That One Thing…
03/02/2009
There’s this thing in California–maybe you’ve heard of it. It’s called Proposition 8. I’ve been told that lots of people care about it.
Oral arguments start this week. I had almost forgotten.
Predictions?
Yeah, I think I may have heard of it. In fact I think I have heard of it every single week in church here in Utah. EVERY WEEK it’s “can you think of an example where the prophet told us to do something that was not popular with the rest of the world?”
(Yay! Prop 8!)
Every week.
No matter what the topic is.
Sorry to hear that, Gatsby. But you raise an interesting possibility: maybe “Prop 8″ will become one of the new “Sunday School answers” that we always talk about.
Maybe I need to do a post on this…
Oh. Sorry. I didn’t answer your question.
Preditiction: I predict the hearings will inspire many an upcoming Sacrament/Sunday School/EQ lesson example.
Re your prediction–I predict that your prediction will be correct–no matter what the court’s decision is.
I am too late: Gatsby has already proven my prediction. Oh well, here goes anyway:
I predict that, whatever the outcome, LDS will pretend that they are the victims in all this and will Milk it for all it is worth.
And yet, this could be a win-win for us all. Gays can get married and Mormons can increase their evidently profitable feeling of apartness, alienation, and victimization (what great fundraising opportunities!). Both communities would be strengthened. Any takers?
Sunday School Teacher: What are some way swe can strengthen our testimonies?
Class Member A: Read the scriptures!
Class Member B: Pray!
Class Member C: Support Prop 8!
Dan, Gatsby is quick like that.
I don’t know if I would go so far as to say that LDS people will play the victim card–but here we’re probably just disagreeing over what constitutes playing victim and what is simply defending your cause. It’s very easy to slip over that line.
Preston–exactly. I really do need to do a post about this.
On a serious note, I predict the court will overturn Prop 8 on grounds that if they don’t the other “oppressed” group in California will incite a riot. The court will decide that Mormons won’t riot while gays will, so they will err on the side of gays.
We don’t have Sunday School lessons on Prop 8 where I come from.
Scott,
I have clarified my point on my own blog. Let me just say that by “playing the victim”, I mean specifically conditioning your own sense of winning on another’s sense of losing, of asserting that you are the on the right side of an issue in the context where there can be only one right side.
There can be two winners or two losers: LDS and Gay both win if LDS tries to prevail but Gay does prevail. Both lose if LDS did nothing to oppose gay marriage, but it failed anyway.
By getting on the ballot and securing a win on Prop. 8, y’all have already won. Would it kill your victory in Heaven to have it unjustly overturned by a cabal of judges here on Earth?
My Prediction: The Supreme Court of California will find it unconstitutional, like it found Prop 22 unconstitutional that had the exact same text. Mormons will be torn between supporting Prop 8 and supporting the Constituion, but eventually one of the First Presidency will write a letter about the 12th Article of Faith and everybody will be calm for a while.
I assume Anonymous intended to say that Mormons might be torn between their religious understanding of marriage and its civil counterpart.
Prop. 8 itself is not holy scripture, it is an element of our civil legal process. How we vote is sacred, the rest is fully defined by purely secular means.
As such, I predict that although the disappointed side may express their dismay at the decision, I doubt that they will dispute the Supreme Court’s right to decide the matter.
It is well worth remembering that the Court has no Army at its command (fortunately), so our respect for it is much more critical than for the other two branches in defending the just rule of law in our State.
Consequently, let us hope that any civil disobedience in the matter that might arise restrict itself to opposing the Executive, not the Judicial, branch of government.
Whatever the ruling, let’s not throw the baby out with the bath water! On this, I hope on this both sides can agree.
>>I doubt that they will dispute the Supreme Court's right to decide the matter.
Hrmm. I think you underestimate the legal ignorance of many voters. There was so much public angst (not necessarily among Mormons, but in general) over the Court rejecting Prop 22 in re Marriage…I remember hearing over and over and over "How dare they overturn the will of the people?!?" Well, as you indicated, they have the right–even responsibility–to do that.
On the other hand, what if the Court upholds Prop 8? The protests and demonstrations following the vote certainly did not indicate any acceptance of the right of the people–as allowed by the Constitution–to bring such an amendment to bear. "How dare you vote on my rights?!?" and "How dare they overturn the will of the people?!?" were both war cries that reflect a rejection–or at a minimum, ignorance–of the legal framework we're working with.
Now, don't read me wrong here–I'm not disagreeing with your hopes for an outcome as agreeable to all parties as is possible–I just think that by hoping for (legal, if not emotional) understanding on the part of (potentially) disappointed parties, you might be, well, disappointed.