Is your church protest-worthy?

Yesterday, I told the story of the Mormon temple in LA that had been shut down by protesters angry that Proposition 8 had outlawed same-sex marriage.  Good for the Mormons. They have chosen to take a stand and live with the consequences.  I wondered why only the Mormons were targeted.  Was it that the other churches are not worth the protest?

Finally, the protest has begun to spill over to other churches.  Rick Warren’s Saddleback church was targeted this weekend.

According to CBS2-TV, Saddleback was targeted Sunday.  They quoted Ed Todeschini, a volunteer with the Human Rights Campaign in Orange County, as saying there were “about 1,000 protesters are fanned along sidewalks in front of Saddleback Church.” (note:  Saddleback attendance averages 23,000 a week.)

The other congregations were not as visible and vocal in their support of the measure?

I remember with pride the report that two rabbis were seen standing at the edge of our church property praying.  We sponsor a Messianic congregation, and they were praying against what they saw as heresy.  Our There is reported to be a thick folder on our Messianic fellowship leader in anti-evangelism corners.  We made a noise and got noticed.

Are you standing against sin or for the salvation of a people group sufficient that the devil knows your name?

Is your church worth beign protested?

 

LA Mormons take heat for taking a stand

With the defeat of Proposition 8 in California last week, the homosexual community is angry, and have targeted the Mormons to vent their anger.  In Las Angeles, the protest has forced the church building to be closed.

“The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints temple in Los Angeles is closed as hundreds of people are protesting around the building.  The protesters are upset about the LDS support of the Proposition 8 ban against gay marriage.”

According to an article by Station KDIK news in LA, “Thousands of gays protested in LA Wednesday night shutting down streets. At least seven people were arrested, four at the intersection of Hollywood and Highland, where one man jumped on top of a police car. ”

The LDS church wasn’t the only supporter of Prop 8, but they were at least unified as a denomination against redefining marriage to include same-sex couples.  They, of all people, knew the power of the government to regulate the definition of marriage.

(It’s widely held they changed their position on poligimous marriage not for religious reasons but rather to conform more closely with the rest of the nation, in order for Utah to gain acceptance as a state.  If the government can declare marriage to be one woman and one man and force obedience, then any attempts to change that definition would undermine the reasons for outlawing bigamy – why limit it to only two women?  why not two women and one man?  Three men?  Where do we stop?

The electorate of a State has the power to decide what its shared values will be.  When the voters have said twice what the majority define marriage as, it should not be the position of a judge or a mob to change that opinion.