Via UK Gay News, we learn that Courage California has extended an outstretched middle finger to Mormon church President/Prophet Thomas Monson.
From the The San Francisco Chronicle:
A California activist group says it will petition Mormon church President/Prophet Thomas Monson to stop his faith’s involvement in a California proposition to ban same-sex marriage.
The Courage Campaign contends church leaders have “intimidated” members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints into giving millions of dollars to the Yes on 8 campaign.
On Nov. 4, California voters will decide whether to approve Proposition 8, a constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage in that state.
In a Thursday news release, Courage Campaign founder Rick Jacobs says he’s collecting signatures and plans to deliver a petition to a church temple in Los Angeles on Tuesday.
The petition asks Monson to stop funding and advocacy for the proposition and stay out of California politics.
“We fully respect your religious freedoms, but your freedoms do not include the ability to take away rights from anyone,” the petition reads.
The petition was posted online Thursday and was rapidly collecting signatures, Jacobs said.
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The petition would be the second delivered to the church from gay marriage supporters. Last week, a group of about 50 Latter-day Saints delivered more than 300 letters and a petition signed by more than 400 members worldwide to church headquarters in Salt Lake City.
The Mormon church is part of a coalition of faiths and conservative groups providing grassroots volunteer work and financial support to pass Proposition 8. In June, a letter from Monson read from the pulpit in Mormon congregations asked members to give time and money to the cause.
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Mormons have been among the most active campaign volunteers, working to register voters and conduct voter opinion surveys. Various estimates place the financial contributions of Mormons at between 47 percent and 77 percent of the funds donated to the campaign.
Please, take a minute to visit the Courage Campaign and sign the online petition. Why?
Fight back against the lies and protect fundamental rights of Californians
It’s time for Californians to fight back against the dishonest attacks of the “Yes on 8″ campaign funded by the Mormon Church. On Tuesday, we will deliver a letter to President-Prophet Thomas Monson at the Los Angeles Mormon Temple, demanding that his church stop funding the blatant lies of the “Yes on 8″ campaign.
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We, the undersigned, call upon you to direct your church to cease funding the “Yes on 8″ campaign and to cease all forms of advocacy for Proposition 8. We ask you to stay out of our state’s governance. We ask you to respect the religious freedoms of those churches that choose to conduct same sex weddings, just as we respect your church’s right to refuse to do so. We ask you to uphold both the spirit and the letter of the California and United States Constitutions and not attempt to eliminate the fundamental rights of Californians.
Enough said. Except for the part where I say,”No on Prop 8Â still needs your support.”
Click for Printable Version
Can someone please explain to me the supposed ‘dishonesty’ and ‘blatant lies’ of President Monson and the LDS church members who support this campaign? As I see it, all LDS members raised their hands to the square as a covenant with the Lord to sustain President Monson as His spokesperson earlier this year. I didn’t hear a codicil of ‘as long as I agree with what he tells me’. Therefore, anyone who now campaigns against President Monson’s counsel is, IMO, eligible for didfellowship or even excommunication, on the grounds of apostacy. Yes, we all have the freedom to choose (to support or oppose the Prophet of the Lord) but, having chosen, we must then face the consequences of our decision. And I bet you won’t even publish this letter, because you will not have the ‘Courage’ you claim!
Susan, you’ve just made the best argument for atheism I’ve ever heard.