Mormon Church Hypocrisy

A column in today's Salt Lake Tribune looks at the irony - dare one say rank hypocrisy - of the Mormons who are leading the charge to persecute gays and rescind CIVIL marriage rights for same sex couples in California and Arizona. Apparently, the Mormons do not like being on the receiving end of persecution, but it's fine to persecute others who are different. Yet another un-Christian behavior from those who claim to be Christian or an alleged near approximation thereof. I guess the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints wants to try to wrench the crown for hypocrisy from the Roman Catholic Church. Here are some column highlights:

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Mormons understand a little bit about getting picked on for being different. Tales of Haun's Mill, Reed Smoot and Mitt Romney fill Sunday School and Family Home Evening lessons. Years of violence and lampooning and soft bigotry drive The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' historical narrative. Persecution is in the psyche of the people. But now the victims seem to have turned into the aggressors - and over, of all things, an alternative definition of marriage.

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"This is a church that has been persecuted for its flavor of Christianity, for its past marriage practices, for its past religious practices. And here they are turning around and persecuting another group of people," says Jay Redd, a gay lapsed-Mormon movie director whose San Francisco marriage ceremony was featured last week in Salon. "I feel like it's very shortsighted, and it's not a very Christian way of treating people."

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More than 150 years ago, Mormon settlers were driven from their homes and their prophet was killed, in part, because of their polygamous definition of marriage. After years of isolation and marginalization in the desert, the church abandoned the practice to achieve statehood, political legitimacy and validation in American society. Now, Mormons are using the same words that were used against their ancestors.

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Affirmation assistant executive director David Melson says the church has done damage to its own members and its reputation. "Win or lose, the actions of the church over the past 90 days will result in damage to the LDS Church in California and beyond from which it may take a generation or longer to recover," he says.