These are the times that try men's souls.

Its times like this when Christians are sorely tested to NOT practice the eye-for-an-eye law of Moses, but rather to live the higher law taught by Christ of turning the other cheek, not returning railing for railing, doing good to your enemy and those who spitefully use or abuse us, to bear persecution with patience.

Many of the anti-Prop8 protesters are way out of control. For starters, the protests are illegal because they never filed for a permit, blog traffic, and damage property, and devolve into violence. Property at the Los Angeles Temple has been vandalized, as has private property. People with different opinions have been attacked and beaten. Even though members of the LDS church account for only about 2% of the population of California, and even though much larger groups (Blacks, Hispanics, Catholics, Evangelical Christians, etc) supported the passage of Prop 8, for some reason its the LDS Church that is being vilified and slandered. I heard on the radio today that a big protest is planned at the Newport Beach Temple on Sunday. The good news is that our temples are closed on Sunday. The bad news is that the members attempting to use the meeting house next door will likely encounter more out-of-control protesters who will swear and scream at them, pound on their cars, scare their children, block the roads and cause big traffic jams, try to pick fights, hurl insults, and in general set an example completely opposite of the tolerance they demand from others. A spokesperson for the protesters claimed that if the Mormon Church had not funneled millions of out-of-state sollars into the ProProp8 effort and sent thousands of missionaries door-to-door, Prop8 would not have passed. Of course these assertions are completely false, but they are broadcast without an opposing point of view to provide a balanced perspective. The Church did not give any money to the ProtectMarriage coalition, but individual members were invited to donate. Full time missionaries did NOT participate in Prop 8 grass roots efforts, but individual members were encourged to join with other coalition members in contacting people in their community.

The following URL is a link to an excellent article in the most recent edition of Meridian magazine about the anti-Prop8 protesters and the right way to respond to them.

http://www.ldsmag.com/ideas/081110hate.html