Sometime last week, I was perusing through the comments section on another site, and came across a comment that has stuck with me. It was written by someone who I've figured out from following his comments since is around 70. The previous comments in the thread were all centered around making fun of Mitt Romney, mainly for his Mormonism. The man made a comment asking commenters to consider not mocking Romney for his religious beliefs. The other commenters' replies were rationalizations and deflections, and they continued on with their vein of comments. He moved on. I haven't.
That commenter's action has stuck with me. It's stuck with me because I have been bothered every time I've seen a comment mocking Mitt for his "magic underwear" and said exactly nothing about it. The bottom line is that I've been a coward. I've been too afraid that people that I don't know and will likely never meet will lash out when being called on their inappropriate behavior. But after being bothered for these past days, the final straw came today, when I read how commenters were talking about the President.
How can we ever hope to elevate the debate in this country if we act in exactly the same way that the hateful fringe is? Why is it okay to mock someone's most deeply-held beliefs just because we disagree with them? Don't get me wrong, I find Romney/Ryan dangerous to our nation. But there is more than more than enough to point to in their policies and actions without resorting to cheap Mormon insults. Pointing out his hypocrisy and mendacity is far-more effective than making polygamy jokes. There's no ground gained in convincing the other side by stooping to the depths that the birthers, Islamophobes, and anti-equality crowd have inhabited.
I have seen too-many instances of rationalization when a change is called for. Mocking all religions might be en vogue with some, but it doesn't make it more right. Just as those have the right to not exercise any faith, those who do deserve the same respect. No one in their right mind would substitute "yarmulke" for "magic underwear", yet because we see Mormonism as suspect, we feel the freedom to demean those who have a deeply-rooted belief in its teachings. I have heard the famous use the "magic underwear" phrase and I have seen various forms in comment sections all around the internet. It needs to stop. These attacks only make the unconvinced harden to the message and Romney seem more sympathetic. It makes the liberal message seem judgemental and hypocritical. We can't both fight for equality for our LGBT family and marginalize Mormons at the same time... and retain any credibility. We can't condemn Pamela Gellar and the Islamophobic crowd when we use slurs against the religion of our political opponent.
Have at Romney for his stiffness, his business practices, his taxes, his chronic dishonesty, his allergy to specifics, his bully-like behavior, his flip-flopping, his running mate, his horrible policies... even for Seamus. But for the love (or not) of God (or not), leave the Mormon jokes alone.
Update: Perhaps I need to be clearer. I'm not endorsing any belief of Mormonism, nor do I have any issue with people taking a serious, thoughtful approach at examining a faith or its practice. For instance, how the Mormon church has approached the issue of gay marriage, women in the church, or race issues. This diary isn't the place for that, though. I am talking about taking something that you find silly and using it to mock someone else. I am talking about using someone's faith as a smear. I am talking about living up to the liberal ideals of respect and community harmony.
5:41 AM PT: I appreciate your participation, and thank you for reading. But as I was evidently not clear enough, I am open for discussion, but this diary - asking people to discontinue using a term that is seen by many Mormons as demeaning and derogatory - is not a place to continue to use the term as an insult. If you have an issue with that and feel it important to utilize, please comment elsewhere.