The next thing to ban

[melanoman]

I went to sleep crushed by the passage of Proposition 8. As far as I'm concerned, we lost the election. It is so wrong, and worse yet it is now in the constitution where it will take a 2/3rd vote of the legislature to get the remedy onto the ballot. I am bitterly ashamed that the elected members of my own party were complicit in putting Prop 8 on the ballot.

I slept badly; if you can even call it sleep.

When I woke up, I an idea was there in my head, fully formed like a vision from the divine.

The last time I was in Utah, I was speaking to a local who donated a big chunk of his earnings to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The thing was, he isn't a Mormon. His employer automatically deducted tithes from paychecks as a "service" to the employees. Apparently this practice is fairly common.

It creates a tax on people who know that opting out puts their jobs at risk. It makes it impossible for these people to keep their religious status hidden from their employers, who may be tempted use undue influence or even a discriminatory religious test. Talking to him, that sort of discrimination was taken for granted in that area.

There oughta be a law against this. Comment here if you want to help pass a law against employer-collected tithing.

[bumping a comment to the main post]
I'm encouraged by the early response. As I said in the OP, this is an idea I got this morning, so I'm no where near having something concrete. To start out, I need to do the research to figure out how widespread the practice currently is and whether targeting would therefore be effective/productive. At this point my evidence is anecdotal and a bit old. Please forgive the post in such an unprepared stage.

I'll update here when I have more information. If you have information to contribute, please post here.

My current thoughts are that legally this would take the form of a legal firewall between employers who designate as "religious" for purposes of hiring selectivity (as you see in all those notes on your 1040) and those who don't.

[second update]
I've asked some people I know and trust on this issue that currently live (or recently lived) in Salt Lake City. So far I have only one phone message back which says that "payroll deductions are not automatic" --- I'll need to get clarification on whether that means that this doesn't happen at all, or whether this is an opt-in system (which gets back to the same problem with identification).

The message goes on to say that preference in hiring and promotion by Mormons for each other is rampant, but that they already know who is a Mormon and don't need any payroll information to figure that out.

Additionally there is an anonymous response above that suggests this is not a common practice. I'll keep looking, but this may not be the leverage point I had dreamed of.

Comments

[deyo.livejournal.com]

mactavish pointed me this way. I'd be glad to help put the Mormons back inside the rule of law.

I support this message.

[gtonizuka.livejournal.com]

Where do we sign the petition?

Re: I support this message.

[labelleizzy.livejournal.com]

yes, this.

[fluffthebunny.livejournal.com]

Extortion, plain and simple.

[cerulean-me.livejournal.com]

I'm in!

Not sure what I can do from here, but will do what I can.

[chiefted]

joedecker pointed me this way,

Would love to sign, even though I am fearful because the company that I work for is based in Utah, and
I am here in San Francisco (the whole their jobs at risk thing) and would donate to this law against employer collected thing.

Note I don't know if my employer does this or not and honestly would be a bit nervous to ask (though nothing is coming out off my check).

[britgeekgrrl.livejournal.com]

Bloody hell.

Sign me up.

[moloko0velocet.livejournal.com]

Fuck yeah. I want blood and vengeance.

[mhnicholson.livejournal.com]

I'm encouraged by the early response. As I said in the OP, this is an idea I got this morning, so I'm no where near having something concrete. To start out, I need to do the research to figure out how widespread the practice currently is and whether targeting would therefore be effective/productive. At this point my evidence is anecdotal and a bit old. Please forgive the post in such an unprepared stage.

I'll update here when I have more information. If you have information to contribute, please post here.

My current thoughts are that legally this would take the form of a legal firewall between employers who designate as "religious" for purposes of hiring selectivity (as you see in all those notes on your 1040) and those who don't.

[paradisacorbasi.livejournal.com]

Here via joedecker.

and as a heathen living in the Bible Belt, I feel very strongly about this.

[texansasha.livejournal.com]

That's just terrible!

Sign me up!

Sent here from joedecker.

[gorillashaman.livejournal.com]

Tell me where to sign.

[drewkitty.livejournal.com]

The problem is that the Mormons have the votes to defeat it in their state.

What is needed is Federal legislation making it unlawful to support religious causes with payroll deductions.

[roykay.livejournal.com]

I would think an EEOC suit would do the trick.

Dead end

[(Anonymous)]

Wow. I've worked in Utah all of my professional career, I know a LOT of people here and I've worked at a lot of different companies here including several founded by Mormons and I've never seen or heard of this. If I ever did see it I'd wouldn't hesitate to raise hell though.

Further, Mormon tithes are given to members' local bishops. I'm not sure how a company could properly distribute the tithes once collected more efficiently than the individuals could.

I'm afraid this may be a dead end.

[moropus.livejournal.com]

Separation of church and state.

[pure-agnostic.livejournal.com]

I'd like to see separation of Church and Hate.

[pecunium.livejournal.com]

to cheer you, this amendment can be repealed the same way, a simple line saying, "article "x" is repealed" would do the trick.

But there are other options on the table, the most notable being a suit filed today that this wasn't an amendment, but a revision, and as such as improperly presented to the voters.

[mhnicholson.livejournal.com]

I've asked some people I know and trust on this issue that currently live (or recently lived) in Salt Lake City. So far I have only one phone message back which says that "payroll deductions are not automatic" --- I'll need to get clarification on whether that means that this doesn't happen at all, or whether this is an opt-in system (which gets back to the same problem with identification).

The message goes on to say that preference in hiring and promotion by Mormons for each other is rampant, but that they already know who is a Mormon and don't need any payroll information to figure that out.

Additionally there is an anonymous response above that suggests this is not a common practice. I'll keep looking, but this may not be the leverage point I had dreamed of.

[mhnicholson.livejournal.com]

The best thing I've seen out there is the movement to strip the CLDS of its 501c3 status. I don't see that working at this point, but I signed the petition anyway. I still want a better leverage point.