On Sun, 05 Jul 2009 22:57:23 -0700, Chambers wrote:

> Jim Henderson wrote:
>> Um, maybe that's what they want people to believe, but the Church
>> itself is credited for donating just over $55,000.  That's in the
>> Church's name.
> 
> Like I said, I was active for more than 25 years, and that's the first
> time I heard of them taking a stance on a specific piece of
> legistlation.

Here's a second:  They took a position (and were involved in) the 
drafting of the new legislation concerning "private clubs" here in Utah.

The church is pretty active in local politics and lawmaking.  I've been 
here in Utah for about 15 years now and the influence is very apparent.  
Maybe it's not so obvious from the inside looking out, but from the 
outside looking in, it's really obvious.

>> Fact of the matter is that for out-of-state contributions in support of
>> Prop 8, Utah ranked 1st with more than 50% of out-of-state
>> contributions.
> 
> That doesn't surprise me.  A large portion of the population of Utah is
> comprised of active LDS members, and the LDS Church (as opposed to, for
> instance, Catholicism) has always inspired more activity than other
> churches (for instance, the practice of going to Church on Easter and
> Christmas, but avoiding it the rest of the year, is rather uncommon
> amongst Mormons, despite being near-epidemic amongst Catholics).

The surprising thing is that in the area here in Salt Lake City, the 
population is a lot more diverse than in Utah County or rural parts of 
Utah.  Salt Lake City is actually supposed to be one of the most "gay 
friendly" places to live, so I've heard.

The thing that the Church has done very well is to make church a 
community thing.  At work I often hear my coworkers talking about the 
things they did with their ward over the weekend.  There is definitely a 
strong sense of community - if you're a member.  Non-members are not ill-
treated of course, but there is nevertheless a sense of exclusion.

>> Remember that this is a church that has repressed women since its
>> inception and minorities until relatively recently.
> 
> ?  You mean the Church whose members were the first to extend the right
> to vote to women?  (Utah gave suffrage several decades before the rest
> of the nation).

Let's ask the women in the church who are in leadership roles what they 
think, shall we?

Oh, wait, there aren't any.  It's asserted that leadership in the church 
is for males only.

>> It's also highly ironic that the Church's historic "marriage" is
>> polygamistic (still practiced by some sects,
> 
> Still practiced by excommunicated members.  There are no "sects" of the
> LDS Church practicing polygamy... whenever anyone is discovered
> practicing it, they are excommunicated immediately.

I stand corrected, but that also ignores the history of the Church and 
what was "traditional" from the church's point of view.  How many wives 
did Joseph Smith have again?

Jim

Post a reply to this message