Local Prop. 8 Protest to Target Mormon Church: Planning Meeting 9 p.m. Tonight at Mokabe's Coffeehouse
Peter Cabrera-Nguyen, Ph.D. student at Washington University is leading the local effort to protest the Mormon Church, which Cabrera-Nguyen claims bankrolled the successful effort to pass Proposition 8 in California, which bans gay marriage in the state. The church's tax-exempt status makes their financial contributions towards banning gay marriage controversial, and could threaten said status.
Cabrera-Nguyen and his partner of eight years, Keith Cabrera-Nguyen, moved to St. Louis from California in 2005 so he could pursue a Ph.D. at Washington University. Peter and Keith were legally married in California on September 30, 2008. They were planning a formal wedding ceremony at a local Episcopalian church, but those plans have been put on hold as the legal status of their marriage is in uncertain.
The meeting is set for 9 p.m. tonight, November 10, at Mokabe's Coffeehouse on 3606 Arsenal St. Cabrera-Nguyen was careful to mention that this is "Not a protest of hate...We support the right of all people to belong to whatever religion they choose, but we will not tolerate being singled out by a religious group for persecution, nor will we silently allow them to encode their religious beliefs into law."
Cabrera-Nguyen is part of a group of people in St. Louis that plan to protest the Mormon Church's financial activities, and other such protests have already happened, or are scheduled to happen, throughout other cities in the United States.
Actually Specialsauce30 is incorrect.
http://www.irs.gov/charities/charitable/article/0,,id=163395,00.html
If a 501(c)(3) (tax-exempt) organization directly or INDIRECTLY participates in a political issue, they jeopardize their standing. With the current state of the economy, the IRS & government is looking for money. I'm sure they'd love to tax the millions of the Mormon church. We are seeing the IRS becoming less lenient on these types of issues. I'm all for free speech, but the churches should have to pay for it like you and I do.
The basic principle is that these tax free orgs should remain "unbiased" when the subject of politics comes up. Otherwise, we'd have all the lobbying groups setting up 501(c)(3)'s and funnelling money into this shelter and then using that tax free money to sway political issues.
Granted, I haven't read the entire case against the Mormon church, but from what I've read...it doesn't look pretty. This is a HUGE hot topic in the tax field. Churches have come under fire for printing their "favorite candidate" in their Sunday programs. That doesn't even measure up to what the Mormon church has done. I think they're in hot water.
For the record, I'm a CPA specializing in Corporate Tax for the last 15 years.
We might want to research the St. Louis Mormon Church's stand on this. It’s my understanding that the local Bishop has actively supported our issues. It might not be appropriate to protest the Mormon Church in St. Louis. If further research indicates that in fact, the local Mormon Church is supportive of us, a protest might still go forward but the strategy/message might be; “why can't other Mormon Churches follow the St. Louis lead”? That said, if the Mormon Church is anything like the Catholic Church we might not want to call attention to their alleged past support for fear there’d be retribution of some kind against them.
There should be a nation-wide public and media outcry against the gay and lesbian groups that are attempting to intimidate those who disagree with them. The current "protests" are nothing more than a concerted effort by these groups to disenfranchise those who have differing views. The gay and lesbian tactics of "politics by intimidation" have no place in American society, and should be universally rejected.
Unfortunately for this article's argument, the church's tax-exempt status does NOT make their financial contributions toards banning gay marriage controversial because the church itself didn't donate a penny to the cause. Instead, it urged its members to donate of their own means. That, by law, excludes the church from personal financial responsibility regarding this cause. In addition, attempts to remove the Mormon church's tax exempt status on that basis would never work - it is actually one of the least politically active churches around. Churches in the South that endorse presidential and gubernatorial candidates would lose their status long before the Mormons would.
Actually, check out the following sites for proof that the Church did more than "just encourage" its members.
http://www.mormonsstoleourrights.com/
And for the evidence as well as a pre-filled IRS report form that you can download and send to the division of the IRS that investigates tax-exempt organizations that may have violated federal tax laws:
http://lds501c3.wordpress.com/
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as an institution made no financial contributions to the campaign. It encouraged it's members to do so, which they did on an individual basis directly to the protect marriage coalition. The church is in no danger of losing their tax-exempt status. This is a dangerous move for those who want gay marriage. It's a big deal to oppose freedom of religious belief in America. It's one thing to argue for the principle of same sex marriage, but it's another to silence religious belief or insist that they change their doctrines on the purpose for this life. The election is over. Move on. Democracy happens.
I agree with Goldengate that these focused protests against a people who have long been known for their belief in and protection of the family is a huge mistake! Any good will the gay and lesbian community has garnered will be lost as 92% of Americans who consider themselves religious will sympathazie with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in these vicious attacks. In California, the long time director of the Sacramento Music Circus was pressured to resign after more than twenty years of service for contributing to the Yes on 8 campaign. This is fascism, and Americans will not stand for it!
Actually, check out the following sites for proof that the Church did more than "just encourage" its members.
http://www.mormonsstoleourrights.com/
And for the evidence as well as a pre-filled IRS report form that you can download and send to the division of the IRS that investigates tax-exempt organizations that may have violated federal tax laws:
http://lds501c3.wordpress.com/
Incidentally, goldengate, no one is asking the church to change its doctrines. Read the article again. No one is asking Mormons to change their beliefs. I could care less that Mormons wear magic underwear and believe Heavenly Father lives near the star Kolob. I could care less that Mormons are still required to accept polygamy in principle if further revelation is received from their "prophet".
But, when the Mormons target a specific community to take away their existing rights, they can't expect that community to sit back and say "Thank you sir, may I have another?" The Mormon Church went out of its way to fund ad campaigns that spread demonstrable lies about gay marriage and LGBT people (see: www.mormonsstoleourrights.com) and as a result of said lies changed public opinion from overwhelming opposition to Prop 8 to a narrow victory in less than 3 months.
WTF do they expect? They in fact spearheaded a dirty campaign full of lies (how Christian of them!) and persecuted a community by taking away existing rights. Sorry Moroni, but if that's how you want to play then the gloves are off.
Furthermore, "democracy" had nothing to do with the end of bans on inter-racial marriage, the civil rights movement for African Americans, etc. The COURTS were responsible for protecting minorities against the majority. In California, the Supreme Court has ruled that gays and lesbians are a "suspect class" that fall under the state Constitution's Equal Protection Clause. Therefore, it is not impossible to imagine that the Court will find that Prop 8 was a constitutional revision as opposed to an amendment. In that case, democracy did not happen.
I have never had a problem with individual mormons or even the LDS Church itself. But the church has no right to whine about protests at their "sacred places" when they took away something that many couples in CA considered sacred....their legal marriages. Unlike the Mormon church, though, we aren't going to run like cowards from persecution. We're gonna fight back. You think the blowback is bad now? Just wait. It has only just begun.