Proposition 8 Backlash

I greatly respect everyone's right to express their opinion. I also appreciate our democratic processes which allow us to demonstrate the voice of the people in the administration of our laws. This is one of the founding principles on which our country was established. However one principle that has often been overlooked is that of accepting the will of the people as long as that will does not impinge on the basic rights of others.

Our constitution, our laws and our elected officials are established by the will of the people and as the will of the people I believe it is my duty to obey, honor and sustain them whether I agree with them or not. This does not mean that I will not exercise my constitutional right to challenge and work to change the laws or officials with whom I may not agree, and this I will do following the legally established process. This is actually the first problem I have with the genesis of Proposition 8 in the state of California.

The people of California passed a law by the voice of the people that defined marriage as being between a man and a woman. An elected executive whose job it is to enforce the laws that have been enacted decided to defy the will of the people and began to marry same gender couples in a heavily publicized ceremony. It does not matter where your beliefs lie in this situation, the fact remains that someone who was supposed to enforce the laws intentionally broke that law just to prove a point, and because he was able to win the case when it went to court he faced no legal consequences.

Our Justice department is designed to protect the rights of the minority, but those in the Executive branch of government have no right to defy legislation just to promote a cause. The executive branch of government should enforce these laws and let the people take these issues up in the justice department. Talk about a waste of government money when one government entity sues another and we get stuck with the bill.

The people then proceed to pass another proposition over riding the Courts decision and this has now been taken back to the courts for them to decide the legality of it again. I am glad that these people are able to pursue all of their legal options. What has bothered me the most the past few days is the repercussions that come against those that supported proposition 8. The demonstrations and rallies are acceptable forms of free speech. I do wonder why it appears that the LDS church is the only one that is being targeted but that is their right. But when these demonstrations spill over to impeding someone right to exercise their religion (as it did in LA) than things are going too far. Even worse are these few people who have committed acts of vandalism against LDS chapels, presumably in opposition of the churches position on Proposition 8. Please keep your demonstrations within legal bounds and continue to seek you recourses through acceptable means, and if the voice of the people continue to oppose you, accept your lot while continuing to work through these legal means.

On another note, I have been skeptical of accusations of broad based media bias however I do find many instances of bias in specific new stories. In a recent story I read in the Ogden, Ut Standard Examiner there was a line that really demonstrated bias towards the LDS church. The article was about a presumed recrimination against the LDS church in Colorado. A Book of Mormon was set on fire on the front steps of an LDS Chapel. In the opening line of the story this crime was called a "bias-motivated arson." Excuse me but is not that the definition of a Hate Crime! I am not prepared to call the author of this article biased, s/he could have been trying to use flowery and unconventional descriptive language to describe the situation. To me however this downplays the seriousness of a crime that was perpetrated against a religious organization soley because it is. If anyone had called the burning of the flag at the house of a Black family after Barak Obama was elected president a "bias-motivated arson," many people would be very upset at how it is being portrayed.

Change

I know that I have said this is a place where I will talk about the Books that I have been reading but over the past couple of books I fell like I am struggling to say anything that would be worth while so I am going to follow the title of my blog much more closely. There are times when something happens, I read or hear something and I really want to gripe, complain, explain or laugh out loud at it. In short a lot of things go through my head that I want to state and usually they die there. No More! Whenever I have these intense thoughts they will now appear here!

The Second Sun (The Great and Terrible book 3)

The Great and Terrible by Chris Stewart is a series of books that piqued my curiosity when I first heard about them. For those that have heard of the Left Behind series this takes the same subject matter but addresses it from an LDS perspective. Not only is Chris Stewart LDS but he is also retired military, so many of the things that are addressed in these books are done so through a perspective that I can really relate to.

I find it very interesting to see what might happen in the future which is part of the reason I enjoy science fiction so much However when I read these books it is always with the notion in the back of my mind that I know there is no way these things will actually happen because they do not often correspond with my religious beliefs and how I understand that the last days will play out. To read a book that follows those beliefs has been very enjoyable if not a little scary.

This series starts in the Premortal life and describes some of the circumstances there in which Lucifer was thrust down to Hell. It also follows the experiences of four spirits who will have a great work to do in the last days. The second book Where Angels Fall introduces us to these characters in this life and begins to set the stage for the final war, Armageddon. These events are not only punctuated by the authors LDS views but also his military experience. These events are driven by politics and military actions which are greatly related to present day situations. A scene in which a foreign dignitary stands in front of the UN general assemble and publicly disparages the United States is reminiscent of many current events. This tie in not only makes this novel extremely interesting but frightening in that one can see these events happening any time now.

As in most novels there are some things that I enjoyed and some that bothered me. On things that I was not sure about in the beginning but grew on me throughout the books was the depiction of Lucifer and his minions tempting others. At first I thought this was weird but as things moved on I could see how this added to the mental anguish of many of the characters and it serves as a reminder of where the circumstances are heading. The thing that probably bothered me the most about this book was authors in depth descriptions of the specifics of flying airplanes. It offers a sense of authenticity but often comes off as unnecessary especially when one is impatient for the action to move on.

Overall this is an amazing story and I am very excited to pick up the next one.