It’s interesting to see the contrast of my beloved old ward and my new ward while in the middle of the great Proposition 8 crusade.
My old ward resides four miles from Hollywood. It’s populated by men and women who work in all areas of the entertainment industry. It’s known to be a “maverick” ward, an eclectic ward, full of young couples just starting to spawn and new converts still donning their pre-born again tats.
The new ward is 30 miles from Hollywood. It’s wholly suburban, clean cut, white bread. The families are older, with teens and older primary kids. The men all have “suit” jobs and everyone sparkles.
The old ward has worked hard to drum up sufficient numbers to walk the neighborhoods and attend the meetings. It’s not that the membership is against Prop 8, it’s just that it’s such a right-wing campaign ill-fitted for these free-spirited “industry” types. Of course there are those who don’t agree, but certainly not strongly enough to rebel. It’s…inconvenient.
The new ward totally drank the Kool-Aid. The meeting attendance is SRO and on the way out members scramble for their signs and bumper stickers. Their expressions are impassioned while responding to the pleas of their leaders and they’re eager to get out the vote.
These two wards– old and new– are about 25 miles from each other.
And worlds apart.
11 responses so far ↓
1 cheryl // Oct 11, 2008 at 3:17 pm
The same could be said for my old Stake in Northern CA, and my friend’s sister’s Stake in San Francisco. Less than 30 miles apart, too. I’ll let you guess which one had members passing out “No on Prop 8″ buttons right after the Sattelite broadcast on Wednesday night…
2 xoxoxoxo // Oct 12, 2008 at 4:09 pm
This issue and the national elections just amaze me. We are being sifted-and it’s a painful process for wheat and chaff alike…because both have loved ones and friends on either side. The only comfort I get these days, and I doubt we’re anywhere near the worst of it yet, are the scriptural references to the Lord cutting it all short for the sake of the righteous…whomever they may be.
3 David // Oct 13, 2008 at 10:08 pm
cheryl,
You’re #2-ing me… they were actually passing out “No on 2″ buttons??
xoxoxoxo,
I’m with you; I’m amazed at the resistance within the ranks. I recently submitted a post on Nine Moons about the broadcast last Wednesday (as did cheryl on her site) and, of course, the naysayers are whining, “Don’t judge us just because OUR Spirit is telling us not to support it.”
Sheez…
4 Karron // Oct 13, 2008 at 10:33 pm
This whole issue is something each of us have to decide on our own, through prayer and spirit.
I didn’t watch the broadcast, I have my young grandchildren for two weeks and that takes up every minute of my time. Still, I think, because I tend to rebel when told to do something, I probably would have stepped back to think about what I felt and thought rather than have a knee jerk reaction.
I don’t believe in same sex marriage, never have. I don’t hate the people who fall into that category, have many friends and some family who live that lifestyle, but I do request that they keep it in control around my kids and myself. They do.
I think too many people in too many places are getting downright rabid about things and that makes them less than logical, and leads to hatred that leads to violence. Keeping our heads, and still fighting for what we believe is not easy, but we need to try.
So, yes on 8, but please don’t act like someone from the fringes of the far right society that invoke both the word of God and hate in the same sentence.
5 xoxoxoxo // Oct 13, 2008 at 11:19 pm
“#2ing me?” ROFL!
6 David // Oct 14, 2008 at 6:05 pm
Karron,
There are a few scant things I get pragmatic about (although I’m finding in my old age the list is growing), and following the prophet is one of them– particularly about something of this gravity, which doesn’t appear often. There are other things I’m less rigid about, like R-rated movies, going to Gospel Doctrine class instead of talking in the halls, or watching TV on Sunday.
I agree with you about the rabidity; it gets sickening. The last word freaks, the personal attacks, the wholesale anger… If I wanted to read exchanges like that I’d read the comments on CNN stories about Sarah Palin.
That said, I can be more civil, understanding, loving, etc., but I won’t back down on my position. In this case, either you follow the prophet or you don’t– which equals (as far as I’m concerned) either you truly sustain him or you don’t. Of course members should gain personal testimonies on the issue, but geez, don’t let your butts get numb waiting for the lightning bolt.
7 Karron // Oct 15, 2008 at 4:33 am
It doesn’t have anything to do with following the prophet for me. It has to do with simply doing what is right, for the right reasons, at the right time. I listen to and follow the prophet, but I also believe that many members are becoming very rabid in their behavior, forgetting that we are dealing with human beings and as such, they need to be SEEN as human beings. That they live a lifestyle unacceptable to the Lord is a sad thing.That many have no relationship with God in anyway, is even more sad. But, they are still God’s children, and as hard as it may be at times – since they tend to be obnoxious and afraid so say bizarre and illogical things – we need to remember that they are loved by our Father as much as he loves us.
And too many members tend to be holier than thou anyway, especially in the ‘white bread suburban’ wards. So they become radical in their behavior and cause a bad name for all of us who tend to have a bit more exposure to the real world out there. (lived in 11 countries in my lifetime – been there done that seen it all.)
I think that all of us need to take time to THINK about how to approach people of different lifestyles, and to PRAY for them that they may find a path to salvation. Don’t write them off, God hasn’t. And it really really really ticks me off when members treat others with contempt just because they are different – be it gay, tattooed (me – long story), or have blue hair and like to wear black clothing, or three ear rings. So WHAT. The church isn’t based on outward appearance, it is supposed to be based on the spiritual person, and how people treat each other.
Anyway, as you can see, it is a soap box issue for me. If we are all, indeed, children of a loving God, then He includes everyone, not just LDS members who think they are perfect.
8 David // Oct 15, 2008 at 10:36 pm
Karron,
A lot of the white bread suburbanites I’ve encountered in my new ward were in the real world at one time and, like me, they chose to take their families and escape from it.
I and (especially) my wife have a number of gay friends and, through them, we’re acquainted with others. I will say this about the Saints, the gays and those who reside in each side of the Prop 8 campaign. It’s something a sweet sister told me when I was a missionary in North Carolina, having supper with her family. She was talking about race, and it’s something I’ve taken to heart and apply in all situations:
“Elder T–, it may seem that we are prejudiced, but it just isn’t true. You see, there are black people and there are white people, there are n—s and there’s white trash. And that’s just the way it is.”
That is to say, Karron, there are good-hearted and there are ugly in both camps.
9 Karron // Oct 17, 2008 at 4:02 am
That is to say, Karron, there are good-hearted and there are ugly in both camps.
True. It just bugs me when people who portray themselves as good members, what ever that really means, while being mean spirited behind closed doors.
We left the ‘real world’ too. Only further off than you have since we live in semi rural Mississippi. Got tired of the cities that all seem the same after you’ve seen the sights. Loud, polluted, crowded, and very expensive. Now that we actually bought a house, I don’t think we will be going back.
Retirement will either be in Ireland, or on a boat somewhere. Or both if we can afford it.
I wasn’t trying to be contentious, I am just so frustrated with the way some people behave these days.
10 xoxoxoxo // Oct 19, 2008 at 5:26 am
I don’t see gays as anything but people, and I certainly don’t write them off. BUT I expect the same in return-that I have a right to believe as I do and be given the benefit of the doubt-that I CAN love and obey God without hating and being bigoted.
If SOME people CHOOSE to be offended by my defense of what I know to be the truth-that is their problem-especially if I am not being rude or ugly or even saying a single word about those who believe differently than I do.
The world has gone crazy in taking offense from defense. No one has the right to assume that what I am saying is totally different from what I am thinking.
11 Karron // Oct 21, 2008 at 11:09 pm
I just got an email from a friend in Oakland. There were protesters at the Temple last weekend. They were blocking the road and screaming vile things at members who were attending the Temple and the stake center there.
If anyone had done that in front of a mosque, they would have summarily been hauled off to jail and charged with a hate crime. Seems it is OK to do it to LDS people though, just because we disagree with them on prop. 8.
Insane behavior from many of them, like jumping out in front of cars that were making a tricky turn (I used to attend there weekly, it is a nightmare getting into the car park.) and daring people to run them down.
I don’t get it, what did they prove, that they could act like hysterical morons by endangering their lives and screaming dirty words at people who just turned up the music and ignored them?
My friend said that the Temple security is made up of huge Tongan guys . . . so no one tried to get in, just stayed outside and cussed and screamed. Such a waste of energy. I guess they must have found some sort of payoff. Weird.
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