Hey, Mormons! Your Yes on 8 Pals Don't Like You!

During the Yes on 8 campaign, Mormons got used like an ugly chick by a sleazy rock band--it was fine for her to pay for rent, food and gas, and provide certain services, but when it comes time for the record release party, she won't be on the list.

The campaign to stop gays from getting civil rights made for some very strange bedfellows. A number of religious groups don't consider Mormons to be Christians, and have gone so far as to ban their kids from playing high school league sports with LDS kids and implying Mormons are darn near Satanists. So wait--gays are worse than Satanists? Lol, wut?

But many of denominations are more than willing to overlook these divergences of faith and use the "non-Christian" LDS for money and manpower to suppress gays.

Take a look at the ironically named AbovetheHate.com to see who signed this online thank-you petition to Latter Day Saints' President Thomas S. Monson which expresses:

deep gratitude to you and the entire LDS community for the large and impressive contributions of your church and its members in protecting marriage in California and Arizona.

Then take a look what the signatories say about Mormons.

*Chuck Colson, Chairman, Prison Fellowship:

Mormonism either affirms historic Christianity, or it doesn't. Since it doesn't, it can't call itself Christianity -- a fact that all the good will and public relations in Utah can't change.

*Richard Land, president Southern Baptist Convention Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission and numerous other signatories from the Southern Baptist denomination signed the thank you petition. But the SBC document The Truth About Mormonism, What You Haven't Been Told says:

One could go on and on about these teachings that clearly show the non-Christian nature of the LDS Church...The Mormon Temple Ceremony compares quite precisely with the Masonic Ceremony- signs, tokens and penalties included. Joseph, Hyrum , Brigham, and others, were Masons. (Cult experts consider Masonic religion to be a satanic Cult.)

*James Dobson gave thanks, despite--according to the Boston Globe--a faith guide issued by Dobson's Focus on the Family declaring that:

God cannot be identified . . . with the Mormon religion's notion of god.

Focus on the Family's public policy expert Tom Minnery, one of Dobson's spokesmen lied about Mormons in a 2008 FOTF voting guide:

Mitt Romney has acknowledged that Mormonism is not a Christian faith, and I appreciate his acknowledging that.

*Catholic clergy, congregations, and individual parishioners were grateful, yet:

The Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith declared that baptisms in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are "not the baptism that Christ instituted."

The ruling was a departure from the Catholic Church's usual practice of recognizing the baptisms of converts from most other churches. The Vatican held that the Mormon view of the nature of God was too different from Catholicism's.

*Evangelical Christian congregations said thanks, but evangelicals associated with the Shirley Dobson, wife of Focus on the Family's Rev. James Dobson, have barred Mormons from speaking at their proceedings. Media Matters reports that evangelist Pat Robertson's Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) identified Mormonism as a cult, quoting from 1992 CBN pamphlet titled "Cults" that reportedly declared:

A cult is any group that has a form of godliness, but does not recognize Jesus Christ as the unique son of God ... One test of a cult is that it often does not strictly teach that Jesus is the only begotten Son of God who Himself is God manifested in the flesh ... Christian-oriented cults include the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or Reorganized Church of Latter Day Saints (Mormons)...

And just this week, MyFoxNews Kansas City reported that the overwhelming majority of athletic directors at the evangelical Missouri Christian School Athletic Association member schools agree that Mormons, Catholics or Episcopalians should not be members.

Off camera one man told us the statement of faith was adopted because the majority of schools are Evangelical and they don't want their students to play against students who they don't consider to be Christian.

What does the Bible say about hypocrisy?

Follow Lisa Derrick on Twitter: www.twitter.com/lalisa93

Comments

[JayJonson]

01:40 PM on 12/09/2008

It is interesting that the Mormons once again are playing the "victim" card. If one didn't know better, one would think that the innocent, loving Mormons are being persecuted by the evil homosexuals just because they disagree with their religious beliefs. The facts are far different. It is the Mormons who routinely persecute homosexuals, excommunicating them, subjecting their gay children to "aversion therapy," and working feverishly to deny legal rights to homosexuals. Their funding of Proposition 8 is only their latest foray into the political fray against equal rights for homosexuals. What makes the campaign against marriage equality so egregious is that it was an entirely deceitful, fear-mongering campaign. It is time to fight back against these homophobes and their fellow travelers.

[taskboy]

11:30 PM on 11/30/2008

The LDS Church hasn't learned it's lesson from interactions with the GOP. The Mormons are some of the most loyal Republicans out there but the faith is treated like leprosy when an actual Mormon is on the ticket. I know many active LDS who are still smarting from the reception other Repubs gave Mitt Romney.

So now mainstream Christianity is saying "thanks for pushing prop 8 over the finish line- but your still a cult." The LDS have their own reasons for supporting 8 but is also always looking for approval from the larger community- both religious and political. And it seems there usually disappointed.

[JimMan35]

03:38 PM on 11/30/2008

Interesting photo. That is the "Jesus Wept" statue that is across the street from the OKC Bombing Memorial site. I'm not even a christian and yet I was always moved when I passed by that statue. I think any compassionate person would turn away and cover their face in sadness when faced with the wave of ha te that was the yes on 8 crew. Hiding their h ate in lofty fake principals didn't work. Not really an act of terrorism, but a religious attack nonetheless.

[halleyscomet]

02:54 PM on 11/30/2008

Mormons can't define their reasons for considering homosexuality to be a sin...at least not in the context of anything that Christ ever said about it. The apostle Paul, whom many regard as the Ted Haggard of his time, spoke out against homosexuality in the New Testament, but Christ himself never uttered a word about it. Mormons seem to be content with validating their opposition to gay and lesbian rights through Old Testament rantings of ancient desert tribes or those of a sexually repressed apostle. Perhaps they should consider changing the name of their church to The Church of Paul of Latter Day Saints or The Church of Leviticus of LDS.

Proposition 8 has divided the Mormon Church down the middle...bigots and homophobes to the right, Christians to the left, please.

[GardenCatFM]

07:23 PM on 11/28/2008

Do you really think that Mormons care if the so-called Christian community accepts them or not? They took a stand in defending marriage between a man and a woman because of their deep beliefs in marriage as an eternal institution, not because they wanted to be liked by others. Since when have disciples of Christ been popular in the world? They do what they do because they believe that there is a God, who directs this world and has a wonderful message for all mankind. They are used to being rejected by those who don't believe as they do, and yet they continue to hold on to those beliefs, no matter how they are ridiculed, threatened, called names, or hated. Their message is one of love, unity, and hope; while we now see the message of those who opposed them on this issue is one of hate, intolerance, and physical violence. Which group has behaved better? Really, be honest with yourself and decide which group you would would rather be associated with.

[blindjester]

07:06 PM on 11/29/2008

I don't think you understand the word "intolerance."

Conditional love isn't love. It's extortion.

[carsntrucks]

10:37 AM on 12/11/2008

I don't think you understand the word "love".

Love isn't blindly permitting people to do whatever they want even if it's wrong. That might be the M.O. Mormons are operating under.

[PirateRo]

01:21 PM on 11/28/2008

Indeed, I agree - who cares that some delusion-toting, ignorant fool desperately fleeing his/her medication claims one magician is better than another? The real concern is that these people are sufficiently stupid and permit themselves to be used for politcal purposes.

A big plus though is that they let more reasonable people follow the links back to the puppetmasters.

And that's really when things become entertaining. Not the zombie masses of useful idiots but the hunt for the cowards manipulating them behind the scenes.

[blindjester]

12:12 PM on 11/28/2008

Listening to one religious group tell another religious group they aren't authentic is like listening to flat earthers argue with holocaust deniers.

Actually, it's probably a bit more like listening to little children argue about the proper rules of hide and seek.

"It's 'Ollie ollie oxen free...'"

"It's 'come out, come out wherever you are...'"

"Let's fight!"