Anti-Mormon Kulturkampf After Proposition 8

[MerryPrankster]

What if, in the aftermath of the passage of Proposition Eight in California (aided to a large degree by out-of-state assistance from the Mormon Church), supporters of gay marriage decided to wage something resembling Germany's kulturkampf against the Mormon Church?

Obviously gay marriage proponents don't have the power to jail Mormon bishops and the like, but they could, say, provide funding on the sly to anti-Mormon evangelical groups seeking to convert Mormons, publicize evidence against the Book of Mormon being divinely inspired, etc. in order to undermine Mormons' beliefs and ultimately weaken the church.

(After all, if you oppose gay marriage because you have a particular religious belief and then you decided that belief is false, your beliefs on the matter might well change. Someone on exchristian.net claimed he was no longer pro-life or opposed to gay rights due to leaving Christianity.)

Even if it doesn't lead to massive numbers of Mormons leaving the church, the LDS would need to spend money and time on combating it, thus spending resources that could be spent on anti-gay-marriage.

 

[starwarsfan]

What if, in the aftermath of the passage of Proposition Eight in California (aided to a large degree by out-of-state assistance from the Mormon Church), supporters of gay marriage decided to wage something resembling Germany's kulturkampf against the Mormon Church?

Obviously gay marriage proponents don't have the power to jail Mormon bishops and the like, but they could, say, provide funding on the sly to anti-Mormon evangelical groups seeking to convert Mormons, publicize evidence against the Book of Mormon being divinely inspired, etc. in order to undermine Mormons' beliefs and ultimately weaken the church.

(After all, if you oppose gay marriage because you have a particular religious belief and then you decided that belief is false, your beliefs on the matter might well change. Someone on exchristian.net claimed he was no longer pro-life or opposed to gay rights due to leaving Christianity.)

Even if it doesn't lead to massive numbers of Mormons leaving the church, the LDS would need to spend money and time on combating it, thus spending resources that could be spent on anti-gay-marriage.

Interesting concept. I dont know how it would work but I am interested hearing how that would pan out politically.

Interestingly, in my ethics class the professor is an older pastor who is pro choice and pro gay marriage so I think people over state's religions influence in that regard. People use religion to defend and reinforce their own ideas.

 

[Plumber]

What if, in the aftermath of the passage of Proposition Eight in California (aided to a large degree by out-of-state assistance from the Mormon Church), supporters of gay marriage decided to wage something resembling Germany's kulturkampf against the Mormon Church?

Obviously gay marriage proponents don't have the power to jail Mormon bishops and the like (A), but they could, say, provide funding on the sly to anti-Mormon evangelical groups seeking to convert Mormons (B), publicize evidence against the Book of Mormon being divinely inspired, etc. in order to undermine Mormons' beliefs and ultimately weaken the church.

(After all, if you oppose gay marriage because you have a particular religious belief and then you decided that belief is false, your beliefs on the matter might well change. Someone on exchristian.net claimed he was no longer pro-life or opposed to gay rights due to leaving Christianity.)

(A) That's not a kulturkampf then.
(B) Why would gay marriage proponents try to turn Mormons into evangelicals?

Without those, this is basically OTL: a rise in anti-Mormon sentiment due to them being such a big force against marriage equality. The backlash was so great that the Church decided to quietly go away on the gay marriage issue, aside from Hawaii this year. That link argues that part of this was also to avoid entangling Mitt Romney with the Church's gay marriage battles. I'm not so sure that's the case; I've only heard of the Mormons doing this in Hawaii, where there are a lot of Mormons. Nothing on the other states this year.

 

[MerryPrankster]

(A) That's not a kulturkampf then.
(B) Why would gay marriage proponents try to turn Mormons into evangelicals?

1. It's still a cultural war, albeit without the people being arrested part.

2. Stirring up divisions among your enemies.

 

[Plumber]

1. It's still a cultural war, albeit without the people being arrested part.

2. Stirring up divisions among your enemies.

1. But the people being arrested is what distinguishes the kulturkampf from the Culture Wars in the US, right?
2. Yeah, but evangelicals don't support gay marriage either. It's anti-Mormon, yes, but it doesn't advance the gay rights cause.

While there is a lot more anti-Mormon sentiment in this country than there should be, it hasn't really been organized since Utah became a state, AFAIK (other than the evangelicals, but even then). So I'm not sure how gay rights proponents would be so wedded to an organized (as opposed to casual) anti-Mormon movement.

 

[MerryPrankster]

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/04/prop-8-mormons-gay-marriage-shift

Actually, this article here describes an pro-gay-marriage ad critical of the LDS Church, but that's not the same as actively trying to prove Mormonism is a false religion.

1. But the people being arrested is what distinguishes the kulturkampf from the Culture Wars in the US, right?
2. Yeah, but evangelicals don't support gay marriage either. It's anti-Mormon, yes, but it doesn't advance the gay rights cause.

1. Well, it's much more focused at a particular institution than the general Culture Wars are. Furthermore, it's an active attempt to disprove a religion rather than simply keep political/social/cultural institutions in friendly hands. It's far more aggressive than a typical culture-war matter.

2. If they're busy fighting each other or if the pro-gay-marriage people can aggravate the rift between the two to the point they can't ally effectively anymore, its a net win even if evangelicals and Mormons agree. It's like Republicans funding Ralph Nader.

 

[mrmandias]

What if, in the aftermath of the passage of Proposition Eight in California (aided to a large degree by out-of-state assistance from the Mormon Church), supporters of gay marriage decided to wage something resembling Germany's kulturkampf against the Mormon Church?

Obviously gay marriage proponents don't have the power to jail Mormon bishops and the like, but they could, say, provide funding on the sly to anti-Mormon evangelical groups seeking to convert Mormons, publicize evidence against the Book of Mormon being divinely inspired, etc. in order to undermine Mormons' beliefs and ultimately weaken the church.

(After all, if you oppose gay marriage because you have a particular religious belief and then you decided that belief is false, your beliefs on the matter might well change. Someone on exchristian.net claimed he was no longer pro-life or opposed to gay rights due to leaving Christianity.)

Even if it doesn't lead to massive numbers of Mormons leaving the church, the LDS would need to spend money and time on combating it, thus spending resources that could be spent on anti-gay-marriage.

If anything, this would probably increase Mormons' adherence to their faith, because they would feel like they were under threat and would circle the wagons.

It would probably also up the political temperature generally, which may actually have negative effects for the pro-gay marriage movement.

That's all assuming that the Kulturkampf happened on any noticeable level, of course, which I doubt.