LDS FINANCES CALIFORNIA’S DISCRIMINATORY ANTI-CIVIL-RIGHTS ‘PROP 8’ – Mormon Church Tax-Exempt Status at Risk

As many of you may be aware, The LDS church contributed a significant amount of money and effort (including alleged phone banks run from church property) to endorse the unconstitutional, immoral and highly discriminatory PROP 8 in California via its network of church, media, and community outlets enshrining discrimination under the law for thousands of Californians and their families.

Many believe the church's involvement in ‘YES ON 8’ is in violation of the Federal Tax code given the $22+ million in play for the YES campaign, $17+ million by LDS activity (totaling 70% of PROP 8 financing). These were not random donations; this was a coordinated effort to mobilize its membership to donate in their name. Mormon votes did not steal the rights of Californians. Mormon money did. They scared the Californain citizens by saying that that they would lose the right to participate in their children's education. Lies.

They also frightened Californian citizens by suggesting that the California state public school curriculum would be modified to teach gay sex education to kindergarteners. Lies.

They misled Californian citizens by informing them that churches would lose the right to free speech. Lies.

If this is the way Mormons treat gays and lesbians of California, how has America treated Mormons?

The Mormon church began in 1830 in New York. The first Mormons were persecuted by the American majority, and were compelled to emigrate to Utah where they could live unmolested, much like gays and lesbians who lived in the urban ghettos last century. Mormons had alternative views of what family meant, and were excluded and marginalized from the political process.

In their arguments against the majority, Mormon Prophet Brigham Young wrote:
“Marriage is a civil contract. You might as well make a law to say how many children a man shall have, as to make a law to say how many wives he shall have.” (Journal of Discourses, 11:268-9)

The Mormon story is only possible because our country is a tolerant and forgiving place. America believes in the rights of its citizens to determine their own fates, and grants rights to individual communities to determine their own morals and values. The Mormon people have been able to flourish because of this country's generous spirit.

But now, history has reversed, and it is the Mormons who have become the oppressor.

The Mormons began with the Boy Scouts of America, originally a children's club meant to introduce boys and girls to the natural beauty of America. Mormons took financial control of the Boy Scouts by sponsoring 28% of national scout troops. Gays and lesbians are barred from participating in this group not just in Mormon troops, but nationwide, thereby turning our children into a political football. One must also admit that they believe in God in order to become a member.

Some Mormons send their own gay teenage children to "conversion camps," where these children are forced to endure shock therapy and given psychotropic drugs. The emotional stress of such experience drives many to contemplate suicide. The Mormon Church has yet to repudiate these activities.

Now the Mormon Church has set its target on gay and lesbian adults of California. They have started by amending our constitution to deny equal protection to gays and lesbians.

Ask the Jews about how freedoms are lost. The concentration camps were not built in a national referendum. They were the product of a systemic reduction of freedoms, year after year, one at a time.
In violation of not only the principals of separation of church and state, but also in violation of the law, video footage has been leaked showing the President of the Mormon Church vehemently instructing their members to donate as much as possible, and to vote yes on 8. It was revealed to one of the news channels by a group of open-minded Mormons that were offended by their so-called leader’s words.

They have done their part and are now risking ex-communication from their church for doing so; now it is our turn to do ours. As open-minded people who believe in human rights for all, as well as the separation of church and state, the people of America would appreciate you doing two things:

1.) For a donation to the fight to overturn 8 of as little as $5, they will send a post card to the president of the Mormon church telling him that a donation has been made to this fine cause by you – IN HIS NAME. For a religion, as persecuted as the Mormon’s, to deny the fundamental civil rights of all people in the name of Jesus, who preached about loving all and stood up for all of the oppressed, is now more than a hypocrisy, but also a danger.
….Please go to http://www.invalidateprop8.org/ where you can read and send the card.

2.) There is also a movement underway to revoke the tax-exempt status of the Mormon Church. According to IRS law, "In general, no organization, including a church, may qualify for IRC section 501(c)(3) status if a substantial part of its activities is attempting to influence legislation (commonly known as lobbying)." Please check out the following site for more info: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p1828.pdf
…The separation of church and state is one of the basic principles our country was founded upon. To violate that premise, as well as the law, is an act that cannot go unpunished.
…Here's the link to the petition:http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/review-the-501c3-status-of-the-church-of-latter-day-saints-the-mormons

3.) Another option is to avoid putting more money into the church's pockets by boycotting all companies where a Mormon Church member holds an officer's position or a large majority interest. These include:
MARRIOTT HOTELS
PRICELINE.COM
ALBERTSONS GROCERY STORES
K-SWISS SHOES
HOUSE OF FABRICS
NATIONWIDE INSURANCE - Including affiliates (e.g. ALLIED)
SWIFT TRANSPORTATION
EARTH SHELL
CORVIS
HUNTSMAN CHEMICAL
OAKLEY
NPS PHARMECEUTICALS
MEGAHERTZ CORPORATION
CORNERSTONE REALTY INCOME TRUST
KNIGHT TRANSPORTATION (TRUCKING)
MERIT MEDICAL
…plus all of those other companies that are directly owned by the MORMON CHURCH outside of Utah, many of which are FOR PROFIT. If you are interested in protesting the passage of 8, or avoiding traffic created by a demonstration… This link will show you locations of future activities… www.lagaycenter.org/Prop8Actions

If we are to allow tax-exempt churches/religions to participate in the political lobbying process, then we should allow other lobbying organizations to become tax-exempt. And god knows we don’t want Big Tobacco, Big Oil & others to attain that status!

Please go to http://www.mormonsstoleourrights.com/ for more information.

If we are to allow tax-exempt churches/religions to participate in the political lobbying process, then we should allow other lobbying organizations to become tax-exempt. And god knows we don’t want Big Tobacco, Big Oil & others to attain that status!

Thank you for being open-minded and supporting the civil rights of ALL OF OUR CITIZENS! Because as we all know, our country was founded in large part to keep religion & theology from dictating the lives of all human beings. …After all… we are all human!

Show your support for equal rights and forward this to as many people as you can think of.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that ALL men are created equal."
-- Declaration of Independence of the United States of America

THE JUXTAPOSITION OF FACTS... A USEFUL DEBATE ON RACISM (BIGOTRY) IN AMERICA

A question of perspective: Obama/Biden vs. McCain/Palin. A lot of people want to say that racism plays no part in our perceptions. It has been said that if you truly want to understand somebody, walk in their shoes… So, what if some facts about the candidates were switched around? …Would the country's collective point of view be different? …Could racism be the culprit?...

Ponder the following…What if the Obamas had paraded five children across the stage, including a three month old infant and an unwed, pregnant teenage daughter?

What if John McCain was a former president of the Harvard Law Review?

What if Barack Obama finished fifth from the bottom of his graduating class?

What if McCain had only married once and Obama was a divorcee?

What if Obama was the candidate who left his first wife after a severe disfiguring car accident?

What if Obama had a long affair while he was still married?

What if Michelle Obama was the wife who not only became addicted to pain killers, but also acquired them illegally through her charitable organization?

What if Cindy McCain graduated from Harvard?

What if Obama had been a member of the Keating Five?(The Keating Five were five United States Senators accused of corruption in 1989, igniting a major political scandal as part of the larger Savings and Loan crisis of the late 1980s and early 1990s.)

What if McCain was a charismatic, eloquent speaker? What if Obama couldn't read from a teleprompter?

What if Obama was the one who had military experience that included discipline problems and a record of crashing seven planes?

What if Obama was the one who was known to display publicly, on many occasions, a serious anger management problem?

What if Michelle Obama's family had made their money from beer distribution?

What if the Obamas had adopted a white child?

You could easily add to this list... Would we be hearing a different story about each of these candidates if their skin color were switched? This is what racism can do. It covers up, rationalizes and minimizes positive qualities in one candidate and emphasizes negative qualities in another when there is a color difference. It is what makes a person of color work twice as hard as a white person to attain the same results.

…Alright. I'm going to say it, even though nobody wants to talk about it. I feel that the narrowing lead is due to blatant racism. Grampy W. McSame is such a joke that, at first, very few would consider supporting him as their candidate, not even the far right!

…Then along comes Sarah and the country witnessed a mood shift from the far right base to suddenly begin supporting McSame! Even though, typically speaking, conservatives don't respond well to women in power, unexpectedly a tremendously unqualified, terrifying woman is added to the ticket and the racist bigots finally have an excuse to hide their votes behind!

Obama should win this election in a landslide, due to his eloquence, experience & education …coupled with the incredible inadequacies of the Bush Admin; however, I feel that ignorance is now beginning to rear its ugly head. If Obama were white, he would win in the most decisive victory this great country has ever witnessed. ...But because of racism, this election is probably going to be closer than one might think. And because of this, the Republicans (along with Diebold) could eventually just steal the election anyway. Look at what’s going on in many states that carry early voting:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/26/voter.suppression/index.html
http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_10817171

It's time for TRUE Americans who really care about this world to stand up and say, “I'm not going to take this anymore!”

Take a look at our economy and to the threats that our country faces today… Then ask yourself, can I... wait, I mean... can MY CHILDREN afford to handle 4 more years of this nonsense?! So... get out the vote PEOPLE and flush this indecency down the drain to the sewers where ignorance belongs!!!

PARTNERSHIP FOR A McCAIN-FREE WHITE HOUSE - The Time To Act is Now!

http://www.mccainfreewhitehouse.org/


Not sure if you all watched the final Presidential debate last night, but if you were ever on the fence, I certainly hope you did!

Now the outcome of this campaign is up to all of us. We, as Americans, need your help to actively get the message out - and to get out the vote!

The most dangerous thing that we can all do right now is nothing. Everyone’s support and hard work are exactly what we need between now and Election Day.

While he didn't mention the middle class, John W McSame chose to repeat the same false, negative attacks that make up 100% of all of his advertising these days.

The truth is that John W McSame’s choices say more about his campaign than they do about Barack Obama. Stealing the fear-mongering ways of the Bush campaign, he has drummed up ignorance and condoned hate-speak in people calling out for Obama’s death! This is never acceptable and McSame has never ‘repudiated’ all of these attacks – just the ones he finally chose to when face to face with the mob and when pressed by the media.

…But McSame and his allies are not going to stop fighting or issuing these malicious attacks until the very end.

However, the Obama-Biden campaign has decided to do this a different way. Last night Obama talked about the real problems ordinary people face during this economic crisis and concrete ways that his administration would help to create jobs, cut health care costs, build a new energy policy and get our economy moving again in the right direction!

…But time is running out… The strength and success of the Obama campaign in these last 20 days depends on you!

We are running out of allies in this world and our list of enemies is growing stronger, we need to implement change now to help turn this ship back around!

Please help spread the word and get your friends, family & neighbors to talk about the real issues we are facing and lend a hand to help educate people on the direction we must head in order to progress as a nation and once again become one of the leaders of this global community. The one that people of other nations look to in order to help solve the issues that all of us humans (not just Americans) face today!!!

ENOUGH WITH THE HATE SPEECH AND SCARY MOB-LIKE CROWDS!!!

Rep Lewis on McCain-Palin: Sowing Seeds of Hatred & Division



Down in numbers, the McSame campaign has decided to take the low road and has gotten down & dirty. Much of this hatred was fueled by Caribou Barbie, McSame and other people involved with the campaign. As the saying goes, “Desperate times call for desperate measures" and this is becoming increasingly evident in mob-like showings along the Presidential Repub campaign trail, while the conservative faithful grow weary & frustrated that Obama’s lead in the polls is growing daily.

A man at a McSame rally in Waukesha, Wisconsin directed hostility toward Obama by saying, "When you have an Obama, Pelosi and the rest of the hooligans up there going to run this country, we have got to have our head examined. It's time that you two are representing us, and we are mad. So, go get them.”

Another man said, "I'm mad. I'm really mad. And what's going to surprise you, it's not the economy. It's the socialists taking over our country.”

One man, at Thursday's rally, was more pointed, saying, “And we're all wondering why that Obama is where he's at, how he got here. I mean, everybody in this room is stunned that we're in this position.”

One attendee at a campaign event in Jacksonville, Florida, Tuesday shouted out "treason." And at another rally in the state Monday, Caribou Barbie’s mention of the Obama-Ayers tie caused one member to yell out: "kill him" -- though it was unclear if it was targeted at Obama or Ayers.

At several recent rallies, Caribou Barbie has stirred up crowds by mentioning the "liberal media." Routinely, there are boos at every mention of The New York Times and the "mainstream media," both of which are staples of her stump speech.

Some audience members are openly hostile to members of the traveling press covering Palin; one crowd member launched a racial epithet at an African-American member of the press in Clearwater, Florida, on Monday.

At a McCain rally in New Mexico on Monday, one supporter yelled out "terrorist" when McCain asked, "Who is the real Barack Obama?" McCain didn't respond.

And most recently, at a rally in Minnesota on Friday October 10th, a woman told McCain: "I don't trust Obama. I have read about him and he's an Arab."

McCain shook his head and said, "No ma'am, no ma'am. He's a decent family man... citizen that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues. That's what this campaign is all about."

One man at the rally said he was "scared of an Obama presidency." McSame later told the man he should not fear Obama.

"I want to be president of the United States, and I don't want Obama to be," he said. "But I have to tell you, I have to tell you, he is a decent person, and a person that you do not have to be scared as President of the United States."
McCain's response was met with boos from the crowd.

After numerous days of headline-grabbing rage directed at Barack Obama by some McSame campaign rally attendees, Rep John Lewis issued the following statement:
"What I am seeing reminds me too much of another destructive period in American history. Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin are sowing the seeds of hatred and division, and there is no need for this hostility in our political discourse. George Wallace never threw a bomb. He never fired a gun, but he created the climate and the conditions that encouraged vicious attacks against innocent Americans who were simply trying to exercise their constitutional rights. Because of this atmosphere of hate, four little girls were killed on Sunday morning when a church was bombed in Birmingham, Alabama.”

I believe that only because McSame’s back was up against a wall, he decided to defend this poorly directed anger. I will give him some credit for this, because had he not, he would have easily written his permanent history as an instigator to cultural hatred.