From the SN&R blogs.
We’ll miss you, Boss Johnson illustration.
With the recent release of the documentary 8: The Mormon Proposition, as well as the small (and I mean really, really small) fine levied by the California Fair Political Practices Commission against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for its failure to report nonmonetary contributions to the Proposition 8 campaign, the Mormon hierarchy and its fight against marriage equality is news again.
A thoughtful piece from online magazine Religion Dispatches by Holly Welker offers up some speculation about why it is that LDS members are so determined to keep gay people from marrying—and she also sheds light on a group of Mormon women, members of a polygamous subgroup that split off from the LDS, who have worked on behalf of marriage equality for gays and lesbians. It’s fascinating reading, and she refers to the LDS history with polygamy as “the many-headed elephant in the room”:
“Several years ago, I heard an LDS lawyer state that church leaders are anxious to ban gay marriage because they know if it becomes widely legal and accepted, polygamy would subsequently be brought before the courts for legitimation. The church hierarchy simply didn’t want to deal with the difficulties and embarrassment that would provoke.”
Compiled from Kel’s Hot Flash.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no
Well, that was ugly. There’s no point in spending a lot of time wondering why the city council voted 7-2 against directing the city attorney to draft a new strong-mayor lite initiative for the November ballot.
You can see for yourself—right in the last half-hour of that council meeting—why Johnson’s efforts have not been successful over the last 18 months.
It’s not that SMI was bad policy, though it certainly was that. It’s that people don’t like to be bullied. For example, during the bizarre 30 minutes lecturing and criticizing each of his council, he told one of his most stalwart supporters, Councilman Steve Cohn, that his no vote “makes me question the backbone of the ethos you represent.”
Not entirely sure what that means, but right back at you, boss.
Compiled from Snog.
