We Are Not Alone
The following letter appeared in our inboxes yesterday, we pass it on becasue it is truly worthy:
Gay marriage advocates, having overturned the resutls of one election, are now on the warpath against Prop 8 and its supporters.
The three lawsuits they filed this week are frivolous and farfetched according to the best legal minds (including Daniel Lowenstein of UCLA Law School, an election code expert).
Rather than graciously accept the will of the people, or come back through the democratic process with their own amendment, No on Prop 8 activists are taking to the streets, and in the process targeting a small faith community for vicious public attacks. It’s “payback time” from the voices of tolerance.
No powerful political or media figure who supports gay marriage yet has the decency to stand up and say: enough. No more of this, please. This is not the way a civil rights movement–or any decent American of any political party or ideology–behaves.
What can we do to express our thanks and solidarity with the many Californians who happen to members of the LDS Church?
Here’s what one San Diego Catholic, who was involved in NOM’s efforts from the very beginning suggested:
“My husband’s idea of personally show thanks to Mormons for their sacrifices seems to be catching on in his Knight’s Council. We’re having 3 families over for burgers on the grill. How simple basic is that, but seems to be genuinely appreciated.”
A solidarity barbecue. How very much in the best American tradition.
What can you do today? To NOM’s LDS friends and supporters we just say: Thank you. You’ve done enough already.
The rest of us friends of marriage? Whether you are a Protestant or a Catholic, or a Jew, (or a Hindu or a Muslim, or a determined secularist): Thank a Mormon today.
Or take the next step: Invite an LDS friend, colleague to lunch. Host a barbecue–to tell them “Thank you for your efforts to protect marriage. Thank you for your unfailing decency, civility, and respect for others in the community as you exercize your basic civil rights as Americans to participate in political debate. We’re so sorry for what your community is going through. We’ll stand by you, now and in the future, as fellow citizens, friends and neighbors.”
And write back to me to tell me about it, please!
This is the decent, loving, faithful America we know and love and will not, with God’s help, lose.
God’s blessing on you and your family,
Brian S. Brown
Executive Director
National Organization for Marriage
20 Nassau Street, Suite 242
Princeton, NJ 08542
bbrown@nationformarriage.org
It is good to know that others share the point of view of this blog!
Posted in Religious Bigotry | 2 Comments » | 
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CarlH on 08 Nov 2008 at 12:27 pm #
Bishop William Weigand, currently Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sacramento and formerly Bishop of Salt Lake City, issued a letter yesterday decrying the attacks on Mormons and affirming the breadth of the coalition that helped pass Proposition 8.
3boyzmom on 09 Nov 2008 at 9:05 am #
Thank you for this blog, and for your support of members of the LDS Church during the Prop 8 campaign. It has been a sad time for me, an LDS mom, as we pushed for the passage of Prop 8. Early on in the campaign I called a friend of mine who is a Christian, and asked her to talk to her Pastor about Prop 8, to see if they could put together a group to help with the neighborhood canvassing. I was told very specifically that they “don’t get involved with Mormon causes.” I tried to explain this wasn’t a “Mormon” cause- it was a “family cause,” but to no avail. I explained about the coalition, asked her to visit the website to see who was supporting the proposition, but still- nothing. I saddens me that she was not willing to get involved in a cause of truth- simply because “the Mormons” were involved.
Additionally, my kids wanted to show their support for Prop 8. For a couple of days before the election, they went downtown in our little town to hold up signs at an intersection. My kids are 13, 12, and 8, and they met up with other kids and adults to do this. They were sworn at, told to “f” off, and someone even threw a full can of soda at my 12-year old’s head! All of this in the name of “tolerance!” Fortunately, nobody was hurt, and my kids came through the experience with a renewed vigor to stand up for what’s right no matter the consequences, or whether or not others support it. They now know what it means to “stand as a witness.”
Thank you again for this article. I appreciate knowing there are others who are willing to not only stand up for truth, but to stand up in support and protection for those who would fight for that truth, even if they differ in their doctrine.