The Prop 8 backlash and the Mormon Church

By the end of the Prop 8 campaign in California, there was a growing perception that the Yes on 8 campaign was largely Mormon-funded and Mormon-led. Fair or not, this was the perception and indeed it became the so-called conventional wisdom. It is true that a substantial amount of money raised by the campaign came from Mormon donors. It is also true that the church mobilized congregations in California and, for a time, in Utah to make phone calls and volunteer for the campaign. However, there were obviously many other groups affiliated with the Yes on 8 campaign, and donors were from all different religious backgrounds. Even more obvious is that it took 52% of Californians to actually vote for Prop 8 for it to pass. Mormons couldn't pull that off on their own.

Well, Prop 8 passed, eliminating the right of gays and lesbians to marry, and there appears to be a significant backlash now against the church. How long it will last is unclear. What this means for the church is unclear. Like I said - fair or not, there is a perception that the church was instrumental in the success of Prop 8. And people are mad. Really mad.

Protests outside the Salt Lake City temple and Los Angeles temple are either planned or have occured. Police have been standing guard on the lawn of the LA temple. I've read angry blog posts asking readers to boycott Mormon-owned businesses. I've read some pretty angry stuff. And there's a particularly nasty ad showing Mormon missionaries going into a lesbian couple's home and destroying their marriage certificate.

What's not getting on the news are the quieter voices of gays and lesbians that aren't out there protesting but just expressing the pain and their sadness that their fellow Calfornians would deem their relationships to be second-class. I've tried to put some of those voices on my blog in recent days.

People inside the church are hurting, too. I have many Mormon friends that are disappointed and confused. The church they love and support chose to engage in a nasty campaign to eliminate rights.

Is the church now reaping what it's sown? Will there be public sympathy for the church and a backlash against supporters of same-sex marriage? Or will public opinion turn on Mormons? Time will tell. Emotions will certainly die down somewhat, but I suspect that there will be some long-term effects.

This whole thing sucks. It just sucks that this ever happened. I just hate to see police outside the LA temple. And I know so many goodhearted members of the church. I hate to see the way Mormons are been portrayed by some.

Unfortunately, the temple protests and boycotts and whatever else aren't going to change Mormons' hearts and minds. You have to understand that this is precisely the sort of thing that feeds into the Mormon "us vs. them" mentality and just reinforces the idea that it's Mormons up against a wicked world that doesn't heed God's counsel. Mormons sort of thrive on persecution. It's in their history and it's almost a matter of pride.

Obviously, I don't like that there are guards at the LA temple, and that there are some seriously angry people out there. The church has become something of a scapegoat. Like I said, there were other religious groups behind Prop 8, and obviously it was the California electorate that ultimately passed Prop 8.

But can you blame folks were being angry? Can you? The fact is that a Utah-based church mobilized its members to support and fund a ballot initiative in another state that took away existing civil rights. See why that might upset people?

This whole thing just sucks. Seriously. Do you think maybe someone at that big building in downtown SLC might be regretting this just a little bit right now?

On the issue of public opinion toward the church, it seems that those that would be sympathetic to the church and its new-found persecution are folks that don't like the church much to begin with (i.e., evangelical Protestants), so I don't know how much inroads the church will make there. But mainline Protestants and moderate Catholics, as well as more secular and generally well-educated liberals will be pretty turned off by the church's involvement in this. Yes, there may be of these folks that oppose same-sex marriage, but they probably don't think we should be doing things like Prop 8 to stop it. I think this is really significant. I've actually seen survey data (from Pew) that shows that mainline Protestants and the non-religious have more favorable attitudes toward Mormons than evangelicals do, and these are precisely the folks that would be turned off by the church's involvement in Prop 8. In some people's minds, the church might go from that church with that neat choir and an admirable lifestyle to that anti-gay church that helped take away gays' right to marry.

That's why I say think it will be kind of polarizing. Some people will identify with the Mormon church on this and kind of rally to their support, but I think that it will turn off a lot of people. Opposition to same-sex marriage isn't universal in the U.S., and most Americans support strong civil liberties and protections for gays and lesbians.

Finally, I think one Mormon blogger has some really spot-on points about some of the longer-term consequences for the church because of its involvement in Prop 8. It's worth a read. Though, I should mention that his second consequence is borders on the ridiculous. But his other two seem quite accurate. And it's not a positive outlook.

All in all, I'm just sad for everybody. Nobody won on Tuesday.