Ive been hovering around the LDS forums for the past while and I have decided it is finally time to speak my mind. First of all - seriously? 'Liberals in the church' is a topic of discussion? One of the reasons I left the church was because of this kind of negative stereotyping and dissent of people who aren't the status quo Mormon (pro-right, caucasian-centric, holier-than-thou attitude, etc). And let me emphasize that I am not criticizing the teachings of the church itself at this time, I am criticizing its many judgemental and often self-righteous members who ruin the reputation of the entire church for people outside of it. One of the reasons I believe the church continues to get a bad rap (and will continue to have a bad rap) outside of Utah is because of this limited, Utah/conservative-centric point of view when it comes to politics and culture. In this global age of communication, church members need to be more embracing, or at the very least more considerate of outside points of view - many of those who are interested in joining the church often come from, and live in a culture that some on this board would call "liberal", or "socialist", etc. I myself hail from South Korea, and I very much appreciate our higher quality, cost-effective, all-encompassing "socialist" healthcare, because the US healthcare system is seriously one of the worst things I have ever had the inconvenience of experiencing, thank you very much, but I digress. Point is, when non-Utah church members listen to this kind of rhetorical slander from mainstream mormons, it creates a divide between Utah, and everywhere else. One of the reasons I joined Buddhism in the long run is because unlike the church, Buddhism and its practitioners do not emphasize contemporary political squables over its core doctrine. This means a conservative from Utah is free to practice, as is a liberal from Denmark without any reservations towards their political affiliations. This can also be said for, say, Catholocism, Hinduism, Judaism, etc. While their members may be majority conservative or liberal, ideological affiliation is certainly not a litmus test for faithfulness. In a nutshell, petty contemporary politics should not replace core doctrine, because the latter will outlast the former. That is all I will say here.
