"Contrary to what some may think, it was the members not the church. Yes, the First Presidency of the Church sent a letter that was read in Sacrament Meeting urging members to get involved and that's all that was needed and they were galvanized by it."

SALT LAKE CITY - As the battle over same-sex marriage winds its way through the federal courts, the fundamental right to voice religious beliefs in political debates is seriously endangered, said Elder Lance B. Wickman.

Elder Wickman, an attorney for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and a member of the Quorum of the Seventy, made the remarks Thursday as part of the 2010 J. Reuben Clark Law Society Conference at the University of Utah.

"I believe that the greatest challenge faced by the church," Elder Wickman said, "is the challenge to religious liberty that is growing worldwide. . A battle is looming over the effort to acquire civil social rights at the expense of civil religious rights. This battle, I believe, represents the acceleration of a disturbing slide downward in the law regarding the place of religion in the public square."

He spoke specifically regarding the court case of Perry v. Schwarzenegger. Presently at the trial level in federal court, the case challenges the Proposition 8 initiative passed by California voters in 2008 that limits marriage to being between a man and a woman. Elder Wickman said Perry v. Schwarzenegger portends to define not just marriage per se but the ground rules for all future political debate as well.

"Perry seeks a court declaration that, as a matter of law, religious views may not be used to justify the denial of a social civil right," he said. "Stated differently, they essentially claim that the voters, from whom all authority in a democracy flows, may not consider religious views and values when deciding these alleged social and cultural civil rights.

"These are serious allegations and represent an arrow directly at the heart not only of traditional marriage but at the place of religion and religious views in the political dialogue of this country."

Elder Wickman quoted extensively from the speech Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve delivered at BYU-Idaho in 2009 about the legal ramifications of the same-sex marriage debate.

"That address, I think, promises to become a classic, even a benchmark in our day," he said.

"What we're about is the work of the Lord, and He will bless you for your involvement,"

• The bishop spoke from the pulpit on the importance of Prop 8.
• The stake president spoke from the pulpit on the importance of Prop 8 (while at the same time saying that no one would be asked how they voted when getting a TR).
• A special video broadcast of church leaders (above the stake level) talking about the importance of Prop 8.
• Organization of the members to make phone calls on behalf of Prop 8.
• Organization of the members to go door to door with information supportive of Prop 8 (although for this activity we curiously did not meet at the church, we met at a park even though 100% of the participants were members of the ward).

Two members of the church's second-highest governing body, the Quorum of Twelve Apostles, quoted from Mormon scripture on the sanctity of marriage as they laid out a week-by-week strategy for boosting Mormon involvement before the Nov. 4 election in voter registration efforts, phone banks and distributing campaign materials.

"What we're about is the work of the Lord, and He will bless you for your involvement," apostle M. Russell Ballard said during the hour-long meeting, which was broadcast to church buildings in California, Utah, Hawaii and Idaho.

[...]

During Wednesday's taped satellite broadcast, church leaders asked for 30 members from each California congregation to donate four hours a week to the campaign. They also called on young married couples and single Mormons to use the Internet, text messaging, blogging and other forms of computer technology to help pass the initiative, saying the church has created a new Web site - PreservingMarriage.org - with materials they can download and post on their own social networking sites.

Church elder L. Whitney Clayton, who has been working as a liaison between the LDS leaders and the Proposition 8 campaign, said before the event that it was meant to energize Mormons for the weeks remaining before Election Day.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints[61][62][63] (LDS or Mormon Church), also publicly supported the proposition. The First Presidency of the church announced its support for Proposition 8 in a letter intended to be read in every congregation in California. In this letter, church members were encouraged to "do all you can to support the proposed constitutional amendment by donating of your means and time."[61] The church produced and broadcast to its congregations a program describing the support of the Proposition, and describing the timeline it proposes for what it describes as grassroots efforts to support the Proposition.[64] Local church leaders set organizational and monetary goals for their membership–sometimes quite specific–to fulfill this call.[65][66] The response of church members to their leadership's appeals to donate money and volunteer time was very supportive,[67] such that Latter-day Saints provided a significant source for financial donations in support of the proposition, both inside and outside the State of California.[68] LDS members contributed over $20 million,[69] about 45% of out-of-state contributions to ProtectMarriage.com came from Utah, over three times more than any other state.[70] ProtectMarriage,* the official proponent of Proposition 8, estimates that about half the donations they received came from Mormon sources, and that LDS church members made up somewhere between 80% and 90% of the volunteers for early door-to-door canvassing.[71]