Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Dear Governor Shwarzenegger

I sent this email this morning.

Dear Governor,I am troubled lately at the lack of government response to the attacks and demonstrations by the "No on 8" supporters. I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and was a supporter of Proposition 8. My involvement was voluntary, and I gave of my time and means to support that initiative because I believe that the long term ramifications of same sex marriage are harmful to our society as a whole, and also to religions in general.

I am thankful to live in a country where I can exercise my free speech, and also my freedom of religion. I also allow those whose opinions are different from mine that same freedom of speech. However, lately, with attacks on our sacred temples; attacks that included vandalism, I have been upset that you as Governor haven't spoken out about these acts of "domestic terrorism". In addition, I have heard that you have been quoted as saying that they should not give up the fight. My understanding is that you are to represent the voice of the people The voice of the people in this last election spoke, and the majority of the people chose to define marriage as being between a man and a woman. If you are to truly represent the voice of the people, I believe that you should also speak out on our behalf. I understand if your personal beliefs do not coincide with the voice of the people, but we still deserve your attention.

If these were civil demonstrations, I wouldn't mind so much. But when they write graffitti on the walls of the temple, or throw things at people, or scream obscentities, that goes beyond public decency. There have been threats made by some of them to burn down our temples. What will you answer to our church if that thing happens? These are sacred edifices to us. Our forefathers came to this country to preserve their right to religious freedom. This freedom has been preserved up to this point, but now I fear that our religious freedom is in jeopardy. In addition, those who oppose Prop. 8 have tried to intimidate business owners and people who supported Prop. 8. Are you going to sit quietly by and say nothing? Please be the leader that we elected. Please lead these people to behave in a civil way.Thank you for your time and consideration.

9 comments:

Mediocre Renaissance Man said...

You should have started it like this:

Dear Governator...

I like the sound of that. :D

I hope you didn't send the e-mail exactly as it appears here, since you forgot a space after your first comma.

Overall, though, well written and thoughtful letter. Let's hope he does something proactive about the issue.

Delirious said...

No, when I sent this it looked better. When I copy and pasted it in to my blog, it put everything together. Some of it I fixed, some I didn't. :)

Mediocre Renaissance Man said...

Well, I still think you should have addressed him as "the governator." I think that's a great title for the man. ;)

Delirious said...

If he keeps on ignoring the problem, my next email will be addressed, "Dear Governor Mud"

:P

Looney said...

So what is his e-mail address? I should do this too.

Delirious said...

This is the site I used. It allows you to send emails from here.

http://gov.ca.gov/interact

Inklings said...

I thought that was a very good letter. You said what needed to be said.

Maybe if it doesn't change anything you could write again and ask him if he has thought about making more movies? :0)

Max Coutinho said...

Hi D!

This article caught my attention in "Reader" so I had to come and check it out...

Well done!!

But I must give credit to Governor Shwarzenegger (I watched that interview), although he did say that the fight should not end, he also said that the people had spoken.

"But when they write graffitti on the walls of the temple, or throw things at people, or scream obscentities, that goes beyond public decency" - unacceptable!!

I agree with you, Freedom of Speech is applicable to everybody and not just to some. It is an acquired right and it is a duty to respect it!

I am hopeful that God won't allow anything evil to come upon your temples.

Once again, well done!

Amber said...

Good for you! I agree with you and think he DOES need to do something - he doesn't have to agree with the vote to stop the violence. I hope he does something soon!