Salt Lake City Tribune Op-Ed Challenges Mormon Church and Christianists on Gay Marriage

Those who want to punish LGBT individuals for their refusal to conform to Christianist and Mormon religious beliefs by making us legal lepers under the civil laws continue to be numerous and, frankly, they cannot die off soon enough in my opinion. They are nasty, self-centered, falsely pious, often hypocritical individuals and amongst the religious leader set they typically crave power, control - and lest we forget, money - more than an earnest desire to actual live by Christ's Gospel message. Worse yet, in the new mantra that gay rights threaten their religious liberty, their goal is nothing less than to gut the U. S. Constitution's promise of religious freedom for all citizens. It is these forces, not the proponents of gay rights and same sex marriage who are the true subversives who threaten religious freedom. This week, the Mormon Church jumped on the disingenuous religious freedom bandwagon and an op-ed in the Salt Lake City Tribune calls the Mormon Church out on its dishonesty and duplicity. Here are some highlights:

The LDS Church has joined in a multifaith statement saying that recognition of gay marriage threatens the one-man, one-woman unions and, evidently, the very foundation of religious freedom in the United States.

Worse, "Marriage and Religious Freedom: Fundamental Goods That Stand or Fall Together" proposes that acceptance of same-sex marriage would interfere with the religious freedom of those who "continue to affirm the true definition of marriage."

Which, in my mind, is a warped assumption that if I live and worship in a manner not consistent with yours, your faith and freedom are in peril. That’s nonsense.

Which leads me to the U.S. Constitution’s 1st Amendment and its assurance that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."

When I look at all the gay couples in my life, I see commitment, shared duties, sacrifice and bounty, and nothing remotely resembling a threat to my marriage or faith. "Marriage and religious freedom are both deeply woven into the fabric of this nation," the letter says. So is individual freedom, and that’s worth protecting, too.

I am sure that the author of the op-ed will get some blow back. But often speaking the truth is not popular. Religious based bigotry and special rights fr one religious belief are wrong and they need to be loudly condemned. For too long Christianists, and yes the Mormon Church, have been afforded special rights that trample on the rights of others. Those days need to end.