I Dislike Conflict

This is a picture of the 5000 some protestors in front of the Los Angeles temple (Westwood, California). Two full squads of LAPD in riot gear set up their base inside the temple grounds while SWAT vehicles and hundreds of officers followed the crowds. I'm mostly sad about this situation, a little confused. Mormons have been targeted in California as having been the main impetus behind the passing of Proposition 8, banning same-sex marriage in the state. Although the population of the state voted on the passing of the constitutional amendment, the Yes on 8 coalition was a broad spectrum of religious organizations. Catholics, Evangelicals, Protestants, Orthodox Jews, Muslims - all supported Yes on 8. It is estimated that there are 10 million Catholics and 10 million Protestants in California. Mormons were a tiny fraction of the population represented by Yes on 8 coalition members. African Americans overwhelmingly supported Yes on 8. Exit polls show that 70% of Black voters chose Yes on 8. No on 8 supporters had assumed that Obama voters would vote No on 8. The majority of Latino voters voted Yes on 8. Exit polls show that the majority of Latinos supported Yes on 8 and cited religious beliefs.

Mormons make up less than 2% of the population of California. There are approximately 800,000 LDS out of a total population of approximately 34 million. Mormon voters were less than 5% of the yes vote. If one estimates that 250,000 LDS are registered voters (the rest being children), then LDS voters made up 4.6% of the Yes vote and 2.4% of the total Proposition 8 vote.

I appreciate those in California who joined together and did something good. I feel sad for those in situations whose lives would have benefited otherwise. I love this quote by Brigham Young: "You that have not passed thro' the trials and persecutions, and drivings with this people from the beginning, but have only read them, or heard some of them related, may think how awful they were to endure, and wonder that the saints survived them at all.-The thought of it makes your heart sink within you, your brain reel, and your body tremble, and you are ready to exclaim, 'I could not have endured it.' I have been in the heat of it, and never felt better in all my life; I never felt the peace and power of the Almighty more copiously poured upon me than in the keenest part of our trials. They appeared nothing to me." L. Aldin Porter, "'But We Heeded Them Not'," Ensign, August 1998, 6.

I hope that I could be as courageous when I'm called upon to defend my beliefs.