rant on a soap box

i am a pretty laid-back person. most of the time. however, i am a redhead and can be quite fiery and passionate. this is one of my "fiery and passionate" moments. this subject makes my blood boil under my skin! i know i cannot change people, but for HEAVEN'S SAKE, can't they see how pathetic they are? how hypocritical? how self-centered and one-sided?

my friend's blog provoked this post. her mother-in-law sent her an email in which the following story was added:

Subject: 200,000 Gay Protesters to Disrupt General Conference

"I was speaking with a good friend today who's dad works for the Salt Lake City Police Department. My friend asked him how things were going for him at work and he said that he'd been putting in extra hours doing riot control training. He asked what on earth were they doing that for, and he told him that the entire police force was going through an additional 10 hours of mandatory riot control training because the city is bracing for an influx of 10,000 to 200,000 Gay protesters that want to disrupt this coming General Conference. I asked how dose your dad know how many people will be showing up. He said that the protest permits had already been applied for and that the police in doing a little intelligence gathering off of the groups websites, found out that they are "strenuously striving" to get as many people there as possible. The 200,000 number is the goal that they want to have on Conference weekend. But what really worries the police are that the gay protest groups have aligned themselves with a couple of anarchist groups who make it their goal in life to cause as much trouble as possible. These are the groups that show up at protests and you have anarchists running through the streets throwing bricks, Molotov Cocktails, and what not, breaking windows, burning cars and businesses, and attacking innocent citizens and by standers. Their only goal is to provoke reaction from the police and the citizenry. Can you imagine this going on while Church members are standing in line waiting to enter the Conference Center? His dad further said that the Salt Lake Police in discussing what happened in California with the police there were informed of some of the inflammatory tactics that the gay protesters used down there including ripping up Book of Mormons, having people parade around wearing only temple garments or wearing them in comb with typical homosexual drag queen clothing, WOW WHAT A SIGHT. Anyways, the police are planning on canceling all leave to have every officer on hand for the conference, and depending on how many people start showing up and call in the Utah National Guard. Unless something unforeseen happens this is shaping up to be a major event for the police, the Church, and all major news broadcasters."

freedom of speech is an important right that we have. free speech, however, is not supposed to be skewed into "freedom to torment" ... that's just not RIGHT!! The reason for me accusing people of being hypocritical is because if Jewish, Muslims, and other religious worshipers had been the people with the most funding for Proposition 8, i doubt there would have been so much attention given to who funded the campaign. misconceptions and bitter ex-members have created a disgustingly twisted view of Mormons' beliefs and worship traditions. The majority of "no on Prop 8" supporters have yet to TRULY get why the LDS church is so supportive of Proposition 8.

WAKE UP AND SMELL THE POLLUTED AIR!

you selfish people who blame the LDS church for Proposition 8 being passed and call its followers "anti-gay" people: SHUT UP. admit defeat and move on. but not before you understand this:

PLEASE take a look at this interview with Elder Wickman of the 70 and Elder Dallin H. Oaks who was a supreme court judge {and potential US supreme court judge} before becoming an apostle of the church.

the church is NOT anti-gay. we, as members of the LDS church believe that those who don't marry should refrain from having sex. the same expectation stands for those who do not marry because they have no interest in the opposite gender. the church's stand against legalizing gay marriage stems from the need to keep politics OUT of our beliefs. here is a string of events that would inevitably happen if gay marriage was allowed in California:

one) gay marriage would become legalized all over the country
two) gay marriage would become public, social issue requiring equality in all religions
three) to deny a gay couple marriage in the LDS temple could be cause for a legal suit against the church
four) because of numbers two and three the law would infringe on our rights to be married in the temple. it would be blasphemy to the Lord if gay couples were allowed to be married in the temple, hence the church-wide inability to receive a temple marriage would follow the {three} previous events.

can you just IMAGINE what a horrible thing that would be for the members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints? the highest, most important blessing in our religion would be stripped from our rights. if gay marriage is legalized to give "equal rights" to gays, OUR rights - MEMBERS of the church - would be taken from us.

SIDE NOTE HERE: since when was marriage ever a right?

i do not hold anything against those who are attracted to their same gender. i know many people who have chosen an alternative lifestyle, my first boyfriend being one of them. i still love these friends whose actions i don't approve of. they are still children of God. i am not anti-gay, nor am i homophobic. i simply desire to one day meet the man of my dreams and be married in the LDS temple for time and all eternity.

is that too much to ask? can you please understand that the LDS Church is not against GAYS? this is simply about keeping a sacred blessing sacred. NO amount of rioting, hurting, swearing, threatening, or protesting will change this.

for more information, please read/watch the following or do your own research for the real facts. thank you. and remember: i still love you.

KSL temple square protest
New York temple protest
California temple protest
Pro-Prop 8 restaurant boycott
Utah Callers Stopped
i include this to show that it was the members of the church who were so involved in the campaign, not the church as a whole.
Califonian Voter (absentee ballot) Explanation
you may not agree with everything she's saying, but i believe the main point she's trying to make is that this is not targeted to be an ANTI-GAY movement, simply a PRO-MARRIAGE one.