Mormons and Proposition 8: PR Disaster and Election Fraud?

I must say that I am somewhat enjoying seeing the Mormon Church and its sheep like followers reeling from the backlash from the Mormon role in passage of Propostion 8. On the legal front, both the Salt Lke Tribune and 365gay.com are reporting that the State of California is going to move forward with an investigation of possible election fraud by the Mormon Church. Not only would a finding of fraud cost the Mormon Church money in terms of fines, but it would lay a great groundwork for further backlash against Mormons in general. I cannot think of a more deserving bunch to suffer the consequences of their hate based actions. Didn't the Church leadership ever stop to think that actions have consequences and not always the ones expected? Here are some highlights from the Salt Lake Tribune:

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(San Francisco, California) California officials have begun an investigation into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints to see if it broke the law during the campaign for a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. The California Fair Political Practices Commission said it wants to determine if the Church accurately described its role in the battle over Proposition 8.

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The Church put an estimated $25 million into the battle to end gay marriage in California. If the Commission finds the Church broke state election laws, it could be fined up to $5,000 per violation. The Commission also could file an additional civil lawsuit. Porter said, seeking remedies up to three times the amount that was misrepresented or misreported.

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In terms of other bad PR being reaped by Mormons, the Salt Lake Tribune also has a story that looks at the negative experience that Mormons across the country are enduring. One would think that the allegedly infallible Church leaders might have foreseen some of this. Personally, I hope that backlash only gets worse. Here are some highlights.

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Although they live a continent away from California, LDS Church members Gregory and JaLynn Prince, of Washington, D.C., still have felt the backlash from their church's involvement in the traditional marriage initiative known as Proposition 8. Their daughter, Lauren, a Boston University student, has lost friends over the issue, while their son, an LDS missionary in San Bernardino, Calif., has had a disproportionate number of potential converts cancel appointments.
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About two weeks ago, during a first-ever class on Mormonism at Wesley Theological Seminary, where the Princes have built bridges for years, students pointedly asked them: "What was your church thinking?" "We are not taking sides on the issue, but the way this was done has hurt our people and the church's image," JaLynn Prince said. "It reminds me of the naive public relations strategy we had regarding the Equal Rights Amendment." In some minds, the so-called "Mormon moment" heralded at the start of 2008 has stopped short. Now, angry opponents of Proposition 8 are demonstrating at Mormon temples, accusing the church of being anti-gay.

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The Mormon push for Proposition 8 reinforces what people already think of Mormons, he [Mark Silk, professor of religion in public life at Trinity College] said, "that they have a lot of money and are willing to work for a socially conservative cause." That image may hurt the LDS Church with a wide swath of the American public. Mark Silk, professor of religion in public life at Trinity College in Hartford, Conn., thinks the visceral opposition to Proposition 8 is much more consequential for the LDS Church than either the Romney campaign or the perceived association with polygamy.

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It is not clear, however, whether the LDS Church will soon jump into another political fray. "Politics is a tough game, especially at this visceral level where one side is talking about religion and the other about rights, " said Gordon, the Penn scholar. "I would be surprised to see them do this again. They really need to heal some wounds."