Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints speaks candidly about his thoughts on Proposition 8. He argues that the passage of Proposition 8 (legalizing gay marriage) would have interfered with religious freedoms currently allowed to those of faith in the United States. I found this video extremely enlightening, and even agreed with a few of the points mentioned by the Mormon leader, which deeply surprised me.
I find it interesting that he compares this argument to the civil rights movement. Those who are exercising a civil right (the right to freedom of speech - religion) are being "punished" by having their places of worship destroyed or by being fired from their jobs. However, by asserting their civil right to religion, they are getting in the way of another freedom of speech issue: the right of homosexuals to declare their sexual identities. Elder Oaks seems to be blind to this fact, that two sides of civil rights are at odds, not just one.
The civil rights movement is similar to the Proposition 8 argument in that those who were persecuted for their skin color had no control over that factor, but those who are homosexual also have no control over whether they are or not, and neither group should be persecuted for something over which they couldn't determine. It is their right to assert their freedom.
Another point explored by Elder Oaks is the conflict between religious and secular pursuits. I do agree with him on one these points, as he states that "they are different approaches to the meaning of life, and the way one should live it." I do not think that they need to be adversaries, and should instead establish a peaceful relationship instead of each side attacking the other based on beliefs, and, as Elder Oaks states, "agree to disagree." The way its conducted should be civilized, with a reasonable separation of church and state.
A final disagreement I would have with Dallin Oaks is his thought that those who believe one way on a certain policy are actually "violating the separation of church and state." It is my belief that no matter who you are, you will have a bias towards one side or the other, depending on your race, where you were raised, whether or not that upbringing incorporated faith or not, and how you tend to see the world. It is impossible to be unbiased; it defines who you are. If we never took sides on anything, the world would be extremely boring and we wouldn't have politics, let alone the problem of church vs. state.
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