LDS Non-Right-Wingers: You're Not Alone

On Facebook, a friend posted a link to an article entitled Ezra Taft Benson: The End of All Political Debate? from The LDS Left Blog about the influence of Ezra Taft Benson's personal views on LDS political culture. I think anyone who has studied LDS Church history beyond seminary knows the institutional church wasn't necessarily always as "conservative" in certain ways as it is today, which wouldn't be surprising considering its misfit, somewhat revolutionary beginnings. But today, popular culture in the LDS Church generally holds the republican party to be the Lord's anointed, with democrats tolerated in the way Jesus allowed sinners at the table. Thank goodness for the boundless charity of the political chosen ones.

I used to believe that it was no particular sin to be democrat or to embrace "liberal" ideals, but it reflected a lack of understanding of certain eternal truths, and we all have our failings and lack of understanding. Democrats weren't evil, they were just pitiable. With my current, more "independent" take on politics, I now believe both modern conservatism and liberalism espouse and overlook true principles in different ways, and popularly understood capitalism and socialism each manage and overlook different aspects of the realities of human nature.

But my opinion doesn't count. Most of you know the church and I are on friendly but distant terms, so clearly my opinion is to be taken with a grain of salt as being from one who has let worldly philosophies of moderation lead him astray. I wouldn't want to misrepresent myself and lead poor, unsuspecting saps into the darkness of rational objectivity at the expense of eternal perspective. But that said, the understanding that popular politics in "Mormon culture" have been heavily influenced by the philosophies of men mingled with scripture was a perspective I had mostly accepted by the time I was at my apex of church-faithfulness and church activity, around ages 20-23. So I know it's possible to hold a moderate political stance and be faithfully LDS. Left wing or liberal, though? Well, I wasn't that deceived. I still considered myself a moderate conservative. I was squarely on the "right" side.

Still, it's possibly useless to try to get most right-wingers to acknowledge that MAYBE currently understood American right-wing politics aren't the Lord's only begotten form of government, and this author's mere mention of things like "men like any other" and questioning teachings about birth control or people of African descent and the priesthood raises immediate red flags of apostasy for many, I'm sure. I know that over a decade ago, I would've read this and said, "The church has been refining and evolving, and recognizing and learning to fully embrace conservative ideals has just been one of those steps. Besides, even members of the first presidency can be wrong, but it's best to follow the majority of the brethren, so it's no bother if there's a smattering of democrats here and there in leadership: their hearts are good, they just don't understand economic and social realities..."

But whether or not extreme right-wingers will ever regard liberal ideals with anything but contempt, it's helpful for non-right-wingers to know they're not alone in active church membership and in faith and that they have the support of prominent church leaders past and present. That may not mean much coming from me personally, but I have a few friends who are quite active, quite faithful, and quite non-right-wing, closeted though they may be. Awaken, ye righties, to the possibility, and be comforted, ye lefties, by the understanding that much of today's American LDS political ultra-conservatism actually may come from ideas of certain church leaders mingled with truths and principles, some of which applied directly to then-existing forms of government and their accompanying despotic dictatorships, and that perhaps the church leaders who quietly disagreed with them about certain aspects but considered the pulpit an inappropriate forum in which to do so had every bit as much of a grasp on the gospel and its application to politics as the outspoken Birchers. It could happen. So to my liberal or moderate LDS friends: you're not alone. Say it one more time, "I'm not alone." You are loved in ways that can't be shown (lest anyone be reported to the Mormon Mafia as a "communist sympathizer")...