Beware LDS PR reps bearing gifts

Let's start with a little history: In 1834, Joseph Smith leads a little ragtag would-be militia called Zion's Camp to Missouri, apparently convinced that God is going to empower them to rout the Saints' persecutors there. Once they arrive, it becomes clear that's not going to happen, at which point Smith receives a revelation (now LDS D&C 105) in which the Lord says: Oh, guess what, I can't redeem the Missouri Saints right now, they've been too wicked, you'll have to wait a season. Meanwhile, the Lord says, he has a secret plan, which the Saints should not reveal "until it is wisdom in me that [these things] should be revealed."

Talk not of judgments, neither boast of faith nor of mighty works, but carefully gather together, as much in one region as can be, consistently with the feelings of the people;

And behold, I will give unto you favor and grace in their eyes, that you may rest in peace and safety, while you are saying unto the people: Execute judgment and justice for us, according to law, and redress us our wrongs.

Now behold, I say unto you, my friends, in this way you may find favor in the eyes of the people, until the army of Israel becomes very great. (D&C 105:23-26)

The Lord also tells the Saints they should keep buying up all the land in Jackson County that they can. Once they've done that, and once "my army [has] become very great" (D&C 105:31), then the Saints can stop all this mealy-mouthed pleading for redress according to the law and strike at their enemies with force—administering the judgments they've prudently been keeping their mouths shut about in the meantime:

And after these lands are purchased, I will hold the armies of Israel guiltless in taking possession of their own lands, which they have previously purchased with their moneys, and of throwing down the towers of mine enemies that may be upon them, and scattering the watchmen, and avenging me of mine enemies unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me. (D&C 105:30)

I recount that little history lesson as a caution for the present: A facade of friendliness may conceal more aggressive power ploys. Which is how we ought to interpret the recent report about the LDS Church inviting Bruce Bastian, Dustin Lance Black, Troy Williams, and other gay activists to a Mormon Tabernacle Choir concert. According to the news report from ABC4, this appears to be part of a larger effort at outreach to the gay community that might include getting involved with the problem of gay homeless teens.

I'm going to sound cynical and ungrateful when I criticize the church for this—which is precisely what troubles me about this latest p.r. move, as I'll explain below. So let me start by saying that it's a pleasant surprise to see the church reacting to its gay critics in a way that departs from the more customary "circling of the wagons." It will be wonderful if the church starts taking seriously the gay homeless teen problem and directing some of its resources to addressing it. Something similar needs to be said for the church's official support some months back of a nondiscrimination ordinance in Salt Lake City based on sexual orientation.

These shifts in the church's response to gay activism should be understood as a political victory. This is what protests outside LDS temples can accomplish.

But Mormon liberals need to resist our (note I said "our") propensity to get overly optimistic about what shifts like this mean. If the church is engaging in outreach to the gay community, this almost certainly isn't because church leaders' hearts are being softened (with perhaps the occasional decent exception like Marlin K. Jensen). The church is making these moves for self-interested, political reasons.

As support for gay rights, up to and including same-sex marriage, increases in the United States, religious conservatives have been working hard to revamp their public image. Gay activists have gotten used to characterizing the opposition as hateful, prejudiced, trying to impose their beliefs on the rest of the country. Now religious conservatives are trying to turn the tables: It's gay activists who are bigoted, threatening people with boycotts if they don't vote the way the gays want. It's gay activists who are using judicial activism to impose their beliefs on the rest of the country in spite of democratic referendums. It's gay activists who are hateful, standing outside Mormon temples screaming and flipping the bird.

Religious conservatives have taken to presenting themselves as people who want civil conversation; who want to make sure all viewpoints get heard, not just the politically correct ones; who are trying to preserve the freedoms—especially the religious freedoms—of people who disagree with the gay activists.

The LDS Church's latest p.r. moves need to be understood in that context. Inviting your gay critics to a Motab concert is a brilliant response, actually: whoever came up with that one over at LDS Public Affairs is definitely earning their salary. It's brilliant because it doesn't really cost you much symbolically—they're just guests at a public concert, after all—but it lets the church cast itself as the good guy. While gay activists are staging protests outside temples with signs accusing the church of "H8" and homophobia, the church is quietly rebutting the accusation by extending a hand of friendship.

I hope that Troy Williams, Bruce Bastian, and others are savvy enough to recognize that by inviting gay critics into the Tabernacle, or opening up lines of communication with gay activists, or speaking out on issues like discrimination, bullying, and homeless youth, the church is making it harder for activists to stage protests in the future without looking like belligerent assholes. And I respect the intelligence of the folks at LDS Public Affairs enough to assume that this is exactly what they intend.

Embarrassing the church publicly is one of the few ways activists have of placing any kind of pressure on the church. By playing the nice guy, and thereby making it harder for us to stage protests without looking like the bad guy ourselves, the church neutralizes one of the few effective political weapons in our quiver. Maybe these new attempts at outreach, these new channels of communication, will prove politically useful in a different way—one has to hope that, at least. A more pessimistic view (and recent LDS history provides ample reason to take a more pessimistic view) is that these new channels of communication will let the church give the impression that it's hearing our people out, while it then continues to propound its fundamentally heterosexist doctrines and works to prevent gay/lesbian equality in whatever ways it finds feasible. The church gets to look and feel like it's being civil and compassionate and open; and if the strategy is particularly successful, the gay activists with whom they've opened lines of communication will turn around and urge the rest of us not to raise any public criticisms of the church that might threaten the new openness.

You know what they say about catching more flies with honey than with vinegar.

Bottom line: Mormon liberals, don't get too excited about this new development. And for heaven's sake, gay community, don't stop thinking of the LDS Church as an opponent, even if on some issues that opponent can be pressured (let's say it, "shamed") into acting as an ally. Stay vigilant. Stay political.

The church has a history of using shows of friendship to advance its interests—to improve its public image and win over its critics. They were doing it in Missouri back in 1834. They've been doing it for the past decade or so with evangelicals. Now they're applying the same tactics to the gays. Yes, in some ways this is an improvement. But it needs to be approached as the ploy that it is. Don't be too trusting. As Jesus says, be wise as serpents.