LA Temple protest update

I got this via email this morning - I hope its author won't mind my sharing it with you, but he says it better than I could:

It's getting ugly in LA. Hopefully it will die down in a few days, but for now it's ugly. I received the following from a good friend who just got back from the LA temple grounds:

I was there...crazy...after i asked a cop if i could take down the mean signs...and he said he wouldn't stop me....i went about tearing signs down off the temple fence and got harassed for it...and two people tried to grab them out of my hands ...they kept blocking my path...trying to get me to stop pulling their hate posters down....one even physically put their hand on me to stop me...i finally dropped the signs and walked away..... they also put graffiti on the outside temple fence walls...they wouldn't let people drive out of the temple parking lot....they yelled, waved signs....flipped off the temple....sat in the middle of the road and wouldn't let cars go by.....i can't believe this!!! it started at 2 pm today...i didn't get there til about 7 pm...but when i left around 11 pm... they were still going....a fight broke out between a tongan girl and a no on prop 8 person...then the tongan mormons jumped in to protect her.....a girl got her nose bashed it....unfortunately i missed this part because i was running around the other side of the temple looking for my friend....after the people wouldn't leave me alone....no worries...i'm home safe....please pray for these people..they need help! sorry for all the rambles...just a little fired up...

Please pray for the members in California, and for the temples there. Threats are being made against both. (And it's not just California - I've heard that a protest is planned for the Salt Lake temple today, and protestors are going to target the Newport Beach temple on Saturday.)

In the mean time, while an angry mob gathered outside the temple, the Church issued the following statement:

It is important to understand that this issue for the church has always been about the sacred and divine institution of marriage -- a union between a man and a woman. Allegations of bigotry or persecution made against the church were and are simply wrong. The church's opposition to same-sex marriage neither constitutes nor condones any kind of hostility toward gays and lesbians. Even more, the church does not object to rights for same-sex couples regarding hospitalization and medical care, fair housing and employment rights, or probate rights, so long as these do not infringe on the integrity of the traditional family or the constitutional rights of churches.

The Church has been unfailingly civil in the midst of this heated debate... a beacon of courtesy in a sea of heated rhetoric.

We truly live in interesting times. Proposition 8 was never about discrimination. We can love our gay and lesbian neighbors, respect them and wish the best for them, and still believe and comprehend that marriage is the union of a man and a woman. It is a slippery slope to say, "If you don't agree with my political ideas, you are a bigot and we can't be friends." But that is essentially what the 'No on 8' crowd is saying. And it's not right, it's not fair, and it's not a good way to live in a democracy.

p.s. A couple of articles worth checking out:

Opponents of Prop 8 converge on Mormon Temple in Westwood, California: http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/politics/local_elections&id=6493052

Two Arrested Near Los Angeles Mormon Temple in Anti-Proposition 8 Protest: http://www.myfoxla.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail?contentId=7808264&version=5&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=1.1.1

An Evangelical rises in defense of the Mormons: What A Long Strange Trip It's Been: http://www.article6blog.com/2008/11/06/what-a-long-strange-trip-its-been/

For more information go to http://whatisprop8.com