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SALT LAKE CITY -
The anti-Mormon backlash against Proposition 8 supporters is analogous to the treatment of Southern blacks during the civil rights movement, said a high-ranking leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Tuesday. Elder Dallin H. Oaks, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, a church governing body, made the analogy during a speech delivered at Brigham Young University-Idaho, a church sponsored institution.
The LDS apostle did say that anti-Mormon incidents after Proposition 8 are not as serious as discrimination in the South, but defended the analogy.
"People who asserted one position on an election in California were punished," said Oaks. "Some of them were fired from their jobs, some had their places of worship desecrated with vandalism."
The analogy by Oaks comes after the Church's involvement in the pro-Proposition 8 coalition in California. Many Church members in the state faced persecution from Proposition 8 supporters in the workforce as well as through several acts of vandalism on LDS meetinghouses in the area.
The analogy in Oaks' speech has sparked some debate already in Utah. The NAACP in Salt Lake City said it was not appropriate for Oaks to make the comparison.
"I think that a lot of times that people don't stop and think because they have not had to walk in the shoes of African Americans," said Jeanetta Williams, President of the NAACP Salt Lake Branch.
Will Carlson, public policy director for Equality Utah, a gay rights group in Salt Lake City, agreed with Oaks that religious freedom should be protected, but disagreed when Oaks referred to gay marriage in his speech as an "alleged civil right."
"We don't feel like the LDS Church should be targeted just like we don't feel like gay or transgender people should be targeted," said Carlson.
Despite the controversy, Oaks stressed the importance of his speech was to bring the message across that everyone should be allowed to practice religion without intimidation. Oaks said, "We must insist on our constitutional right and duty to exercise our religion, to vote our consciences on public issues and to participate in elections and debates in the public square."
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The LDS apostle did say that anti-Mormon incidents after Proposition 8 are not as serious as discrimination in the South, but defended the analogy.
"People who asserted one position on an election in California were punished," said Oaks. "Some of them were fired from their jobs, some had their places of worship desecrated with vandalism."
The analogy by Oaks comes after the Church's involvement in the pro-Proposition 8 coalition in California. Many Church members in the state faced persecution from Proposition 8 supporters in the workforce as well as through several acts of vandalism on LDS meetinghouses in the area.
The analogy in Oaks' speech has sparked some debate already in Utah. The NAACP in Salt Lake City said it was not appropriate for Oaks to make the comparison.
"I think that a lot of times that people don't stop and think because they have not had to walk in the shoes of African Americans," said Jeanetta Williams, President of the NAACP Salt Lake Branch.
Will Carlson, public policy director for Equality Utah, a gay rights group in Salt Lake City, agreed with Oaks that religious freedom should be protected, but disagreed when Oaks referred to gay marriage in his speech as an "alleged civil right."
"We don't feel like the LDS Church should be targeted just like we don't feel like gay or transgender people should be targeted," said Carlson.
Despite the controversy, Oaks stressed the importance of his speech was to bring the message across that everyone should be allowed to practice religion without intimidation. Oaks said, "We must insist on our constitutional right and duty to exercise our religion, to vote our consciences on public issues and to participate in elections and debates in the public square."
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FOLLOW US ON TWITTER! @fox13now
