Whose Ox is Being Gored?
When people talk about Prop 8 or gay-Mormon relations generally, a common theme is that a smaller, less powerful group is the victim of an unfair attack from a larger and more powerful aggressor. This theme is used repeatedly on both sides of the debate. It was a central theme in Elder Oaks’ recent talk about religious liberty. And it was immediately raised in criticisms of that talk, with church critic Fred Karger telling the Associated Press, “They are trying to be the victim here. They’re not. They’re the perpetrators.” It’s clear that this basic framing is employed by both sides in the argument. This raises the question — who is the bully here? Whose ox is being gored?
Interestingly *both* the LDS and gay communities have plausible evidence to support the claims that they are the victim group.
Gays and the Church: Whose Ox is Being Gored? | Times & Seasons, An Onymous Mormon Blog.
I suppose I should applaud the even-handed “peacemaker” tone, but honestly it just strikes me as disingenuous. For one thing, the LDS Church is an institution with considerable resources and an organizational structure while the American gay community is a mass of different and sometimes even competing groups and agendas with, in my opinion, the worst organizational apparatus in the history of Western civil rights movements. For another, and more importantly, all it takes is a look at a honest timeline to know who is, by any reasonable definition, the aggressor.
Wait — so the Mormons are at fault because the gay activists are disorganized and counterproductive?
Sure. Marriage was doing fine as it was until the LGBT lobby started making waves.
(In other words, you can only paint it as cut-and-dried if you bracket your data.)