Religious bigots object to being exposed as religious bigots
Church Issues Statement on Proposition 8 Protest
It is disturbing that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is being singled out for speaking up as part of its democratic right in a free election.
Members of the Church in California and millions of others from every faith, ethnicity and political affiliation who voted for Proposition 8 exercised the most sacrosanct and individual rights in the United States — that of free expression and voting.
While those who disagree with our position on Proposition 8 have the right to make their feelings known, it is wrong to target the Church and its sacred places of worship for being part of the democratic process.
Once again, we call on those involved in the debate over same-sex marriage to act in a spirit of mutual respect and civility towards each other. No one on either side of the question should be vilified, harassed or subject to erroneous information.(LDS Newsroom)
They have to be kidding.
Where was their “mutual respect and civility” when they were sending their money to California for ads that portrayed equal rights for gay couples as a threat to Western civilization? Where is their respect for the Constitution of the United States and its Establishment Clause? Where is the church’s respect for those who are not members of their organization to live according to their non-Mormon beliefs?
Not to be ignored in this hypocrisy-on-parade, the Catholic church protests the protesting:
“Proposition 8 is not against any group in our society. Its sole focus is on preserving God’s plan for people living upon this earth throughout time,” Cardinal Roger Mahony, archbishop of the Diocese of Los Angeles, said in a statement Thursday. (Source)
Could it be any more clear that this is a test case for theocracy in the U.S.? If the religious bigots are allowed to impose their beliefs on our secular society, we are one step closer to accepting religious law in America.
One thing these theists haven’t considered: if we turn a blind eye to this creeping theocracy, who will be able to protest when Muslims start to demand their theology be accommodated in state law? What’s to stop Scientology from demanding laws that reflect their beliefs?
Let us take a moment to reflect on a paraphrase of Martin Niemöller’s well-known poem by the American punk rock band NOFX.
- First they put away the dealers,
- keep our kids safe and off the street.
- Then they put away the prostitutes,
- keep married men cloistered at home.
- Then they shooed away the bums,
- then they beat and bashed the queers,
- turned away asylum-seekers,
- fed us suspicions and fears.
- We didn’t raise our voice,
- we didn’t make a fuss.
- It’s funny there was no one left to notice
- when they came for us.