I’m far from being a political activist, but it is inconceivable to me that anyone would deny same-sex couples the right to marry and enjoy equal protection under the law as Americans. I mean inconceivable! I have a wonderfully quirky lesbian aunt and many precious gay and lesbian friends, and anyone who wants to deny these dear folks the basic civil right of marriage is at the top of my shit list right above people who clip their fingernails at work.
Yet in the last election, voters in California passed Proposition 8, which took away the same-sex marriage rights that were (finally) granted earlier in the year. Having lived in Utah for 10 months (that was quite long enough), I wasn't surprised to learn that the Mormon Church was the single largest monetary contributor to the “Vote YES on Proposition 8” campaign against same-sex marriages. Members of the Mormon Church were strongly urged by church leaders to contribute to the Proposition 8 campaign, and the millions of dollars marshaled by the Mormon Church had an undeniable role in the measure's victory.
Baaah-sterds!
There is now a grassroots movement to boycott Mormon-owned businesses. Many people feel that by supporting such establishments, they are indirectly supporting the tenets of the Mormon Church. Bill Marriott, CEO of the Marriott hotel corporation, recently posted a blog defending his company's position. Check it out--there are a ton of interesting, thoughtful, and passionate readers' comments, though I know for a fact not every comment was published on the post. I submitted two (under different names); they didn't print the one where I pointed out that until 1978 African Americans were banned from Mormon Temples and from the "priesthood," which every Mormon male over the age of 12 is supposed to hold. (However, they were allowed to be baptized into the Mormon church and attend Church meetings--hey, their 10 percent tithing was as green as anyone's.)
What follows is something the comedian Roseanne posted recently on her blog site. Yes, we all know Roseanne is a bit of a whack job, but cut her some slack—she grew up as a Jew in Utah. There’s a joke there somewhere… but really, this is serious stuff.
My Dearest Friends,
The Mormon church was the single largest monetary contributor to the VOTE "YES" ON PROPOSITION 8 campaign.
The Mormon church gets its money from church-members and its business holdings.
Below is a list of organizations that are either owned by the Mormon church outright; owned, founded or run by Mormons in executive positions (a portion of whose salary is tithed to the church); or in which the church owns a large percentage of stock.
I respectfully ask that you carefully review this list and think twice before you financially empower these companies with your patron dollars.
PLEASE BOYCOTT THE FOLLOWING BUSINESSES:
Kroger Foods (Ralph's and Albertsons), Dell Computer, American Express, Priceline.com, Host Marriott (Marriott hotels and resorts), La Quinta Properties (t-a Quinta hotels), Jet Blue, Black and Decker, Ryder Systems (Ryder trucks), 1-80O-Contacts, K-BIG FM radio Los Angeles, Hollywood Entertainment (Hollywood Video), lomega, K-Swiss lnc., Corvis, Sky West Airlines, Central Pacific Bank, Swift Transportation, Cornerstone Realty Income Trust Inc., Cygnus Inc., Tropical Sportswear, Diebold, Williams Companies Inc., Zions Securities Corp., Dionex, Downey Savings and Loan, AgReserves lnc. (agriculture), EarthShell, Sunrider Int'l., Franklin Covey, NPS Pharmaceuticals, Latham and Watkins, Hillenbrand Industries, Huntsman Chemical, Headwaters Inc., Bain Capital, Spectra, Azul, JP Realty, Deloitte Touche, Key Corp., Zions Securities Corp., Knight Transportation, Bonneville comm., Telefonica Brasil, Apx Alarm, Micrel Semiconductor, Micro General, Merit Medical Systems, Monaco Coach, Microsemi Corp., Myriad Genetics, Novell, NuSkin, Affiliated computer services, Oil States International, AES Corp., Oakley, Avista Corp., Phelps Dodge Corp., Cadence Design
P.S. I am really, really sick of people who think their religion is the tits.
8 comments:
Holy Crap! Are all of these business really building that church's coffers? If so, I need to print it out and rethink where I shop - I HATE monopolies, and I really, really hate those whose "truth" is the be-all and end-all. Thanks for the info.
Please note that Dell did NOT take a position on Proposition 8.
Bryant at Dell (corporate affairs)
Bryant, the fact that Dell did not take an official position on Prop 8 means nothing to me; they'd be crazy to openly support it and they didn't oppose it--so what? People like me are concerned that company owners no doubt tithe 10 percent of their incomes to an organization that so vehemently opposes equal rights for all Americans.
Wow--I'd love to be able to incite the masses! I appreciate that Franklin Covey offers domestic partnership benefits. But the fact remains that the Mormon Church pumped millions of dollars into Prop 8 and Mormon business owners tithe 10 percent of their income to the church. And until 1978 black men were banned from the priesthood and were prohibited from Mormon temples, yet they could tithe their 10 percent as required.
a couple clarifications:
the Mormon Church didn't put a dime into Prop 8 (members made individual contributions based on their own choice). the money from mormon business owners goes to better causes (i.e. Katrina victims, earthquake victims in China, church building construction).
thankfully, the mormons reversed course on black men and priesthood 30 years ago. for the betterment of all involved (black and white).
are you equally angry towards those who repressed women's right to vote? or grateful that we now can?
holding any animosity towards those refusing to put a black man in the white house? or thankful that we have risen above that as well?
learn what we can from the past, use it for progress in the future. celebrate when change comes. dwelling in the past w/o looking at outcomes is worthless.
Of course the Mormon Church itself doesn't own all those companies. Perverse agenda? You poor thing.
linda lou
please know I am not TIM07. hopefully you can tell the difference in tone and respect.
regarding my anonymous posts before - here is a link directing to FranklinCovey's position on Prop 8 and same sex marriage in general. it validates some of my posts.
I hope you view it with an equally open mind (in consideration of my past posts and positions on both sides of the debate).
Thank you for allowing me to post on your blog. These issues are important to me - from all perspectives.
www.franklinplanner.com/fc/prop8
Thanks for posting the link. Your commitment to your company is admirable, to be sure.
Post a Comment