I'm not normally one to actively hate on religion. But people might be more inclined to leave them alone if they left others alone. In 2008, California had a bill to repeal same-sex marriage, proposition 8. 33% of donations (About $13 million) in support of it came from the Mormon church[1][2], a group not even based in the state. Coupled with that, the campaign put out downright insulting and lying videos[3][4]. And that shit passed. So yeah...we're still bitter here. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Proposition_8#Campa...
[2]: http://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/California_Proposition...
[3]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PgjcgqFYP4
[4]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-jc4ujp9Ok
The reference you cite [2] is important: "contributions to the pro-Proposition 8 campaign from individuals who belong to the Mormon church. Contributions from Mormons were said to amount to between 33%-40% of the total amount raised in support of Proposition 8." I don't know if the church, as an organization, officially gave any money or didn't. Not every mormon in California supported prop 8. Just a bunch of them. It's worth noting that (the last time I looked) there were more mormons in California than there are in Utah. Look - for me, as an actively practicing mormon, those were dark days. I hate it every time a moral issue hits the ballots. The church is officially usually very good about being neutral. They will, through channels, very clearly state something like "Please be active in the democratic process and vote according to your conscience". Not living in California at the time, I can't say what was said officially over the pulpit on Sunday. And I just realized this post is 200+ days old. whoops. Chalk up another example of a dumb mormon.support of it came from the Mormon church[1][2], a group not even based in the state.
Unfortunately that's true. I would hope, at least, that a lot fewer people would think such incredible nonsense (such as opposing gay marriage) if they didn't have certain books pounded into them as divine and unquestionable truth. One of the best things an education can do is teach critical thinking, and that's really what people need to distinguish the good from the bad in any context, whether it's the Bible or an election or simply how to treat other people.