Tag Archives: Prop 8

Prop 8 Movie Showing on Campus This Week!

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There will be a screening of 8: The Mormon Proposition on USU’s campus this Thursday, Oct 21st. It will be screened at 7pm in the Eccles Conference Center auditorium by the Department of Journalism & Communication. There has been a lot of interest expressed in seeing this movie in meetings, so here is your chance!

This screening happens to be during a regular meeting week and several people will be going to the screening after the meeting if you’d like to join us. We’ll be leading a discussion on how we each deal with our atheism and the weird reactions we sometimes get from others. We’re planning on talking about different coping strategies you can use when talking to family members, etc. We’ll talk about work, family, and friends. You can come and not say a thing, or you can yak it up, but this is not a philosophical discussion so please do not treat it as such. This meeting is an attempt to make SHAFT more personal for those who feel that that touch is lacking. (We’re not the Religious Studies club.)

Hope to see you at one or both of those events!

BYU censors letter to the editor critical of Prop 8

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Take note of the update near the bottom.

Yesterday, Brigham Young University’s student paper The Daily Universe featured a letter to the editor that argued that the legal case for Proposition 8 is “indefensible.” Its author, BYU student Cary Crall*, also asked Mormons to admit that their only opposition to gay marriage is religious. The letter attracted enormous attention and praise from both the Mormon and ex-Mormon online communities. People were most impressed that BYU—in a refreshing display of academic freedom—published it.

But shortly after the letter was posted to the Universe‘s website, it was quietly pulled**. This is disappointing, but not terribly surprising; the letter nearly didn’t get published at all. Crall told me in a Facebook message that he submitted the letter to the Universe a few weeks ago, but it was rejected by the summer editor who felt it was inappropriate for a “newspaper funded by the LDS Church.” It wasn’t until after some edits and the approval of a new editor that it was published, albeit briefly.

Thankfully, Crall was kind enough to email me the original copy of his letter with permission to reproduce it here. (The bracketed sentences did not appear in the Universe.)

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Come see “8: The Mormon Proposition” with SHAFT

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SHAFT will have its first event of the summer this Wednesday. We will be going to the 4:30 PM showing of 8: The Mormon Proposition at the Tower Theatre in SLC (876 E 900 S). Because this is a matinee showtime, tickets are only $6 dollars. The group may go out to dinner afterward, so budget for that too.

If you’re in Logan, SHAFT is organizing a carpool down to Salt Lake. Meet at 2:30 PM at Aggie Ice Cream (750 N 1200 E).

The documentary is about the LDS Church’s involvement in California’s Proposition 8, an anti-gay marriage ballot measure and constitutional amendment. If you’re not familiar with the movie, watch the trailer:

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LDS Church to be fined over Prop 8 contributions

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Some news of interest from the LA Times:

The state Fair Political Practices Commission is expected to fine the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for not properly reporting about $37,000 worth of contributions to pass California’s ban on same-sex marriages.

The commission will fine the Salt Lake City-based church $5,538 for failing to report the numerous contributions. The fine comes in response to a complaint filed in November 2008 by Fred Karger, a gay-rights activist and co-founder of Californians Against Hate, who accused the Mormon Church of failing to report the value of the work it did to support Proposition 8.

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Speaking of Prop 8

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Shouldn’t the existence of this site be enough for the LDS church to have its tax exempt status rescinded? This pretty much guarantees that the church organization itself spent far more than the limit of $100 (or its equivalent in volunteer time) in support of a political initiative.

This is from the copyright footer:

An Official Web site of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
© 2008 Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.

Followed by an official logo.

Why can’t the IRS ever be this lazy when it comes to the personal income tax?