Several days ago our committee was saddened to see a picture of the LDS Temple in LA with the word “bigots” scrawled in pink across one of its gates. One of our committee members called to express condolences to the Temple President, Grant R. Brimhall, and to inquire if there was any way we could make a donation to help offset the cost of repairs or clean up.
The Temple President informed us that on the whole the protesters had been fairly well behaved. He said there had been some cleanup costs totaling about $100 but that no assistance was needed. He kindly told us that he knew every batch of bricks had a few “clinkers” and that it was the same with people. He seemed touched at our concern.
Sadly, isolated instances of vandalism continue to occur. While we cannot know what motivates specific individuals to commit such crimes in all instances, suspicions run rampant that it is in retaliation for the LDS role in passing Proposition 8 in California.
We call on responsible citizens, and particularly those opposed to Proposition 8 to assist the LDS Church in repairing damages incurred to their property. Our cause is best served when we act out of love, for our cause is one of love. Returning a wrong for a wrong will only lead to further strife and misunderstanding. While we feel the LDS Church should be ashamed of the campaign of fear and misinformation they strong-armed their members into bankrolling, we are just as vigorously opposed to any injustices being perpetrated on the LDS Church and its members.
We also wish to state that several members of our committee, as well as many who wrote letters or signed our petition are current or past members of the LDS Church. Many of us love the LDS Church and its members deeply. Attacking members of LDS Church as monolithically bigoted is a painful betrayal of our willingness to publicly state our opposition to our Church’s campaign against civil marriage rights. It is our hope that the vast majority of individuals on both sides of the issue can treat each other with respect even as we vehemently disagree. Of course there will be a few “clinkers” on both sides. Let’s all show our good will by helping rectify any such actions we discover.
Andrew Callahan,
Derek Price,
Mary Danzig,
Peter Danzig,
and other members of the SigningForSomething.org Committee.