As a Mormon, I believe there are at least two differing groups of Mormons caught up in the aftershocks of Prop 8. There are those who are sympathetic to the Gay and Lesbian causes who feel that the Church should adopt an inclusive stand towards Gays and Lesbians in committed relationships, condoning the practice and expanding the area of legitimate activity to include their actions. I believe this to be a relatively small group of Mormons. Its is not a group to which I belong. It calls, in my opinion, for an untenable doctrinal change which goes contrary to the core goal of Mormon life, namely to attain exaltation and the ability to eventually create spiritual children through a celestial marriage.
On the other hand, I believe there is an unusually large group of Mormons who feel very uncomfortable with the use of political activism on the scale it was used in the gay-marriage debates under President Hinckley. In my years in the Church, I have never encountered a situation where so many active Mormons were deeply offended by any political action by the Church. But in this case, there are very large numbers who find what happened as innappropriate, and are growing weary of the resultant association of Mormons in the minds of the public with the un-Christian behavior of the Christian right.
It is important that people understand the difference between the two groups of Mormons, as the media is unlikely to understand that difference and is likely, through, such lack of understanding to draw wrong conclusions.
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I find members of my own church getting their politics mixed up with their Christianity when discussions involve homosexuals or immigrants or any other group that is politically sensitive. I believe that when a person walks in the door of the church, they are a brother or a sister and deserve to be treated as such. The same rules apply in the public square, where all people deserve to be treated with respect.
That is not to say that we must agree on all issues. We each bring our own values to the public square, and there is room to disagree without being disagreeable. Some of the behavior by members of churches during the Prop 8 election campaign was anything but Christian, and the behavior of some groups of homosexuals did them no credit. But, their behavior does not excuse Christians from living the Gospel.
Christ taught us to love sinners, not sin. Now I know that different denominations have different teachings on sin, but I don't know of any that don't teach love of neighbor, both in church and in the public square. They will know that we are Christians by our love.
That was the first point of the posting. The second point, which everyone seems to be ignoring is that Mormon doctrine is also very much opposed to interfering with "free agency" and especially coercing anyone to believe as they believe. In a secular democracy dedicated to the ideals of liberalism, it is wholly innappropriate for anyone to legislate their religious beliefs and thereby bring the coercive power of government to bear upon a minority for religious reasons. The bottomline gripe that motivated Prop 8 was religious -- gays who enter into gay marriages are not physically or economically hurting or damaging anyone else (assuming they are consenting adults.) As a result, we had no business trying to legislate our beliefs. From a purely secular standpoint, public health suggests that the government has an interest in promoting committed relationships rather than promiscuity whether promiscuity be homosexual or heterosexual. As a result, from a strictly secular point of view -- Prop 8 is bad policy and bad law.