The Mormon church has seen better years than 2008. Looking back on the year, it turned out to be a particularly tough PR year for the church. In a recent Salt Lake Tribune article entitled “A Year of Scrutiny for the LDS Church” Peggy Fletcher Stack takes a look back at the year 2008 for the LDS church. Summed up in a sentence: Scrutiny doesn’t always feel very good. Between Mitt Romney’s Presidential bid, Proposition 8 backlash, and the hoopla surrounding the raid of the Texas compound of the polygamous FLDS sect, the church experienced an unprecedented amount of time in the lime light of the national media. There were some interesting points brought up within the article, especially the commentary by Philip Barlow, the head of the Mormon Studies program at Utah State University.
Regarding Allegiance to the Republican Party
Although a large percentage of Mormons are Republican stalwarts, Mitt didn’t exactly receive a warm welcome from the party’s large evangelical constituent. One pastor even went so far as to say “A vote for Mitt Romney is a vote for Satan.”
Philip Barlow wondered, “Will Latter-day Saints now begin to question their allegiance to the Republican Party, or even move into the Democratic Party in the future, especially if Barack Obama is successful in his first term?”
Regarding Homosexuality
After stating that the churches high profile involvement with Prop 8 has potentially set it up as a symbol of the restriction of human rights Barlow says, “Not many years from now, 2008 may be seen as a turning point for the LDS Church in addressing the reality of homosexuality. The church's theology was formed at a time when homosexuality could only be construed in biblical terms as ‘abomination.’ Because of experience and science, today church leaders see the issue in a more complex light. They distinguish between feelings and actions, and they acknowledge that we do not know the originating causes of same-sex attraction. LDS founder Joseph Smith once said that 'by proving contraries, truth is made manifest.' As is the past, this may be a painful but auspicious moment in LDS history."
While I think Barlows speculation about a future in which the Mormon church is largely democratic and gay friendly is far fetched, I wouldn’t complain with that outcome. In my mind, the more likely outcome is that instead of jumping ship from the Republican party, Mormons will continue to buddy up with evangelicals in politics and on social issues when their man power and capital is needed in hopes that they will someday be admitted to their exclusive Christian club and political party.
Monday, January 5, 2009
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