I know that this is an excruciatingly difficult topic for so many people.

Actually, Monica, this is not a difficult topic at all. It is really amazingly simple – everyone gets the same rights as everyone else.

It only gets difficult when one tries to justify to oneself the idea of keeping governmental rights and priveleges for oneself while denying them to others. Then, yes, it can get excruciatingly difficult.

If I may, the source vandalism is purely speculative right now. I could point out examples of vandalism on LDS property which occur during a normal course of everyday life. A great deal of it has been pranksters. I tend to believe the bb-gun vandalizing could be categorized as juvenile pranks. You might make the members of the FLDS sect suspects too. They were in the news protesting the seizure of their sacred land during this time.

Who knows?

The burning of the Book of Mormon sounds like it could be any number of people, including disgruntled ex-Mormons or radical Evangelicals in that area or some sort of ritual when we had that harvest moon.

Again, who knows?

I’ll agree, the pronouncements by the LDS leadership to use restraint were not anti-gay per se. And in the same manner, the pronouncements of Equality Utah are not being anti-Mormon. Both sides are making statements deploring the acts of vandals. That’s the point: We both can have disagreements and both sides of this issue can and should demonstrate their beliefs in a civil manner.

But I, for one, am tired of feeling fear that someone would paint the “F” word on my house. And least we forget, the one murderer of Matt Shepard was Mormon. Can I make a sweeping generalization? Maybe. So, please, we can’t generalize about the acts of a few delinquents as proof the whole is at fault.

I want to address the comments made here about the way the Mormon church has responded to the post-Prop 8 protests, etc. I don’t understand how a call from Mormon leaders for restraint and respect as people protest is in any way “anti-gay propoganda.” It is simply a request that things not get out of hand on either side. The church has given similar instructions to its own members, urging them to be respectful and courteous toward sthose opposing Prop 8.

And for anyone who wants to think that Mormon leaders are blowing things out of proportion, I can tell you from personal experience they are not. I live in Utah, and 7 or 8 Mormon churches in the area where I live had their windows smashed or shot out in the week after Prop 8 passed. I’m not saying that I know this was a result of Prop 8, but there were no church windows getting smashed before it passed, and now there are.

On the other hand if they issue a stay and then uphold Prop 8, any couples who are married between the election and the ruling end up in a particularly ambiguous legal state. This could lead to further litigation and much more upheaval and distress for the couples involved than if they are simply made to wait for a final ruling.

But..If they do issue a stay, it will be controversial. You know how overreactive some people are.

The California Supreme Court has not yet accepted for review any of the various (and multiplying) lawsuits that have been filed against Prop 8. At most CASC might issue a stay this week or next which would suspend the implementation of Prop 8 until it can rule on the cases, but it’s not at all clear that it will. There are good reasons for them not to issue a stay and the decision about the stay shouldn’t be read as an indicator of which way the court will rule on the cases themselves.

The high court hasn’t heard (or scheduled) any arguments on the challenges yet, and it won’t issue its opinion for some time after that. I think it’s safe to assume the court is going to take great care in this ruling, even while making every effort to be expeditious. If Prop 8 is overturned there will be some heated reactions, but we have some time to prepare for it. The demonstrations and debates of the past few weeks have been really inspiring and I think we’re going to be in a better position in terms of public opinion that we were after the court’s previous ruling last May.

Right now I’m afraid to watch the video clip. I’m afraid it will destroy any and all vestiges of hope I had for the LDS Church…more specifically how I will react to some of my liberal-minded Mormons and more importantly: my immediate family. Maybe with some time, I will watch it.

You express a real fear I share: That the California Supreme Court will make an opinion about the Proposition 8 this week and it will flare up the controversy. (Much like the fires in Santa Barbara.)

I need to be prepared. I need to calmly defend/debate the issue with my co-workers and family. I need to show tangible proof civil marriages are second-class marriages in the eyes of our legal system. I know I can debate “separate but equal” is a fallacy. I want to know when we fight for civil marriages will our legal rights be tantamount to a marriage performed in a Mormon Temple.

You’ll appreciate this sign that was in some rally:

Leave your Doctrines out of my Covenants!

This whole situation is extremely sad. I know that we have tremendous hope and support on our side though. We have a great President elect who is our ally and the greatest presidential ally we have ever had. He calls us by our name and calls us to take our place in the fabric of the United States of America. We have some great breathing room because of our great president Barack Obama!

http://blackblogwatch.com/v1/index.cfm?method=blog_aggregate_read&entry_id=30326&lr_token=83651890&search_criteria=Presidency

This broadcast sealed the deal with me that I now realize how passive/aggressive and in denial the LDS leadership is on these issues and how willing they are to deceive and tell blatant lies in order to get their point across. I thought the Church had grown out of the old habit of “lying for the Lord”. Old habits die hard.

When I say “blatant lies” I am talking specifically about some statements made in this broadcast including the one that “people in private institutions with beliefs that oppose same sex marriage will be…subjected to legal penalties.” That’s a blatant lie. The constitutions protects religious institutions who refuse to marry certain people. Orthodox Jewish Rabbis are not forced to marry non-Jews with another Jewish person. Also Catholic priests are not forced to marry a couple who have been previously divorced as the Church vigorously opposes marrying couples wherein one partner or both were previously divorced. The LDS leadership used the lie (and others) about the Church being subjected to legal penalties in order to promote fear so that people who have mixed feelings about the issue or who are religious will vote yes on prop 8. The people of California should be livid about any religious institution meddling in their political affairs by promoting lies in order to influence the electorate. Had the Church used ethical means in order to get their point across there would not be an issue here but they did not.

I think that this video clip Excerpts from Proposition 8 Broadcast for California Latter-day Saints should be shown before the California Supreme Court as one of the exhibits that show just how the LDS Church influenced its California membership to go out and promote the Yes Vote on Prop 8. I’m very serious about this. I hope that someone will submit this to the High Court of California. Heaven knows that Gay LDS people have been subjected to decades of horrible church courts having our very beings placed into question. Some of us have not been able to handle it and have chosen to take our lives. I am praying that the spirit of Stuart Matiss and other gay Mormons who have taken their own lives over this insanity will help us in our quest for justice.

This video (to me) is like learning that your dad and other family members were involved in a huge conspiracy behind your back in order to do serious emotional harm to you. It just sickens and angers me to no end.