Into the West

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints regrets that today’s decision makes us look like even more of a discriminatory institution. California voters have twice been given the opportunity to remove the civil rights of a group of American citizens in their state and both times have determined that a particular religious definition of marriage should be protected, even at the cost of freedom of religion, and at the cost of the civil rights of its citizens. We agree. Marriage between a man and a woman is the bedrock of society - except when we say otherwise.

We recognize that this decision represents only the opening of a vigorous debate in the courts over the rights of the people to remove the rights of a minority.

There is no doubt that today’s ruling will add to the marriage debate in this country, and we urge people on all sides of this issue to act in a spirit of mutual respect and civility toward those with a different opinion. Of course, we exempt ourselves from this call to civility, especially when church leaders feel the need to compare gay marriage supporters to white supremacists, accuse people of doing "violence to traditional marriage" or make otherwise patently false and untrue claims.