Should Church be used for personal political crusades...?

[_Drifting]

In Maryland two members of the Church are orchestrating support for their personal campaign to overturn the law.

WASHINGTON -- Mormons are gathering signatures to bring a referendum on Maryland's marriage equality law to the ballot in November, as the state's pro-gay marriage coalition hires a new leader and a recent poll shows more support in Maryland for the law.

The Washington Blade reports that Mormon Church members are actively working to overturn the law legalizing same-sex marriage that was signed by Gov. Martin O'Malley in March, making Maryland the eighth state to legalize gay marriage. Maryland's law will go into effect in January 2013, if the state's voters don't repeal the law in November.

The Blade published an email sent to Mormons in D.C. and southern Maryland, asking for help gathering 200,000 signatures to bring a referendum on the law to Maryland voters in November -- here is an excerpt from the email:

As you have probably heard, the Maryland legislature passed a same sex marriage bill last February. A coalition of inter-denominational churches throughout Maryland has joined together to try to get a referendum on the November ballot that would allow the residents of Maryland to vote on this bill before it becomes law. Martha Schaerr, who is a member of the LDS Church, is organizing signature collection within Montgomery County and within the LDS Church.
We need to collect approximately 200,000 signatures by the end of May. We are looking for people to gather signatures within the LDS community. If you are willing to help with this important effort please contact Martha Schaerr as soon as possible at martha.schaerr@gmail.com or Teressa Wallace at wallacemail@juno.com.

It is poignant to note that the Church has had a change of official policy and no longer see's fit to fight against same sex legislation.

Mormon Church officials told The Blade that it is not involved with the referendum effort

So, this is obviously a personal campaign driven by the specific individuals named in the article.
Martha Schaerr and Teressa Wallace.

Dale Jones, an LDS spokesperson, said the church has no direct involvement in the effort to overturn the marriage law in Maryland.
“While the Church’s position in support of traditional marriage is well established, the effort in Maryland is not being organized through the Church’s headquarters in Salt Lake City,” Jones said. “Members, of course, will make their own decisions regarding their involvement in local issues.”

So, shouldn't the Church be sanctioning these members for utilising the data held by the Church (Member e mail addresses) and using the institution of the Church, its name and its membership, to garner support for what is obviously their own personal political crusade?



http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/1 ... 21299.html

[_subgenius]

In Maryland two members of the Church are orchestrating support for their personal campaign to overturn the law.

ok, but they have other "identifiers", correct?...like they are both women...should we link it to a women also?

The Washington Blade reports that Mormon Church members are actively working to overturn the law legalizing same-sex marriage that was signed by Gov. Martin O'Malley in March, making Maryland the eighth state to legalize gay marriage. Maryland's law will go into effect in January 2013, if the state's voters don't repeal the law in November.

the Blade is a local LGBT publication....ok, so no bias is the assumption?

The Blade published an email sent to Mormons in D.C. and southern Maryland, asking for help gathering 200,000 signatures to bring a referendum on the law to Maryland voters in November -- here is an excerpt from the email:

ok, no big deal....except we are simply to take the Blade's word for it when it comes to the subtle details here? like that the email was just sent to Mormons? that it was sent to "all" the Mormons? that it was "Mormon Church members"...rather than just saying it was "2 women who are members"....gotta grab those readers, right?

It is poignant to note that the Church has had a change of official policy and no longer see's fit to fight against same sex legislation.

poignant? really?
and can you provide references to support these 2 "official policy" that you speak of ?

Mormon Church officials told The Blade that it is not involved with the referendum effort ... “Members, of course, will make their own decisions regarding their involvement in local issues.”

http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/official- ... neutrality
The Church does:
- Encourage its members to play a role as responsible citizens in their communities, including becoming informed about issues and voting in elections.
- Expect its members to engage in the political process in an informed and civil manner, respecting the fact that members of the Church come from a variety of backgrounds and experiences and may have differences of opinion in partisan political matters.
- Request candidates for office not to imply that their candidacy or platforms are endorsed by the Church.
Reserve the right as an institution to address, in a nonpartisan way, issues that it believes have significant community or moral consequences or that directly affect the interests of the Church.

AND

- Are acting solely as individual citizens in the democratic process and that they do not imply, or allow others to infer, that their actions or support in any way represent the church.
- Will not use Church stationery, Church-generated address lists or email systems or Church buildings for political promotional purposes.

none of which is transgressed by what you are providing in the OP.

So, shouldn't the Church be sanctioning these members for utilising the data held by the Church (Member e mail addresses) and using the institution of the Church, its name and its membership, to garner support for what is obviously their own personal political crusade?

None of what you say here is actually occurring, or better, have you proven is occurring.
"You can download household data for use with a spreadsheet application for church use only and not for any commercial, business, or political purpose."

this is the notice given by the church website...however, no evidence has been provided by you, the Blade, nor the Huff Post that the email list was acquired via the church website...so, once again, we see you fan the flames of "anti-church" with the flatulence of speculation.

wow, Drift...your posts have seem to be sliding lately...you used to, at least, challenge...but lately you seem to have moved from a Charlie Rose to a Jerry Springer.

[_Drifting]

Subgenius,

The Church has not been guilty of activism against same sex marriage since the Proposition 8 campaign.

Has it learnt its lesson or is there a revelation in the pipeline...?

Instead, these two ladies have decided to fight same sex marriage and are trying to solicit LDS member support.

Let's see how well that goes shall we...

[_Alter Idem]

I don't think there is anything wrong if two church members want to solicit other members to help in their crusade--as long as they aren't gathering signatures at church meetings in church buildings, I don't think there is a problem.

It's not unusual for people to try and get support from like minded community members. With the church's stance of protecting the true definition of marriage it seems reasonable to look to LDS members as those who would be willing to sign a petition that works against same sex marriage.

It seems like a non-story to me--but something that is designed to try to get people to THINK there is something wrong with their actions.

[_moksha]

Are we certain this is not just advance publicity for the national Book of Mormon Musical tour?

[_hatersinmyward]

The GA's sent Romeny's son out on a national sacrament meeting tour.

But the question for my former singles leaders is; So you know the church isn't true, how are you explaining this to the UofU Student Stake with a clear conscience? Does your "lest I slit my throat vow" have something to do with it?

So just throw some temper tantrum and tisss me out of the Stake Speed Date when you know what's going on. Some girl there told me I was one of the only guys worth talking to. Most likely its because the fake it till you make it crap had passed my bowls long ago.

[_Natsunekko]

In a nutshell, "NO. The church is supposed to stay out of politics."

That said, we lived in Arizona when Prop 8, to allow same-sex marriage, was on the ballot. Not only did I get a phone call from the relief society president telling me that I needed to go vote against this law, but it was also preached from the pulpit during sacrament meeting and someone handed out fliers in the parking lot. To be very clear, they were not just saying, "go vote, let your conscience be your guide." They were telling us specifically to vote against this proposition.

[_moksha]

Mormon Church officials told The Blade that it is not involved with the referendum effort

"Wink, wink, nudge, nudge. Say no more."