d) Thank you for getting me some hard numbers. With all the news stories and blog posts flying around the net about this I'm sure misinformation is rampant. What is fact though is that the leadership of the Mormon church sent out a directive to their membership instructing them to donate their time and money to pass Prop 8. That article you linked to says Mormon donations were 40% of the total amount the Yes on Prop 8 camp received. This article ( http://www.sltrib.com/News/ci_10879061 ) puts the total Mormon donations at 19 million, or about 4 out of every 5 dollars by their calculations. Since 4 out of every 5 residents of california aren't Mormons...well that tells me that there is something wrong with that picture. Add to this that it is illegal for the church leadership to directly encourage their members to oppose or support political candidates or measures due to their tax exempt status and you've got a recipe for a Mormon spanking.
e) Stealing campaign signs and assaulting anyone, regardless of their political leanings, is wrong. As far as whether "revolutionary" measures are "the right ones" I can't say. That sentence is loaded with a lot of wording that is easily misinterpreted unless we had a chance to really define what we mean by revolutionary and right. What I will say is that Prop 8 could be considered revolutionary because it was taking away existing rights granted by the highest body of law in the state. It is the role of the supreme court to strike down unjust laws or actions as a balance against the "mob" or the majority trying to oppress a minority. That is one of its functions. So when it is thwarted in such a manner with the monetary and ideological support of religious organizations it makes me feel less free and sad that my fellow americans, in this time of hope and unity, would choose to make their fellow americans less free.
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broken into two posts due to character limit....
Date: 2008-11-09 05:04 pm (UTC)e) Stealing campaign signs and assaulting anyone, regardless of their political leanings, is wrong. As far as whether "revolutionary" measures are "the right ones" I can't say. That sentence is loaded with a lot of wording that is easily misinterpreted unless we had a chance to really define what we mean by revolutionary and right. What I will say is that Prop 8 could be considered revolutionary because it was taking away existing rights granted by the highest body of law in the state. It is the role of the supreme court to strike down unjust laws or actions as a balance against the "mob" or the majority trying to oppress a minority. That is one of its functions. So when it is thwarted in such a manner with the monetary and ideological support of religious organizations it makes me feel less free and sad that my fellow americans, in this time of hope and unity, would choose to make their fellow americans less free.