It’s passing strange that the Mormons, of all people, are so bothered by the idea of same-sex marriage that they have donated 40 percent of the funding — almost $11 million — to promote Proposition 8, the ballot initiative that would amend the California Constitution to make it illegal for gays to marry.
If you don’t like to be reminded that your grandparents were polygamists, why entangle yourself in another group’s struggle for marriage rights?
You might think that Mormons would be more tolerant than others toward nontraditional marriage practices, since their antecedents practiced polygamy for more than a century after the church was founded in the 1830s. The Church of Latter Day Saints (LDS) stopped sanctioning plural marriages after 1904, but existing polygamous arrangements were allowed to continue, and many of these lasted until the 1950s. Polygamy is still practiced among Mormon splinter groups like the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, or FLDS.
The fact that many mainstream Mormons are embarrassed by their polygamous heritage makes their activism in California appear not only intolerant and mean, but also clueless. Entangling themselves in another group’s struggle for the right to marry is bound to bring comparisons with their own.
Even so, the good guys are winning the money race, but just barely. With just 10 days to go before the vote, the no-on-8, pro-gay marriage side has raised $31.2 million. But anti-gay forces are nearly even, with $27.5 million.
Fittingly, one of the largest donations to the pro-marriage cause came from WordPerfect founder Bruce Bastion, a gay ex-Mormon who gave $1 million, in part to counter the efforts of his former co-religionists.
On the other hand, this leader of a wealthy and powerful homophobe organization apparently didn’t get the memo that the majority donors to the cause were members of a former polygamist sect:
From his base in Tupelo, Miss., Tim Wildmon, president of the American Family Assn., said his group gave $500,000 to the Yes-on-8 campaign for moral reasons.
“We believe in the Bible, and the Bible teaches that marriage is between one man and one woman,” he said. “That is how the human race continues.”
Wildmon said he fears that if the initiative doesn’t pass, children will be taught about same-sex marriage in schools. And he worries that other things might follow.
“If you change the definition and have no moral standard, then honestly what is wrong with polygamy?” Wildmon asked. “On what basis do you deny three men getting married, or a man with five wives?”
Wildmon is lying, of course. The Bible does not teach that “marriage is between one man and one woman.” Quite the opposite. Polygamy was practiced by Abraham, the father of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and by both King David and King Solomon, among others.
And as Wildmon surely knows, current laws against polygamy will not be affected by Prop 8, one way or another.
Update 11/10/08: The final tally shows that as much as 70 percent of Prop 8 funding from individuals came from Mormons.
Minor correction, the LDS Church stopped sanctioning plural marriages in 1890 - not 1904.
Furthermore, you are correct in that some biblical prophets did have multiple wives, however, you must have overlooked the fact that the bible condemns homosexual actions, see these verses:
Leviticus 18:22&26 “Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination. Ye shall . . . not commit any of these abominations; neither any of your own nation, nor any stranger that sojourneth among you”
Romans 1:26-27 “even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.”
LDS church members love those with homosexual inclinations just like everyone else; however, accepting them does not mean we condone wrong actions. We believe marriage between a man and a women was ordained of God.
@reij
The bible also condemns eating shellfish.
Leviticus 11:9-12
9These shall ye eat of all that are in the waters: whatsoever hath fins and scales in the waters, in the seas, and in the rivers, them shall ye eat.
10And all that have not fins and scales in the seas, and in the rivers, of all that move in the waters, and of any living thing which is in the waters, they shall be an abomination unto you:
11They shall be even an abomination unto you; ye shall not eat of their flesh, but ye shall have their carcases in abomination.
12Whatsoever hath no fins nor scales in the waters, that shall be an abomination unto you.
Deuteronomy 14:9-10
9These ye shall eat of all that are in the waters: all that have fins and scales shall ye eat:
10And whatsoever hath not fins and scales ye may not eat; it is unclean unto you.
The bible is just as much about the ancient tribal culture as much as it is about how God wanted people to act; these were written by humans after all. Shellfish held bacteria and were generally considered dangerous and “unclean”. Do you condemn people that eat shrimp as well? The old testament also forbids eating pigs due to the danger of stomach parasites from not cooking them enough.
It would not have been wise to be homosexual in biblical times because children were an asset and essential to survival of livestock or whatever business the family was into.
My point is, you can’t pick and choose which passages you want to believe because people’s choices offend or scare you. You can’t call them “wrong actions” when your God made them that way. Does he also hate shrimp and pigs?
Don’t try to force your morality on others. If it’s not harming you, let people be happy.
How much taxes do they pay again?
Here’s an idea. If you believe that a group of jews came over here around 2000 years ago, yet you have no idea where, then claim that they split into two groups, which of only one god favored and cursed the other’s skin dark, then claim to know this as a fact, except all rational and scientific evidence points otherwise, then you are an idiot and your views on life should not matter, let alone the views of how others should live their lives.
I’m sorry, but Mormonism (next to Scientology) takes the win here in stupidest religion ever. It thrives on the clearly racist story of a known huxter, Joseph Smith, and provides no rationality to the clear scientific understanding that what their books say is not only unproven, but shown to be false.
Religion poisons everything. -Christopher Hitchens
rej - I have written about this topic extensively in this site. See “Abominations: You Could Be Committing One Right Now, Even if You’re Not Gay,” for starters.
As I wrote yesterday in response to a commenter on the “Abominations” article who incorrectly claimed that Paul gave Christians a pass on eating shellfish in his letters to the Corinthians:
One correction: Marriages are not ordained by God. Weddings can be blessed by God, but marriage is an institution of government. Proof: When marriages break up, couples don’t go to church to get divorced, they go to court.
The Prop 8 vote in California has been polluted by the influence of the Mormon church. Elders from the LDS in Utah have been organizing an elaborate propaganda campaign meant to support this bill. They are acting to foist their own religious morals onto others, and take away their right to equal treatment under the law. What a hateful endeavor to pursue.
So, intolerant faith.. if it is against your view, it is “polluting influence,” if it supports your view, then it’s ok… it’s balance?
Read the definition of marriage, then give your opinion