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BYU Universe letter on why LDS supported Prop 8
I enjoy and agree with this student's observation. At least he admitted the truth of the situation.
From the BYU Universe: http://universe.byu.edu/node/10417
From the BYU Universe: http://universe.byu.edu/node/10417
Viewpoint: Defending Proposition 8 — It’s time to admit the reasons Tue, 09/07/2010 - 00:35
By CARY CRALL
Perry v. Schwarzenegger, the recent United States District Court case that overturned Proposition 8, highlighted a disturbing inconsistency in the pro-Prop 8 camp.
The arguments put forth so aggressively by the Protect Marriage coalition and by LDS church leaders at all levels of church organization during the campaign were noticeably absent from the proceedings of the trial. This discrepancy between the arguments in favor of Proposition 8 presented to voters and the arguments presented in court shows that at some point, proponents of Prop 8 stopped believing in their purported rational and non-religious arguments for the amendment.
Claims that defeat of Prop 8 would force religious organizations to recognize homosexual marriages and perform such marriages in their privately owned facilities, including LDS temples, were never mentioned in court. Similarly, the defense was unable to find a single expert witness willing to testify that state-recognized homosexual marriage would lead to forcing religious adoption agencies to allow homosexual parents to adopt children or that children would be required to learn about homosexual marriage in school.
Four of the proponents’ six expert witnesses who may have been planning on testifying to these points withdrew as witnesses on the first day of the trial. Why did they go and why did no one step up to replace them? Perhaps it is because they knew that their arguments would suffer much the same fate as those of David Blankenhorn and Kenneth Miller, the two expert witnesses who did agree to testify.
Judge Vaughn Walker, who heard the case, spent 11 pages of his 138-page decision meticulously tearing down every argument advanced by Blankenhorn before concluding that his testimony was “unreliable and entitled to essentially no weight.” Miller suffered similar censure after it was shown that he was unfamiliar with even basic sources on the subject in which he sought to testify as an expert.
The court was left with lopsided, persuasive testimony leading to the conclusion that Proposition 8 was not in the interest of the state and was discriminatory against gays and lesbians. Walker’s decision is a must-read for anyone who is yet to be convinced of this opinion. The question remains that if proponents of Prop 8 were both unwilling and unable to support even one rational argument in favor of the amendment in court, why did they seek to present their arguments as rational during the campaign?
It is time for LDS supporters of Prop 8 to be honest about their reasons for supporting the amendment. It’s not about adoption rights, or the first amendment or tradition. These arguments were not found worthy of the standards for finding facts set up by our judicial system. The real reason is that a man who most of us believe is a prophet of God told us to support the amendment. We must accept this explanation, along with all its consequences for good or ill on our own relationship with God and his children here on earth. Maybe then we will stop thoughtlessly spouting reasons that are offensive to gays and lesbians and indefensible to those not of our faith.
Cary Crall is a senior from Temecula, Calif., majoring in neuroscience and minoring in mathematics. He loves the Great Gatsby and wearing suspenders.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by MikeUtah on -
The OP above contains the full text as found in the Daily Universe. You can also read the original article that was first rejected by the editor here: http://usu-shaft.com/2010/byu-censors-letter-to-the-editor-critical-of-prop-8/
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Permalink Reply by MikeUtah on
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Here's a statement explaining the reason they removed the article: http://universe.byu.edu/node/10454
Statement on Viewpoint Wed, 09/08/2010 - 16:02
The Daily Universe made an independent decision to remove the student viewpoint titled “Defending Proposition 8” after being alerted by various readers that the content of the editorial was offensive. The publication of this viewpoint was not intended to offend, but after further review we recognized that it contained offensive content.
This is consistent with policy that The Daily Universe has, on rare occasions, exercised in the past.
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Permalink Reply by Sweet Pea on -
Whew! thank goodness that the DU makes every effort to keep it's little campus world from feeling any discomfort or offense. I guess they are the doing their bit as self-appointed guardians of offense at the Lord's university because we all know that being "offended" is the number one reason why people leave the church. They call themselves journalists? Get real.
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Permalink Reply by Don on -
Ya know. I began to notice the LDS mind controll issues almost immediately when I joined the church. I am so glad I told them to go take a hike. This says this and it means this to the uninspired, but all of us really know it means this...... Blue is green is orange, and if you pray about it, well, it becomes polka dots.
We all have the right to think. I mean to process information, to think, to use our minds. Any institution that teaches you to not listen to your own mind is full of fertilizer. We have the right to use our minds, to think independently and not follow the herd over the cliff.
Sorry old dudes in Salt Lake. BYU was nothing more than a PEP RALLY for the LDS Crutch. The Junior Companions were running for Senior. The Seniors wewre running for District Leader, the District Leaders were running for Zone Leader and the Zone Leaders were running for AP. ...and so it went because if you listened to the Spirit you were rewarded with progress. Such a goofy idea. My Mission was mind programming to the max as Mission Presidents were running for GA positions. The GA guys were running for the Twelve, and the Twelve were running for the First Presidency. It was like a political party.
Don in Vegas
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Permalink Reply by MikeUtah on
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The Salt Lake Tribune has now published an article about this disappearing article: http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/home/50259647-76/campaign-rolly-byu-cr...
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