When I set out to make this blog a couple of days ago I promised myself that while I would talk about my new spirituality I would only talk about my past, specifically Mormonism, when necessary as a reference point.
That resolve lasted until today when I saw this in my news reader:
http://digg.com/world_news/Mormons_Tipped_Scale_in_Ban_on_Gay_Marriage
Go ahead, I'll wait for you, it's only 2 pages.
No? OK, here is the short version. Proposition 8 in California was meant to overturn the California Supreme court ruling earlier this year that said that same sex marriages were legal. From Wikipedia:
Proposition 8 was a California State ballot proposition that amended the state Constitution to restrict the definition of marriage to a union between a man and a woman. It overrode a recent California Supreme Court decision that had recognized same-sex marriage in California as a fundamental right. The official ballot title language for Proposition 8 is "Eliminates Right of Same-Sex Couples to Marry." The entirety of the text to be added to the constitution was: "Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California."
Also from Wikipedia and related to that article:
"The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) publicly supported the proposition and encouraged their membership to donate money and volunteer time. The First Presidency of the church announced its support for Proposition 8 in a letter read in every congregation. Latter-day Saints provided a significant source for financial donations in support of the proposition, both inside and outside the State of California. About 45% of out-of-state contributions to ProtectMarriage.com came from Utah, over three times more than any other state.[56]"
I can't tell you how furious this article made me. Usually my attitude towards this sort of thing is "Meh, what can you do? Ignorant people do ignorant things". That IS my attitude towards the Catholics and other groups who voted this mistake into being. The Mormons though are different.
If anyone reading this doesn't know, I was a Mormon myself for almost 28 years. I served as a missionary for them in Uruguay for a little more than 2 years. My grandparents, my parents, all my aunts and uncles and brothers and sisters are practicing Mormons. I think I can speak with some authority about the Mormon mindset.
The world at large probably doesn't understand the rank hypocrisy involved in the Mormons persecuting gays like this, but I do. In 1838 Missouri Governor Lilliburn Boggs issued the "Mormon Extermination Order" which said in part:
"...the Mormons must be treated as enemies, and must be exterminated or driven from the State if necessary for the public peace—their outrages are beyond all description."
Growing up in the Mormon church the stories of this persecution by the government are pervasive. There isn't any bitterness towards the government of the united states, but there is a clear feeling of "we were wronged, but turned the other cheek". A sort of smug superiority.
Later the Mormons were persecuted even after they had fled to the Salt Lake Valley. Abraham Lincoln himself signed into law a bill making Polygamy illegal - causing no end to trouble for the church, a small but influential portion whereof, practiced the act. Don't let your Mormon friends fool you either. It wasn't just to care for the widows of men lost along the way to Salt Lake. Brigham Young had 57 children by 16 of his wives, that doesn't happen just by taking care of someone people. There was a whole lot of boinking involved.
But wait you say, You mean to tell me that the Mormons were persecuted for "abnormal" social/sexual behavior (polygamy) and for "the common good" of the nation and yet see no problem in doing the EXAXCT SAME DAMN THING to gays or any other group who doesn't fit their idea of normal?
Yup. Exactly.
The article says that they were very careful not to let this be about them being "anti-gay" but but rather "pro family". That kind of sophistry doesn't fool Crows or Mormons. From the article above:
"To counter that, advertisements for the “Yes” campaign also used hypothetical consequences of same-sex marriage, painting the specter of churches’ losing tax exempt status or people “sued for personal beliefs” or objections to same-sex marriage, claims that were made with little explanation."
They were made with little explanation because they were weak straw men and the Mormons knew it. They know very well, just as you or I do that two gay men or women marrying won't suddenly destroy their families. They know that Gay men and women won't suddenly say "oh, I can't get married to another man/woman? I guess I'll just start a traditional family instead, silly me!"
So why DID they do it? Make no mistake. This is about them keeping someone else from being happy because they can and because they think they know what is best for every man, woman and child on the face of the earth and they will go to any length they think they can get away with to FORCE you to live the way they want you to. Mormons are scary because they believe they have a direct line to a Sky God who tells them exactly what is right and wrong, not just for them but for everyone. Other Christians believe this, but the Mormons believe it mind, heart and soul and they act on it. As shown in this case, they put their money where their mouth is.
So congratulations Mormons! You've elected yourselves the new Govenor Lilliburn Boggs! May your actions live on in the same kind of infamy his did.
And congratulations also, I didn't think it was possible for me to feel more ashamed of who I used to be but damned if you didn't find a way.
Tune in next time folks for some happier days. The 6 things meme is next, I promise.
~Meme
Monday, November 17, 2008
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7 comments:
I'm not entirely sure how to respond to this, not having been mormon. :) The bigotry against gay people by religious people seems so prevalent. And strange. Why do they care?
I found a quote that I think you might find interesting -
"But almost always, during the initial stage of the struggle, the oppressed, instead of striving for liberation, tend themselves to become oppressors, or sub oppressors. The very structure of their thought has been conditioned by the contradiction of the concrete, existential situation by which they were shaped. Their ideal is to be men; but for them to be men is to be oppressors. -- Paulo Freire"
While it's not entirely correlative, it seems to agree with your idea that they're feeling their oats, finding someone else to put down the way they were.
To play devil's advocate, I think that they-themselves voting to ban gay unions is appropriate, because as far as I understand, it's a deeply held belief; one that I personally am bewildered by, but hey. What I think was inappropriate was trying to force their viewpoint on others.
As far as the whole gay thing? It happens in nature, and generally speaking, the more social the species, the more incidence of homosexuality there is. Besides, on the meta level, who cares what you do in your bedroom, as long as it's not hurting someone else? Stack the wives up like cordwood, add a chicken costume, pick someone of the same sex, whatever floats your boat - just please don't invite me. :)
Ah... Hey, just a thought - is it possible that gay is so violently 'wrong' for the mormons because they're trying to empty the well of souls so aggressively? So any non-breeding couple is a liability? If that question is offensive, please forgive me - it is not intended and created out of ignorance.
Article: Animal Homosexuality Exhibit in Norway
Well, the Mormons don't believe in The Well of Souls. The whole cosmology there gets really weird so I won't go into it here. Sufficeth to say that there is no end to new "souls", although they believe that at some point this earth will have fulfilled it's purpose and new souls will probably be born/made/created elsewhere.
I do think they should be able to express their opinion, no matter how much I disagree with it. Heck, if I had my wish Rush Limbagh(sp) and Sean Hannity would disappear forever from the airwaves. I'd still be against any bill that kept them from expressing themselves though, no matter how ugly that expression might be. See, I can just turn the channel and not listen.
Hmmm, maybe people who are against gay marriage could just NOT BE GAY? Nah, only way to save those poor souls from the siren call of other men's/Women's hot bodies is clearly to ban the whole thing for everyone.
In this case voting for the ban WAS them forcing their beliefs on others. The Church already has a ban on gay marriage internally. This was specifically to keep other people from living the way they wanted to live.
Meme, do you follow Kullervo's blog "Sailing to Byzantium"? He's another ex-mo who blogs about spirituality - he's in my blogroll (I think - it's been ages since I updated that thing) if you're interested. Thought of him because he just wrote about Prop 8, too.
My opinion is mostly "yeah, what you said," except that I think the government has no business marrying people at all. Marriage is a religious ceremony, and I can see how some groups get hung up on the word, even while I disagree with them. Abolish civil marriage, make all such partnerships into "civil unions" that permit anyone to contract with anyone else capable of consent in whatever combination or permutation wished. Leave "marriage" to whatever spiritual path you follow. That way, the Mormons can define "marriage" in their way and the Unitarians (or whoever) can define it another way, and everyone gets what they want while church and state remain safely seperated.
I'm probably kind of a radical, though.
also: yay! Meme has a blog!
I agree with you 100% Nettle. Unions for legal reasons between any 2 people, marriage to be defined however the hell you want.
Actually, there are some countries that do this already (kinda). Uruguay for example has a very strong separation of church and state. All church marriages are not recognized by the state, you must be married by a judge for your marriage to be recognized legally. It's simple and it works, people get married by a judge, then have whatever church service they please (or none at all).
No, I hadn't checked out the blog you listed... I generally avoid most ex-mormon blogs and sites. So many of them are filled with so much bitterness that I just don't want any part of it. That may sound funny after what I wrote, but the truth is that I dislike lots of what the Mormons do, but think that in general they are good people, if somewhat deluded. So many ex-mormons seem unable to free themselves from it. They seem driven not just to distance themselves, but to destroy as much of the church as they can reach. I just don't feel that way.
I'm especially bothered when they decide to flaunt and mock things that are sacred to Mormonism, especially the temple ceremonies etc. I would not want someone to mockingly describe or videotape a Druid or Wicca gathering and disseminate it on the internet, and the same respect applies to Mormons or any other group. I don't have a problem with calm discussion but open mockery just doesn't sit well.
Having said all that, I'm sure that anyone you follow wouldn't be a source of that kind of negativity. I'll check it out, I'd be interested to see how another ex-mormon rediscovers his own spirituality.
Oh, and I love Yeats, so it can't be half bad.
Nettle: out of my brain! I am drafting a Marriage-vs-civil unions blog post!
Otherwise, I'll just comment to agree with Meme. It's strangely hypocritical, but almost seems part of human nature for groups to act this way. One thing my dad said when he was briefly deployed in Europe was that the perception of laws were strikingly different there. Here, everything is codified and over-litigious. There, it felt more like the only interaction with the legal sytem was "don't hurt people, don't steal stuff, and drive on this side of the road". He said it felt MUCH more open and allowed the 'sheeple' to act for themselves. We could take a lesson from that, and not waste tax dollars on the courts fighting this battle every few years it seems.
Oh, a little side note that makes all of this even crazier. Mormons believe that some day the law of Polygamy will be restored in the church.
Ask a modern Mormon female about it. They acknowledge it but HATE it.
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