It seems the pot is calling the kettle black.

This YouTube.com video clip shows gay advocates berating and intimidating an elderly lady in Palm Springs, California, peacefully bearing a cross. This YouTube video clip shows an outrageous scene at the LDS Temple in West Hollywood, California.

The disappointment of anti-Proposition 8ers is understandable, after all it was a hard fought and emotionally charged issue.  However, it’s also safe to say that gay rights advocates have definitively and irreversibly forfeited any pretense of tolerance, rightness, and moral superiority on this issue.

The great philosopher, anonymous, once said, “What you say about others says something about yourself as well.

In fact, perhaps nothing is as revealing of a person’s character as how they respond to setbacks; that’s when people’s true colors show through.

The Mormon Church (the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) in particular has been the target of vicious retaliation by enraged gay rights advocates. In addition to condemning LDS Church members in the media, over the Internet, and face to face, all over the country LDS buildings are being vandalized, and white powder is being mailed to places like the Salt Lake Temple in Utah, and the Los Angeles Temple in California, and at least 1 white powder mailing, earlier this year to FBI offices Salt Lake City, included hate letters.

Prior to the passing of Proposition 8, LDS Church leaders took great care to instruct its believers to treat others with civility and respect. Likewise, after the passing of Proposition 8, the LDS Church issued the following statement:

“Most likely, the election results for these constitutional amendments will not mean an end to the debate over same-sex marriage in this country.

“We hope that now and in the future all parties involved in this issue will be well informed and act in a spirit of mutual respect and civility toward those with a different position.   No one on any side of the question should be vilified, intimidated, harassed or subject to erroneous information.”

Curiously, the popular search engine, Google, does not include lds.org in its search results for this quote, even though it is clearly and prominately posted on lds.org. Google instead only lists several news agencies that carried the quote. Yahoo’s search engine, by the way, with the same search criteria, lists lds.org no problem. That is especially interesting given that Google’s founders are famously liberal Californians who personally donated six-figure contritutions to the effort to defeat Proposition 8. Likewise, Google’s  executives and employees are overwhelmingly Democrat-leaning, with  98% of their political contributions during the last campaign going to one party. Additionally, Google has a controversial history of purging conservative leaning websites from search results. Likewise, conservative groups have complained that Google censors their advertisements as well.  Google, of course, has no problem serving up other “constitutionally protected free speech” such as pornography, liberal ideologies, or how to make a bomb for that matter.

The whole world knows that had California’s proposition 8 failed, LDS Church leaders would not have organized protests in front of gay bars, nor would they have resorted to the acrimony, labeling and hate-mongering that we are seeing from those who did lose.

And while gay rights advocates may yet vilify, bully and manipulate their way into overturning proposition 8, they cannot change the unimpeachable fact that marriage is not theirs to define.

What shockingly few people seem to understand is that marriage is not a right, nor is it a government entitlement. Marriage is a religious practice. It always has been.

Secular doctrine teaches that mankind evolved from animals, some of which mate for life but none of which marry. It is RELIGIOUS doctrine that conceived of marriage.

Religion, including the institution of marriage, seriously predates the founding of this country and its constitution. Marriage is by no means a U.S. government institution, nevertheless, it has long been the object of a hostile takeover.

The nation George Washington governed recognized Martha as his wife, but their marriage would be illegal in the nation George Bush governs!

When our nation was born, marriage was a religious rite that didn’t concern the government. Then, in the 1800s, states began passing laws prohibiting interracial marriage. Eventually, they allowed interracial marriage, but only with a government issued license, hence the birth of the American marriage license.

That’s right. Ironically, from the very beginning, the reason government was involved in marriage at all was as a means to discriminate against some people.

For untold centuries, marriage survived without controversy as a religious institution. It was the secular hijacking of marriage by the United States government that started our current conflict.

The Federal Uniform Marriage and Marriage License Act of 1923 prompted every state in the Union to adopt marriage license laws, perhaps the largest invasion of religious rights by “the state” in the history of the United States.

During the Great Depression, the U.S. Government became intensely interested in taxing incomes, and income taxes differentiated between single Americans and married couples. Likewise, the Norris Laguardia Act of 1932 gave power to organized labor, leading to employer’s benefits which likewise treated married people differently. Little by little, for monetary reasons (the root of all evil?), the Federal Government co-opted marriage from religion.

And as the great philosopher, Ringo Starr, once said, “Everything the government touches turns to crap.”

But while the United States may have tied taxes and other things to marital status, constitutional constraints forbid the government from annexing religion and its practices as its own. To do so would violate the First Amendment of the Constitution reads, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”

Like it or not, marriage is and always has been a religious practice, not a government program, entitlement or right, therefore it is not a voter’s prerogative to define it.

This is not a matter of homophobia, hate, intolerance, hypocrisy, or any of the other labels the spin doctors are using. It is simply a matter of fact.

Marriage is and has always been, since long before the United States was born, a religious rite, not a constitutional right.

Consequently, what gay advocates are demanding with marriage is that government elections should be used to tell religions what their doctrines and practices should be. Could there be a more blatant violation of the U.S. Constitution?

The fact that so many people could with such brashness and indignation insist that government seize for its own the free exercise of religion is a testament to just how powerful the forces against religion in this country really are.

Civil unions may well be a protected right of all people, but marriage certainly is not.

In fact, to insist otherwise is, to borrow the labels and rhetoric of the opponents of Proposition 8, blatant “bigotry and intolerance” … of the rights of religious peoples.

But if the day ever comes when the free exercise of religion falls victim to populist political pressures, I seriously doubt you will see the LDS Prophet, the Catholic Pope and Protestant Clergy on Google’s YouTube website berating and intimidating little old ladies in front of gay bars… further illustrating that, in more ways than one, gay rights advocates are just flat wrong on this issue.

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The democrats have been making the rounds in an obviously choreographed effort to make people think Palin was shrill in her acceptance speech. But as an independent who saw her speech last night, and who has been following the coverage of the Palin speech since, the only shrillness I hear comes from the left.

And speaking of the left, is this the best they can do? No wonder democrats like to use the word “desperate” a lot.

Can you imagine that a POSER like Barack Obama, with his make believe presidential seal, could be 60 days away from the presidency, much less a heartbeat?

If Obama has so much political experience, then why is America much more aware of his speeches than his portfolio of reforms? Apparently Obama measures experience by the number of words spoken, not the number of actions taken.

What has Obama done for the state of Illinois? And what has he done since becoming a US Senator, other than promote himself?

Obama’s circular logic had him on TV the other day claiming he was qualified to be president, because he’s run a presidential campaign.

Uh, okay. And what exactly does Obama “campaign manager” David Plouffe do again? Bring his Poser-ness his morning coffee?

Barack Obama is a self absorbed narcissist, who has written more about himself than he has for his constituents in Illinois.

Obama is a made for TV candidate in the age of American Idol. And obviously, American Idol has a lot of fans.

Not only is Barack Obama not qualified to lead this country, he’s not even qualified to claim to know “what the American people want.”

Exactly when did Obama qualify himself to be so in touch with Americans?

Was it his $4 million income last year from writing books about himself that gives him his gift with the common person?

Was it his underage drinking in high school?

Was it his marijuana and cocaine use as an adult?

Is it his Harvard law degree that makes Obama think he is so in touch with what Americans want?

Or is it the $1.65 million house he lives in, purchased in league with a campaign campaign contributor who at the time was “under scrutiny for alleged political corruption.”

Barack Obama is a self absorbed narcissist who does more for the advancement of his career than for those he was elected to serve.

Obama supporters should be embarrassed, and find themselves a real candidate instead of the Harvard Law cardboard cut out.

Palin exposed just what a poser Barack Obama really is in her speech last night, and Joe Biden is next.

If you weren’t excited about McCain, at least Palin is someone you can genuinely be excited about, assuming you aren’t too proud to admit you were wrong about Obama.

Sarah Palin chews up and spits out good ole boys (like Senator Biden) like last year’s moose jerky.

Sarah Palin handily defeated an incumbent governor in the primaries, Frank Murkowski. Remember, Murkowski, like Joe Biden, was a US Senator, but he couldn’t come close to standing up to Sarah.

Sarah’s appointment is certainly a great moment for women in politics, as it is for Alaskans, whose congregational delegation is a whopping 3 people, but whether or not America has figured it out, the Republicans finally have a Reagan Republican on the ticket: cut spending, cut waste, strong military, energy indepence, etc., plus she is environmentally friendly.

The only way this could be better would be if she was at the TOP of the ticket!

On Wednesday, May 7, 2008, the day of her baby shower (and the day after Karl and Jessica’s 3rd anniversary), Jessica went into labor. The next several days were spent in relative boredom at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center, trying to avoid giving birth at just 30 weeks.

But Jess got sick, and Saturday night her coughing may have triggered things because her water broke. Before long, a foot appeared!

Both babies were breech, so a “c-section” was performed, and at 3:09 (then again at 3:10 a.m.), Karl and Jess were parents.

Camille was born first (3:09 a.m.). She weighed 3 lbs., 8 oz (1605 grams), and was 16 inches long (40 cm).

Shaylee was born second (3:10 a.m.). She weighed 3 lbs., 4 oz (1480 grams), and was 16.5 inches long (42 cm).

Mom is fine but very tired.

The twins are in intensive care right now. They are so skinny but are doing well.

At a time like this, it is hard not to be so grateful for our Heavenly Father’s goodness to us. What a blessing to live in a time and place where our granddaughters can have such assistance as they start off their new lives here on earth. They were born 11 weeks early.

That makes May a busy party month for the Johnsons: Karl’s birthday, their anniversary, Mother’s Day, and now the twins’ birthday.

Thanks to everyone worldwide for your prayers and kind words.

I’m not saying Tom was excited, but he wore two signs (one in the front, one in the back) all through church.

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I asked women in our ward about it, and to my surprise, everyone I asked told me they made their cakes from a box mix.

So I went into a professional cake making shop and asked them. To my astonishment, they told me that they make cakes from a box mix as well.

So, after some trial and error, (and boy were all those errors a trial!), I think I’ve found a way to make it work.

Below is the Black Forrest Gateaux Cake I made this evening, which is I believe a German cake. It is a chocolate cake with with cream and black cherry filling between its layers.

Happy Easter.

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