Picking On The Mormons (Not)

Normally I don't read Jonah Goldberg, knowing he's one of those right-wing nuts that has little use for fairness, facts or truth. But I got sucked in yesterday by the title of his piece, and I have to admit that the stupidity was overwhelming. He seems to think that those mean old gays are picking on the poor Mormons.

He was particularly upset by what he called "An Ugly Attack on Mormons" - a TV ad that was run in the final days of the campaign. He talks about a TV ad "in which two smarmy Mormon missionaries knock on the door of an attractive lesbian couple. 'Hi, we're from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints!' says the blond one with a toothy smile. 'We're here to take away your rights.' The Mormon zealots yank the couple's wedding rings from their fingers and then tear up their marriage license. As the thugs leave, one says to the other, 'That was too easy.' His smirking comrade replies, 'Yeah, what should we ban next?' The voice-over implores viewers: 'Say no to a church taking over your government.' "

Goldberg calls the ad "slander" and says it is just because "Mormons are the most vulnerable of the culturally conservative religious denominations and therefore the easiest targets for an organized campaign against religious freedom of conscience."

That's the biggest load of horse crap I've heard in quite a while. The Mormons have the right to believe whatever they want to about gays and vote however they want in any election. But that is not all they did. They intentionally jumped into the political arena.

When the church donated huge sums of money and campaigned against proposition 8 in California, they went from the religous arena to the political arena. While politics is the life-blood of our democracy, it is also a rather brutal endeavor. You cannot expect to throw a political punch and not get punched back politically.

The Mormons acted to deprive homosexuals of their right to equal treatment under the law. To now act like they're being picked on because the other side struck back is either incredibly naive or just plain disingenuous. It's like the bully who picked a fight, but wimps out when he starts to get his butt kicked.

No one is picking on the Mormons. They're just getting a little payback.