Utah politics

I have to confess, I haven't been paying that close attention to Utah politics. When I first heard of the Common Ground initiative, my first thought was that it didn't really stand much of a chance of passage. I fact, I'm not even sure if its authors felt it really stood a chance - but were using this to make a point.

To be clear, the LDS church never claimed to support granting certain rights to same sex couples - what was said is:

... the Church does not object to rights for same-sex couples regarding hospitalization and medical care, fair housing and employment rights, or probate rights, so long as these do not infringe on the integrity of the traditional family or the constitutional rights of churches. [emphasis added]

I interpret 'not object' to mean this is a battle the church chooses to not get involved in - and their silence during this whole common ground initiative supports that view.

Although, based on recent commentary, I'm reminded of something I stumbled upon in my web surfing a while back: How To Write An Anti-Gay Tract In Fifteen Easy Steps by Jim Burroway. The final step really strikes a chord in light of recent events in Utah politics

Step 15: Close on a compassionate note. You don’t hate anyone. Honestly, you don’t. The Biblical message is all about compassion, about loving your neighbor and all that. You love homosexuals. You really do. You just don’t like their same-sex-lusting, public-fornicating, disease-spreading, marriage-ruining, child-molesting, society-endangering ways. And really now, where’s the hate in that?

btw, are we sure Chris Buttars is LDS? He sounds more like one of those wackos from Westboro Baptist church. You know, the www.godhatesfags.com folks. I'm sure he and Rep. Sally Kern of Oklahoma City would get along famously. A year or so ago, she made the news in my neck of the woods when she proclaimed "the homosexual agenda is just destroying this nation and poses a bigger threat to the U.S. than terrorism or Islam."

And, the really scary thing is that there are enough people out there who agree with this sentiment to elect people like Chris and Sally.