Blog 5

Blog 5

Is there a distinct LDS political identity here in the United States?

In order to determine what political identity members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints belong to, we must first identify the two political parties that exist here in the United States: Democratic and Republican. The democrats have a more liberal view about social issues and argue towards the approval of gay marriage and abortion. The Republican Party, on the other hand, is much rather conservative and goes against the democrats’ views. These are not the only differences between these two parties but since we are trying to relate a religious group with a political group, moral ground would fit best as a measurement of this correlation.

The members of the LDS Church are generally very conservative and therefore support the Republican Party of the United States. This party’s ideologies support most of the Saints’ beliefs and so 74% of registered Mormon voters support the Republican Party (Politico, 2012). For example, LDS doctrine does not approve gay marriage or abortion, so it makes sense that Mormons give this party their major support. However, the authorities of the Church do not take a stand to support any political group. Also, morality is not the only factor that affects the political identity of members of the Church. Even members who are democrats can also be conservative. If not, all of the truly devoted members would support the Republican Party.

Religion still plays a high role in politics though. In these upcoming elections, there has been major turmoil among Mormons ever since Mitt Romney was nominated as presidential candidate for the Republican Party. Mormons even think it is a good thing for the Church to have a companion of their own faith running for office. In a recent analysis conducted by Kelly Patterson, both the majority of republican (79%) and democrat (54%) voters said that Romney’s candidacy was a good thing for the Church. Moreover, another survey on Utah data points shows that Mormon democrats feel better about Romney’s candidacy than Mormon republicans do about Barack Obama’s candidacy (Monson).

Another distinct factor of the LDS’ direction on political identity is their Western culture. Ever since the founding of the Church, Mormons experienced a great deal of discrimination even from the Republican Party when it was promoting anti-slavery but attacking Mormons for polygamy (The Salt Lake Tribune). This eventually led them to pioneering in the Western front, which helped them develop a great deal of self-reliance and independence. Therefore, they have learned not to rely on government and be against socialist ideals. At the same time though, Christian values teach to help thy neighbor and so it would also make sense that Mormons support the Democratic Party because their ideals tend to include a high involvement of government in order to give support to the poor. However, I believe that Mormons tend to take this factor out and focus more on other moral grounds.

Considering all these factors I would say that constructivist theory of political identity explains why Mormons tend to lean more towards the Republican Party. Growing up in a LDS household does not mean that this will lead to a certain political identity. As mentioned before, the Church does not take any stance on any political party or ideology. Therefore, the fact that Mormons usually prefer to support the Republican Party is due to an acquired set of ideals and a very delicate decision of conservatism.

Bibliography

1.     "Republican Party Started out Anti-Mormon | The Salt Lake Tribune." Republican Party Started out Anti-Mormon | The Salt Lake Tribune. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Oct. 2012. http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/home3/53577596-200/church-party-mormons-republican.html.csp

2.     "POLITICO." POLITICO. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Oct. 2012. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0112/71362.html

3.     Patterson, Kelly. "Who thinks Governor Romney’s candidacy is good for the LDS Church?" (2012): n. page. Print. http://utahdatapoints.com/2012/08/who-thinks-governor-romneys-candidacy-is-good-for-the-lds-church

4.     Monson, Quin. "Do LDS Dems like Romney?." (2012): n. page. Print. http://utahdatapoints.com/2012/08/do-lds-dems-like-mitt-romney