On its official www.lds.org web site, a letter from the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints requested the “best efforts” of Church members to support the marriage protection amendment in California. Such a statement is unusual for the LDS Church, which recognizes this as a serious moral, non-political issue:

“We ask that you do all you can to support the proposed constitutional amendment by donating of your means and time to assure that marriage in California is legally defined as being between a man and a woman. Our best efforts are required to preserve the sacred institution of marriage.”
(http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/commentary/california-and-same-sex-marriage)

The letter was read only to California congregations, but it doesn’t specifically limit the request to them; it appears on the LDS web site for anyone to read and consider. (See DC 58:27-8.)

What happens in California affects the entire US. For that reason, a few large, out-of-state donors are heavily funding the effort to make same-sex marriage the law in California. By contrast, protecting marriage is more of a grass roots effort. See yesterday’s AP news article:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/gay_marriage_money

I can’t sit idly by and watch this happen. However, as a non-Californian I wasn’t sure how to help until now.

What You Can Do

You do not need to be a California resident to make a big difference.

As I’ve analyzed this, I conclude that we must act NOW, in the next 2 or 3 days. I personally recommend the following:

1) Forward this email or blog link NOW and/or call anyone who may appreciate the LDS Church’s stand on this issue.

2) Contribute what you can NOW, even just $10 (the cost of a meal or two), at www.ProtectMarriage.com so they can finish their TV ad campaign. We only have a few days, and it all comes down to good communication. The Protect Marriage ads correct blatant falsehoods advertised by the other side that create confusion, and confusion recently defeated Arizona’s initiative. Pay no heed to smiling promises—in the end, it doesn’t matter who said or promised what—only the actual votes and laws matter. Schools must uphold and actively teach the laws. Period. (ProtectMarriage.com is officially promoted by many organizations and denominations including the LDS Church.)

3) Pray for the people of California to clearly understand the long-term consequences of the choice before them.

Additional Resources

This is a serious legal, religious, and societal threat, not an issue of personal agency or discrimination. See:

“Protecting Marriage to Protect Children” (LA Times, liberal viewpoint, Sept 2008)
“When Gay Rights and Religious Liberties Clash” (May 2008)
“Banned in Boston” (2006, very scholarly, note the last page)

See also these excellent resources, including links in the the right-hand margin:
http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/commentary/the-divine-institution-of-marriage

Please don’t let this email sit in your Inbox.

Kevin Crenshaw
From My Blog: www.everygoodthing.net

Feel the same way? Let me explain where I think this blog is headed in the months just ahead:

• Dating vs. Courting. We struggled with dating questions in non-LDS areas. Who do you date? When? Why? After much thought, prayer, and late-night discussions with more than one teenager, we’re excited about our answer. So were others in our ward and stake when they heard it. Maybe it will help your family too? (Preview: “Dating is a friend thing, courting is a marriage thing.”)
• Reviews of family-friendly technology and solutions. Keeping kids (and parents) safe takes some work nowadays, but fortunately, others have done it for us already.
• The Resurrection and the Atonement. Why was the atonement a prerequisite for the resurrection?
• Supermassive Black Holes and the Book of Abraham. (Yes, you read correctly.) Just discovered a decade ago, SMBH shed profound “light” both on the processes of galaxy formation and the Book of Abraham (cosmologically, symbolically, and especially spiritually).
• Exciting new ways to contribute to family history research. This is both for my very-extended family and everyone in general.
• Review of Ghandi: The Story of My Experiments with Truth. I recently read this and came away with great lessons about covenant making/keeping and consecration. There’s a lot to learn from Ghandi and our Hindu brothers and sisters.
• Discerning Truth. The “Mormon” Church believes in continuing revelation. However, since there is “opposition in all things,” continuing revelation implies that false revelation is also possible. How then, exactly, would we tell the difference between true and false revelation? And are there even more important considerations than that one in seeking, receiving, and following inspiration? (Yes.)
• Web site for Calvin P. and Elsie Midgley and Semilunar Biopsy Repair. We can get the word out about this groundbreaking surgery and the lives of these great people (Lake County, Illinois). It isn’t hard to do. Maybe somebody, somewhere, will pick up the ball and run with it. Without the help of those of us who know about it, those searching won’t find it, because the articles are now buried.

If any of this sounds interesting, I invite you to subscribe to this blog by clicking on the links at the very top right corner. Share your comments and thoughts, and we’ll explore these things together.