crossposted on Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters
An article today via the Associated Press is expressing the idea that the Mormon church's fight against gay marriage, particularly its role in the successful passage of Proposition 8 in California last year, has extremely damaged the church by putting it at odds with many of its own members:
After the vote, many gay rights advocates turned their anger toward the church in protests and marches outside temples that singled out Mormons as the key culprits in restricting the rights of gay couples.
That constituted a setback for the faith, argued Jan Shipps, a professor of religious history and a Mormon expert from Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.
. . . Church representatives don't discuss public relations strategies or challenges publicly, but at a semiannual conference in April, church President Thomas S. Monson seemed to be clearly feeling a post-Prop. 8 sting.
In an era of "shifting moral footings," Monson said, "those who attempt to safeguard those footings are often ridiculed, picketed and persecuted."
That argument doesn't wash for Linda Stay, whose ancestors were early Mormon converts. Stay said she was doubly transformed by Prop. 8. She and her husband, Steve, finally quit the church — along with 18 other family members and a few close friends — and became gay right activists.
The entire article is here and is an excellent read.
Personally, I can't say that I feel sorry the Mormon church. Ethically and legally, it had every right to interject itself into the Proposition 8 battle.
It's obvious that the church didn't think that it would have to deal with a backlash. But with all things you do, there are consequences. And when you move to take rights away from people (especially solely on the grounds of your religious beliefs), you really should expect a backlash.
In short, the Mormon church is getting what it deserves.
Here we go again with the burgeoning political perv-o-rama...this time in my state of North Carolina, where a 74-year-old Democrat and the longest-serving state Senator in our legislature is facing charges that he engaged in inappropriate sexual contact, was handing out generous sums of cash to clients behind bars and has now jumped onto the FBI's radar with an investigation into prostitution and molestation.
The fact that Stacy Scott was 15 when State Senator R.C Soles allegedly fondled him is a real gut churning visualization.
Stacy Scott, who's now 27, made the allegation during a Wednesday interview that aired on Wilmington television station WWAY-TV. Scott is a former client of Soles, who has practiced law in Tabor City for 50 years.But wait, there's more...take a look at one of Soles's "close friends who is defending him.Dowless said Scott never reported to police the abuse allegations and the claim that Soles paid the man $1,000 to keep quiet about the incident.
"If it's true, then we need to get to the truth of it and put this thing to rest," Dowless said.
"I think it's a bunch of lies, all these allegations that are being made," said Allen Strickland, who called Soles a family friend.I'm not sure that endorsement, which includes the quote "He didn't just offer me money. I told him I needed some school supplies," is particularly helpful to Soles. If you check out Soles's web site, there's no evidence of political sexual hypocrisy or blatant wingnuttery, nevertheless, he's in a world of trouble that indicates at the very least, he's unaware that he has placed himself in a situation that will be hard to explain, let alone explain away.Strickland's home burned down a couple of weeks ago, and that's how the radar on the relationship came to light. StarNews Online has been following the relationship between Soles and Strickland.Strickland, 17, said Soles has provided him enough money in recent years to buy a Corvette and a 640-square-foot house.
Soles...has been the subject of recent media coverage about his relationships with several young men/law clients in Columbus County since the home of one of them, 17-year-old Allen Strickland, was torched by an arsonist two weeks ago.OK, I don't know what on earth is going on in this story, but the fact that touching and fondling keep coming up, and the senator doesn't want to comment, means the media will keep sniffing this one out. More below the fold....According to media reports, Soles has also given money to a man named B.J. Wright, who was recently released from prison.
...In August 2008, Soles called the police to report that Strickland and another man were following the senator's car, harassing and yelling at him. But Soles asked the police not to arrest them because they were former clients. Strickland was twice charged with trespassing at Soles' home and law office in April, and then in May he told a police officer the lawmaker tried to touch him.
WWAY finally landed an interview with Soles.
We have been trying for a month and a half to interview State Sen. R.C. Soles about some concerning allegations regarding his personal and financial relationships with young men in Tabor City. He has failed to return repeated phone calls, and askedasked us to leave his office when we tried to go see him in Tabor City.Click here for the video. He also came forward for WECT with this comment.
In an exclusive interview, Soles spoke with WECT's Bob Townsend to discuss his relationship with Strickland.In addition, there are more men who have been the recipients of Soles's generosity -- inmates who were also his clients."The relationship you had with Strickland and any other clients - has it ever been sexual?" asked Townsend. "It has not," said Soles.
Allen Strickland lived in the home and said he is now getting death threats. Strickland said he recently filed a report with Tabor Police after receiving a threat on his life.
"I think that people on the street are running their mouths and saying things trying to scare him," said Soles. "If he was scared of me he certainly wouldn't come see me since the fire."
[P]rison documents also indicate that Soles has been giving generous financial assistance to other inmates, including Shane Coleman, and Daniel Floyd. Some at the North Carolina State Bar say while it's highly unusual for an attorney to provide financial assistance to an inmate, it doesn't run afoul of any professional ethics rules.Well if it's for sex, surely the senator could find a rent boy much more economically than this path of alleged procurement. But the issue of the FBI investigation is serious -- it has interviewed some of these men.There are ethical guidelines that prohibit North Carolina attorneys from entering into certain business and sexual relationships with their clients. The state bar says it's flat out against the law to post bail for a client.
It appears that B.J. Wright was able to post bonds for tens of thousands of dollars before he went to prison. We're still trying to track down who posted those bonds, but one thing that plenty of people are telling us is that R.C. Soles hands out a lot of cash.
"He had his secretary, Amanda something, who has just quit, walk out of the back of his office and hand me maybe a total of $35,000 cash. For what purpose? I don't know," said Stacey Scott.
UPDATE: On Facebook, I received a message from a fellow progressive North Carolinian that was not unexpected.On July 1, a few weeks before that fire, Allen and a few of his friends, all clients of State Sen. R.C. Soles, sat down with WWAY's Ann McAdams to discuss prob lems they were having with the Senator. They told Ann about being called to testify before the FBI, about possible misconduct on the part of the Senator. Ann asked Allen what they testified about. "About molestation, about prostitution," Strickland said.
"I went to Raleigh and went before the grand jury and they questioned me for about six-and-a-half hours," said Jackie Jordan, one of Soles's clients.
"The FBI is investigating him, as far as I know, for embezzlement, arson, child molestation," Scott said. "He (Soles) did try to molest me when I was 15 years old, and I have not told the feds that. He tried to grab by my genitalia and I backed off and I said, 'You know my dad would kill you.' He said, 'Please don't tell nobody,' and he gave me a thousand dollars."
I'd like to think my liberal friends support the notion oion of innocent-until-proven-guilty.My reply:
I took care to say allegedly there, and made a point to say there's no smoking sexual hypocrisy gun to be found. That said, there is an investigation under way and what we do know that an incredible amount of factual information that is in the public domain and documented in the media has drawn attention from the FBI is on this, and, at the very least he's in as bad a position as any of the many Republicans caught in similar circumstances that I've blogged about.Closeted behavior has no party affiliation, btw. Gay-baiting is one thing, molestation and prostitution is another, since obviously you can be straight and caught up in a mess like this; the interesting aspect is whether Soles would be more affected by 1) the thought that people would learn that he is gay or 2) that people think he was caught up in illegal activity or 3) that criminal sexual activity, regardless of orientation, might somehow be connected to his status or position.
"It is now no more that toleration is spoken of, as if it was by the indulgence of one class of people that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights.For happily, the Government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance, requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens."
President George Washington
August 17, 1790
Newport, Rhode Island
From Louise: Here is an interesting link regarding some of the Founding Fathers' views on Christianity, religion as a whole, and its interference in government.
John Adams:
Gentlemen, we are not, nor have we ever been a Christian Nation ...The United States is not a Christian natian nation any more than it is a Jewish or Mohammedan nation.
Thomas Jefferson:
The clergy converted the simple teachings of Jesus into an engine for enslaving mankind and adulterated by artificial constructions into a contrivance to filch wealth and power to themselves ... these clergy, in fact, constitute the real Anti-Christ.The clergy, by getting themselves established by law and ingrafted into the machine of government, have been a very formidable engine against the civil and religious rights of man.
History, I believe, furnishes no example of a priest-ridden people maintaining a free civil government. This marks the lowest grade of ignorance of which their civil as well as religious leaders will always avail themselves for their own purposes.
Jefferson, referring to the Virginia Act for Religious Freedom
Where the preamble declares, that coercion is a departure from the plan of the holy author of our religion, an amendment was proposed by inserting "Jesus Christ," so that it would read "A departure from the plan of Jesus Christ, the holy author of our religion;" the insertion was rejected by the great majority, in proof that they meant to comprehend, within the mantle of its protection, the Jew and the Gentile, the Christian and Mohammedan, the Hindoo and Infidel of every denomination.
James Madison:
Religion and government will both exist in greater purity, the less they are mixed together.
Thomas Paine:
All national institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian, or Turkish, appear to me no other than human inventions, set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power and profit.
Benjamin Franklin:
Lighthouses are more helpful than churches.
Ethan Allen:
I am no Christian, except infant baptism make me one.
Please join the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) and Basic Rights Oregon (BRO) For a weekend of intimate events in Portland,featuring Kate Kendell, Esq., NCLR Executive Director and Jeana Frazzini, BRO Executive Director
The State of Our Unions: LGBT Legal & Policy Briefing Saturday, September 12, 2009 3:00 pm â€" 5:00 pm
Flying Cat Coffee Company 3041 SE Division Portland, Oregon
The legal landscape for LGBT people is ever-changing, and this year, that has proved to be especially true! With new victories and defeats occurring at a faster pace than ever, it’s hard to keep track of where our struggle for justice stands, and how and where our relationships are protected. Join us for a presentation and discussion on the latest legal and policy issues affecting the LGBT community, including an update on moving forward witard with marriage equality in Oregon and other states and federal legislation and litigation. There is no cost to attend. No RSVP necessary.
A Social for Social Justice: Benefit Party with NCLR and BRO Sunday, September 13, 2009 3:00 pm â€" 5:00 pm
Nostrana Restaurant With award-winning Chef Cathy Whims 1401 SE Morrison Street Portland, Oregon So much has happened over this past year â€" we hope you can join us for a fun and intimate afternoon to catch up with NCLR and BRO and find out more about our current work and what lies ahead in the fight for our LGBT civil and human rights. Suggested Donation: $25, payable at the door. Please RSVP by September 4th to Dena Zaldúa-Hilkene at dzalduahilkene@nclrights.org with subject line “NCLR Portland Event†or call 415.365.1303. Reservations will be held at the door.
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