The comments mentioned are legion here. They are usually coming from the branch president so the notion of going to talk with the bishop over some inappropriate lesson is not really an option. I’m usually the one teaching lessons and he’s usually the one bringing up the political bits from the congregation. It’s a mystery to me that they have me teaching at all given my penchant for of white shirts and the occasional facial hair laziness. Anyway, the issue is a hard one to deal with and I know many others deal with it regularly. Shawn’s opening post apes my feelings perfectly and I thank him for writing it down. It does give a bit of hope. We are a people of tradition and trends. They are often confused for the other, sadly, and we are in a trend of extreme conservatism (and I use the word here purely in it’s present political meaning) that is so often taken as part of our tradition. Hopefully the stark division will fade and though we may have some of those black and white things doctrinally, politically we will be wise enough to seek out the positives from any point of view.

It’s late…

Gay marriage?

But in any case, does the Republican party love war, hate the environment, and hate charity? (I’ll take your point on abortion. I wouldn’t classify the church’s position as pro-choice, but it is not purely pro-life either.)

Of course you would think that the church agrees with Democrats if you believe those things about Republicans, just as one could believe the church agrees with Republicans if he believes that Democrats want to limit our religious freedom, legalize drugs, and teach our children in school to be gay. Neither caricature is correct.

I can’t think of a single issue that the church agrees more with the Republicans than with the Democrats.

In recent weeks, the whole health care reform debate has been big in the news, and I didn’t really pay attention to the details much until I heard that Palin had mentioned these “death panels”, and that other Republican leaders and media mavens had claimed that Obama was for euthanization of the elderly. I immediately started investigating the facts, reading the proposed bills (there are 5 versions, as of this writing, much to many people’s surprise), and learning all about the issues at hand.

In seeing all of these Republican crazies on TV shouting at town hall meetings (mostly to hear their own voice, I can only assume) really got me to thinking about being Mormon and being a Democrat. My wife and I voted for Obama, and with good intention: we believe his message and the platform he ran on was one of unity, common goals, caring for the least of our citizens, and turning the country around through service and commitment to positive change.

What’s alarming is that many of the people I attend church with start to all sound like Glenn Beck or Rush Limbaugh after a while; they all have “talking points” and one-line stingers aimed at Democrats and Obama himself. They’re running around like chickens with their heads cut off about this health care reform issue, and no matter how many facts you present to them (and they certainly have NO facts to back up their arguments – they “just know that Obama is up to no good”), they still refuse to listen or be teachable. They are too proud to admit that maybe – just maybe – they jumped the shark and didn’t do their homework. The ignorance is astounding, really.

Anyhow, thank you Shawn for this post. It has definitely given me good ideas and tactics to use when voicing concern over right-leaning teachers and members who are clearly stepping over the line. Thanks to all of your who posted before, as well – your comments have helped me see that being a Democrat and being LDS are not mutually exclusive concepts.