If Romeny runs in 2012...

[myboynoah]

Originally Posted by bluegoose

I can only go on my own experience and the experiences of those I know with more than weak finger on the pulse of the voters in CA. I was up well past midnight the two nights leading up to the election talking on the phone with members of my own family discussing exactly this issue. You're going to have to trust me, the basis for their reasoning for voting "Yes" was little more than "The Prophet said to. We follow the Prophet". And these are well-educated, well-informed people.

Perhaps my experiences were different than others here on the board. But I live in a fairly "normal" LDS ward and my family members also live in strong LDS communities.

Given the experience of your family and friends, as well as your own experience, how would you say most approached the issue?

I would expect that most were already disposed to vote "yes," so The Church's stance only strengthened their resolve. I would think that when discussing the issue with "wavering" members, this group would surely invoke the "the Prophet has spoken arguement" to strengthen their own case, but not neccissarily as the primary reason for their decisions. Would this be true?

Then there would two smaller groups:

- those not disposed to vote "yes," but that through some process decided that obedience trumped their own reservations.

- those that opposed the proposition and no amount of "the prophet has spoken" argumentation could sway them.

I suppose there would also be a small group of non-thinkers that followed like zombies.

Am I anywhere close here?

I guess my point is that Mormons, in general, are already a pretty conservative bunch. Most were going to vote "yes" anyway. The Church merely mobilized them to action. Does that make sense?

[TripletDaddy]

Originally Posted by RockyBalboa

So members of the church decided to make a faith based decision and follow the prophets counsel and vote for Prop 8.

So what?

I don't see what all the whining is about.

My wife ultimately cast her vote for this very reason....the secular reasons didnt ring very true to her, but she wanted to do what the Prophet asked her to do. She spent a lot of hours helping out the cause.

I don't see her as a lemming. She was acting out of faith. Personally, of all the reasons to vote Yes on 8, I think the faith-based one is the best one.

I know CatBlue thinks my wife is a lemming, but I think CatBlue is a lemming, too, so hey, CatBlue.....who's the lemming now, lemming?

[TripletDaddy]

Originally Posted by myboynoah

Given the experience of your family and friends, as well as your own experience, how would you say most approached the issue?

I would expect that most were already disposed to vote "yes," so The Church's stance only strengthened their resolve. I would think that when discussing the issue with "wavering" members, this group would surely invoke the "the Prophet has spoken arguement" to strengthen their own case, but not neccissarily as the primary reason for their decisions. Would this be true?

Then there would two smaller groups:

- those not disposed to vote "yes," but that through some process decided that obedience trumped their own reservations.

- those that opposed the proposition and no amount of "the prophet has spoken" argumentation could sway them.

I suppose there would also be a small group of non-thinkers that followed like zombies.

Am I anywhere close here?

I guess my point is that Mormons, in general, are already a pretty conservative bunch. Most were going to vote "yes" anyway. The Church merely mobilized them to action. Does that make sense?

The ward organizer in my ward is also my HT. Great guy. He told me that he was encountering pushback from all levels within the stake.....because many of the members simply were not on board.

It would be interesting if we could somehow know how (approx) many active LDS are there in CA and how many of them wound up voting Yes.

[ute4ever]

Maybe Romney was inspired to drop out of the race because his presence would have hurt Prop 8, which passed by only 4%. Or maybe he's such a pampous prick that he has become closed off from normal inspiration, yet was wise enough to foresee the hypocracy and was afraid of being judged with blood on his hands.

[bluegoose]

Originally Posted by myboynoah

I would expect that most were already disposed to vote "yes," so The Church's stance only strengthened their resolve. I would think that when discussing the issue with "wavering" members, this group would surely invoke the "the Prophet has spoken arguement" to strengthen their own case, but not neccissarily as the primary reason for their decisions. Would this be true?

Then there would two smaller groups:

- those not disposed to vote "yes," but that through some process decided that obedience trumped their own reservations.

- those that opposed the proposition and no amount of "the prophet has spoken" argumentation could sway them.

I suppose there would also be a small group of non-thinkers that followed like zombies.

Am I anywhere close here?

I guess my point is that Mormons, in general, are already a pretty conservative bunch. Most were going to vote "yes" anyway. The Church merely mobilized them to action. Does that make sense?

Thats actually a pretty good summary.

I'm not sure if this fits into any of your groups, but there is also a group that may be more socially liberal who may have been inclined to vote "No", but by virute of their callings in the church felt obligated to sustain the local and general authorities of the church by donating, canvassing and voting "Yes". Trust me, this is a very tough spot to be in. I'm not at all surprised that many in this group supported the Proposition. Unless you are fairly firm in your convictions to the contrary, its just not worth the hassle of trying to swim upstream on something this big.

[myboynoah]

Originally Posted by TripletDaddy

The ward organizer in my ward is also my HT. Great guy. He told me that he was encountering pushback from all levels within the stake.....because many of the members simply were not on board.

It would be interesting if we could somehow know how (approx) many active LDS are there in CA and how many of them wound up voting Yes.

That would be interesting. I wonder if "pushback" doesn't scream louder than "obedience" in these cases.

[ERCougar]

Originally Posted by Tex

Sorry, I didn't meant to. ER retreated behind your apron, so I just answered it that way.

I didn't retreat behind his apron. He had just pointed out the exact example I was going to say, so instead of merely repeating it, I referred you to his example. Guess that was asking to much.

I obviously don't think the Mormon church is a cult, or I would not be a member. But we've had plenty of discussions on here over this issue and there are a handful of people who use "the prophet said so" as their only justification for their position. For people who hear this counsel, study it out in their mind, and obtain some sort of confirmation, more power to them; my wife would belong in this group. I may be wrong, but it sure seems there are a fair number of us who haven't put in this type of effort and are hiding behind "the prophet said so". This may not be unique to Mormonism, but with how strongly we are organized, the Mormon leadership has particular power over this segment.

[myboynoah]

Originally Posted by bluegoose

Thats actually a pretty good summary.

I'm not sure if this fits into any of your groups, but there is also a group that may be more socially liberal who may have been inclined to vote "No", but by virute of their callings in the church felt obligated to sustain the local and general authorities of the church by donating, canvassing and voting "Yes". Trust me, this is a very tough spot to be in. I'm not at all surprised that many in this group supported the Proposition. Unless you are fairly firm in your convictions to the contrary, its just not worth the hassle of trying to swim upstream on something this big.

That would be a tough situation. I don't know how I would have reacted. I would have voted yes, but wouldn't have cared for all the church political activism. My wife, on the other hand, would have been Sister Soldier.

I live in Tennessee. I don't expect anything like this coming our way in a long time.

[Tex]

Originally Posted by ERCougar

I didn't retreat behind his apron. He had just pointed out the exact example I was going to say, so instead of merely repeating it, I referred you to his example. Guess that was asking to much.

I obviously don't think the Mormon church is a cult, or I would not be a member. But we've had plenty of discussions on here over this issue and there are a handful of people who use "the prophet said so" as their only justification for their position. For people who hear this counsel, study it out in their mind, and obtain some sort of confirmation, more power to them; my wife would belong in this group. I may be wrong, but it sure seems there are a fair number of us who haven't put in this type of effort and are hiding behind "the prophet said so". This may not be unique to Mormonism, but with how strongly we are organized, the Mormon leadership has particular power over this segment.

To bring this full circle, if Romney were to run again, and this particular issue came up, all he'd have to do is point out that 5 million people voted for it.

[bigpiney]

Originally Posted by Solon

It's only a matter of time before the LDS inquisition is formed.

An inquisition could be fun.