Thousands rally against LDS Church in Salt Lake City.

Looks like the Mormon Church is reaping what they sow.

Click here for the link to the local news story.

Tonight thousands of people have gathered in downtown Salt Lake City to protest the LDS church involvement in the passage of the anti-gay marriage proposition in California. Of course the church is absolutely stunned that this would happen. Well guess what folks, this is what happens when you take away people's rights.

First off I believe the the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints as well as any other church that contributed to the Prop 8 campaign should be stripped of their tax exempt status. I believe this is a fundamental violation of the separation of church and state. I also believe that Prop 8 as well as the resulting amendment to the California Constitution (as well as similar amendments in other states) violate the equal protection clause in the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution. Isn't refusing to let two consenting adults establish a legal relationship depriving them of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness?

Here's where I stand. "Marriage" in the USA is defined in both religious and legal terms. In short, you can go to the courthouse and get a marriage license and be legally married, but you can't go to a church without the legal piece of paper and be legally married. I'm not advocating that churches be forced to perform Gay marriages. I believe the religious community has a right to their view and how it is practiced within their organization. However, I don't think two consenting adults should be deprived of a LEGAL RELATIONSHIP. WHEN YOU GET THE MARRIAGE LICENSE, NEITHER GOD NOR RELIGION HAVE A DAMN THING TO DO WITH IT! If two guys get married, it doesn't affect me in the slightest.

Organized religion has been used since it's earliest days to justify horrible and unspeakable things in the name of some god. It has also been used to put an end to debate and disagreement, because after all, how do you argue with a person who thinks god is on their side? You don't, and when Christians of any stripe practice this, it makes them no better than fundamentalists of other faiths who seek to impose their belief on those who don't think the same way they do.

In the end I like to really go for what Jesus said, when he said the first and greatest commandment was to love the Lord, but the second is like it, to love your neighbor as you love yourself. If more people would think that way, we'd be a lot better off.

But the conservative right wing and the religious wingnuts in this country have tossed Jesus' message of love, understanding, mercy, and peace right out the door on it's ear and have reduced one of the world's great faiths to an excuse and a way to cram their intolerant agenda down other's throats.

I'm going to go to bed and pray tonight for the people being discriminated against. If homosexuality is indeed such a horrible sin, I'll let God be the judge of it. He didn't appoint me as judge, jury, or executioner.

Election Final--

Congrats to the 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama!

Good job America!

EDL part 5--Exit Polls

CNN--10% of Americans thought Iraq was the number 1 issue this year. of these voters, 63% have voted for Obama.

Election Day live blog part 4.- Exit polls.

CNN is reporting the first exit poll results.

62% of voters say the economy is their top issue this election. Not surprising.

3 Hour lines to vote at UCF in Orlando, is the youth vote finally coming out?

Election Day live blog, part 3.

The Dow is up 200 points with a half hour to go, looks like we have a bit of an election day rally.

I've got some new widgets on the sidebar, you can see MSNBC's results, the latest news from the Obama camp, and the latest coverage from 538.com.

Question of the hour...Will the early vote in North Carolina deliver the state for Obama?

Election Day live blog part 2

Fivethirtyeight.com has now made their final projection, 349 EV for Obama. Turnout seems to be living up to the billing in most places, especially Florida, and the after work crowd will be hitting the polls shortly.

Obama is spending the day hooping it up with some friends. McCain has now made his final speech in Colorado. He was confident and on fire.

Politico.com has Obama at 338.

Four hours until first results.

Election Day live blog, part 1.

So here we are, the big day. John McCain seems creepily confident. Bleh. Will there be shenanigans? I'll be live blogging all day and through the evening, talking about developments I'm noticing.

My prediction, Obama wins with 311 electoral vote. He wins VA, OH, PA, CO, NM, and NV, but loses FL, NC, IN, and MO.

As of 1:30 eastern time, doesn't look like there's any huge problems, but one thing to watch is that MSNBC is reporting that turnout in Philadelphia is light so far, which isn't good news for Obama, Let's hope it picks up after the work day is over. Obama needs to probably come out of Philly with a 10% margin or there might be trouble in PA. We'll see!