Proposition 8: The Hypocrisy

With the recent decision by the California Supreme Court to uphold Proposition 8, the fight for same-sex marriage continues. Some are now litigating the question of conflict between the California Constitution and the US Constitution in regard to equal rights. Others feel that this move is premature, and could worsen the situation for equal marriage rights should the US Supreme Court decide against them. Of course, the US Constitution has been interpreted over the years by the US Supreme Court to support "separate but equal" education for those of African descent, and then later to abolish that same institution as unconstitutional. What is or isn't legally permissible depends on the social and political climate of the time, and the views of the justices.

I'm going to have to restrain myself from shouting, "piss off, bigots!" and slamming the door the next time a pair of Mormon missionaries arrive on my doorstep. My irony meter goes off whenever I think of all the money the LDS church poured into Proposition 8, when they're the ones who refused to give up their own idea of proper (plural) marriage, even after being invaded by the US Army! Although, they later sacrificed their religious convictions in exchange for Utah's statehood (their prophet got a message from God that one of the core tenets of their faith was no longer necessary - a bit financially expedient, their god!).

It is difficult for me to understand the level of hypocrisy required for a minority group that prided itself on standing up to the US government for the sake of their own marriage rights, to actively participate in, and now gloat over, another minority group having theirs taken away by that same authority. And here I thought they'd learned some sort of lesson by finally admitting black men into the priesthood in the late 1970's. I think this had as much to do with the church being behind the times in regard to the US civil rights movement as it did with their desire to spread their religion into countries with dark-skinned inhabitants, to share their own brand of the "good news" and, of course, acquire more converts who tithe!

Having been baptized into the LDS church at a young age, during my parents' brief experiment with the Mormon religion, I am officially still a member. It's a rather involved and annoying process to have oneself removed from their rolls, which is one of the reasons I never bothered. I'm now bothered enough to bother; I cannot allow my name to continue to be associated with an institution that actively works to abrogate the civil rights of others who are perpetrating no genuine harm on that institution's members by exercising those rights.

No On Prop 8

James F. Elliott has blogged an eloquent exposition on the reasons for voting "no" on California's Proposition 8 (an amendment to the state constitution that would ban - currently legal - gay marriage). My comments below.

I've witnessed a real coming together in my suburban neighborhood these past few weeks. Men who may have not so much as waved to one another in passing, now cross the street to lean on pickup truck tailgates and engage each other in conversation, prompted by the sight of identical signs piercing the soil in their respective front yards.

The brotherly bonding of Bigot Buddies has come to my very own street. A street that only yesterday received its first No On 8 sign, which was pulled back in front of the cars in my neighbor's driveway last evening, where it seemed to cower under the gaze of the many menacing Yes On 8 yard displays that stand proudly, fearlessly in their original positions, day or night.

Beyond clapping a hand over one's mouth, as I do when out jogging or driving to work, does anyone know of an effective treatment for a sudden, severe case of yard sign triggered Tourettes?