Monday, November 10, 2008

Boycotting the Mormons


Understandably, people are still pretty pissed about Prop 8, the constitutional amendment against gay marriage, passing in California, and some are taking it out on Utah. Apparently, the Mormon Church urged their members to bankroll the movement to pass Proposition 8, having very little sympathy for people being persecuted by the government for their non-traditional marriages.

Many Mormons are dismayed about this, including Steve Young, America's coolest Mormon. Gay rights groups have been protesting outside of Mormon Temples in California, terrifying them by dressing as large cups of coffee. Various people have been calling for a boycott of the Mormon Church, something I thought I was already doing when their missionaries come to my door. And then there are people who are apparently going to boycott Utah, a move that just smacks of cool, rational thinking, eh? Now, I'm going to have to tell people, ''No, I'm not boycotting; I just don't go to Utah because it sucks.''

Seriously, though, boycott whatever you want. Like I've said, Prop 8 strikes me as radical, unnecessary and stupid; and a Church focusing their energies on this political crusade seems like they're missing every other thing going on in the world. But, remember this, Utah boycotters- the people you are trying to persuade are those people who don't want to allow gay marriages to take place because they believe, wrongly I think, that such marriages are an attack on their religion. So, in response, you are organizing an attack on their religion. Please, think that one through.

6 comments:

libhom said...

There is no possible way to travel to Utah or patronize Mormon businesses without financing the multitude of bigoted crusades of the Mormon Church. That is an unpleasant fact, but reality often is unpleasant.

Rufus said...

Nonsense. It's certainly not the case that all Utah businesses are Mormon-run, nor are all Utah residents Mormons. Not all Mormon-run businesses are financing the bigoted crusades of the Mormon Church, nor are all Mormons- in fact, our Mormon friend Becky voted against Prop 8 and marched against it.

Let's get this straight- the Mormon Church is pushing for its members to finance these crusades. And fuck 'em. But, indeed, quite a few Mormons are opposed to this weird and stupid stance that their Church is taking- treating them all as a monolithic block because they live in Utah or believe that Joseph Smith was a prophet just increases the number of opponents the anti-Prop 8 movement has, which I suspect is the real goal here.

In politics, I believe you should try to win people over to your side. Unless you're a neoconservative, in which case you find enemies behind every tree. I don't live in that sort of 'reality'.

Holly said...

I know I'm late to the party here, but what IS an effective way of protesting Prop 8? Urge all your California friends to either not marry, or get divorced, because if gays can't marry, no one should?

Rufus said...

I do think they should make their voices heard by getting out in the streets and marching. That's fine. And I don't really see a problem with picketing Mormon Churches to show your displeasure. But I think they should stick to protesting the Church leadership, and avoid attacking Mormons as a group. People have religious beliefs for a number of reasons, few of which amount to 'hate'. I understand they're attacking gays as a group; but it's better PR to scream from the rooftops that they're attacking gays as a group than it is to go on the attack against a particular religion. It's also better karma.

Besides, advocates of gay marriage really need to get away from the religious argument. This isn't about religion; it's about licensing. Ultimately, gays want the state to give them marriage licenses. Apparently, this is not going to be settled in the courts. It's now a political matter that has to be settled by another popular referendum. In order to get rid of Prop 8, there will have to be a majority of people voting for an anti-Prop 8 prop.

So, gays need to focus on the licensing issue, and point out the absurdity of this amendment. They need to say, 'You can get a fishing license and we can get a fishing license. You can get a driver's license and we can get a driver's license. So, why is this exception fair? How does it even make sense?' If they keep the argument going on those terms, I think either people will come to see the sesibility of their argument, or they'll give up out of exhaustion. But, either way, I think they'll win.

libhom said...

rufus: Your facts are incorrect. There is no way to give money to the Mormon Church without giving money to its numerous bigoted crusades. Also, Mormonism permeates Utah so throughly that there is no practical way to keep money spent their out of the hands of the same Mormons who finance their hateful and bigoted church.

If you study history, you will find out that minorities never get any rights until they fight back against bigots.

Rufus said...

Okay, maybe so. Maybe it's impossible to give money to anyone in Utah without it going to a Mormon, and from there to the Mormon Church, and from there to its vindictive campaigns. I'm nowhere near Utah. But, what about the store down the street from me? They might well employ Mormons- should I check before shopping there? How will I know just who employs Mormons and who doesn't so that I can prevent all Mormons from making any money? Maybe we could make a list of all the Mormons in the United States and systematically target and try to impoverish them? That seems a lot easier.

I mean, please explain- how exactly will this angry crusade against all the members of one of the world's largest religions win widespread public support for the state issuing marriage licenses to gays?