The drama continues...

My Dad sent me some stats, (way below) and this is my response.....

Dad, I love you. i love you very much. but you guys are simply on the wrong side of history here. This is the same as women having the right to vote, interracial marriage, school segregation.

I can't believe that Mormons, a group severely persecuted would turn around and spend valuable money oppressing others. it's disturbing. how many poor Mormons could have used that 15 million for something positive and valuable. 15 million dollars of Mormon money...and for what???

i asked you a very important question that you could not answer.

i'll ask you again: 18,000 gays and lesbians got married last year. please tell me how that negatively impacted your own marriage. you may not agree morally and that is your right. i don;t agree with jehovah's witnesses but i support their right to go door to door and spread what they believe. i didn't believe you should have married Carol but i still went to the wedding, ON THE TEMPLE GROUNDS of a church that believes i should not have the same rights as straight people. i went to your wedding and I smiled and cheered and I supported you. I supported your wedding that i STRONGLY DISAGREED with. i fought hard to keep you from marrying carol but you made your own decision and I supported you. where's the reciprocation???

oppression dressed up as free speech is still oppression. voting yes on 8 was a vote for oppression. period.

everybody loses here. i've spent YEARS defending my "sweet and loving" Mormon relatives. it will be harder to do so in the future.

I'm not calling you a bigot dad but i am saying that Yes on 8 is a bigoted proposition and all who voted for it engaged in bigotry.

two weeks ago there were no armed guards on the lawn at the Mormon temple, but there are now.

sad.

i could go and on and on....and i probably will....i won;t tell you what my sign said but at least four No on 8 workers asked me to put it away, they thought my sign was too angry, and I told them to "F@#K OFF!" the crowd, of course, loved my sign.

I'm seriously angry about this dad. and the more i think about it. the angrier i get.

and you have a gay son and carol has a lesbian daughter. oy vey

you have a gay son! carol has a lesbian daughter!! and yet you both voted YES on a proposition denying rights that you and Carol both have. was it easy to do? did you even struggle with your vote?

you didn't vote to deny rights to some faceless group of people. you and carol voted to deny rights to your own son and daughter.

this is insanity. seriously.

but of course i still love you, and always will and I'm incredibly grateful for the great life you gave me. and if some nut case ever gets a proposition on a ballot trying to deny rights to Mormons I will, of course, vote NO. Cause that is the RIGHT thing to do.

love ronnie

And PS, that thing you sent me below, talking about how the MAJORITY wanted it. well the MAJORITY also wanted Bush for a second term and we all saw how well that turned out. Republicans and Democrats agree, george bush ripped this country apart! not only was it a failed presidency it was a destructive presidency. this country is a mess now. and who elected him? THE MAJORITY. So you might want to think twice before hiding behind majorities.

and how ironic that that the majority of black voters, 70%, voted in unity with the Mormon church given the churches "historically complicated" relationship with it's black members. and yes, it's odd that they support Barack and yet Barack spoke out against proposition 8.

Some days the world makes no sense. Today is one of those days.

Ronnie, I didn't compile this, but from all I have read it seems to be accurate. Love, Dad

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"And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved" (Matthew 10:22). "And blessed are all they who are persecuted for my name's sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (3 Nephi 12:10).

Apparently the following was written by a member of the Newbury Park stake:

Dear Friends,

In the aftermath of the recent election, we may find ourselves oddly on the defensive regarding our support for the Yes on Proposition 8 cause. Our young people have been especially subject to mean spirited comments by high school friends and teachers. We have nothing to be ashamed of. We did nothing wrong. In fact, we did everything that a civic minded American can and should do. I have put together a few facts that help me to appreciate our position better. For example:

1. Mormons make up less than 2% of the population of California. There are approximately 800,000 LDS out of a total population of approximately 34 million.

2. Mormon voters were less than 5% of the yes vote. If one estimates that 250,000 LDS are registered voters (the rest being children), then LDS voters made up 4.6% of the Yes vote and 2.4% of the total Proposition 8 vote.

3. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) donated no money to the Yes on 8 campaign. Individual members of the Church were encouraged to support the Yes on 8 efforts and, exercising their constitutional right to free speech, donated whatever they felt like donating.

4. The No on 8 campaign raised more money than the Yes on 8 campaign. Unofficial estimates put No on 8 at $38 million and Yes on 8 at $32 million, making it the most expensive non-presidential election in the country.

5. Advertising messages for the Yes on 8 campaign are based on case law and real-life situations. The No on 8 supporters have insisted that the Yes on 8 messaging is based on lies. Every Yes on 8 claim is supported.

6. The majority of our friends and neighbors voted Yes on 8. Los Angeles County voted in favor of Yes on 8. Ventura County voted in favor of Yes on 8.

7. African Americans overwhelmingly supported Yes on 8. Exit polls show that 70% of Black voters chose Yes on 8. This was interesting because the majority of these voters voted for President-elect Obama. No on 8 supporters had assumed that Obama voters would vote No on 8.

8. The majority of Latino voters voted Yes on 8. Exit polls show that the majority of Latinos supported Yes on 8 and cited religious beliefs (assumed to be primarily Catholic).

9. The Yes on 8 coalition was a broad spectrum of religious organizations. Catholics, Evangelicals, Protestants, Orthodox Jews, Muslims – all supported Yes on 8. It is estimated that there are 10 million Catholics and 10 million Protestants in California. Mormons were a tiny fraction of the population represented by Yes on 8 coalition members.

10. Not all Mormons voted in favor of Proposition 8. Our faith accords that each person be allowed to choose for him or her self. Church leaders have asked members to treat other members with "civility, respect and love," despite their differing views.

11. The Church did not violate the principal of separation of church and state. This principle is derived from the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, which reads, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof . . ." The phrase "separation of church and state", which does not appear in the Constitution itself, is generally traced to an 1802 letter by Thomas Jefferson, although it has since been quoted in several opinions handed down by the United States Supreme Court in recent years. The LDS Church is under no obligation to refrain from participating in the political process, to the extent permitted by law. U.S. election law is very clear that churches may not endorse candidates, but may support issues. The Church has always been very careful on this matter and occasionally (not often) chooses to support causes that it feels to be of a moral nature.

12. Supporters of Proposition 8 did exactly what the Constitution provides for all citizens: they exercised their First Amendment rights to speak out on an issue that concerned them, make contributions to a cause that they support, and then vote in the regular electoral process. For the most part, this seems to have been done in an open, fair, and civil way. Opponents of 8 have accused supporters of being bigots, liars, and worse. The fact is, we simply did what Americans do – we spoke up, we campaigned, and we voted.

Hold your heads up high – you did a great job on this most important cause. We will have more opportunities in the future to participate in our democratic process. Let's remember the lessons learned and do an even better job next time.

These are my personal opinions and thoughts; any errors are mine and in no way reflect official Church policy or doctrine.