Are the Prop 8 folks backing away from their two most outrageous lies?

Are the Prop 8 folks backing away from their two most outrageous lies?

Look at the web sites run by the folks trying to write unfairness into California’s state Constitution and you won’t see their claim that defeating Prop 8 will mean that churches “may” lose their tax exempt status if they refuse to perform same gender marriages.

Yup: go to their “youth site” (http://iprotectmarriage.com) and click on:

“Churches – Prop. 8 prevents reverse discrimination against churches and other centers of worship” or

“Faith – Prop. 8 protects freedom of religion and freedom of speech.”

Both of these links now go to the site’s page on “Rights.”

Of course, the folks who want to write inequality into our state Constitution have not taken their misleading ads off the air. You can still hear and see them claim that if we don’t pass Prop 8:

1.    Churches “may” lose their tax exempt status if they refuse to marry same gender couples; and

2.    People who oppose gay marriage on “moral” grounds could” lose their freedom of speech.

You see why the “Yes on 8” folks dropped these arguments from their web sites? Of course they waited until their lies had been broadcast across the state for weeks to be sure as many people as possible herd them.

Let’s think about their claims.

A decade ago, the “Rev.” Fred Phelps and his church picketed Matthew Sheppard’s funeral carrying signs that stated “God Hates Fags” and “Burn in Hell Matthew.” Recently, this ally of “Yes on 8” has been picketing funerals of American servicemen and Servicewomen who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan. His right to picket with hate filled signs at funerals has repeatedly been protected by those “activist judges” who enforce provisions of the US Constitution that guarantee freedom of speech and religion.

If Phelps can continue to spew his hate filled rhetoric from sea to shining sea, how can the Yes on 8 folks pretend to think a church would not be protected by the same provisions of our federal Constitution?

The Bill of Rights (for you folks at Pepperdine Law School: these are the first ten amendments to the US Constitution) guarantees each and every American freedom of religion and speech. That’s why a church can refuse to conduct a same gender marriage without fear of government reprisal. That’s why church leaders and politicians can be sure they can continue to state their moral views without fear of being charged with hate speech. Look what Phelps has said and done and ask yourself: how can anyone suggest that defeating Prop 8 would curtail the federally mandated freedoms of speech and religion?

Pretending defeat of Prop 8 “may” overturn two rights guaranteed by the US Constitution is more than bad law. It is a brazen attempt to frighten people into voting their fears launched by those who apparently believe any deception is justified if it furthers what they see as God’s will. That’s a dangerous precedent to set, because it suggests that God’s will is best determined by popular vote. Given that the majority of Californians are neither Mormon nor Roman Catholic, this is an idea which will come back to haunt and hurt both of these Churches.