Context is important. Cross burning by the Klan was often associated with lynching or other acts of extreme violence. There is no such context associated with this isolated incident involving the burning of a Mormon book.

FYI: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross_burning

From the above link, you should take note that Cross burning is apparently protected under the First Amendment of your Constitution:

“In Virginia v. Black (2003), the United States Supreme Court ruled that burning a cross at a Klan rally is protected by the First Amendment, but also held that a statute could constitutionally proscribe cross burning carried out with the intent to intimidate the target of the speech.”

UCC churches across the country, including my own in Tampa, have REPEATEDLY been the target of vandalism (even arson) hateful grafiti and threatening letters, emails and phone messages. MCC and UU churches have endured the same including the gay supportive UU church in Tennessee where an anti-gay gunman broke into a Sunday service and shot worshipers dead.

I haven’t seen Hasson or any of the people in the NY Times ad who have PLEDGED to “commit ourselves to opposing and publicly shaming anyone who resorts to the rhetoric of anti-religious bigotry, against any faith, on any side of the cause, for any reason” make comments, do press releases or take out full page ads to condemn these cowardly acts against PROGRESSIVE churches. It’s pretty clear that their statement is, as is so often the case, a lie.

I’ll be contacting them to see if they are REALLY going to stand by their pledge.

Somehow I sincerely doubt it.

This is not a hate crime. There is no evidence of intimidation against any particular person. No Church property was attacked or stolen. No-one has been stopped from expressing their faith or worshipping. In desecrating his / her copy of the book, (s)he is perfectly within his rights, since the 1st Amendment is designed to protect the right to express criticism of religion.

Another thing: the perpetrator of this act went no further than the front door. Meanwhile the Church sees fit to interfere and ruin the most precious, intimate affairs of people who otherwise mean no ill-will to anyone.

And as long as these kind of things happens in the name of their religion, the Church must expect that others can also be offended, and that they are going to let them know about it in direct, disrespectful, yet non-violent terms.

It’s only a book, and it does not deserve to be treated with respect.

I’m not sure how much of this is deliberate rumor-spreading and how much is confirmation bias. If someone *wants* to believe that gays are violent, hateful, anti-christian bigots then they can be expected to believe any story that supports this view and repeat it without criticism.

Unless someone in Littleton, Colorado can provide some morsel of information I would say there is little to support the burning of the Book of Mormon on some stoop at a Mormon Church is related to the Proposition 8 in California controversy.

I could just as easily blame it on a disgruntled person(s), a break-off sect (Polygamists) or on a crazed Evangelical zealot who had a beef with the Mormons.

But nothing, so far, links the vandalism to Proposition 8.

Closed fist receives nothing.