"This Just In: Mormons End Gay Marriage in California!"

This last week saw some pretty big political headlines. We received our first black president. The Dems increased their majority in both houses of congress. Mormons almost single-handedly funded the effort to thwart gay marriage in Californa. What?! I guess it's a bit of an exageration, but how did that happen? I was incredibly surprised and proud to hear that members of the Church put up somewhere in the neighborhood of 40% of the money to sponsor the campaign for proposition 8 in California.

While I was relieved to see this proposition happen, I growing more and more excited about the national perception I anticipate the America having towards the Church. Although they make up somewhere in the neighborhood of 1% of California's population, the members there did far more than any other individual group to protect traditional marriage in one of the nation's most liberal states, and in a larger sense, in the nation, because all too often, as California goes, so goes the rest of America. California is often on the forefront of what's to be expected in the rest of the country, whether it be music, style, or liberal thought. The fact that we were able to stifle this movement at the state level speaks volumes of the faithful members of the Church there and their willingness to answer the call that came from the Prophet and other leaders of the Church in recent months.

Many people, both within and outside of the Church, have criticized leadership within the LDS faith for their involvement in promoting legislation relating to moral issues. Generally these critics cite the separation of church and state and the the first amendment, which states:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,"

It is here that many of these individuals stop reading the passage, for herein lies their entire argument. Reading a little further they would find very different meaning in the words:

"or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

It is on these grounds that the Church is fully within its rights to campaign or mobilize individuals for the support of individual legislation. While tax-free status is not offered to those organizations that campaign for individual candidates, religious organizations allowed to support the passage of laws. I don't see why they wouldn't. I see churches and other civic organizations as the lifeblood of our nation. It is from these groups that our morals are formed and we gain much of our identities. Morals are often emobdied in legislation. Not so much so with individuals. Individuals change on a whim. Laws are spelled out from the moment they are written until they are revoked or altered and are to be taken at their wording. This, I believe, was the intention of the Founding Fathers and they were right in thinking so. To limit their ability to teach morals with real life implications (i.e. laws) would be to deny them the capacity to instill true values in people. Morals are the business churches are in.

My heart-felt congratulations to all of the Saints in California and those who helped. I feel very sorry that I didn't look for ways that I could contribute. I see this as the realization of prophesy that the Church will be the lone steadfast voice promoting the family in the last days. Well done.