Sorry, I tried to come up with a catchier title to the post. I don’t read many books on politics, but hey, it’s an election year. And it’s 2020. I recently read Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism (Doubleday, 2020). The author is Anne Applebaum, who was a columnist at the Washington Post for 20 years, presently writes for The Atlantic, and has won the Pulitzer Prize for an earlier book. She spends a lot of time in Europe, so the book isn’t just whining about the state of politics in America, it’s looking at a worldwide trend. After kicking around an idea or two from the book, I’ll try to think about religious extremism (a trickier concept to nail down) and then ask the big question: Are Mormons religious extremists? Does the Church foster religious extremism?
Political Extremism
The best way to approach political extremism is to contrast it with political centrism. Political centrists support free and fair elections, a free press, and restrained civil discourse. Centrists tolerate opposing political parties, and in fact often work with them rather than against them, making various compromises to pass desired legislation. In the political centrist approach, when the party in power loses an election or loses is parliamentary majority, it rethinks its policies and issues, looks for new leadership, and makes plans to win the next election. Peaceful transfer of power. Democracy. Rule of law. It all hangs together.
Most Americans have a hard time recognizing or identifying political extremism because there has been so little of it here. Unlike parliamentary systems with proportional representation, single member voting districts mean even a third party with the support of ten or fifteen percent of electorate might not elect a single representative to Congress. The Democratic Party and the Republican Party, which might look like two ends of the political spectrum to an American, are in fact both centrist parties. The political spectrum in other countries is generally broader. The “two ends of the spectrum” view obscures the real contrast between political centrists and extremists. When gangs of Communists and gangs of Fascists fought in the streets in the 1920s and 1930s in Germany and other Central European countries, they looked like political rivals. Well, they were in a sense, but what is relevant is that they were both political extremists in the sense that they rejected the values of political centrism. Other parties were not simply political opponents, they were political enemies, to be delegitimized (not just defeated at the polls) and, if power was obtained, outlawed and otherwise eliminated. The real contest was between political centrism with its representative political institutions and rule of law, and political extremists (of any stripe) who wanted to tear down democratic centrist institutions.
The extremist view of politics rejects the values of centrism. Hence “politics as usual” is denigrated as unproductive squabbling. If put in power, extremists undermine rule of law because the last thing they want is to be held accountable for their actions. Elections are likewise either eliminated or gutted. Loyalty rather than competence is the requirement for appointment or advancement. When angling for power, the mantra is generally Elect a Strongman Who Will Fix All of Our Problems. But the result (if the Strongman gets power) is generally to eliminate political opposition, protect the extremist party’s power, and ignore the real problems the country faces. They don’t fix anything! Political enemies are identified (or simply imagined), magnified, and milked for their value in uniting citizens against a common enemy, while the extremists in power pursue their own private or party agendas.
I’m going to make a fairly uncontroversial claim: Aspects of political extremism have increasingly infiltrated the American political system. In the book I referenced above, there is plenty of discussion of European examples and some application to the present state of affairs in America. I won’t recount that whole story, but just list a few recent developments on the American scene: Calling election results into question before an election is even held. Routinely appointing unqualified but loyal officeholders. Treating political opponents as enemies rather than simply opponents or even colleagues with different views. Adopting harsh political rhetoric, even name calling (which used be limited to grade school). Threatening to jail political opponents. I’m not just talking about Pres. Trump here, although he is plainly leading the charge. Democratic talk about packing the Supreme Court (one of the few institutions that retains a good deal of credibility for most people these days) is another example. The recent slew of press articles about the likelihood of Pres. Trump facing lawsuits and criminal charges after leaving office is just a more elevated version of “Lock him up!”
LDS Religious Extremism
This being a blog that is generally about Mormonism, not politics, let’s take the recent emergence of political extremism (in its as-yet milder American form) as a given and ask: Has it bled over into religion? Has political extremism influenced religion in America, and in particular Mormonism and the LDS Church? What does religious extremism even look like? Let me throw out some ideas and then invite a wild and crazy discussion in the comments.
First, the polarizing approach of political extremism can lead to religious believers viewing fellow believers with different views as religious opponents and even as religious enemies. The religious equivalent of “Lock her up!” is “Excommunicate her!” Excommunication is sort of a relic in many denominations but in Mormonism it is a primary tool of church discipline. In prior years it was mostly a concern of local leaders (bishops and stake presidents, with GAs sometimes putting a thumb on the scales). Lately it has become fashionable for motivated members with no leadership calling to call out those they disagree with on political or religious grounds as deserving excommunication. Formal LDS apologists are somewhat more restrained, simply calling into question the faith of those who disagree with them, not explicitly calling for excommunication. It’s all a sign of growing LDS religious extremism. And the leadership does very little to tamp down this emerging form of “find the tares and throw them out!” LDS religious zealotry.
Second, a more traditional example, the LDS doctrine of One True Church. The corollary, of course, is that all the others are False Churches, no matter how biblical their doctrines and how Christian their comportment. This is the religious equivalent of delegitimizing (not simply opposing or, perish the thought, even cooperating from time to time with) opposing political parties. Political tolerance and religious tolerance go hand in hand. Likewise with intolerance and extremism. The persistence of the One True Church view is an example of LDS religious extremism.
Let me throw out a third example: rejection of experts and expertise. Political centrism gives more than lip service to expertise in formulating polities, initiatives, and programs to meet challenges and promote the general welfare. Experts are often consulted, although there is generally a range of opinion even among experts on a topic. Extremists, on the other hand, pursue their own half-baked schemes, and aren’t particularly interested in any experts telling them those schemes won’t work and why. LDS leadership does rely on experts in certain areas (law, accounting and finance, building codes) but expertise is largely unwelcome in the fields of theology, history, pastoral counseling best practices, sexuality, mental health, and so forth. LDS religious ideology in these fields sometimes veers off into sheer fantasy. Rejection of expertise is another example of LDS religious extremism.
I can’t really end this section without a brief reference to Ezra Taft Benson. He certainly embraced a form of political extremism which he brought into the Church and regularly pushed in LDS speaking engagements, sometimes explicitly and sometimes in more muted terms. Embracing conspiracy theories is another feature of political extremism, and Benson certainly rings that bell. Within the Church, Benson is the patron saint of any Mormon who embraces conservative political extremism (left-leaning political extremism has never had much of a following within the Church, although I did have a TA at BYU once who claimed to be a Communist). What’s the religious equivalent of a conspiracy theory?
On the Other Hand
There are counterarguments to the proposal that the LDS Church embodies a version of religious extremism (which I’ve thrown out here but haven’t developed very well — hey, it’s a blog post, not a book). Senior leadership has toned down its rhetoric quite a bit over the last generation or two. They engage in some interfaith initiatives, more than before. They have removed some offensive sectarian stereotyping from the temple presentation. The cautionary response would be that words are cheap and that extremists often employ friendly rhetoric while pursuing harsh or violent actions. Rank and file Mormons still embrace the One True Church idea — has any senior leader ever explicitly rejected it? BYU can sponsor a conference featuring scholars from other denominations, but non-LDS baptism is still seen as a nullity. One can acknowledge kinder and gentler rhetoric while still wishing in was put into practice more frequently.
So here are some points for discussion: Has the recent spread of political extremism in American politics infiltrated the Church? To what effect? And in a strictly religious mode, what does religious extremism mean to you? Do you share my sense that the LDS Church embraces a form of (or attributes of) religious extremism? If you don’t, what would you point to in LDS practice and governance that suggests the contrary? What is the religious equivalent of a conspiracy theory, and can you think of any LDS examples?
Wheat & Tares 
I do not see extremism in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. One can believe that (1) the Savior Jesus Christ restored the Church through the Prophet Joseph Smith; and (2) all people are free to worship God according to their own consciences. One can be a true-blue-Mormon and participate meaningfully in a pluralistic society.
There probably are some individual wacko extremists within the Church, but they neither represent nor personify the Church. There are likely some among us who despise wisdom and instruction, who point the finger and wag the lip, and mock others who are seeking righteousness; and there are also likely some among us who weaponize and dogmatize teachings and act like the pharisee stereotype of old. But as I said, these do not represent or personify the Church.
At least, that’s how I see it.
Can it work the other way, where religious extremism leads to political extremism? For me it’s an argument in favor of a middle way approach. Religions that emphasize extreme obedience cause followers to be overly deferential to controlling leaders?
My book Watchman on the Tower: Ezra Taft Benson and the Making of the MORMON Right discusses Mormon extremism in great detail. Certainly Benson played a role, but other prominent Latter-day Saints did too: J. Rueben Clark, Verlan Anderson and of course Cleon Skousen.
I for sure saw a strong link between Mormonism and political extremism growing up – many people in my neighborhood were huge Bo Gritz supporters back in the day. Quite a few moved to Idaho to compounds to get away from the federal government. And I see it now with the anti-mask, anti-science , “anti-socialism” group. I don’t have numbers or anything, but it’s noticeable where I live and I think rooted in ideas about church leaders knowing more than scientists (for a recent example see, e.g., Dallin Oaks talking about LGBTQ folks and how we should listen to him and not “experts”) and distrust of secular authority / “the world”.
The religious equivalent of a conspiracy theory is a faith promoting story that’s not exactly true but promotes the idea of secret knowledge. . Mormon dedicaTing the Manti Temple grounds. Girls camps to be used as secret retreats for Mormons with food storage.
Great post and interesting comments.
The question for Mormons is: when should they oppose trends in our larger, secular society, and when should they support them? The Church has a pattern of running 10-20 years behind the times, as it tries to sort things out—this applies to both our leaders and general membership. Good examples: civil rights for African-Americans (we were very hostile in the 50s,, 60s, and 70s). The Church seems to be gradually softening its stance on LGBT issues, although there are still a lot of anti voices.
The problem is, IMO, that if you believe that the leaders of the Church receive direct inspiration from God, that often creates a binary mindset that is susceptible to political extremism. Seeing both sides of the issue is not a very common position in the Church—usually on the right, but it can also exist in the left, as Dave B. pointed out. Since our Church membership tends conservative, binary thinking usually supports the right.
But human beings, including Mormons, defy easy categorization. I know politically moderate Mormons who are very hardline in their approach to Church issues; and politically conservative Mormons who hold nuanced, even progressive views on Church issues. Political and religious extremism do not always go hand in hand, even though they often do.
I will be interested to see how Mormons vote in the upcoming election. Several NYT and WP articles have described Trump’s difficulties in maintaining support among Mormons.
The thing is, Trumpists, whether Mormon or not, are usually much louder in their support than Biden supporters.
The more people need strong, authoritative voices in their lives, the more open they are to political and religious extremism. I once tried to be a First Counselor to a Bishop who got angry that the General Handbook of Instruction gave him a lot of leeway in dealing with most issues. He actually said that he wanted the GHI to tell him what to do, black and white, no perhaps or maybes, because he was afraid of making a mistake. It was difficult trying to help him.
The more a Mormon embraces Joseph Smith’s quote about teaching people correct principles and letting them govern themselves, the less susceptible they are to extremism. The more they emphasize “Thus saith the Lord,” the more dogmatic they will be.
Taiwan Missionary hit the nail on the head. Extremism, whether political or religious, arises out of binary thinking. If we take a system (or ideology, if you like) like Mormonism, there is a binary imperative built in: all decisions made in a moral context are either good or evil, all acts of consequence are either good or evil, people either give into the good within themselves or the evil within themselves, etc. It’s a small step to applying that kind of thinking to politics. And, indeed, for people who are unable to embrace nuance and complexity, the over the top political ads that paint the other side as totally corrupt only confirm the biases and thought patterns of binary thinkers. Indeed, binary thinking is generally the enemy to progress; in Mormonism, of course, any sort of nuance or thoughtful complexity is dismissed as sophistry and as of the devil (which is one reason for the church’s anti-intellectual stance). One of the great tragedies of Christianity in general is that Lucifer is often portrayed as both subtle and logical (leaning to “his own understanding”); those two traits, when properly employed, can help resolve complex socio-political issues. Ironically, the binary that believers think is the answer is actually exactly what keeps complex problems from being solved. It’s no wonder Mormonism is so behind when it comes to social justice issues; the very tools which we can employ to make the world a better place are viewed with deep suspicion by hard line Mormons, thus ensuring that Mormonism will remain behind the curve, likely for as long as the formal church exists.
“in Mormonism, of course, any sort of nuance or thoughtful complexity is dismissed as sophistry and as of the devil ”
Not in my current corner of the world, but from multiple reports I expect Brother Sky’s comment to be largely true in a lot of places. I’ve seen it from some individuals, and in one Provo ward but not in another. Similarly , the experience Elisa described is very different from mine — most of my decades being outside Utah, Arizona, Idaho, but in places still not nearly as “nuanced” as the Berkeley ward, for example. I guess I’ve been convinced that Mormonism just isn’t the same everywhere. Of course, I’m just natively reluctant to accept generalizations. It’s also possible I often just don’t pay close attention to those people stuck in binary thinking. I remain amused at a friend’s attempt to calm me down after an utter failure of “discussion” with one of them. He said only “I learned decades ago not to have a discussion with ________! Why are you so slow?!” Sometimes I’m still slow. 🙂
I agree that binary thinking is a great culprit in developing extremism of any type. As Brother Sky summarized, it is built into the good/evil judgments of the BoM and its fear-mongering about the hereafter. It may be built into the common notions that any temptation to sin comes from the devil and any motivation to good is from the Holy Ghost, as if people were wholly incapable of having or generating a thought or motive on their own. On the other hand that sort of BoM binary thinking has been significantly challenged in other parts of Mormonism such as teachings on repentance, “perfection”, degrees of glory, ordinances for the dead, Dallin Oaks’ “Good, Better, Best” talk, etc. For decades in my neck(s) of the woods the binary/this life/final judgment rhetoric of the BoM has simply been politely ignored by many.
I wonder if others have experienced Mormonism as varied from place to place and person to person as I have.
@Wondering, for sure I have experienced Mormonism as varied having lived in many different states, both coasts, third world and European countries, and multiple Utah wards. I don’t think Mormonism makes extreme thinking inevitable or causes it. I don’t know what generates extremism and it’s just as likely that people predisposed to extremism are extreme in both politics and religion. My only comment was that I’ve seen Mormonism correlated with extremism, and Mormon teachings used to justify extremism (I had forgotten to mention Gadiantons but that seems to come up every single election year …), so I do wonder if it can do a little bit of fostering for someone already so disposed.
Speaking of varied Mormonisms, I was recently reminded of a Dialogue article by Loretta Hefner and her introductory comment: “Even among the present Quorum, observed [Brigham] Young, was one apostle who does ‘not believe in the existence of a personage called God’; a second ‘who believes that infants have the spirits of some who have formerly lived on the earth, and that this is their resurrection’; and (‘This is not all’) ‘another one … who, I understand, for fifteen years, has been preaching on the sly … that the Savior was nothing more than a good man, and that his death had nothing to do with your salvation or mine.’“ — citing Discourse, Salt Lake City, 23 June 1867, reported in the Journal of Discourses, 26 vols. (Liverpool 1854-82), 12:66.
Now there are some varied Mormonisms for you! Of course, two of those apostles stopped expressing such opinions publicly and the third was excommunicated — and posthumously reinstated.
Does Political Extremism Lead to Religious Extremism?
My observation is religious extremism drives political extremism.
I left the church at the beginning of last year, discarding a number of it’s dogmas along the way (such as its leaders speak for God and its views on women and gays). I am much less certain about what’s “right” now then I was before. Consequently, I’ve moderated a number of my views and consider myself much more open to other viewpoints.
Wondering, thanks for your comments. I made an error in generalizing too much from my experience (I live in a generally conservative part of the country which, when combined with Mormonism, makes my ward feel more conservative than other wards might be). I think you are correct that there are aspects of Mormonism and Mormon teachings that work against unhelpful binary thinking and I would agree that the examples you mention are steps in a positive direction. Those examples are diluted, though, IMHO, by a lot of the talk I hear about obedience and holding to the iron rod, etc. Trying to do the right thing and trying to hold on to one’s faith are, in the main, good and healthy things; I just think that the church often pushes a kind of “all or nothing” ideology that seems to go hand in hand with at least one kind of extremism that the OP mentions. And your second comment makes me wonder if part of the issue is a kind of cultural or organizational prohibition on speaking one’s truth in the name of not “damaging” members’ testimonies. How refreshing would it be if we all (regular members as well as leaders) stopped saying stuff like “I know beyond the shadow of a doubt that all of these things are absolutely true” and instead said stuff like “hey, I really struggle with this idea and I also don’t have a testimony of these other things, but I enjoy church nonetheless and I’m trying to be a better person.”? One thing that exacerbates the problem of binaries is that we are discouraged, like the leaders you mention, from saying stuff we actually think/believe in order to maintain the illusion that this is the One True Church and that our leaders are all in lockstep about certain doctrinal and spiritual matters. That, I suppose, is another kind of extremism, one that is driven by a desire for homogeneous thinking, at least when it comes to certain specific beliefs. I’ve often wondered what would happen if an apostle expressed doubt about, say, the historicity of the Book of Mormon. Would they be removed from their position? Would they be disciplined? Inquiring minds want to know.
Thanks for the comments, everyone.
Matt Harris, thanks for weighing in on Ezra Taft Benson. I read the book of essays you edited, Thunder From the Right: Ezra Taft Benson in Mormonism and Politics, which I imagine covers some of the same ground as your more recent volume. One wonders what Benson would have made of Pres. Trump. He would have loved his politics but despised his amorality. I’m thinking politics would have triumphed and Benson would have endorsed him.
The Other Clark, thanks for the examples, but I’m sure you can give us more than three sentences on Mormon conspiracy theories.
Taiwan Missionary says: “The more people need strong, authoritative voices in their lives, the more open they are to political and religious extremism.” A fine point. If we stop talking about LDS leaders as shepherds of the flock, maybe more Mormons will stop acting like sheep.
Dave C. … dammit, Team Mormon loses another good member. As for the relation between political and religious extremism, my sense is that Trumpian political extremism has almost nothing to do with religion, but it wouldn’t be hard to find examples where religion plays a central role. Present-day Iranian political extremism, for example.
I’ll add the observation that economic hardship and crisis often lays the ground for political extremism. That was certainly the case in Germany in the 1920s and 1930s. In the US, the Great Depression paved the way for FDR and his new thinking about the role of the federal government in the economy, but that can’t be described as political extremism by any measure.
” In the US, the Great Depression paved the way for FDR and his new thinking about the role of the federal government in the economy, but that can’t be described as political extremism by any measure.”
It may not look like extremism today, but apparently it did to some people in those days, at least based on some of the contemporary writings of the time.
I know a big theme is “talk is cheap” but for me, in my early 20’s, I was started to develop a extremely rigid orthodoxy mindset which can happen to males in their 20’s. When I heard my theocratic leader, President Hinckley in 1998 say, “There is no such thing as a ‘Mormon fundamentalist. ‘ It is a contradiction to use the two words together” I snapped out of that almost instantly. The saying has since played a major role in my life
Example, I told my institute director about an “anti-Mormon” book “The Mormon Hierarchy: Origins of Power” that was in our City College Library. He basically told me to steal the book and destroy it under the auspices of better that one perish than that a whole nation dwindle in unbelief.
Because I had heard Hinkley’s saying prior to that, it was the first thing that came into my mind as a big red flag. Before that, I would have gladly done my part to rid the world of this cancerous book.
Instead, I ignored the director’s council and viewed everything else he said from then out, with suspicion.
Talk is cheap but if it works… SAY IT!
So a good point emerges from the back-and-forth of comments: yesterday’s extremism becomes today’s mainstream. Conversely, yesterday’s mainstream can also become today’s extremism.
Example: in the 1960s, inter-racial marriage was overwhelmingly unacceptable and beyond the pale. Today, it is no big deal, even though some people dislike it, and it happens a lot. Dave B. and ji are right: the New Deal was extreme at the time, but only a few diehard ideological libertarian purists object to it today (and I am libertarian, but not hardcore).
I prefer to think that we are making progress, but the rise in white nationalism makes me realize that change is not always good. We seem to get better in some areas, and worse in others. Ethnic hatred, a form of extremism, seems generally stronger, throughout the world.
The media is a big contributor to extremism, within and outside the church. Right wing news canels, that provide completely different news/facts, so it is frustrating to talk to someone who believes Trump is not racist it is Biden. So if a church leader says to fight agains racism, they understand support Trump.
Also the church blogs you read. I read a number of progressive blogs, and a couple of conservative ones. I hear conservative comments on the progressive blogs, but I am banned from commenting on meridian, mellenium. Freedom of speech/religion?
Also facebook, and twitter, that adjust the news to suit your views, reinforcing your extremism.
In Australia an ex Prime Minister is trying to get an enquiry into murdock media that owns more than 50% of papers in Aus, and Sky news, which is like Fox news that he also owns. All his stuff is totally biased to the right.
Dave B: Thunder from the Right is a much different book than Watchman on the Tower. The former is a collection of essays that probes various aspects of Ezra Taft Benson’s public and private life. The latter is an examination explaining how he became radicalized and how, in turn, he influenced others (Bundys, Preppers, etc.).
Your musing about Benson is prescient: “One wonders what Benson would have made of Pres. Trump. He would have loved his politics but despised his amorality. I’m thinking politics would have triumphed and Benson would have endorsed him.”
I’ve been asked this a lot and I’m certain that he would have found Russian involvement in our election deeply problematic. Nor would he have supported someone so deeply flawed and unprincipled as the current president. On the other hand, you’re right–he would have found it very difficult to support a Democrat, given his relentless hostility to that party. My gut tells me he would have bolted for a third party–just as he did in 1968 and 1974 when he opined that the Republican Party had gone off the rails with civil rights. For a brief period, he supported the American Independent Party, but then came back into the GOP in 1980 when Reagan was elected president.
For a fun example (outside of mormonism) of this, in the movie Hairspray, Penny Pingleton’s mother is overtly religious, anti civil rights, and keeps her basement storage unit stocked for Armageddon.
Matt
Is there a link to the strong focus the church used to place on collecting a year’s supply of food, money, water, etc. and Ezra T’s influences? It was only a couple of years ago when I was looking through a friend’s fb page that I noticed the similarities to his prepper posts and the teachings I recall from the seventies. (You can call me slow, too. :))
I can’t say for sure whether being a political extremist makes one more susceptible to religious extremism (or vice versa), though it seems likely as both kinds of extremism rely on abandonment of critical thinking skills. But I’m quite confident that a right-wing extremist (prepper, end-times speculator, loyal Fox News viewer) would find a welcome home in the LDS Church, while even a moderate left-leaning centrist would find himself or herself out of place in the Church.
Extremism has been on the rise everywhere in recent years, especially in the current polarized political environment. I’m disappointed that the Church hasn’t been doing enough to tamp it down. As far as I know, the Bundys and their associates are still Church members in good standing, while people who publicly express dissent with Church leaders or policies are punished. Our Church has always celebrated the extremely super-duper righteous members, but has never been big on promoting moderation as a virtue. We still have families that reproduce recklessly and have far more children that they can reasonably take care of. We are still encouraged to push our teenagers to go to religion classes in the pre-dawn hours rather than consider the overall consequences to physical and mental health. We push our young adults into 2-year or 1.5-year full-time volunteer proselytism, which is rife with cutthroat competitive sales culture that encourages these impressionable young people to take unnecessary risks with their physical and mental safety, because “blessings”. Extremism in the Church is largely a problem we have created for ourselves, because ultimately the Church doesn’t want lukewarm members–they want members who will give everything they have, even their very lives, to the cause.
Sasso: In Watchman on the Tower, I discuss an End Times sermon that Benson gave in the early 1980s that electrified the preppers. Julie Rowe, the lead prepper, put it on her website. As far as food storage goes, yes, this was certainly Benson driving it. Like evangelicals, Mormons were consumed with the End Times in the 1970s. That’s when the church made a renewed emphasis on a year supply of food, etc. Now, as I understand it, the church has transitioned to 72 hr kits and the like. This is most certainly a response to right-wing extremism that intensified in the early ’90s when Mormon survivalist dominated news cycles. Gordon Hinckley led a charge to excommunicate them.
France just saw a teacher being killed by a religious extremist, disapointed to learn that the teacher, during a class on freedom of expression shared caricatures of Mohammed. The rise in extremism both political and religious is very noticable in our western world.
Interesting that there were gatherings, after this event, and they were celebrating secular freedom of expression. There were muslims in the croud, and a statement from muslim organizations condemning the perpetrator. No condemnation of muslims as a whole except from Trump.
Matt Harris, so many great points. I found several podcasts where you were interviewed and found your research to be fascinating. Placing Elder Benson’s political viewpoints into historical context both in the country and in the church has relevance for understanding our current political climate. I look forward to reading your books.
I’ve said it before, so I’ll say it here: many Latter-day Saints are more Republican (whatever that means now) than they are LDS. They support Trump for some indecipherable reason, mostly because he has clawed his way to the top of their tribe, and because they are afraid of the socialists (even though they have no idea what that actually means in practice).
Wally makes an excellent point about many LDS being more Republican than Mormon. I would like to add something that I learned to say over the years while living on the East Coast, in answer to the question (usually sincere) from Evangelicals, “Are Mormons Christian?” I would answer, “some are; some are not—just like Evangelicals.” My point was almost always understood and appreciated.
As to the Christianity of Mormons, I think Stephen R. Marsh’s recent post on W and T of his Sacrament Service talk is an essential benchmark. Do I try to follow Christ’s example in my personal behavior, or am I more concerned about political issues?
By all means, let us actively involved in efforts to improve our secular society. But so often, the politics becomes a bad leaven that ruins the bread loaf.
When the Church married itself to conservative politics and conservative Christianity, my interest in the Church waned. The leadership is wasting (and has wasted) a lot of human and financial capital on causes that are best left alone. All in the name of trying to prove how conservative we are. We need to leave issues like LGBTQ+, euthanasia, marijuana, liquor, ERA, and religious freedom alone. Instead we need to concentrate on issues like refugees (whatever happen to that initiative?), poverty, clean water, reliable food, and other similar global needs. The Church has taken baby steps with global aid, it is now time to make a major effort.
We now know that the Church is wealthy beyond our wildest imagination. It is time to lose our prosperity gospel teachings and get on with being more Christlike. We need to split with the Christian Right. We must think globally.
Thanks for the comments, everyone.
Taiwan Missionary said, “… a good point … yesterday’s extremism becomes today’s mainstream.” Sort of like how a frog in a warming pot of water never notices they are being boiled alive until it’s too late. I agree that we should not stand idly by and let the extremist politics and political rhetoric of 2020 and recent years become the new normal.
Matt Harris, thanks for weighing in again. We live in one of those moments where history has a lot to teach us.
Jack Hughes said, “it seems likely as both kinds of extremism rely on abandonment of critical thinking skills.” Yes, critical thinking skills are a scarce commodity these days. Even thinking in general, however refined or unrefined, is in short supply. Slogans are a poor substitute for political debate. Epithets are a poor replacement for thinking.
Wally said, “many Latter-day Saints are more Republican (whatever that means now) than they are LDS.” Yes, and they hardly realize it. I think the same can be said for some in leadership: under the belief they are speaking out and acting in the public sphere on “moral issues,” they have politicized the Church without realizing quite what they were doing.
rogerdhansen, I agree the Church has wasted a lot of time and money on issues that they couldn’t really have much effect on in the long run. The Church only has so much moral capital to work with, and they have used a lot of it up in that process rather than looking after the Church and its institutional and spiritual health. Darn few Mormons miss going to church for two or three hours on Sunday. It’s like now that we’re hitting rough seas, they are suddenly discovering that the Church is a very leaky ship. Too much deferred maintenance.