By now it’s old news that the Mormon Church has faced serious backlash from gay rights activists for its support of California’s Proposition 8. But two weeks after the election, commentary on the issue continues.
Two major dailies detail the church’s involvement and vital role in getting Prop 8 passed. At the New York Times, Jesse McKinley and Kirk Johnson describe the logistical side of the effort. Meanwhile, Matthai Kuruvila, reporting for the San Francisco Chronicle, outlines how a Mormon-Catholic alliance solidified support for this issue.
Over at Get Religion, Mollie Ziegler put together a comprehensive roundup of the coverage of the controversy, highlighting some connections missed by mainstream media:
Another angle that’s been untouched is a comparison of the fallout on the Proposition 8 vote with that of other propositions. Social conservatives lost Proposition 4, for instance, which would have required that parents of underage children be notified before said teen aborts her child. It lost by the same margin that Prop 8 passed. It’s interesting to note the different reactions of the pro-life community from the same-sex marriage advocates as well as the different coverage of same by the mainstream media.
In his blog The Daily Dish, Andrew Sullivan has devoted a great deal of space to the connection between Mormons and the passing of Prop 8. He not only posted reader comments and linked to perspectives at other blogs, but he also connected the LDS church to a decade-long fight to ban gay marriage and wrote some passionate commentary himself:
I strongly support civility in this struggle. Religious services and practices should be scrupulously respected. But when a church, like the Mormon church, makes a concerted effort to enter the public square and strip a small minority of basic civil rights, it is simply preposterous for them then to argue that the Mormon church cannot be criticized and protested because they are a religion. I have never done anything – nor would I do anything – to impede or restrict the civil rights of Mormons. I respect their right to freedom of conscience and religion. In fact, it is one of my strongest convictions. But when they use their money and power to target my family, to break it up, to demean it and marginalize it, to strip me and my husband of our civil rights, then they have started a war. And I am not a pacifist.
Finally, Joel Engardio, in an On Faith blog post, recounts his experience protesting the ruling at the Mormon temple in Manhattan:
As I marched past the Mormon temple toward Columbus Circle, I could understand why so many of the protesters were directing their anger at the church. We are not a Mormon nation, as much as we are not a Baptist or Pentecostal nation. So it is painful when any religion forces all of us to live their way by altering the Constitution upon which all our laws are based. But when this initial sting of anger passes, I hope we can use the rights of speech and assembly still afforded to us in the Constitution to win back the fundamental right of marriage we lost in California, and have yet to gain in other states. And that means not trying to destroy the rights of Mormons or anyone else who wants to believe our relationships are less than theirs.
Be sure to read the other here & there posts on Proposition 8 here, here, here, here, and here. And read Wendy Cadge’s post at The Immanent Frame, “The blame game.”