Danger West

Apparently Prince, along with God, hates fags.

I know he’s a JW, and therefore certifiable, but still… that’s weird.

I would also like the world to know that every Prince album I ever listened to was checked out from the Hennepin County Library.  I’m not kidding.

I’ve been thinking about what the Mormon Church intended to get out of the Prop 8 battle.  This LA Times article has some interesting points, but first let me highlight the funnies part:

Many in the church were shocked that Romney’s Mormon faith was a source of discomfort for some voters.

“Latter-day Saints were just amazed to think there was such bigotry in the country,” church spokesman Michael Otterson said.

Shocked, huh?

Anyway, the obvious point is that the Church’s desire to stop homosexuals from obtaining marriage equality can be taken at face value.  That can’t be the whole exercise though. Nobody likes negative press coverage, and I think the Church is a little shaken at the intensity of the reaction, though I think that’s more out of cluelesness.  “What, you say?  You mean some people might get upset if we are seen to be confiscating the rights of a certain class of people?”

Nevertheless, I doubt the Church’s missionary activity in Castro has ever been strong.  The energies of the Church have always been dedicated to expansion, and in the past several decades the path to expansion has been the attempt to shed the image of weirdness.  Still, the Church has to consider its public image within certain spheres of the country.  I guess what I want to know is this: before stepping into the political ring, did the Church heierarchy have a discussion about who they want to impress?  I don’t expect the Mormon Church to care what I think; even if I weren’t a former Mormon, I doubt my basic life profile conforms to the typical convert.  But I don’t know that any Evangelicals are even likely to soften their anti-Mormon rhetoric in response to the Prop 8 fight, let alone actually convert to Mormonism.

Oddly, you can read a lot of triumphalistic rhetoric on the message boards of the ex-Mormon website, as though the hard feelings of liberals will bring down a multi-billion dollar corporation.  Certainly the reaction to Prop 8 has moved people to leave the Church, but they weren’t really on board in the first place, were they?  The only thing that matters is whether the recent political actions of the Church will have any effect (positive or negative) on the numbers of durable conversions in the US.  I don’t know that it will.  I’m not even sure how to take a guess at that question.

Adding something: I think the second question should be how the Prop 8 battle effects retention - particularly among young people.  The LDS Church already has difficulties holding to sizable portions of people born into LDS families (example: me and half of my siblings).  This question didn’t seem significant to me at first blush because again, with or without Prop 8, there is little chance I would return.*  But there are probably younger people who are unsure whether to remain in the Church, and Prop 8 pushes them a little further towards leaving.

In essence, I think the Mormons have been fighting the wrong battle.  They should be working overtime to convince young people of the evils of homosexuality (though frankly I don’t know how, because they already do this).  The issue of youth retention is something that really could effect the Church over the short and long term.

*I could be bribed.  In the days before Prop 8 my price for attending church as a “true believing Mormon” would probably be in the range of a $10,000 yearly tithing free stipend with no duties attached.  After Prop 8 the price would increase to probably $30,000.  If actual work is attached to the stipend (church spokesman for instance), I demand  at least $100,000.