This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2006, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

The Religious Coalition for Marriage, which has united divergent religious groups - including the LDS Church - behind a constitutional amendment defining marriage, is proof positive that politics makes strange bedfellows.

It is especially curious that they are united behind a can't-lose proposition for the Republican Party. If there's a victory, Republicans can claim it. If it's a loss, the flagging GOP still gets the election-year wedge issue it has been praying for.

No wonder Democrats like Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid are fuming about today's last-ditch formal reception in The Rose Garden (weather permitting) or Eisenhower Building to which scores of religious leaders have been invited, including LDS Apostle Russell Nelson. The Senate votes Tuesday. If Democrats had their way, Wednesday would be the day the Internal Revenue Service would begin re-evaluating the 501c3 not-for-profit status of every church that participated in this "brazenly partisan stunt."

Just three weeks ago, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints seemed content to state its principles on marriage and let it go at that. To press harder would only solidify "misperceptions that the church hates gays. Nothing could be further from the truth," a spokesman adamantly insisted. But what emerged from a leadership discussion in the temple just a week later was an "incremental shift toward the tactical," perhaps driven by perceptions the amendment had acquired fresh momentum.

Still, the dexterous language in the letter the LDS First Presidency had read to all Mormon congregations in the U.S. on May 28 encouraged members to "express" themselves individually to their senators and stopped short of endorsing the amendment or telling members what to say. However, other documents referenced in the letter left little doubt about the church's stand on marriage and sexuality.

"We urge our members to express themselves" seemed to be President Gordon B. Hinckley's deft way of encouraging individual action while acknowledging there was more than one faithful path to follow. A spokesman said the letter spoke for itself, implying that it was not intended as a sign the church's organizational muscle, money and manpower were about to be unleashed or that advocacy organizations were free to use the letter as leverage.

This did not stop shrill advocates like the Family Leadership Network, an offshoot of Meridian Magazine that often presents itself as the voice of the church, from trumpeting "Follow the Prophet" to its members. In turn, LDS members across the country sent the FLN tract to neighbors and members of their LDS wards. One such appeal was e-mailed by the president of the Roswell Stake near Atlanta. It appeared the source for e-mail addresses in some cases was ward (parish) directories and other restricted church records.

In Georgia, members reported that regional leaders from the Church Education System had sent e-mails to all stakes and wards headlined: "The definition of what a family is could change . . . On June 6th the U.S. Senate will vote . . . It is critical that you contact your senators and ask them to vote for the Marriage Protection Amendment." Adorning the flier was the portrait of a handsome young LDS couple.

Another sent by the former stake president of the Millburn Stake in suburban Atlanta got re-distributed by the president of the Pompano Beach Stake in Florida. It provided a link to the American Family Association Web site, which reminded: "If a Senator votes against the MPA, he or she is in reality voting for homosexual marriage . . . Tell them you want them to vote for the MPA. Let them know that if they refuse to do so you will remember it when election time comes."

The LDS Church insists that partisan party politics were not behind its letter, even if the letter and its work with the coalition has that effect. The demurrer might sit more comfortably with Democrats if:

* The editor of Meridian and director of FLN had not written so eagerly about the prospect of personally delivering signed petitions to the office of fellow Mormon and Senate Minority Leader Reid.

* Bryan Kennedy, a young congressional candidate in Wisconsin, a Democrat, returned missionary and Brigham Young University graduate, had not been informed by a member of his stake presidency that his position on "choice" and "civil unions" (identical to Mitt Romney's when he ran for the U.S. Senate in 1994) as well as endorsements from NARAL and Planned Parenthood suggested he had been less than honest in answering temple-worthiness interview questions about personal integrity and associating with organizations that oppose church teachings.

Still smarting from wounds inflicted five years ago when the church led an aggressive effort to support a marriage definition proposition in their state, some California Mormons were relieved this fight would be limited to two Sundays. When it's over, they hope to get back to the task of convincing themselves and friends that their church really is not an anti-gay organization, despite the company it keeps.

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R.B. Scott was one of the founders of People Magazine and previously was a staff writer for Time, Inc. publications. His novel about growing up Mormon, Closing Circles, is due out late this year. He and his wife and two daughters live in Dover, Mass. He may be contacted by e-mail to rbscott@comcast.net