Proposition H8: A Woman's Shame from Silence

After the recent uproar in the religious community regarding the overruling of the unconstitutional Proposition 8, I feel the need to repost the article I wrote for facebook here. I know most of the individuals who read my blog are very religious and have very strong feelings against homosexuality, and I understand that by publicly stating my firmly-held beliefs I run the risk of being seen in a negative light by my peers, family members, and childhood friends. But when you know in your heart what is right and what is wrong, I believe that idly standing by and allowing persecution to prevail is the worst course of action.

Photographer unknown.

I logged into my Facebook account one afternoon several days ago and was overcome with an overwhelming amount of sadness and shame when I saw just how many people on my friends list were upset about Proposition 8 being overruled, and how many people saw fit to accuse the judge who overruled the proposition of being an evil man abusing his power to overrule the will of the people. I've kept my feelings on this matter silent for nearly two years for fear of how my family and religious peers would react towards my beliefs, but today I am moved to speak from both my mind and from my heart.

I was raised in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. In times of emotional and physical hardships, it was explained to me through our church's teachings that all cruel and wicked things men inflict upon one another are the results of "free will". Free will was a gift given to man from God, and with that gift came the promise that it would never be taken away from us. We would always be free to make our own decisions, even if those decisions might be interpreted as "bad" or "wrong" to some.

So, naturally, in November if 2008, my heart was crushed when I realized that 10% of my income, that I had paid diligently to my church on the first Sunday of each month since I had been eight years old, had been used to aid in act of taking that sacred gift away from gay and lesbian couples who wanted to commit to one another through the act of marriage. This gift of free will, that God had promised would never be revoked, was being denied to a people whose only crimes were loving one another and wanting the same rights available to everyone else in our country. Over $40,000,000 dollars from the Mormon church was donated to "protect marriage" and aid in campaigns to support Proposition 8, and I was forced to accept that a religion that so bravely overcame persecution with its head held high had succumbed to the act of persecuting in turn.

John 3:16 claims that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, a Son who would eventually die for all of our sins. But in November of 2008, thousands of American voters chose refusal to recognize the love, commitment and emotional bonds between non-heterosexual couples and instead chose the path of scrutiny, intolerance and discrimination. The misguided belief that same-sex couples do not truly understand love or commitment (a belief you are fortunately entirely entitled to via your gift of free will) completely disregards the fact that our country was built on the promise that our fundamental rights as human beings would never be revoked or put to a vote.

I can't tell you what to believe; that's not my job, nor is it my aim. But I would ask that you all invoke your cognitive abilities of both consideration and deliberation, and take my words into account. And then I would ask that you open your hearts and think long and hard before answering that familiar cliche, "What would Jesus do?"