The LDS Church has recently released a statement under the title: "The Divine Institution of Marriage"

Notably, in this statement, the LDS Church seems to be suggesting that it does not oppose rights protected under civil union or domestic partnership laws:

"The focus of the Church's involvement is specifically same-sex marriage and its consequences. The Church does not object to rights (already established in California) regarding hospitalization and medical care, fair housing and employment rights, or probate rights, so long as these do not infringe on the integrity of the family or the constitutional rights of churches and their adherents to administer and practice their religion free from government interference."

If this is the official LDS Church position, it leads me to wonder why Gary Lawrence, the California LDS Grassroots Director, is distributing "Yes on 8" campaign literature (PDF) to Mormons that includes advice like this:

Partial transcript from an interview with CNSNews.com:

Huckabee: ... You know, it's interesting, the California decision as well as the Massachusetts decision, I don't think should ever have been implemented by the governors, Schwarzenegger and Romney. They were both decisions that the governors simply could have said the court has said that we have to do it, but let them enforce it. Because those were administrative decisions that had to put that in place and there was no mandate.

Jeffrey: Right, but Governor Romney actually went ahead and certified same-sex marriages without an act of his state legislature.

Huckabee: It should never have happened. It should never have happened. And while we want to blame the courts--

I recently stopped by a fave blog of mine, Frank's Weekly Rant, the personal blog of Frank Schubert, who, when he's not busy blogging, is the co-manager of the 'Yes on 8' campaign in California.

Avid readers of Frank's blog, like me, had recently become very concerned with the decidedly non-weekly and increasingly infrequent fresh rants available at Frank's place, so we were all very relieved to read this in his latest post:

I've heard from several fans ... noting that my Weekly Rant has missed a few weeks. I apologize for the lapse. It's been a busy time as our firm works tirelessly to pass Proposition 8, the common-sense marriage initiative. If I weren't so busy battling the People's Lawyer [Jerry Brown], I could have written more columns. I'm back on track now.

Now that Frank is back on track, I hope he might make himself available to answer a few questions from this inquisitive fan.

After the break, I've posted a letter sent from Bob Packer on July 28th to the California LDS (Mormon) stake (diocese) presidents.

I'll note a couple of items that caught my attention before posting the letter without further comment:

Apparently, there is a plan in place to put up one million 'Yes on 8' yard signs at 7:00 am on September 22nd.

This letter makes clear that those walking their precincts on behalf of the 'Yes on 8' campaign are not doing so to persuade their neighbors, but rather to identify potential 'Yes' votes.  As such, the precinct walking is clearly part of a standard get-out-the-vote operation, rather than an attempt to change hearts and minds.

The GOP consulting firm Schubert Flint Public Affairs is led by Frank Schubert and Jeff Flint, who also co-manage the Yes on 8 campaign.

The firm has announced an Open House to be held this Thursday, August 14th from 5:30 pm - 8:30 pm to celebrate the opening of Schubert Flint's new Irvine office.

If you are able to get over to Irvine this Thursday evening, I've prepared a flyer that you can download, print out and take with you to distribute to the Open House attendees:  Schubert Flint Protest Flyer Download (PDF)

The Yes on 8 side of California's Prop. 8 battle is indignant.

Yet another judge has let them down, this time by refusing to change the Prop. 8 title to suit their campaign.

In response, the Yes on 8 campaign is now distributing this press release that includes this claim:

In a review of the past 50 years of ballot measures, this is the only initiative among 250 initiatives that an Attorney General has assigned a negative verb for its Title & Summary.

Really?  

Jennifer Kerns was hired last month to the position of Communications Director for the Yes on 8 campaign, the folks behind the California initiative to eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry.

Five short years ago, Jennifer Kerns was Vice President of External Affairs for the Orange County Young Republicans.  What follows is the tale of two rallies, told in photos from two events that Ms. Kerns organized back in the days before gay marriage had emerged as the primary threat to our republic.

Schubert Flint Public Affairs has been hired to run the Yes on Prop. 8 ("Protect Marriage") initiative.  If you've happened to notice the names Jennifer Kerns, Frank Schubert, or Jeff Flint in media coverage of California's Proposition 8 initiative, that would be because they all work for Schubert Flint.

After the break, I've posted an invitation from Schubert Flint Public Affairs to join them for an Open House on August 14th to celebrate the opening of their new Irvine office.

For reasons of my own (also posted after the break), my initial impulse when I saw this invitation was not to RSVP, but rather, to wonder if some other response might not be more appropriate for such an event?  What would you suggest?