Persecution

Many people think that the LDS Church is being a bit paranoid about their religious freedom in the gay marriage debate.  I understand where these people are coming from, but I also understand the view of the Church.  It's important to remember that the Church is no stranger to being persecuted due to their beliefs about marriage.

In 1882, the Edmunds Act officially made Polygamy a felony in the US territories, but that was not how it was actually enforced.  What really happened was anyone who professed to believe in Mormonism was disenfranchised of their vote, the opportunity to hold public office, or to serve on a jury.  It didn't matter if they had ever been in a polygamous relationship or not.

Then the Edmunds Tucker Act a few years later disincorporated the Church and the Perpetual Emigration Fund, seizing most of it's assets, disenfranchised women of their votes in the territory, and prevented children of polygamous marriages from receiving any inheritance.  The Supreme Court upheld the law.

I realize that all this happened over a century ago, but it's hard for the Church to forget such an injustice.

Recently in Hawaii, the marriage bill that was being debated included wording that could make it illegal to hold marriages in churches unless they either allowed same gender marriages or never allowed those not of that religion to use the facilities.  That would not have been a problem for the Temples, but regular church buildings could have been in real trouble.  Eventually, common sense won out and the wording was changed to provide more protection for religious institutions.  This was just a few months ago, not centuries ago.

What I'm saying is that marriage law is not just about marriage.  It can be (and has been) used as a weapon to persecute and intimidate groups of people.  Please, as we re-forge marriage laws and structures, be careful to provide protections to prevent abuse of the laws in such a way.