DEMOCRAT AND LATTER-DAY SAINT?

With the advent of the recent political season I have been doing a LOT of pondering about my membership in theDemocratic party and my membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Sure, it has always been a challenge to live in Utah as a Democrat, but I felt o.k. about it, especially when I spend time with my fellow saints who have similar political views.  I observe them and see their solid testimonies, their obedience to and devotion to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  One is even a former Bishop of mine.  This election season, however, has been different for me, and left me feeling alienated from many members of the LDS church and statements by some even made me feel as if in their eyes I could not be a devoted member of the LDS church and vote for a Democrat.  I felt slapped in the face and started questioning who I was.  I recently attended a Sacrament meeting away from home in a conservative LDS community.  It was all I could do to sit there and not scream.  I did  not feel as though I was listening to a spiritual talk relating to general prinicples and doctrines of our faith.  I felt like I was in the middle of a National Republican Convention which alluded to our country now being lead into evil and the downfall of all of our Constitutional rights and freedoms because Mitt Romney was not elected.  The speakers lead you to believe that if Mitt Romney had just been elected then our country would be on the path to perfection, all problems solved, and they said if he had been elected we "would now be benefiting from trickle down love and humility throughout our country." Besides the fact that I disagree that President Obama and his party are trying to ruin our country, and that Mitt Romney would have provided some magic "love and humility" potion which would have automatically solved all the problems in this country - I did not feel inspired by the Spirit in this church meeting at all - I didn't even feel the Spirit.  I feel that we come to Sacrament Meeting to partake of the holy sacrament, and to share uplifting ideas of faith, obedience, service, prayer, etc. To me our church meetings are meant to bring us together as saints, not divide us or make certain members feel like they are apostates.  Having said all of this, I don't blame these feelings on the Church or its doctrine, I think some members just don't think before they speak sometimes, and don't think about the ramifications of their remarks.

So I got online and started looking for articles about Latter-day Saints and politics to see if maybe I was being ridiculous. Below I will share parts of an article I read from 2005 about this subject.

The author of this article came across another article from the Salt Lake Tribune from May 3, 1998.  HEADLINE: GOP Dominance Troubles Church; It hurts Utah, says general authority. LDS OFFICIAL CALLS FOR MORE POLITICAL DIVERSITY.
(following are statements made in the article by Elder Marlin Jensen, a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy)
"There is sort of a division along Mormon/non-Mormon, Republican/Democratic lines.  We regret that more than anything--that there would become a church party and a non-church party.  That would be the last thing that we would want to have happen."  Jensen was careful in his comments not to suggest an official LDS preference for any political party, but to maintain the church's traditional stand of partisan neutrality. Jensen was a member of the church's Public Affairs Committee.  In an hour long interview at the church's worldwide headquarters, Jensen discussed leaders' views about the seeming demise of two-party politics amount members.  Among the concerns he aired:-- The LDS Church's reputation as a one-party monolith is damaging in the long run because of the seesaw fortunes of the national political parties.-- The overwhelming Republican bent of LDS members in Utah and the Intermountain West undermines the checks-and-balances principle of democratic government.--Any notion that it is impossible to be a Democrat and a good Mormon is wrongheaded and should be obliterated said Jensen. "There have been some awfully good men and women who have been both and are both today."  "Also bothersome is that the uncontested dominance of the Republican Party in Utah deprives residents of the debate and competition of ideas that underlie good government. There is a feeling that even nationally as a church, it is not in our best interest to be known as a one-party church; the national fortunes of the parties ebb and flow.  Whereas the Republican may clearly have the upper hand today, in another 10 years they may not."

This is just part of the article, but it gave me hope.  It echoed the feelings I have had all along.  I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who strives with all of her heart to follow the example of my Savior, Jesus Christ, and to serve both Him and my fellow man in love.  I seek to be worthy of the great influence of the Holy Spirit who will teach me 'the truth of all things..." The Spirit will teach me how to reach out to others, how to lift others, how to bring a smile to those who are hurting.  These things I do as a Latter-day Saint, not as a Republican or a Democrat.  Members of both political parties want the best for our country, seek to protect our freedom and liberties, and hope to help other countries throughout the world to improve their quality of life.