2,000 protesters marching toward me.
Of all the action our street has seen, (cars on fire, cars running into our house and the gas station, homeless men getting hit) I think Friday night takes the cake for the most action we've seen on our street. Two thousand protesters of Prop. 8 marched down our street, and we stood outside with our cameras ready.
Doug filmed it from our bathroom window, but try as I might, I could not get his video to work on my blog. Too bad--good stuff. As they walked down the street they chanted things like, "What do we want---equal rights!When do we want them---now!"
or
"Keep your hate in Salt Lake!"
Considering only 2% of the voters are Mormon, I find it quite interesting that they have picked us as their target. I'd like to see them protesting in this same way in Watts since a good majority of African Americans also voted to pass Prop 8.
Obviously, this He/She was not outside my house, but I did see people outside my house carrying signs that read, "Boycott Utah" or "Your Magic Mormon underwear is no different from my Hanes."First of all, what underwear has to do with voting, I have no idea. Second of all, why didn't someone tell me I have magic in my underwear. I would love to have my floor mopped by just a yank of my underwear.
As I look at these pictures of our temple and consider that we had our biggest guys (and a few on loan from the Tongan branch) guarding the doors to our church building on Sunday, I can't help but feel a little like a pioneer. We are being targeted as people of hate and yet we would never consider attacking people this way. I'm sorry they feel that we are attacking them by supporting Prop 8, but we believe strongly that marriage is only the way Heavenly Father planned it to be. I love the quote my friend Anne had on her blog so I'm borrowing it. It is so appropriate to use with these pictures:"Make no mistake about it, brothers and sisters, in the months and years ahead, events are likely to require each member to decide whether or not he will follow the First Presidency. Members will find it more difficult to halt longer between two opinions. President Marion G. Romney said, many years ago, that he had 'never hesitated to follow the counsel of the Authorities of the Church even though it crossed my social, professional or political life.'
"This is hard doctrine, but it is particularly vital doctrine in a society which is becoming more wicked. In short, brothers and sisters, not being ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ includes not being ashamed of the prophets of Jesus Christ. . . . Your discipleship may see the time when such religious convictions are discounted. . . . This new irreligious imperialism seeks to disallow certain opinions simply because those opinions grow out of religious convictions.
"Resistance to abortion will be seen as primitive. Concern over the institution of the family will be viewed as untrendy and unenlightened....Before the ultimate victory of the forces of righteousness, some skirmishes will be lost. Even in these, however, let us leave a record so that the choices are clear, letting others do as they will in the face of prophetic counsel. There will also be times, happily, when a minor defeat seems probable, but others will step forward, having been rallied to rightness by what we do. We will know the joy, on occasion, of having awakened a slumbering majority of the decent people of all races and creeds which was, till then, unconscious of itself. Jesus said that when the fig trees put forth their leaves, 'summer is nigh.' Thus warned that summer is upon us, let us not then complain of the heat." --- Elder Neal A. Maxwell 1978
