Recent local news articles in the Salt Lake City Deseret News tell about a series of protests held by pro-homosexuals at or near The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints headquarters and Temple. The incidents have occurred, as reported, on private not public property.
These incidents could be viewed a highly local disturbance were it not for the overtones of religious persecution involved. Accounts of the incident leading up to the protests do not appear to differ much in the facts, but the characterization of the facts by the gay activists is passing into the propaganda stage.
The supposed treatment of the two gay men cited for trespassing on July 9th, is obviously not the issue. To give some perspective to the incident it is important to know that Temple Square in Salt Lake City attracts some 3 million to 5 million visitors a year, Temple Square is the most popular tourist attraction in Utah. By comparison, Utah's five National Parks —Zion, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, Canyonlands, and Arches— had a combined total of 5.3 million visitors in 2005. The tourist traffic on Temple Square is also more than that of the Grand Canyon or Yellowstone National Park. Wikipedia.
With all these people every year, you can imagine that the behavior of the two men must have been out of the ordinary because over the years I have seen some pretty strange people and incidents in downtown Salt Lake City. But, having been to Temple Square many, many times, I can say that the security is almost invisible.
So why the protests? It goes without saying that if these same people were protesting almost any other establishment their actions would not be tolerated. It is only because they know that in Salt Lake and with the LDS Church, they will not be publicly excoriated that they will protest at all. It is "OK" to blatantly attack the LDS Church's sacred belief's at the center of the religion because, after all, they are just "Mormons" and it is alright to turn the arrest of two drunks into a national incident because the Mormons do not accept the Gay Rights lifestyle or agenda. At its heart, the protests are anti-religious. Their ire is directed at the Church's beliefs. What happens to freedom of religion if Gay Rights activists can attack a Church for its beliefs?
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The "protesters" are very lucky I was not there, in person. If anyone, gay or otherwise, attempted to assault myself or anyone in my family (or immediate vicintity), they would have been restrained and charged with any number of felonious actions. This should not be tolerated by anyone and the Church should take immediate action to see that all who visit the hallowed grounds of Temple Square are not in danger of hate crimes toward our religion.
ReplyDeleteThis would never be tolerated at the Vatican, or any mosque, Buddhist Temple, or presumably any other Christian entity in the universe. If Mormons would attempt something this stupid, the media would have a field day. Perhaps we need to elicit the Guardian Angels, or form our own Mormon Defense League.
This is despicaple.
Fortunately, the folks who read this story, even many of the homosexuals, saw this for what it was - an attempt to grandstand gay issues by pitting them against the "evil" Mormons. That sort of thing just doesn't resonate with the American people. It didn't work in California, it won't work in Utah.
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