Originally Posted by joshbaumgartner

Sometimes I wonder how it is possible to believe in the tenets of Mormonism and be a Republican. But that's just me. While of course there is no denying that there are more Conservatives amongst the Membership than liberals, by the same token that liberal voice is not only pretty well represented, but also growing within the Church. There is a lot of recognition that it is important to be mindful of all aspects of the doctrine, not just those that allow one to fervently support one side or the other of a political debate.

I have to admit, before I came to know them better, I thought of Mormons as a rather odd conservative lot. I am sure that many within the Church fit this stereotype (stereotypes don't exist for no reason), but I have realized that there are a lot of people in the Church that do not. Attitudes towards social issues are shifting, I would say from my observation, in particular when it regards freedom of choice for individuals. There is more recognition that just because you know something to be right does not necessarily warrant enforcing that decision on others. In the Church, there is a strong sense of the need to be community minded, to promote a good environment for children, to take stewardship of the planet, and other liberal-minded ideas.

One of the strongest is the dedication to freedom of religion, the idea being that the fact that America is not a theocratic state, and that all faiths are allowed and protected, without one being able to rule the others. This is a critical part of God's plan, in that it allowed for the Church to be created here in America when it could not have been successfully founded in any other country.

The Mormon Articles of Faith are the 13 key components of the doctrine, and #11 reads:

"We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may."

That is a pretty powerful statement to me. I don't know of many other religions which make such a concise point in their scriptures of tolerance to other faiths. I certainly don't know of any that make tolerance of other religions one of their core doctrines.

A few years ago, I might have agreed wholeheartedly with labels such as 'puritanical' for Mormonism, and it is about the last Church I thought I would find such open-minded thought in. However, I've had to admit that in finally doing some research on the Church, I have had to let go of many of those past-held stereotypes.

What this means for candidates (not trying to jack this thread here) is that I am very willing to believe a candidate when he explains that his actions may well not fit with what I or anyone else might conclude merely based on our stereotypes of his claimed religion. As always, let the record speak louder than the labels.