One of the biggest opponents of gay marriage in California is the Mormon church. They are one of the players in the money behind Prop 8. Seems they are now catching some blow back from within their own ranks as well as bloggers. From the San Francisco Chronicle:

The church largely stays out of politics. But in this case, the Salt Lake City-based church has sent letters, held video conferences and in church meetings asked for volunteers to support the campaign. In response, some church members have poured in their savings and undertaken what may be an unprecedented grassroots mobilization for the effort. Prop. 8 is on pace to be the costliest race in the nation, except for the billion-dollar presidential election. The Yes on 8 campaign estimates that up to 40 percent of its donations come from Mormons. Some others estimate that Mormons account for over 70 percent of donations from individuals.

Seems like the Mormon Church wants to manipulate the political process for their own ideology. Well, sometimes, people fight fire with fire.

Prop. 8 opponents are increasingly narrowing their focus on Mormons, harnessing technology and open-records laws in their efforts. One Web site run by a Prop. 8 opponent, Mormonsfor8.com, identifies the name and hometown of every Mormon donor. On the Daily Kos, the nation’s most popular liberal blog, there is a campaign to use that information to look into the lives of Mormons who financially support Prop. 8.

Sunshine is a great thing and it teaches lessons. One pro-Prop 8 supporter seems to have learned a lesson:

Those words speak for Michele Sundstrom, 47, of San Jose, who has been married for 18 years and has five children. She and her husband gave $30,000 to the Yes on 8 campaign and put a sign on their home. But in response, two women parked an SUV in front of their home, with the words “Bigots live here” painted on the windshield. Sundstrom believes such responses must come from deep places of pain – and that gays and lesbians are entitled to the same rights as heterosexuals, just not the word marriage. Any animosity toward gays or lesbians is wrong, she said. “There must be such deep, deep, deep hurt; otherwise there couldn’t be so much opposition,” she said. “They’ve lived with this. I guess we’re getting a taste of where they live.”

Yup, I guess you are. Is it really worth a word?

Maybe Mormons should be more worried about Mormon Warren Jeffs and his definition of marriage rather than whether Warren marries Jeff. There are plenty of ways to help the No on Prop 8 campaign – help here. And you can donate here: