Prop 8 – Problem or Solution?
Increasingly, non- Mormons are rising to Mormon’s defense in the wake of Prop 8. Last week, K-Lo said “We are all Mormons now.” Now, this week, in his syndicated column, Jonah Goldberg says:
The argument is that Mormons used illegitimate power, in this case money, beyond their numerical standing in the population to secure victory for the measure. Golly, wealthy gay liberals would never do anything like that! I bet they’re not giving a dime to the legal effort to overturn Proposition 8.
No, it’s just that Mormons are the most vulnerable of the culturally conservative religious denominations and therefore the easiest targets for an organized campaign against religious freedom of conscience.
Now, given that Mitt Romney’s faith was unquestionably a huge problem for him in the primaries just past, one must wonder if all this bodes well for a possible future Romney run, or for Mormon political influence inside the Republican party in general? One would think it would, but….
So far, most of this is coming from NRO. K-Lo is a Romney backer as old as this blog or Hugh Hewitt. Goldberg is also a National Review guy, and after all, they did endorse Romney. So far, Rod Dreher seems to be the only non-Romney person engaging in this kind of rhetoric. Can “hidden conspiracy” charges be far behind?
OK, I can only speak for this non-Mormon, but I think it is fair to say that Romney’s candidacy had something to do with my willingness to stand with Mormons in the wake of Prop 8 – but it has little to do with the political expedient of a possible future Romney run. It has to do with the fact that through Romney’s last run, I made a number of good Mormon friends. They may suffer from bad theology (but then so does my Presbyterian pastor!) but they are good people (as my pastor) and GREAT Americans.
There is no conspiracy here, but there is a “crime.” That is that other Americans, those that have not made Mormon friends, cannot see the inherent injustice in this situation and decry it. The only thing that has happened here is, as Goldberg says, the left was “challenged democratically and peaceably.”
It does not get anymore apple pie all-American. That we should all be defending.
Posted in Candidate Qualifications, Proposition 8, Religious Bigotry | 1 Comment » | 
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The Perfectionist on 03 Dec 2008 at 3:30 pm #
How about “They may suffer from unpopular theology…”? Why build a bridge and then throw a hand grenade on it?