Blog 5

The LDS church has long declared its political neutrality, but do the church’s doctrine and culture create a political identity for its members? If so, how does that happen? Is it formed from childhood as members of the church are raised in an environment that induces political biases, or is it something that is learned as one participates in the church and begins to feel more affiliated with it? After some investigation and some reasoning, I conclude that the LDS church does create a political identity, and it does so according to the constructivist theory of politicization.

The constructivist theory explains LDS political identity

The LDS church teaches a specific ideology that can be integrated into one’s life from early childhood or starting at any age. The doctrine of the church is taught from childhood and can become deeply rooted that way, but not all devout members of the church were feed Mormon doctrine with their baby food. Many members of the church are converts, or people who were not “born into” the church. These converts often become more enthusiastically supportive of the church and its views than others who have learned the doctrine of the church all their life.

An Example of the Impact of the LDS Church on Political Ideology

The ideology that the LDS church teaches can eventually have a great and lasting impact on the way its members think about life and make decisions. It is true that the church does not support or affiliate itself with any political party, but parts of the church’s doctrine definitely take sides on certain political issues. The church openly opposes abortion and is opposed to the “pro-choice” argument of American Liberals. The church stands up for conservative family values, and does not condone homosexual marriage.

Such staunch support of positions on controversial issues has a lasting impact on the way its members vote and act in the political scene. During the controversy over Prop 8 in California, great conflict occurred over the two sides to the decision to be made. The LDS church donated large sums of money to oppose the legalization of gay marriage. In four surveys taken over the past eight years member of the LDS church have reported an extraordinarily low level of support of the legalization of gay marriage compared to that of other religious affiliations. Support from members of the church has stayed below eight percent, while support from members of other religious organizations have hovered around 50 percent ( Kelly).

Political Party Affiliation and Membership in the LDS Church

The LDS church does not affiliate itself with any party, but as I explained before, its ideology sways its member in a fairly clear direction. According to surveys reported in the Salt Lake Tribune in December of 2011, three in four members of the church report loyalty to the Republican party. Only 14 percent claim loyalty to the Democratic party (Gerke).

Political Party Outliers and Overall Conclusion

Because the church’s manner of treating its members is to teach them correct principles and let them govern themselves,” many members of the church in good standing have political loyalty opposite of the majority. Some would believe that this acts against this argument. I would explain, however, that the church teaches principle that deeply affect its members and governs how they make decisions, but each individual is free to emphasize principles within the church’s doctrine. While it is true that the church helps create a political identity, it does not need to be the case that that political identity match exactly with a political party.

Works Cited   

Gehrke, Robert. “Survey: Mormons embrace GOP, shun Democrats”. The Salt Lake Tribune.        December 14, 2011. < http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/home2/53110048-183/mormons-utah-    lds-party.html.csp> October 11, 2012

Patterson, Kelly. “Public Opinion on Gay Marriage in Utah”. Utah Data Points. July 9, 2012.             <http://utahdatapoints.com/> October 11, 2012