They have no idea.

Thought I'd share a little snippet I found on a message board and thought I'd pass it on. Its a blog written by John Scalzi. It reads the following:

This is amusing: The L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center is encouraging people to donate to invalidate Proposition 8 in the following way:

Make a donation, in the name of the president of the Mormon Church, to support the legal organizations working to invalidate Proposition 8 and to fund grass-roots activities in support of full marriage equality. For every donation of $5 or more, the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center will send the following postcard to President Thomas Monson’s office in Salt Lake City, acknowledging your donation in his name:

Dear President Monson:

A donation has been made in your name by _________________ to “invalidateprop8.org” to overturn California’s Proposition 8 and restore fundamental civil rights to all citizens of California. The money will be donated to legal organizations fighting the case and to support grass-roots activities in support of full marriage equality. Although we decry the reprehensible role the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints leadership played in denying all Californians equal rights under the law, we are pleased a donation has been made on your behalf in the effort to overturn the discrimination your church members helped enshrine in the California Constitution. Given that throughout its history the Mormon Church has been subjected to bigotry, we hope you appreciate the donation in your name to fight religious bigotry here in California.

All other issues aside, I’m not entirely sure the LDS Church thought through the end-game issue of pissing off gays and lesbians, a group of people who thanks to the AIDS crisis and other recent rights discrimination battles has a couple decades worth of creative and committed leaders who know how to mobilize, know how to perform dramatic civil disobedience, and, yes, know the value of snark in raising cultural awareness. I suspect they’ll be finding out now.

On that message board, I decided to post a response, and here it is:

"I’m not entirely sure the LA Gay & Lesbian center thought through the end-game issue of confronting the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a group of people who thanks to the its members, its leadership, and its prophet, has had more than fifteen decades worth of smart and committed leaders who know how to mobilize, know how to obey the law, and, yes, know the value of truth in raising cultural awareness. I suspect they’ll be finding out now."

They have no idea who they're dealing with.

Christmas Eve; I mean, Black Friday

Its the longest night of the year. I'm nervous and excited at the same time. I wanted to make sure I got plenty of sleep, so I took a sleeping pill plenty early. I went to bed 7 hours from the time I needed to wake up, and drank plenty of water. You'd think this was Christmas Eve, but in essence, this is my first Black Friday.

Hell, I'm 29 years old now. You'd think I would have done this before. Even in my 3 years experience at Wal-Mart that I'd have worked at least one Black Friday. Not so; I was always in positions where I didn't need to be there before 5:00 a.m.

But there I lay, wide awake, wondering if I had slept too long and had missed my alarm. I looked at my clock and read the time. 11:34 p.m. Is this a joke? I check another clock and it says the same. I go back to bed, relieved that I didn't miss it. I begin to dream one thing after another, long dreams that go on for an incalculable amount of time.

I awaken, suddenly aware that its still dark outside. I surely missed it this time. 1:27 a.m. You've got to be kidding me! Again I lay back and try to sleep, but its getting harder now. Dreams come, longer ones this time, and all interconnected. I dream of anticipating Black Friday, and deep inside, I realize I need to get up.

My eyes pop open, and I look for the clock. 2:43 a.m. Its 1.5 hrs before I need to get up. I've gone to bed later than this before. But this time I can't sleep. I toss and turn, and eventually decide that I might as well get up and start that blog I've been putting off for so long.