Guest post by djinn

Why are my people doing this?  I just read "The Lucifer Effect" by Philip Zimbardo.   He ran the original Stanford Prison Experiment where students assigned to be guards quickly increased the abuse that they heaped on students assigned to be prisoners such that after a single week (and after the guards had discovered sexual humiliation) the experiment was stopped.   He chillingly details how almost all of us will be evil given the right circumstances.  We all are good, but in the right circumstances, we all are bad.

Dr. Reed Quinn is both a cardiologist and a Stake President for the Mormon Church.  This means he is the ecclesiastical leader for, in this case, 12 Mormon congregations.  As a cardiologist he has undoubtedly saved the lives of many people.  His wife, Eileen Quinn (or at least someone of that name who lives at the same address) is the CEO of the PAC Maine4Marriage.org, which has a spiffy website here.  It's slogan?  "Marriage. One Man. One Woman."   That's pretty amusing--even funnier since the authors don't get the joke.  You can point and snicker all you want.

This past May, I caught up with documentary filmmaker Reed Cowan, who didn't shy away from answering some pointed (and personal) questions about 8: The Mormon Proposition.  As the first NYU grad in my family's six generations of Mormons, go figure that I'd be personally interested in both Mormonism and film (nevermind Mormons on film!).  In other words, since that initial interview with Reed, I've been anxiously hoping that he'd keep me in the loop as the film progressed.  After bugging Reed for an update, he's now brought me up to speed:

CB:  Since we last spoke, I've heard through the grapevine that a certain Dustin Lance Black provided the narration for 8:TMP, and Bruce Bastian is now on board as Executive Producer.  How did that happen?

A courageous Mormon begins testifying earnestly (and exceedingly calmly) against Prop 8 in church ... and the LDS bishop turns off the microphone!

If only more of the faithful could be so brave ...

The video speaks for itself:

More Mormons (and more LDS Fast and Testimony meetings) like this one, please.

Bravo, sir!

Any chance a Maine Catholic or two might find the gumption to take a similar stand in the coming weeks?

It's time to stand up and face down these swiftboating political false prophets.

H/T Unite The Fight ...

Ron Prentice: When Pedophiles Attack

"So, for example, if a pedophile were to attack - I say 'attack' - approach a child in a church or in an employment situation or public school situation and you or I were to pull that pedophile off the child and say something to that pedophile about his poor behavior, that pedophile could actually file suit against you for having committed a hate crime against them for what you verbalized."

According to the latest from NOM's Maggie Gallagher:  " ... there is no connection between NOM and the [LDS] church except that a Mormon serves on NOM's board."

In that same article, Kim Farah, spokeswoman for the LDS church in Salt Lake City, insists that the church "did not establish the National Organization for Marriage ... [but fails to] respond to a question about whether the Mormon church has been active in the campaigns to defeat gay marriage in New England and New York."

I can't confirm.  Just passing it along:

Californians Against Hate have twice had their representatives go by the Princeton, New Jersey offices of the National Organization for Marriage to get copies of NOM's IRS 990 reports, to no avail.

NOM is required by federal law to have these available for public view.  FWIW, in addition to having reps drop by, two certified letters have already been sent to the NOM office from CAH:

To no avail.