This is from Kevin Hamilton:
In the aftermath of the recent election, we may find ourselves oddly on the defensive regarding our support for the Yes on Proposition 8 cause. Our young people have been especially subject to mean spirited comments by high school friends and teachers. We have nothing to be ashamed of. We did nothing wrong. In fact, we did everything that a civic minded American can and should do. I have put together a few facts that help me to appreciate our position better. For example:
1. Mormons make up less than 2% of the population of California. There are approximately 800,000 LDS out of a total population of approximately 34 million.
2. Mormon voters were less than 5% of the yes vote. If one estimates that 250,000 LDS are registered voters (the rest being children), then LDS voters made up 4.6% of the Yes vote and 2.4% of the total Proposition 8 vote.
3. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) donated no money to the Yes on 8 campaign. Individual members of the Church were encouraged to support the Yes on 8 efforts and, exercising their constitutional right to free speech, donated whatever they felt like donating.
4. The No on 8 campaign raised more money than the Yes on 8 campaign. Unofficial estimates put No on 8 at $38 million and Yes on 8 at $32 million, making it the most expensive non-presidential election in the country.
5. Advertising messages for the Yes on 8 campaign are based on case law and real-life situations. The No on 8 supporters have insisted that the Yes on 8 messaging is based on lies. Every Yes on 8 claim is supported.
6. The majority of our friends and neighbors voted Yes on 8. Los Angeles County voted in favor of Yes on 8. Ventura County voted in favor of Yes on 8.
7. African Americans overwhelmingly supported Yes on 8. Exit polls show that 70% of Black voters chose Yes on 8. This was interesting because the majority of these voters voted for President-elect Obama. No on 8 supporters had assumed that Obama voters would vote No on 8.
8. The majority of Latino voters voted Yes on 8. Exit polls show that the majority of Latinos supported Yes on 8 and cited religious beliefs (assumed to be primarily Catholic).
9. The Yes on 8 coalition was a broad spectrum of religious organizations. Catholics, Evangelicals, Protestants, Orthodox Jews, Muslims – all supported Yes on 8. It is estimated that there are 10 million Catholics and 10 million Protestants in California. Mormons were a tiny fraction of the population represented by Yes on 8 coalition members.
10. Not all Mormons voted in favor of Proposition 8. Our faith accords that each person be allowed to choose for him or her self. Church leaders have asked members to treat other members with "civility, respect and love," despite their differing views.
11. The Church did not violate the principal of separation of church and state. This principle is derived from the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, which reads, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." The phrase "separation of church and state", which does not appear in the Constitution itself, is generally traced to an 1802 letter by Thomas Jefferson, although it has since been quoted in several opinions handed down by the United States Supreme Court in recent years. The LDS Church is under no obligation to refrain from participating in the political process, to the extent permitted by law. U.S. election law is very clear that Churches may not endorse candidates, but may support issues. The Church as always been very careful on this matter and occasionally (not often) chooses to support causes that it feels to be of a moral nature.
12. Supporters of Proposition 8 did exactly what the Constitution provides for all citizens: they exercised their First Amendment rights to speak out on an issue that concerned them, make contributions to a cause that they support, and then vote in the regular electoral process. For the most part, this seems to have been done in an open, fair, and civil way. Opponents of 8 have accused supporters of being bigots, liars, and worse. The fact is, we simply did what Americans do – we spoke up, we campaigned, and we voted.
Hold your heads up high – you did a great job on this most important cause. We will have more opportunities in the future to participate in our democratic process. Let's remember the lessons learned and do an even better job next time.
These are my personal opinions and thoughts; any errors are mine and in no way reflect official Church policy or doctrine.
Thanks,
Kevin Hamilton
11 comments:
We have thirteen Articles of Faith. Number 12 is " We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law". The same sex marriage issue was already decided by they California Supreme Court. Church support for a campaign to overturn the law looks to me and many others like tossing out an Article of Faith. I don't recall an asterisk next to this one when I had to recite it in order to graduate from primary.
It is interesting to me that the LDS church is the ones taking abuse after this vote. Even though many other religious groups were against the changing of traditional marriage. I guess this issue carries alot of emotion on both sides. I just think it is sad that people are targeting the temples and for what? What do they think that they will accomplish?
Very well put!
You should be ashamed of being such a vicious and hateful bigot.
ya, i put a statement on facebook from the church and got quite the comments! holy moly! it's kind of sad. and i've never even said anything about prop 8 on my blog or facebook until this. i just think the protest and discrimination is wrong.
I love all the info you provide us with. thanks!
Dear Libhom,
Name calling is not going to further your cause or make you popular.
From the L.A. Times:
On Friday, four leaders of the No-on-8 campaign put out a statement urging cooperation among groups around the issue. "We achieve nothing if we isolate the people who did not stand with us in this fight," the statement said. "We only further divide our state if we attempt to blame people of faith, African American voters, rural communities and others for this loss."
Dear Metro Librarian,
Yes, the Supreme Court of California declared Prop 22 unconstitutional. However, the California Supreme Court can overrule the people's vote only if the constitution compels them to do so. In this case, the court overstepped their boundaries. The court had no constitutional compulsion to overrule the people's vote.
Princeton scholar Robert P. George commented in the Wall Street Journal, “The judges invented a right to ‘same-sex marriage’ found nowhere in the text, logic, or historical understanding of the state constitution. In doing so, they usurped the authority of the people’s elected representatives.”
Furthermore, the California Family Code says, “domestic partners shall have all the rights, protections and benefits” of married spouses. Prop 8 did not remove any of these rights.
Adding a constitutional amendment to the ballot broke no law. Proposition 8 received 1,120,801 signatures, 1.5 times the signatures needed (694,354) to add the measure to the ballot. It qualified for the November 4, 2008 election ballot through the random sample signature check. Voters utilized the checks and balances built into our democratic system by adding this measure to the ballot.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints honored the 12th Article of Faith by supporting the democratic process. Under the federal tax code, religious leaders may speak freely and forcefully on important issues of public policy. Tax exempt religious organizations may lawfully spend an “insubstantial” amount of their funds yearly on issue lobbying. An insubstantial amount is generally less than 10% of organizational resources.
Thanks and have a great day!
nice work Leah, and great responses to the comments. I wholeheartedly agree with you.
This is great information. I admire you, Leah, and I appreciate all you are doing.
Leah, Thank you for your post. I recently had a former classmate post a not so nice comment on my facebook page about our religion, and it devastated me! I sat at the computer for a long time, reading article after article about the church, Prop8 etc... Your post was very encouraging and uplifting at a time when I needed it. Thanks again! -Leanne
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