Response to the LDS Church on their Response to the Protests
SALT LAKE CITY - 7 November 2008 - The [LDS] Church issued the following statement today:
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.
Boohoo.. poor multi-billion dollar corporate church. You did not just speak up; you mobilized your members and used your non-profit infrastructure to spread false information in order to strip the rights away from gay men and lesbians. The fact that you list the links to the campaign on your website, even linking to that page in this very press-release shows your direct involvement in pushing this agenda.
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.
Again, it was you who used your network to influence these other groups by spreading misinformation.
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.
Why? You targeted what is most sacred to us: our rights and our families.
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.
Have you read the comments made by your members on newspaper websites? There has never been any respect or civility from them. Those that have been civil are the ones that disagree with the Church's involvement. You might have gotten away with this in Hawaii and during Prop 22 but we're not going to put up with this any more.
And erroneous information?! Hah! Where was that admonition before the election The Yes campaign thrived on generating artificial fears in the minds of the people using erroneous information. The only way Prop 8 could pass was on lies. The biggest lie of which is it's just to discriminate against a minority in our Constitution.