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I love my Temple Worthy roommate's new quote to describe this situation.
"The church has a good habit of shooting for the stars and a bad habit of shooting themselves in the foot while reloading"
This story
http://www.sltrib.com/ci_12811907?source=most_viewed
has become a real flash point both locally and within certain groups nationally and even internationally.
I'm bringing it here because it brings up so many debates at once.
First, it proves the LDS church's bigotry (this isn't a debate, it's a statement) and has revealed their bigotry (the couple was asked to leave as any couple would... except the problem is that no straight couple has ever been asked to leave Main Street Plaza for that reason, hell they're even encouraged to use the plaza for that purpose and photograph it).
Second, it brings up the debate on whether the church is wrong in their views (which IMHO they are, but I'll leave that one open for debate)
Third, property rights... yes, this is private property, but it is open to the public, and at least last time I was there, nearly a year ago mind you, there was no signage indicating that it was private property, nor are their posted rules other than a no bicycles on sidewalk sign which is very similar to the ones used by the city on city sidewalks and plazas. So, should a property owner who has chosen to open their property to the public be forced to then follow the same anti-discrimination rules that a public space would, and if they can make their own rules, should they be able to be enforced without them being posted?
Fourth, Main Street Plaza has been a point of contention for over a decade now. Salt Lakers never approved of the sale of the land to the church... the city made a compromise to appease the church and the community that they would sell the land but keep a permanent easement on the property (therefor subject to city rules and not church rules and could be reclaimed by the city at any time). The church did not hold to the agreement and started enforcing their own rules anyway. Several under the table deals and lawsuits later the city gave up the easement and made it purely private property (once again, despite the protests of the citizenship at large). Now several people are asking the city to use eminent domain to reclaim the property and make it once again the public plaza that it was supposed to be.
I am almost ashamed to say, it does bring a certain warmness to my heart to hear even the apologists (the non-mormons who always have an excuse to let the church off the hook for its acts of bigotry) are even saying "damn, you guys fucked up, you're on your own" (this has already turned into a PR nightmare for the LDS church).
"The church has a good habit of shooting for the stars and a bad habit of shooting themselves in the foot while reloading"
This story
http://www.sltrib.com/ci_12811907?source=most_viewed
has become a real flash point both locally and within certain groups nationally and even internationally.
I'm bringing it here because it brings up so many debates at once.
First, it proves the LDS church's bigotry (this isn't a debate, it's a statement) and has revealed their bigotry (the couple was asked to leave as any couple would... except the problem is that no straight couple has ever been asked to leave Main Street Plaza for that reason, hell they're even encouraged to use the plaza for that purpose and photograph it).
Second, it brings up the debate on whether the church is wrong in their views (which IMHO they are, but I'll leave that one open for debate)
Third, property rights... yes, this is private property, but it is open to the public, and at least last time I was there, nearly a year ago mind you, there was no signage indicating that it was private property, nor are their posted rules other than a no bicycles on sidewalk sign which is very similar to the ones used by the city on city sidewalks and plazas. So, should a property owner who has chosen to open their property to the public be forced to then follow the same anti-discrimination rules that a public space would, and if they can make their own rules, should they be able to be enforced without them being posted?
Fourth, Main Street Plaza has been a point of contention for over a decade now. Salt Lakers never approved of the sale of the land to the church... the city made a compromise to appease the church and the community that they would sell the land but keep a permanent easement on the property (therefor subject to city rules and not church rules and could be reclaimed by the city at any time). The church did not hold to the agreement and started enforcing their own rules anyway. Several under the table deals and lawsuits later the city gave up the easement and made it purely private property (once again, despite the protests of the citizenship at large). Now several people are asking the city to use eminent domain to reclaim the property and make it once again the public plaza that it was supposed to be.
I am almost ashamed to say, it does bring a certain warmness to my heart to hear even the apologists (the non-mormons who always have an excuse to let the church off the hook for its acts of bigotry) are even saying "damn, you guys fucked up, you're on your own" (this has already turned into a PR nightmare for the LDS church).
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