Comments on: Mormons, religious groups file brief in support of Prop 8

By: Janet Condie Lynn

Janet Condie Lynn — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 19:40:05 +0000

Please explain again why the LDS church should have any input in the Supreme Court's decision. If they are so politically involved, why aren't they paying taxes?

By: Carl McGrath

Carl McGrath — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 14:56:19 +0000

I am an example of the “hemorrhaging” referenced in this statement. My sole reason for resigning from the Mormon Church after 50 years of committed membership was over my growing dismay of how their policies produce emotional and social violence in the lives of gays, lesbians, and their families. For me the tipping came when they excommunicated my gay son my conscience could no longer tolerate holding membership in an organization that treats LGBTQ people that way.

By: Defending Discrimination: LDS church joins brief defending Prop 8 « The Idaho Agenda

Tue, 05 Feb 2013 17:20:47 +0000

[...] Chris Johnson over at WashBlade reports,”In a 38-page friend-of-the-court brief, filed before the Supreme Court Jan. 29, religious [...]

By: Gordon Beckett

Gordon Beckett — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 11:16:34 +0000

Thank you, Washington Blade, for bringing attention to this issue. Their PR department is highly sensitive to having light shone upon the church’s political activities. When you write about it, you are helping diminish the possibility that they’ll try this sort of thing the next time the opportunity presents itself. Moreover, the church is hemorrhaging members, and a very large percentage of them say it is due to treatment of LGBT people. So for those of you who wish people to leave Mormonism, please continue talking about what they do.

They attempted to obscure the fact that the brief was an LDS project by piling a bunch of other religious bodies in there. But the sole authors were the Church’s official counsel in Salt Lake City. Not only is the Proclamation on the Family listed in the Table of Authorities, but they cited the discredited Mark Regnerus gays-make-bad-parents study.

Counsel of Record Von G. Keetch has defended the church in a number of bad cases. I encourage everyone to look up his case history, as it is littered with the skeletons they wish would stay in the closet.

This past year, within the United States and cognizant of the remaining negative fallout from Prop 8, the church toned down their anti-equality approach. But outside the U.S., it still went on.

In the UK: http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2012/06/20/mormons-say-equal-marriage-would-have-negative-implications-for-uk/
In Australia: http://www.lds.org/church/news/ambassadors-for-the-family?lang=eng&country=au
In New Zealand: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/kiwimormon/2012/10/the-new-zealand-marriage-definition-of-marriage-amendment-bill-a-private-comment-on-a-public-submission/
Erich Kopischke, Europe Area President, went to the World Congress of Families in Madrid (PDF) http://www.worldcongress.org/pdf/WCF6_New_Flyer03_12.pdf