Mormon “Polygamists”…LOL.
Not sure why Mr. Griffiths propagates misinformation here. While members of the LDS faith certainly contributed to the passage of Prop 8, the church contributed very little. What was contributed were “in kind” contributions that were a tiny fraction of what was contributed. Focus on the Family, the Catholic Church and other Christian organizations contributed substantially more. This article is nothing more than a regurgitation of the GLBT line with no obvious investigation on the part of the author. A poor attempt at journalism.
William Richardson
Mesa, AZ
There is plenty of evidence to show that Mormons turned over millions of dollars handily to get the proposition passed. A web site Californians Against Hate reports this from the Human Rights Campaigns regard about the church being fine:
While the recommended fine of just more than $5,500 for the unreported late contributions of $36,968 to the Yes on 8 campaign may seem inconsequential, it represents a pattern of blatant disregard for California election laws and provides ongoing evidence that the Mormon Church was a significant leader in the campaign to repeal marriage equality, even while it evaded standard reporting requirements and denied its involvement.”
Tribune Editorial Board, where was the journalism accuracy for this article?
Lawn Griffiths again shows his bias for the sectarian, non-biblical and immoral. Here are the facts that Lawn Griffiths could have used for his myth filled article instead of an anti-Mormon movie made for the purpose to make money for its producers.
Myth Lawn Griffiths perpetuated…
71 percent of the financial support ($40 million) came from the Mormon Church,
Fact…
The value of the Church’s in-kind (non-monetary) contribution is less than one half of one percent of the total funds (approximately $40 million) raised for the “Yes on 8” campaign. The Church did not make any cash contribution.
On Friday, 30 January, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints filed a final report of its contributions (all of which were non-monetary) to the ProtectMarriage.com coalition. The report, submitted in advance of the 31 January deadline, details in-kind donations totaling $189,903.58. The term “in-kind” represents donations that are made to the Church in some form other than cash.
No, he did not mention According to a 2007 report from the Presiding Bishopric of the Church, external humanitarian efforts exceeded $1 billion in cash and material contributions from 1985 until 2007. This does not include contributions of many millions more as part of the Church Welfare program.
Myth Lawn Griffiths perpetuated…
insidious practice of Mormon authorities down to the ward level using their “obedience” hammer and members’ income records to exact heady donations from them to use for the battle to “preserve traditional marriage.”
Fact…
He didn’t mention that…
The American Family Association issued an “AFA Action Alert” asking people to “Thank the LDS church for its support of Proposition 8.”
Catholic Bishops Decry Religious Bigotry Against Mormons
Catholics accounted for 30 percent of all voters.
The vast majority of white evangelical Protestants supported the ballot measure (88% to 12%).
The measure also garnered significant support among Catholics, with Hispanic Catholics supporting Proposition 8 at slightly higher levels than white Catholics (62% to57% respectively).
White mainline Protestants were split evenly over the measure (50% to 50%).
In the NEP exit poll for California, 70% of African Americans supported Proposition 8,
Myth Lawn Griffiths perpetuated…
the Mormon Church to shamelessly carry out political action and advocacy while trying to preserve its tax-exempt status
Fact…
From the Internal Revenue Service:
Under the Internal Revenue Code, all section 501(c)(3) organizations are absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office…Political campaign intervention includes any and all activities that favor or oppose one or more candidates for public office.
The church did not participate in or intervene in any of the political campaigns for any of the candidates running in the 2008 election. The IRS does, however, permit a Church to take positions on issues:
Under federal tax law, section 501(c)(3) organizations may take positions on public policy issues, including issues that divide candidates in an election for public office.
According to Barry Lynn, executive director of “Americans United for the Separation of Church and State” (and who, for the record, was “outraged by the Prop. 8 victory”):
“They almost certainly have not violated their tax exemption…While the tax code has a zero tolerance for endorsements of candidates, the tax code gives wide latitude for churches to engage in discussions of policy matters and moral questions, including when posed as initiatives.”
Need I go on with other myths that Lawn Griffiths states in his article?
It is hard to see how Lawn Griffiths will ever have the public acceptance and respectability he covets as he remains determined on denying God, Family and Marriage. Where was the Tribune Editor who should have checked the facts?
There’s just no way that people who are on a quest to call facts myths, can be reached.
Mr. William Richardson-
Don’t it say somewhere in your chosen version of the bible,
Thou shall not judge ? You have said yourself,Free choice is a
God given right. When Lawn questions a group of people, that
have admitted to having a God that don’t allow all people into
His realm, unless they join their church, Why judge ? You have
already said, you don’t have the same God.
You made the statement that Lawn is ” determined on denying
God, Family and Marriage.”
What God ? You have tried Lawn in the wrong court. You see,
Lawn’s God will let any one into Heaven that follows His Son.
That is his God given freedom, even you have to admit that.
So before you start throwing around personal judgements, you
better get the OK from your church bosses. My God don’t like that.
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