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A Facebook conversation between myself and my friend Chad Clark concerning comments made by a Mormon Apostle comparing the treatment the LDS Church has faced following their involvement in the Prop 8 debate last year and the way blacks in the south were treated during the civil rights movement.

Apostle says religious freedom is being threatened

VEGOR: I like how he compared the backlash over the Mormon involvement in Prop 8 to what blacks in the south faced during the civil rights era. Totally the same thing. Of course one group faced lynch mobs and fire hoses...the other had people talk bad about them on the internet.

CHAD: He compared intimidation tactics, and he clearly stated it was not as serious as what happened in the south. The tactics used were more than "bad talk on the internet."

VEGOR: I find it interesting that he conflates the two. Particularly given the church's own antiquated views on modern civil rights. There is way more in common between the ongoing LGBT struggle for human rights and the days of Jim Crow. Has the LDS Church been denied any rights? No. But African Americans have been denied equal treatment in the past (both by the government and by the LDS Church) and the gay community faces much the same struggle today. To say that the LDS Church in this analogy is akin to the black people of the civil rights era is laughable at best.

It is particularly fascinating that he uses The Bible to make his claim that traditional marriage is between a man and a woman only. The same book was used by preachers and politicians for centuries to justify the practice of slavery.

While the Church has faced more than just "bad talk on the internet" the few episodes of physical intimidation have been more along the lines of petty vandalism perpetrated by radicals who do not speak on behalf the LGBT community or its supporters. The real "intimidation" has come from like-minded groups realizing that the Church can be pressured with bad press and economics, and this can be done simply by using free speech and the power of the marketplace.

This is a far cry from those of the civil rights era facing state-sponsored abuse. For 100 years after the Civil War black people in this country were beaten, raped, and killed. Little girls were blown up in churches and leaders were assassinated. People were denied jobs, seats at lunch counters and buses, and full voting rights. Many of these acts were done by the government or went unpunished by the law.

If the Mormon church wants to be involved in politics like this (and it has every right to be) than it must be willing to face the backlash. But harsh criticism and Jim Crow are not the same thing...not even close. And to say they are is offensive to a lot of people.

Chad, I have known three different LDS couples, all married in the temple, who have walked away from their covenants in the past year because of the church's involvement in this Prop 8 business. I have had gay Mormon friends (including a former mission companion) who have killed themselves because they realized that their faith and their sexuality would always be at odds. The church says it has the doctrinal feet to stand on in this issue, and that is fine. But the Mormon church of my youth was less concerned with winning political battles and more worried about its flock. As long as the church chooses to be so visible on this issue it will always be the easiest target for those who think otherwise.