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	<title>Comments on: Mormon Machine Cranking Up Against Illinois Civil Unions Bill</title>
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	<link>http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/2009/03/03/9359</link>
	<description>News, analysis and fact-checking of anti-gay rhetoric</description>
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		<title>By: smoking something &#124; hunnerwoof</title>
		<link>http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/2009/03/03/9359/comment-page-2#comment-90749</link>
		<dc:creator>smoking something &#124; hunnerwoof</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 15 Mar 2011 21:34:55 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/?p=9359#comment-90749</guid>
		<description>[...] be offered to same sex couples. In 2009, the LDS church made a push to oppose civil unions in IL. A letter sent via the official church communication system to ward members was even obtained as proo... Don&#8217;t let Joshua fool you&#8230;the LDS church is not accepting to any form of recognized [...]</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>[...] be offered to same sex couples. In 2009, the LDS church made a push to oppose civil unions in IL. A letter sent via the official church communication system to ward members was even obtained as proo&#8230; Don&#8217;t let Joshua fool you&#8230;the LDS church is not accepting to any form of recognized [...]</p>
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		<title>By: Tod Robbins</title>
		<link>http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/2009/03/03/9359/comment-page-2#comment-89828</link>
		<dc:creator>Tod Robbins</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 02 Mar 2011 00:11:39 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/?p=9359#comment-89828</guid>
		<description>Bishop Church is not the bishop of the Nauvoo 3rd Ward. The current bishop is Bishop Smith. That _should_ raise some eyebrows to the validity of the story.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Bishop Church is not the bishop of the Nauvoo 3rd Ward. The current bishop is Bishop Smith. That _should_ raise some eyebrows to the validity of the story.</p>
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		<title>By: Dallas Voice - Dallas Voice</title>
		<link>http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/2009/03/03/9359/comment-page-2#comment-71457</link>
		<dc:creator>Dallas Voice - Dallas Voice</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 29 Jun 2010 00:49:10 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/?p=9359#comment-71457</guid>
		<description>[...] to Jim Burroway who blogs at www.boxturtlebulletin.com, The Illinois House will begin considering a civil unions bill this week that has been assigned to [...]</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>[...] to Jim Burroway who blogs at <a href="http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com" rel="nofollow" class="articleLink">http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com</a>, The Illinois House will begin considering a civil unions bill this week that has been assigned to [...]</p>
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		<title>By: uberVU - social comments</title>
		<link>http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/2009/03/03/9359/comment-page-2#comment-52289</link>
		<dc:creator>uberVU - social comments</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 23 Oct 2009 03:14:39 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/?p=9359#comment-52289</guid>
		<description>&lt;strong&gt;Social comments and analytics for this post...&lt;/strong&gt;

This post was mentioned on Digg by globetrecker1: You are making some pretty ignorant and uneducated statements about Mormons....</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>Social comments and analytics for this post&#8230;</strong></p>
<p>This post was mentioned on Digg by globetrecker1: You are making some pretty ignorant and uneducated statements about Mormons&#8230;.</p>
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		<title>By: cowboy</title>
		<link>http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/2009/03/03/9359/comment-page-2#comment-42688</link>
		<dc:creator>cowboy</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 15 Jun 2009 19:06:37 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/?p=9359#comment-42688</guid>
		<description>God is not happy with the Mormons:

http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=148&amp;sid=6819386

Was it something we did? 

No problem.  They have plenty of spares in the warehouses to replace this Angel Moroni.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>God is not happy with the Mormons:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=148&#038;sid=6819386" rel="nofollow">http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=148&#038;sid=6819386</a></p>
<p>Was it something we did? </p>
<p>No problem.  They have plenty of spares in the warehouses to replace this Angel Moroni.</p>
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		<title>By: ElizABETH</title>
		<link>http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/2009/03/03/9359/comment-page-2#comment-42590</link>
		<dc:creator>ElizABETH</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 13 Jun 2009 15:42:29 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/?p=9359#comment-42590</guid>
		<description>I think its BS that someone posted this email to begin with. But LDS is not the only opposition here in Illinois.

I question doing this because it opens the door to another controversial issue. Adult consenting polygamy.

I have been in groups where some of those in relationships that want to be married bash back at the issue of consenting adults and polygamy.

I am not saying I agree or disagree. What my life choices are is insignificant. There is a part of me that would rather see these dollars spent on poor education, health care and ENDING VIOLENCE. in the US.

Other large religious organizations are more anti-gay than the LDS Church. One target using another thats what pisses me off</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I think its BS that someone posted this email to begin with. But LDS is not the only opposition here in Illinois.</p>
<p>I question doing this because it opens the door to another controversial issue. Adult consenting polygamy.</p>
<p>I have been in groups where some of those in relationships that want to be married bash back at the issue of consenting adults and polygamy.</p>
<p>I am not saying I agree or disagree. What my life choices are is insignificant. There is a part of me that would rather see these dollars spent on poor education, health care and ENDING VIOLENCE. in the US.</p>
<p>Other large religious organizations are more anti-gay than the LDS Church. One target using another thats what pisses me off</p>
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		<title>By: Ryan</title>
		<link>http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/2009/03/03/9359/comment-page-2#comment-38008</link>
		<dc:creator>Ryan</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 11 Apr 2009 04:20:08 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/?p=9359#comment-38008</guid>
		<description>As a mormon and a liberal in favor of gay rights I can tell you that this isn&#039;t the work of church leaders.  You can guarantee that if this Bishop Church had received this message from church headquarters he would have stated it, probably repeatedly.  There is nothing more motivating for man mormons than to get a message straight from &quot;the brethren&quot;.  

In other words, I would say with 95% certainty that this is the work of a single bishop (which is the equivalent of a pastor who oversees one congregation).  Which isn&#039;t to say that others aren&#039;t doing the same thing, but absent evidence that they are I don&#039;t think there&#039;s cause for concern.

And another thing, nobody, and I mean nobody reads their ward emails.  80% of church members don&#039;t even know they exist.  I have literally never checked this email and I have never talked to anyone who has.  

If the church wanted to put their full force behind this they would.  As their actions on prop 8 have shown they have no problem announcing their intentions in congregations or press releases.  They are not going to act on this issue because the church actually isn&#039;t opposed to civil unions.  Or at least the leadership isn&#039;t, though probably most individual members are.  Unlike most Christian organizations, the members of the Mormon church tend to be much more militantly conservative than the leadership.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>As a mormon and a liberal in favor of gay rights I can tell you that this isn&#8217;t the work of church leaders.  You can guarantee that if this Bishop Church had received this message from church headquarters he would have stated it, probably repeatedly.  There is nothing more motivating for man mormons than to get a message straight from &#8220;the brethren&#8221;.  </p>
<p>In other words, I would say with 95% certainty that this is the work of a single bishop (which is the equivalent of a pastor who oversees one congregation).  Which isn&#8217;t to say that others aren&#8217;t doing the same thing, but absent evidence that they are I don&#8217;t think there&#8217;s cause for concern.</p>
<p>And another thing, nobody, and I mean nobody reads their ward emails.  80% of church members don&#8217;t even know they exist.  I have literally never checked this email and I have never talked to anyone who has.  </p>
<p>If the church wanted to put their full force behind this they would.  As their actions on prop 8 have shown they have no problem announcing their intentions in congregations or press releases.  They are not going to act on this issue because the church actually isn&#8217;t opposed to civil unions.  Or at least the leadership isn&#8217;t, though probably most individual members are.  Unlike most Christian organizations, the members of the Mormon church tend to be much more militantly conservative than the leadership.</p>
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		<title>By: Connell O'Donovan</title>
		<link>http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/2009/03/03/9359/comment-page-2#comment-36029</link>
		<dc:creator>Connell O'Donovan</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 10 Mar 2009 18:55:07 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/?p=9359#comment-36029</guid>
		<description>Elise wrote:

&quot;In her desire to support principles that she believes in, Kristy mistakenly sent it out to her church congregation. Once the mistake was realized, she and her bishop sent a follow-up email (which you have published).&quot;

This is also factually incorrect.  The Nauvoo 3rd Ward email system is set up so that all emails sent out MUST be authorized by the Bishop or higher.  And indeed, the email clearly states that Bishop Chris Church authorized the forwarding of the email to his ward.

There was no &quot;mistake&quot; about it.  Elise means that once Chris Church and Kristy Combs received hundreds of emails of complaint and lots of media attention, then the follow-up email was sent out.

Connell O&#039;Donovan
Adult Survivor of Mormon Homophobia</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Elise wrote:</p>
<p>&#8220;In her desire to support principles that she believes in, Kristy mistakenly sent it out to her church congregation. Once the mistake was realized, she and her bishop sent a follow-up email (which you have published).&#8221;</p>
<p>This is also factually incorrect.  The Nauvoo 3rd Ward email system is set up so that all emails sent out MUST be authorized by the Bishop or higher.  And indeed, the email clearly states that Bishop Chris Church authorized the forwarding of the email to his ward.</p>
<p>There was no &#8220;mistake&#8221; about it.  Elise means that once Chris Church and Kristy Combs received hundreds of emails of complaint and lots of media attention, then the follow-up email was sent out.</p>
<p>Connell O&#8217;Donovan<br />
Adult Survivor of Mormon Homophobia</p>
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		<title>By: Rob W</title>
		<link>http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/2009/03/03/9359/comment-page-2#comment-35872</link>
		<dc:creator>Rob W</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 09 Mar 2009 04:19:55 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/?p=9359#comment-35872</guid>
		<description>This is another example of how the LDS Church is violating their tax-exempt status charter.  If they are going to play as potiticians then they need to pay taxes just like the rest of us!</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>This is another example of how the LDS Church is violating their tax-exempt status charter.  If they are going to play as potiticians then they need to pay taxes just like the rest of us!</p>
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		<title>By: The 50 Spot: Marriage, Civil Union Legislation in the Midwest &#187; Equal Roots</title>
		<link>http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/2009/03/03/9359/comment-page-2#comment-35699</link>
		<dc:creator>The 50 Spot: Marriage, Civil Union Legislation in the Midwest &#187; Equal Roots</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 07 Mar 2009 13:16:16 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/?p=9359#comment-35699</guid>
		<description>[...] 60% to 34%.&#8221;  Still, the bill in Illinois won&#8217;t go without its detractors, including the Mormon Church, which has started to organize around defeating civil unions in Illinois.  It worked for them in [...]</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>[...] 60% to 34%.&#8221;  Still, the bill in Illinois won&#8217;t go without its detractors, including the Mormon Church, which has started to organize around defeating civil unions in Illinois.  It worked for them in [...]</p>
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