Surreal...

Our computer is still D-E-A-D, but couldn't NOT write about what I experienced yesterday.
After work at UCLA, I emerged from the children's dental clinic and found about six helicopters circling the skies. All the buses had been rerouted, and I found myself wandering down the streets to find a way to get home to watch Hayden's chorus concert. Traffic had stopped. Sirens wailed. Streets were blocked off. Random people with signs were coming up to anybody who would listen saying, "If you wanna join in, we're converging on the Mormon church!"

...And by "Mormon Church," I knew they meant the Los Angeles Temple, which was just a few blocks away.

As I plodded along, now within a couple of blocks of the temple, and a half a mile from work, more sirens began to wail. On three flat bed trucks, standing ready to jump off as soon as they reached their destination, dozens of police in full riot gear made their way to the sacred, usually serene grounds that people of my faith worship.

Let me make clear, this is not an ordinary meeting house. This is a step beyond--where we make sacred vows to our Heavenly Father; where we kneel across an altar to marry for time and eternity. The interior is usually so quiet, you can almost hear a pin drop. Once patrons enter, they shrug off the cares of the outside world and devote their minds and hearts to prayer, meditation, and learning. The environment is peace and tranquility in its purest essence.

But yesterday, the outside world came clamoring to the temple gates. And with their venom and a form of bigotry I have never experienced before, a SWAT team followed in their wake. 2000-3000 gay and lesbian advocates loudly expressed their disapproval at the outcome of the recent Proposition 8, which put in place a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage. Wrongfully, they assumed the many members of the church that contributed to the cause had an agenda that included hate.

I thought this picture summed up the hostility that I witnessed very succinctly:
In the background is a sign saying "No on 8... End Hate." I see in the foreground the very personification of hate, as an angry man shouts and incites contention at the top of his lungs.

I have many thoughts on this battle that rages, and I hope you'll indulge me as I purge my system of these thoughts:

1. Can you imagine what would have happened if this protest had been organized in front of a Muslim Mosque or Jewish Synagogue? Or what about in front of one of the Catholic churches or Baptist ministries that inspired "Yes on 8" sentiments to their parishioners? 70% of minorities in California voted "Yes" on this very matter, but you don't see angry protesters yelling horrible insults to Blacks or Hispanics as a whole. One would never even dream of doing such a thing in a state which cries "Tolerance!" for everyone. Apparently, these folks have no tolerance for Mormons, because we are often marginalized and misunderstood. We are thought by many to be a satanic cult, or a dangerous brainwashing machine, hell-bent on converting the populous whether they like it or not. We are often confused with the polygamous FLDS-type sects that wed their 14-year old neighbors. And this, along with an ideology that does not encompass gay marriage (but does NOT diminish gay civil unions), has put us on the radar of many who wish to stir things up against members of our faith.
2. The political process went forth. The majority has spoken. Other states like Florida and Arizona passed similar amendments on the same day. They are not suffering the same insults as we are here in the Left-Coast. I am reminded of a boy who came up to me on my first day of High School in Georgia. He sat down across from me at lunch, peered at me with skepticism and said, "Did y'all have a hard time gettin' dates out thar in California?" When I answered,"No. Why?" He said, "Well, aren't all them guys out there gay?" I was taken aback, because I had not expected that perception of California... Surfer dudes--yes. Gay guys--No. But this is another one of those events that is going to further embitter people about gays and perpetuate the reputation of California as "The Land of Fruits and Nuts."
3. I have no ill will towards gays. I have worked with several. I know them to be regular people who feel deeply about their partners. I am NOT a gay basher because I voted yes on Prop 8. I do NOT feel any hatred toward them. But PLEASE don't spit on my beliefs and desecrate the things that I believe are holy because your cause did not persuade the majority. We are not tyrannical, bigots as you spew in your negative campaigns and protests. We simply believe in the sacred and divine institution of marriage between a man and a woman.

I walked the three-or-so miles home and managed to make it in time for Hayden's concert (which was great, by the way). But I will NEVER forget that walk. I will forever be changed by the imagery of that night: particularly the juxtiposition of the peaceful temple grounds and the SWAT team serving as a blockade to prevent violence on its soil. I now know I live within walking distance of a temple. I have blisters on my feet from the trek, but I know it's really only a stone's throw away. I have no excuse to take it for granted. If the protestors were aiming at putting into doubt my ideology or intimidate people like me into feeling shame at my faith, their plans sorely backfired. I have never desired more to enter those temple doors and shut out the ferocity of the world outside.

If you are interested, you can click on this link to see the LDS church's response to the recent protests.