Gay brownshirts???

In my previous post I noted that fascism, as an ideology, stands in strong opposition to Prop 8. The tactics of violence and intimidation used by earlier fascists were seen throughout the campaign and aftermath of the election. It seems that religious scapegoating is still a viable tactic, only this time it's not the Jews:

The outbreak of attacks on the Mormon church since the passage of Proposition 8 has been chilling: envelopes full of suspicious white powder were sent to church headquarters in Salt Lake City; protesters showed up en masse to intimidate Mormon small-business owners who supported the measure; a website was created to identify and shame members of the church who backed it; activists are targeting the relatives of prominent Mormons who gave money to pass it, as well as other Mormons who are only tangentially associated with the cause; some have even called for a boycott of the entire state of Utah.

The wisdom of hate-crimes legislation aside, there is no doubt that a lot of hate is being directed at Mormons as a group. But why single out Mormons? And why now?

Dozens of church bodies — including the Catholic Church, the Orthodox Christian bishops of California, and a wide variety of evangelicals — supported the proposition. It’s also worth considering that, while gay-rights advocates cannot discuss same-sex marriage for more than 30 seconds without making faulty analogies to Jim Crow-era anti-miscegenation laws, some 70 percent of blacks voted for Proposition 8. While there have been a few ugly racist statements by gay-rights supporters, such vile sentiment has been restricted. Not so the hatred directed at Mormons, who are convenient targets.

To date, 30 states have voted on initiatives addressing same-sex marriage, and in every state traditional marriage has come out on top. But somehow the fact that Mormons got involved during the latest statewide referendum constitutes a bridge too far? In truth, Mormons are a target of convenience in the opening salvo of what is sure to be a full-scale assault on much of America’s religious infrastructure, which gay activists perceive as a barrier to their aspirations. Among religious groups, Mormons are not the biggest obstacle to same-sex marriage — not by a long shot. But they are an easy target. Anti-Mormon bigotry is unfortunately common, and gay-rights activists are cynically exploiting that fact.

There are no websites dedicated to “outing” Catholics who supported Proposition 8, even though Catholic voters heavily outnumber Mormons. And the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is not remarkably strident in its beliefs on the subject. So far, no gay-rights activist has had the brass to burn a Koran on the doorstep of a militant mosque where — forget marriage! — imams advocate the stoning of homosexuals.

I have been asked by my students "Are you Mormon?" Coming from Utah with my last name, it's a pretty good guess that I am. This was the first semester that I was asked if I wear "the magical Mormon underwear?" My first reaction was to quietly curse Steve Young for his rather poor response to a similar question several years ago. After reviewing a friends pictures from an "anti-8" rally, and seeing that phrase more than once, I have decided to let Steve off the hook - but just for this one instance. I hope that my students only knowledge of Mormons is not only what he saw from the anti-8 thugs. Hopefully I can help in that respect.

And I always thought "gay" and "nazi" could only come together in a Mel Brooks movie,
Brad