It's been a tough couple of weeks during an open season on Mormons.

I don't agree with all of the assertions being made in news media editorials and columns, but I think I can agree that the threats, vandalism, shouting and harassment are counterproductive. Here's a sample of editorials, columns and op-ed pieces:

The (Spokane) Spokesman-Review (registration required) wrote in a house editorial to "avoid easy stereotypes" The editorial went on to read:

"Since (Proposition 8's) passage on Nov. 4, opponents have launched rallies across the United States, including one outside Spokane's City Hall on Saturday. For the most part, protesters have behaved well, but anger has been expressed in worrisome ways. Anti-Mormon protests have featured signs saying 'Latter-day Snakes' and 'Mormons' with the second 'm' crossed out. Rallies against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints cropped up after it was reported that church members were major financial contributors to the Proposition 8 campaign. But many religious groups also supported and voted for the proposition.

"Before that, ire was turned on African-Americans, because of exit polls showing that 70 percent of black voters supported Proposition 8.

"The problem with targeting groups is illustrated in the case of Monica Young, an African-American who voted against the proposition. She told the Los Angeles Times that she was stuck in traffic near a rally and an angry activist yelled to her, 'Tell your people to be careful.' "

An editorial in the San Jose Mercury News said:

"Had supporters of gay marriage shown as much fervor for their cause before the Nov. 4 election as they have since, they probably would have defeated Proposition 8. But they will surely fail in their campaign to repeal the ban if threats and coercion continue to be among their tactics."

Dennis Wyatt, managing editor of the Manteca Bulletin, said that some of the tactics used against Proposition 8 supporters in California are objectionable:

"People upset about others that voted in favor of Prop. 8 trying to put their standards on everyone else should look in the mirror -- they're trying to do the same thing. Equating a yes vote on Prop. 8 to being equivalent to hate is disingenuous at best and tells those you are trying to convince to change their views that if you disagree with them you'll get smeared.

"Pursuing the principle of protecting the rights of minorities doesn't justify mob rule. There has yet to be one case of gangs of Mormons going out and
defacing Gay & Lesbian Centers. Too bad the same can't be said about some who said they voted against Proposition 8 and have spray-painted meeting houses and stake centers.

"Screaming in someone's face who thinks differently than you isn't an effective way to get them to change their position."

Columnist Richard Kirk wrote in North County Times: "Since Election Day, the most convenient target for abuse has been the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. But given the number of 'bigots' available, Mormons seem to be receiving an inordinate share of opprobrium."

Thomas Sowell, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, Stanford, Calif., wrote: "Among the many new 'rights' being conjured out of thin air, a new one seems to be a 'right' to win. Americans have long had the right to put their candidates and their ideas to a vote. Now there seems to be a sense that your rights have been trampled on if you don't win."

I don't agree with all of Los Angeles Times columnist Tim Rutten's assertions, but I do agree on his comments about blacklisting.

Rutten wrote: "It's one thing to hold demonstrations in front of Mormon temples and Catholic cathedrals, given both denominations' unprecedented intervention as institutions in this election. Our traditional notions of separation of church and state recognize a faith's right to form the consciences of its congregants, who then participate in secular politics as individuals. When churches leap into the process as religious organizations, it raises hackles, and rightly so. It's a distasteful business, but so is singling out individual political donors for retribution and boycotts that deprive them of their living. A blacklist in the service of a good cause is still a blacklist."

An op-ed in The Tufts University student newspaper said that gays should continue their fight, but shouldn't target Mormons, while Western Australia columnist John Elsegood wrote that defense of marriage is appropriate. He referred to a talk in Australia by BYU law professor Lynn Wardle: "The issue was indeed a civil rights issue, but not as homosexuals would argue, (Lynn) Wardle said. Rather marriage was an inalienable feature of life and should not be the subject of judicial or legislative whim. Same-sex marriage is presented as a claim for tolerance, but tolerance is quite difference from preference. 'The law treats human relations in three ways: many relations are prohibited, others tolerated and a few are preferred and privileged.' "