Kennan Howlett
Blog 5: Political Identity
Latter
Day Saints share an identity. While we differ with the more insignificant
matters of life, we all share the same basic knowledge and have an emotional
association with that knowledge. We know that life is eternal, that Jesus is
our Savior, and that Joseph Smith was a prophet. We share the same doctrine-
but we still have the agency to apply it individually. Members choose how they
obey the guidelines in the gospel. Yet despite our many differences in
political choice and party preference, the LDS church seems to carry the
reputation of being a Republican/Conservative church. I think that the Church
is viewed by outsiders as having a political identity, but in actuality the
Church does not have one.
People
outside the church believe that there is an LDS political identity because in
all honesty, most Mormons vote Republican. One
could also point to the fact that LDS Democrats like Mitt Romney much more than
other Democrats do, “23% of all Utah Democrats
view Governor Romney favorably, that proportion goes up to 42% when looking
only at Mormon Democrats.”[i] This stigma that Mormons
always vote Republican/conservative is probably derived from a number of
things. One of the main reasons is that conservatives support ‘family values’,
and the Church is definitely a proponent of them as well. Conservatives want a
strong definition of the family, more regulation of the media, and generally
have stricter guidelines on the use of marijuana and alcohol. These viewpoints
perfectly coincide with teachings of the church, and is part of why it seems to
non-members that nearly all Mormons vote Republican.
Within the Church, however,
things are less clear concerning loyalty to any one party. Yes most members are Republican, but there
are many members that belong to other parties and are just as outspoken in
declaring their support for Obama as others are about supporting Romney. The
lack of a political identity in the Church comes directly from the top. How
often do we hear over the pulpit that the Church does not support any party or
candidate? We are simply instructed to vote! We are told to study out our
options and exercise our religious freedom. Because of this clear and official
view from the Church, members do not all feel the need to vote alike. As
mentioned before, church principles are applied in different ways, and this
definitely manifests itself when it comes time to vote.
When discussing political
identity, there are two main theories to consider, primordialism and
constructivism. Primordialism assumes
that people are either born with or develop identities through childhood, while
constructivism assumes that identities can change.[ii] Perhaps most of the
outside world believes that Mormons are a good example of primordialism, it’s
true that all of my grandparents are Republican, my parents are Republican, and
I am at least registered as a Republican. It would seem that religion, the
thing that is most important to us and that most of us have grown up with,
would instill a primordialistic political identity. But I would again argue
that in the Church there are as many changes as ever, and that a more accurate
depiction of political identity in the Church is represented by the
constructivist point of view. Many children do not believe that the political
party of their parents is the better choice. They are flexible and change over
time as all people do. This includes their political beliefs.
Overall I believe that there is
the outsider view that a political identity exists within the LDS church. Most
members are supporters of Mitt Romney in the upcoming election. But so many are not. And members within the
church know this, and don’t think that the church supports one political party,
because it officially does not. I
have a number of LDS friends that are proud Democrats, many of them
contradicting their parents’ political views, disproving the primordialist
theory and showing that all Mormons are not all the same.
I like your reasoning and your religious introduction. You seem to say that just because not all Mormons make the same political decisions means there is no LDS political identity. I don't necessarily think that a having "political identity" means that everyone would make the same decisions. I think that a "political identity" means that they are all influenced in a similar way by the same standards. The church of course does not tell us what to do politically, but the standards and values do indeed create a similar influence, especially on certain issues.
ReplyDeleteI agree that not making the same political decisions doesn't mean you don't have a similar political identity. Also, I think if the decision became a moral one rather that a policy one, you would see that many LDS members would vote similarly.
ReplyDelete