Attacks on LDS Institutions in Wake of Prop. 8

Anyone who pays attention to the news since the national elections has heard of the various protests and attacks against institutions connected with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints due to their financial contributions to and support of Proposition 8 in California. This proposition defined marriage as between one man and one woman, and it was supported by a variety of conservative religious groups, including the LDS Church. As a result of the proposition passing the LDS Church has been the most vilified by those supporting homosexual marriage. Recently envelopes have been mailed to various locations connected to the Church with suspicious white powder substances in acts of domestic terrorism. This morning my daughter's school, Syracuse Junior High, was in lock down due to the adjacent LDS seminary being the latest receipient of this "gift of protest." Local police, Hazmat crews, and the FBI are now probing the seminary as students and teachers pursue their educational goals with a cloud of fear hanging over their day.

Regardless of your views on gay marriage, this is hardly the way that Prop. 8 detractors should go about their protests. It will not positively persuade voters to support gay marriage legislation in the future, and it represents the latest expressions of anti-Mormon bigotry. My hope is that the public will speak out against such hate crimes and bigotry, regardless of their political views on gay marriage.