The ‘other fundamentalists’ fight for Prop. 8

It’s not just Christian groups fighting for Proposition and the rollback of gay marriage in California. Golden State progressives, if you’re approached by a clean-cut white male in white shirt, black pants and black tie, run like hell — probably, it’s a Mormon trying to get you to vote Yes on 8. Per High Country News, in June, the church's top prophets commanded Mormons “to do all you can” to work for Prop. 8.

But, Prop. 8 is just the tip of the electioneering, highly centralized out of the temple in Salt Lake City, by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also known as the Mormons or the LDS — or the Morons or the LDS, depending on your take.

The HCN story goes far beyond this, though — it’s a full-blown roundup of the Religious Right’s top advocacy groups out West. Give the full story a good read.

In case you haven’t heard, more than a quarter of Oregonians are irreligious in some way, shape or form, and the West as a whole, despite the strong presence of Hispanic Catholics (and Hispanic evangelicals), is the far and away the least religious part of the country. And, it’s the most libertarian area as well.

Yet, since James Dobson’s move to Colorado Springs, Colo., the West has become the promised land for much of the Religious Right, too.

And, there’s plenty of irony — the Mormons, like John Winthrop’s Puritans and Plymouth’s Pilgrims fled persecution elsewhere only to re-establish it themselves when they were the masters.

Oh, and I’ll also bet you didn’t know that by percentage of population, Idaho is more Mormon than Utah. Nor did you probably know that, sociologically speaking, Idaho Mormons are stricter.

If you didn’t, read the full story. You’ll also find, on page 4, that Idaho Mormon repression hasn’t made human nature any better, and from the police blotter of Rexburg, Idaho, you’ll get the details of that.