Blog 5: "I'm Voting for Obama and I'm a Mormon."

Blog 5: “I’m Voting for Obama and I’m a Mormon.”

Isn’t it interesting that the statement in the title of this blog post strikes many as being bold, daring, and for some, maybe even angering? 

Being Mormon is something that most in the LDS (Mormon) faith consider a very strong identity.  It is a central and defining part of our lives.  What explains why someone identifies himself or herself as Mormon?  At what point does this identity become politicized?

The book offers these two concepts as possible explanations for when identity becomes politicized: Primordialism and constructivism (p. 169 paragraph 3 “…comparative politics offers…”).  It is difficult to see how these views explain when identity becomes politicized.  It seems to simply describe differing views about identities in general and does not attempt to explain when identities become political.  Also, in class it was discussed that both struggle to explain which identities become politicized.  This being the case, rather than following the books suggestion that these two theories explain when identity becomes politicized, we will discuss if the identity of being a Mormon stems from Primordialism or Constructivism. 

Constructivism is the more likely of the two in explaining why people identity themselves as Mormons.  In fact, the LDS Church sends out thousands of missionaries who find and help people become members of the faith.  People who have never had any attachment to the LDS Faith have since become members, and now identify themselves as Mormons.  This process is most adequately described by Constructivism rather than Primordialism.

To start the discussion of whether there is a distinct LDS political identity, it is useful to consider when an identity becomes political.  According to our textbook, Comparative Politics, “identity becomes politicized when large numbers of people mobilize to advance interests of or defend perceived threats to their identity group” (p149 paragraph 2 “Identity becomes politicized when…”). 

In carefully reading this definition, an important part to consider is “large numbers of people” mobilizing.  Taking this phrase into account will help determine if a person’s identity of being a Mormon is politicized.  In the context of the upcoming election, while some may individually be angered at a bumper sticker saying “I’m voting for Obama and I’m a Mormon,” there is little recognition of a mobilization of Mormon’s to promote Mitt Romney instead of Obama.  While it is true that several Mormons do participate in mobilized groups in favor of Romney, they do so as part of other political identities, such as Republicans or conservatives for example. 

In different situations, however, an argument could be made that Mormons have mobilized politically.  In the year 2008 California found itself in the midst of a highly sensitive political battle over Proposition 8, which would establish firmly the definition of marriage as between a man and a woman.  In this instance, members of the church came together with members of other Christian faiths to support the proposition.  The huge role of Mormons in this campaign was highlighted in a New York Times article written in 2008 called Mormons Tipped Scale in Ban on Gay Marriage.  The article quotes Jeff Flint, a strategist in the Protect Marriage campaign, who estimated that “Mormons made up 80 percent to 90 percent of the early volunteers who walked door-to-door in election precincts.”  In addition the article points out that “…as much as half of the nearly $40 million raised on behalf of the measure was contributed by Mormons.”  These statistics illustrate a mobilization of Mormons to promote the Proposition, and as a result an argument can be made that in this case Mormonism became a political identity. 

 

In conclusion, Mormonism as an identity is explained by constructivism, shown by the fact that people have and continue to adopt the faith.  Further, there is a strong argument that there does exist in the U.S. a LDS political identity as demonstrated by the mobilization of members of the faith in defending Proposition 8.  Members of the LDS Church were persuaded to become involved with this issue because of their beliefs about marriage rooted in the LDS faith.  These beliefs were strong enough to lead them to act to defend these beliefs and mobilization occurred, indicating the politicization of the identity.                  

WORKS CITED:

1.      Samuels, David J. "Chapter 6: Political Identity." Comparative Politics. Upper River Saddle, NJ: Pearson Education, n.d. 148-70. Print.

2.      McKinley, Jesse, and Kirk Johnson. "Mormons Tipped Scale in Ban on Gay Marriage." The New York Times. The New York Times, 15 Nov. 2008. Web. 12 Oct. 2012. <http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/15/us/politics/15marriage.html?pagewanted=all>.