This past Wednesday, NRO columnist Jonah Goldberg--who, for some reason, is syndicated in the L.A. Times--wrote an editorial condemning the "Home Invasion" advertisement I co-wrote that the Courage Campaign aired on election day.
Jonah's talking points were the same ones that we've been seeing frequently from religious organizations and right-wing commentators since the protest: that the ad was bigoted, that Mormons were just one member of broad coalition, and that homosexual radicals are suppressing harmless freedom of speech by religious groups.
Well, the Times has a section of their online version named "Blowback"--dedicated to full-length responses to editorial pieces. Today's Blowback features a response by Rick Jacobs, founder of the Courage Campaign.
First off--if you haven't seen the ad, here it is. It appeared on cable on election day, and has over 450,000 views on YouTube:
But back to the article: the full thing is worth a read--Rick's piece systematically takes Jonah's editorial to task by showing that:
a) truth can't be libel;
b) The Mormons were the principals behind Prop 8, and have a history of obfuscation of their endeavors on that front;
c) The Mormons have every right to influence the political process through free speech; and supporters of same-sex unions have every right to expose the efforts they make.
Here's the key quote:
The LDS Church or any other organization has every right to use its power to influence elections to any extent that is legal. What it doesn't have a right to do is claim persecution when other organizations do nothing but expose the church's forays into the political arena before a discerning public.
Yeah...honestly. What's up with that? It seems like the "Protect Marriage" folks are really passionate about first amendment rights to free speech, but are really desperate to suppress another first amendment right--the right to free assembly.
And that's really the bottom line. Apparently, certain religious groups think they have a God-given right to impose their viewpoints on state institutions with no blowback. Apparently, every other organization should have to face consequences from unhappy opponents arising from the political causes they support--except for religious groups attempting to impose their agenda.
Thankfully, there are groups out there that are actually dedicated to preventing double-standards like this from taking hold in the public consciousness. The Courage Campaign is one of them.
Also, if you haven't done this yet, please join over 300,000 people in signing the pledge to repeal Prop 8, launched by the Courage Campaign and joined by CREDO Mobile, Join the Impact and MoveOn.org.