Prop 8 in California and the LDS Church.

I don't know how many of you are following the current events that are surrounding the LDS Church and Prop 8.  Prop 8 in California was the marriage amendment. The amendment passed and I think that it should have passed, as it did.  Some may say why does it matter what happens in CA?  I'll tell you.  California is somewhat of a proving ground for the rest of the country.  I grew up in California and I am living in Arizona and I am LDS.  I understand the longing and the desire that people feel when one finds some one that they love so much that they want to be married.  I am married and have been for the last 7 years.  The institution  of marriage of God and should not be some given away because the government says that it should be. 

 Marriage is not a civil rights issue, it is a moral issue.  If the issue is about health care or tax breaks then fine, here is an idea. Why not give those privileges to those that can prove that that a couple has been together for some period of time then they can have some of the same privileges that a Married Couple have.  If this happening then it needs to be extended to everyone.  This would include Heterosexual community and not just the Homosexual community. There are strait couples that don't want to get married but they want have those same privileges as married couples.  I the government wants to recognize couples that have been together for a year or two years or however they want to do that then they should.  However it needs to be for all people.  

My issue is with the small minority of the Gay community that are singling out one group that supported Prop 8 in California.  There are many that supported the Proposition.  There have been protested at LDS temples and I am not against the protest but why is this group just singling out the LDS people although there has been instances with other relgious meeting places.  Check out this video that I found about how bad the protests got at the Los Angeles Temple. 

I don't see how this is protesting peacefully.  I understand that they are angry however putting signs on private property without permission is illegal is it not?  

Here are other things that have happened to LDS and other churches.  Check this article out. 

Churches Vandalized Over Prop 8

CBNNews.com

November 12, 2008

CBNNews.com - Several churches have been vandalized by apparent supporters of same-sex marriage since the idea was banned in California last week, local police have reported.

Proposition 8, which defines marriage as the union between one man and one woman, was passed 52 to 47 percent on Nov. 4. Since then, local authorities have reported a protest or vandalized property nearly every day.

"It is evident that the election results for the constitutional marriage amendment will not mean an end to the debate over same-sex marriage in this state, or our country," Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints spokeswoman Lisa West said.

Click play for an analysis of media coverage on Prop 8 with Robert Knight of the Culture & Media Institute.

ON CBN.COM: How Should Christians Respond to Homosexuals RELATED STORIES: CA Gov. to Prop 8 Opponents: Don't Give Up Gay Marriage Supporters March in Calif. Gay Marriage Supporters Protest Prop 8 How Moral Issues Fared  in the Election

Last Friday in Orangevale, Calif., a Latter-day Saints chapel sign and several walkways were tagged with the phrases "No on 8" and "hypocrites."

Saturday morning, two churches in San Luis Obispo, Calif. were also hit. Someone had poured adhesive on a doormat, key pad, and window at a Mormon church, while eggs and toilet paper were thrown at a nearby Assembly of God church.

Mormons, Evangelical Christian churches, and other religious groups were strong supporters of Proposition 8 and provided much of the funding for the measure.

Monday in Utah, home to the Mormon church, the windows of five Latter-day Saints wardhouses were shot out with a BB gun. Police, however, did not openly link the damages to Prop 8 supporters.

"A lot of opinion has generated that this is in connection with Prop 8," Layton Utah Police Lt. Quinn Moyes said. "We aren't making that connection yet."

Several protests have also been reported in California; most of them peaceful.

About 1,000 gay rights supporters protested outside Rick Warren's Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Sunday. Warren publicly endorsed Prop 8 weeks before the Nov. 4 election.

Monday, at least 400 gathered outside a Mormon church in Oakland. Police had to close two highway ramps because of the protest.

Marriage ballots were also passed in Arizona and Florida, but demonstrations have been on a smaller scale in the states.

Sources: San Francisco Chronicle, KCRA Sacramento, Associated Press

Here is the link to this article. http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/479857.aspx?option=print

Here is another one.

DELTA TWP. - A radical gay rights group is claiming responsibility for a protest Sunday at Mount Hope Church in Delta Township.

Protesters who entered the Creyts Road church along with worshippers surprised the congregation when they stood up during the service, threw fliers at churchgoers and shouted slogans such as "It's OK to be gay," and "Jesus was a homo," according to David Williams, communications director at the church. His father, Dave Williams, is the church's longtime pastor. He was not preaching at the church Sunday.

Another group of protesters demonstrated outside the church at the same time as the indoor protest.

The Eaton County Sheriff's Department responded to the scene Sunday but no arrests were made.

In a released statement, David Williams said churchgoers were unclear as to the purpose of the demonstration.

A Lansing group affiliated with a radical gay organization known as Bash Back, formed to protest the Republican and Democratic national conventions earlier this year, put out a call on the Internet on Oct. 7 for activists to come to a "radical queer convergence" in Lansing on Nov. 7-9.

A posting on its MySpace page declared the convergence a "fierce success."

Fire Alarm Pulled

According to a report on the Bash Back group's news site, protesters inside the church pulled a fire alarm, unfurled a banner from the church balcony, shouted and threw fliers to the worshippers.

Outside the church, protesters carried picket signs and an upside-down, pink cross.

The conservative RightMichigan Web site posted an account of the incident Monday, and a number of conservative bloggers had picked up on the item by Tuesday.

Williams said the church had received 80 to 85 e-mails and phone calls by Tuesday, "from churches and individuals around the country to express their concern and general disgust for what happened on Sunday."

Nick De Leeuw of RightMichigan said he got his account of the incident from a church member who was there.

However, he said, the photo along with his report - of protesters dressed in black with their faces covered by pink, Middle-Eastern style headcoverings - was not from the protest at the church but from an earlier Bash Back protest elsewhere.

No Arrests Made

Mount Hope Church, affiliated with the Assemblies of God denomination, teaches followers that homosexuality is a sin.

However, "Mount Hope Church strives to follow Jesus' example of loving the sinner but not the sin," Williams said.

The Eaton County Sheriff's Department got a call regarding the protest at about noon Sunday, said Lt. Jeff Warder.

Warder said protesters outside the church left peacefully when someone from the team of pastors came outside and told them they were not welcome on church property.

Warder said deputies did not handle the protest inside the building.

No arrests were made.

In New York City on Tuesday, the conservative Catholic League said it would ask Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox to investigate the protest.

Typically, the sheriff's investigation would be turned over to the county prosecutor if the sheriff felt charges were warranted, said Matt Frendewey, spokesman for the attorney general's office. He said it would be rare for the attorney general's office to get involved in such a case.

Here is the link to this article. http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/article/20081112/NEWS01/811120369

It doesn't seem that these groups have very much tolerance for religious people.  A letter for the Catholic Church 

Former Catholic Bishop of Salt Lake City Decries Religious Bigotry in Political Ad; Defends LDS Role in California Ballot Initiative Protecting Traditional Marriage

Last update: 9:26 p.m. EST Nov. 7, 2008

SACRAMENTO, Calif., Nov 07, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- The following statement was released today by Bishop William Weigand, head of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sacramento and former Bishop of Salt Lake City, in response to attacks on the Mormon Church for supporting California's Proposition 8, defending the traditional definition of marriage:

"Catholics stand in solidarity with our Mormon brothers and sisters in support of traditional marriage--the union of one man and one woman--that has been the major building block of Western Civilization for millennia.

"The ProtectMarriage coalition, which led the successful campaign to pass Proposition 8, was an historic alliance of people from every faith and ethnicity. LDS were included--but so were Catholics and Jews, Evangelicals and Orthodox, African-Americans and Latinos, Asians and Anglos.

"Bigoted attacks on Mormons for the part they played in our coalition are shameful and ignore the reality that Mormon voters were only a small part of the groundswell that supported Proposition 8.

"As the former bishop of the Diocese of Salt Lake City, I can attest to the fact that followers of the Mormon faith are a good and generous people with a long history of commitment to family and giving to community causes.

"I personally decry the bigotry recently exhibited towards the members of the Church of the Latter Day Saints--coming from the opponents of Proposition 8, who ironically, have called those of us supporting traditional marriage intolerant.

"I call upon the supporters of same-sex marriage to live by their own words--and to refrain from discrimination against religion and to exercise tolerance for those who differ from them. I call upon them to accept the will of the people of California in the passage of Proposition 8."

SOURCE: Roman Catholic Diocese of Sacramento

Roman Catholic Diocese of Sacramento  Kevin Eckery, 916-443-2528  keckery@eckery.com  

Copyright Business Wire 2008 

Here is the link to this article.http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/Former-Catholic-Bishop-Salt-Lake/story.aspx?guid=%7BBE149180-C54A-41B7-B3DC-14EAC89B5D6E%7D

All this is very interesting.