All voters should read the following clip and ask themselves if Romney would lead the nation, or would the church be pressuring his every move.
"Bushman, who lived in Southern California during the Prop 8 campaign when she and her husband taught at Claremont College, said she was similarly torn, though she doesn't have a close family member who is gay.
"We didn't do anything about it," she said. "But I also didn't want to be on record as going against it."
She said she remembers the campaign as a "painful" time, as some Mormons felt pushed to act against their conscience. Some people temporarily lost their temple-recommends--which are given to the faithful so they can attend certain religious ceremonies at temples that are closed to outsiders--when they loudly protested, she said." -----------
It's frightening how much influence the church can get away with---- so far!
Yep, I had two brothers who were coerced by their bishops into giving money to Prop 8 (separate wards and stakes). Both felt uncomfortable about it--mainly because I'd been so vocal about how wrong Prop 8 was and the fact that I support gay marriage. However, both ended up caving when their bishops told them that sustaining and following the prophet was part of their covenants--basically implying that to not contribute would be the same as deliberately disobeying the prophet (obviously a worthiness issue). When you realize that you might be deemed unworthy to use your priesthood or to have a temple recommend, that really gets most TBMs. Disturbing, right?