Mormons are just fine with differences of political opinion---so long as your views are conservative. They don't care if you are a member of the GOP, a full blown Libertarian, voted for Ross Perot, or even if you campaigned for Bo Gritz.
That's right. I am
referring to the Bishop Paredes, who recently wrote about my senator (I live in
Nevada) Harry Reid, basically sharing his opinion as a Bishop of the Mormon
Church, that he found it difficult to accept Harry Reid could be a Mormon in
good standing. As a Mormon (though to
meet full disclosure I must admit I am an inactive Mormon) who is also a
liberal, I am annoyed at this comment, but I am not surprised or offended. I am not offended because I know too many
Mormons who are hypocrites to continue to be offended by seeing exactly what I
already knew about them.
I am saying this on Veteran's Day for two very specific
reasons.
1. This is a
political post about Mormons and their perceptions, and as a liberal Mormon I
have something to say about this.
2. As a liberal
veteran, I break the mold yet again.
Again for the record, I was a liberal Mormon long before I
became inactive, and my inactivity has nothing to do with my politics.
You see, Mormons are a special breed. On a cultural level, Mormons do some pretty
strange things. They classify most of
the world's population into two categories.
There are Mormons and Jews, and there are Gentiles, which consists of
everyone else. Yes, Mormons consider
themselves a strange and peculiar people, right along with the Jewish people of
the world. What? Do you think it an accident the original
article written by Bishop Paredes was on The Jewish Journal?
Mormons also claim the Church does not direct any of its
members towards any specific political affiliation, which is true. You will hear it again and again. The Church encourages participation in the
political process without ever once endorsing any specific political
party. I even grew up in an era where
you would never hear anything political spoken from the pulpit, though the
debate over gay marriage ended that.
And though the Mormon Church does not espouse (see what I did there) any
specific political party, it bleeds and sweats conservatism. Liberal Mormons are rare, and as
such, Bishop Paredes could not contain his exultation when one lost his
leadership role in the U.S. Senate.
* * *
I opened with the fact that most Mormons don't care which
political party you belong to, so long as it is conservative. I stand by that and I dare any Mormon to
challenge the truth of that statement. I
have seen from people I know personally, unspecified contests conducted to see who can run
to the right faster and harder than the other Mormons they know. And believe me when I tell you it gets pretty
frightening. I have debated toe-to-toe
with some of these people, pointed out the hypocrisy of the GOP, only to have
them retreat to the all-too-familiar trope, "Well, it's all politicians,
not just Republicans." You see, one
of the great truths of Mormon conservatism is that while 95% of Mormon
conservatives vote a straight ticket with the Republican Party, you will never
get more than half of them to say they are Republicans. They will swear oaths to affirm they are
staunch independents or libertarians.
But try asking them to mane one non-GOP issue they disagree with and
they will go blank, blink, gulp for air like a carp, and then say they don't
think the GOP goes far enough to preserve gun rights or eliminate the capital
gains tax.
Another dirty secret: Most Mormons don't really hate
President Obama. They are actually happy
to see him be president. No,
really. Most Mormon' anti-Obama
sentiments are a knee-jerk reaction, rooted deeply in the historic racism of
the Church's history and its people. Not
to mention the firm doctrinal belief they are waiting for the historical moment
when the U.S. Constitution is 'hanging
by a thread,' when a Mormon will save the nation from its own demise. That's why so many Mormons had such a hard-on
for Mitt Romney. They just forgot about
subjectivity. Depending on who you talk
to, The U.S. Constitution has been 'hanging by a thread' for most of our
nation's history.
I grew up in Utah, so I understand Bishop Paredes'
disconnect. Not his political
disconnect, mind you, but his inability to comprehend the liberal
position. I am okay with people
disagreeing with my politics. I think
the debate needs to happen. I actually
believe it's healthy for the political process.
However, I am a liberal Mormon, and as such I have no choice to accept
the other side's legitimacy. The problem
Bishop Paredes and his ilk have is they use their group-think mentality to
collectively erase any part of cognition which might allow for the liberal
philosophy to have any legitimate basis.
They claim the reason they do not accept liberalism as legitimate is
that the liberal ideology has shifted so much it has corrupted all of its
original tenets. They say this with a
straight face, too. Irony is not a
strong card for conservatives, and even less of one for Mormons. They have all but forgotten Richard Nixon
signed into law the EPA, that the tax rate during Eisenhower's Presidentcy was
92%, and that Ronald Reagan was in favor of reasonable gun control
measures. Remind any Mormon of that, and
they will most likely tell you they are more of a "conservative
independent" than Republican.
One final example before I leave you to your day:
Mormons are a little shaky on regular history of the 19th
Century. Mormon History and Utah history
they have in spades, but general U.S. or World history of the 19th Century are
real blind spots for Mormons. Ask a
Mormon about the Second Great Awakening and you will get the Joseph Smith
Story. Ask about the Bill of Rights in
the 19th Century and you will hear dozens of "true" stories about
Mormon persecution. Ask about Westward
expansion and you will get more stories about Mormons trying to get to Zion,
complete with hardships and fortitude. Ask
them how immigrants fared during the Gilded Age (1875-1900) and you will get
stories about Mormons immigrating' to and settling different parts of Utah.
One of the many charges leveled against me is that I am a
communist or a socialist or some kind of Socialistic Fascist, though I am still
trying to figure out how that is possible, seeing the goal of socialism is the
dissolution of government and fascism is the strengthening of government. Ask your conservative Mormon friends about
the Law of Consecration. Then ask them
to explain the difference between The law of Consecration and Socialism. After they tell you that the Law of
Consecration is based on voluntary participation (as mandated by The Mormon
Church), ask them the same question again, because there is no real
difference. Ask about Collectivism and
the myriad of Utopian efforts during the 19th Century, and Mormons will look at
you because all they know is that mean people did their best to stop Mormons
from being able to live their lives in peace or as a Utopian collective. Ask them to read up on the popularity of Utopian
movements in America during early to mid 1800's which helped inspire the
mechanics (if not the doctrine itself) of The Law of Consecration. But because
I believe in universal health care for all Americans, I'm some kind of Commie
Bastard.
* * *
Now, of course Bishop Paredes apologized for the appearance
that what he had to say had any real connection to his being a Bishop and that
connection having anything to do with temple worthiness. For those who are wondering about that, I
will tell you it's business as usual.
There are a lot of Mormons who simply have an embarrassing level of hubris when anything related to or even
peripherally associated with theology.
They simply lack the ability to comprehend how anyone can see the world
differently. In that regard, they are a
strange and peculiar people.
Of course I will come under fire from some Mormon for saying these things. Not much, as mine is not a popular blog, but some. To those people, feel free to share your anger and outrage. Feel free to comment and to rail against my position. Accuse me of generalizing, exaggerating, and perpetuating stereotypes. Do whatever helps you sleep at night.
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