And I'm a Mormon

DISCLAIMER:  If you disagree with me, that's great.  I respect your views; and I won't get offended.  If you want to express it to me in a rude way in the comments, that's not allowed.  You are literally prohibited from saying it.  It's against the rules of this blog.

And another disclaimer:  I want to make it clear that I don't think Mormon republicans are bad, mean people, that they don't believe in being charitable, or agree with the ideas I'm about to talk about.  I just want to explain the link, in my eyes, between my politics and my religion.

I have been sitting on this blog post for a long time.  I've been writing it out in my head for months, and this typed version has been resting in my draft posts for about a week.  I really didn't want to post it, because I don't want to cause controversy or alienate anyone.  But I think it's important for me to express how I feel about my religion and politics.  I know people wonder how I reconcile being a Mormon with being a registered democrat.  Most people are surprised when they find out.  Some start to treat me differently, some think it's a funny quirk.  Some jerk in high school even went so far as to say that being a democrat should prohibit me from having a recommend to enter Mormon temples.  This isn't the case.  I'm a devout, happy Mormon and a strong democrat.  Here's how.

                                                                                                                                

These scriptures are why, in a nutshell, I am a Mormon and a democrat.

 Mosiah 4:19  For behold, are we not all beggars? Do we not all depend upon the same Being, even God, for all the substance which we have, for both food and raiment, and for gold, and for silver, and for all the riches which we have of every kind?
20 And behold, even at this time, ye have been calling on his name, and begging for a remission of your sins. And has he suffered that ye have begged in vain? Nay; he has poured out his Spirit upon you, and has caused that your hearts should be filled with joy, and has caused that your mouths should be stopped that ye could not find utterance, so exceedingly great was your joy. 
21 And now, if God, who has created you, on whom you are dependent for your lives and for all that ye have and are, doth grant unto you whatsoever ye ask that is right, in faith, believing that ye shall receive, O then, how ye ought to impart of the substance that ye have one to another.  

 I remember reading this chapter in the Book of Mormon as a freshman in seminary, and it really moved me.  It was one of the very first times that my fourteen-year-old self thought, "This is what I believe in and what I know to be true."  I'm crying just thinking about it.  It was a powerful experience.

I think these verses contain a universal truth; we can all understand it, religious or not.  If we are blessed, we have a moral obligation to give charity to other people.  If we understand that our blessings come from a forgiving and benevolent God, we will feel so much joy about it we will want nothing more than to be charitable.  There have been many times in my life that my mouth was "stopped" so that I "could not find utterance, so exceedingly great was [my] joy".  I am very blessed.  My life is wonderful, happy, and very easy.  And I understand that all of the blessings I enjoy come from God out of pure love for me.  It fills me with gratitude to God and compassion for others.

It's kind of an intense idea, especially if you aren't religious.  But the thing is, I believe it very deeply.  I believe that one of the main purposes of life is to become humble and compassionate--to recognize everything we should be grateful for and to feel the drive to help others.  I think you can't really have one without the other.  If you are grateful, you will feel compelled to help people.  Then, if you help people, the world will be better.  That's why we're here.  Funnily enough, Michelle Obama's speech at the Democratic National Convention played perfectly into this idea.

 I think the democratic party most closely aligns with this world view.  I really hesitate to say that, because I think the single-greatest problem in American politics is viewing the republican/democrat dichotomy as a good/evil dichotomy.  It simply isn't the case that one party has God on their side, and one party is of the Devil.  I think the partisan system exists to provide checks and balances--not to separate the righteous from the heathens.  Most of the people I am closest with are republicans, and I don't think they, or their political views, are evil.  Many of the leaders of the republican party are very good people.  (Except for Paul Ryan, who blatantly lied about his marathon time by an hour.  Not cool.) (Obviously that was a joke.)  I hope the people who associate with me feel the same way about me and the democrats.  The divide between political parties is not the same as the divide between right and wrong.

So let me say it like this:  I am not a democrat because I am a Mormon or vice versa.  But, for me, and me alone, the two belief systems compliment each other.  I am a Mormon because I believe in the gospel of Jesus Christ, because nothing brings me greater joy or peace than this church, and because I believe in the pure love of Christ.  I'm a democrat because I believe the government has an obligation to provide welfare to the poor, because I believe having access to affordable healthcare is a human right, because I believe improving K-12 public education should be a top priority, and because I fundamentally believe government can help people.

The year before I started seminary, 2004, was the Bush/Kerry presidential election.  I was in eighth grade, so I obviously didn't know very much at all about politics.  But I remember having a vague sense that John Kerry was the bad guy, because he was a democrat.  I was a Mormon, and we were supposed to be republicans.  Democrats believe in raising taxes, taking away our freedom, and worst of all, abortion--ideas I literally could not fathom supporting at thirteen.

But then I read the Book of Mormon.  I learned more about how government worked.  My worldview expanded, inch by inch.  I would like to clarify that I have always been and will be pro-life (not that I think there should be any sort of legislation passed about it), but I started to question some of the other things I was under the impression were evil.  I put it together that taxes paid for schools, roads, welfare, and government programs.  I thought those were really good things.  I thought of the above verses in Mosiah.  If we can help people by paying taxes, especially those who, in Mormon terms, are "less fortunate than us", we should do it gladly.          



The Mormon church has a position of political neutrality and, every year around election time, someone will read this statement at our Sunday meeting.  It brings me so much peace.  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints cares that its members are informed and involved in the political process, and they trust each of us to vote according to our conscience.  Every time a member of the Church tells me that I am a bad Mormon when they find out I support Barack Obama, I take strength in this idea.  Nobody but the prophets can speak for God--and the prophets have told me to vote for the candidate I believe in.  So I'm going to do that.

My name is Amanda.  I love grocery shopping, my husband, reading, and eating delicious treats.  I am passionate about the gospel of Jesus Christ.  I'm voting for Barack Obama this November.  And...I'm a Mormon.