Democratic Socialist Mormon Friends & Support


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I'm going to put it out there.  I'm a 41 year old convert of 16 years, a golden contact.  
I've been a consistent attending member every since day one.

I consider myself a Progressive/Democratic Socialist and I am very politically active.  
However, I do not bring my politics to Church.  I don't like it when others bring theirs into our chapels,
so I do whatever I can to avoid and squash political conversations or comments any time they are voiced.
Our scriptures can be used to support almost ANY political ideology if you cherry pick which verses you use. 

That being said, I feel VERY LONELY as a Democratic Socialist/ Progressive in the Mormon Church,
which ideologically confuses me since I love the Church AND progressive values make SO much sense to me.

I am most active on Facebook, where I have several Church members as 'friends' who see my political posts.  
My church friends have distanced themselves from me since I have been expressing my political beliefs online.

I can only assume that they misunderstand my/our progressive positions - perhaps they believe the free things line from the media, 
or they think I'm not pro-life because I'm also pro-choice, or they think I'm blaming outside things instead of taking responsibility, blah blah.

Ultimately, it's all very discouraging.  I have a strong testimony and I have no reason to leave the church,
the doctrines match my beliefs perfectly.  

I'd just like to find some other Democratic Socialist/Progressive Mormons to chat with.
To talk about how the doctrines work so well with the ideas of the party,
and perhaps some ideas on how to help the world move forward!  

#NotMeUs

 

 

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I think there are a lot of you. The great majority of my husband's large family are democratic socialists, and church members. 

Personally I'm having  political identity crisis. 

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It's a two-way street. Just as you expect other Latter-day Saints to allow not only your beliefs but the possibility (however remote) that you are right and they are wrong, so you need to allow them their beliefs and grant the possibility (however remote) that they are right and you are wrong. If there is one common trait I have seen among politically "progressive" Latter-day Saints, and especially among the self-identifying "Gen-Xers", it is this pervasive faith in their own infallibility and their conviction that everyone over the age of 45 is hopelessly ignorant and doesn't see the world clearly -- which, of course, they themselves do.

Edited by Vort
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Guest LiterateParakeet

Have you seen this page on Facebook "LDS Dems" :)  

https://www.facebook.com/ldsdems/?fref=nf

I don't think of myself as Democrat or Republican, but Liberal?  Oh yes.  I am rooting for Bernie!  So you and I probably have a lot in common.  

You might also like: Latter Day Saints for Racial Equality

https://www.facebook.com/groups/825094047536719/

Welcome to LDS.net. 

 

Edited by LiterateParakeet
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As I became politically engaged and have taken the opportunity to talk cordially with more people on the other side(s) I have found that there really is a mainstream that is blinded by the labels of opposing views.

Most of the average population on both sides of the aisle does not believe the party line.  Most people actually believe about the same things.  But the public face of the parties are doing things that makes the people very upset.  It's just that we're so set on "us vs. them" that we ignore the fact that the people in power and the few very vocal activists are ruining it for the rest of us.  I believe that if you can just do away with labels, you'll be able to look at the actual details of your beliefs and find you're really close in what you believe politically.  But good luck finding people willing to truly set labels aside.

But if you choose to be on the far end, that is not just a Church thing.  That is a societal thing.

 

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Guest LiterateParakeet
33 minutes ago, NeuroTypical said:

LiterateParakeet is another liberal Mormon we've all adopted and love as one of our own.

Thanks Neuro!

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12 hours ago, NeuroTypical said:

Here in pretty-darn-conservative, lots-of-military Colorado Springs, we have one liberal in my ward.  We've all adopted her and love her like our own.  

Invisible Glass aerosol cleaner will get the tongue prints off the car windows pretty well.  The helmet dents in the headliner will probably have to be steamed out, though.

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Judging by the success of Bernie Sanders in Utah, I'd say you're not that much of a minority in the church as you think you are....

But yeah, I can debate a Democratic Socialist until the cows fly over the moon.  It doesn't mean I think they're not following Christian principles.  I think people here remember me vehemently defending Harry Reid's standing in the Church at the same time that I vehemently opposed his political actions.

Edited by anatess2
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14 minutes ago, anatess2 said:

Judging by the success of Bernie Sanders in Utah, I'd say you're not that much of a minority in the church as you think you are....

Given that people pretty much assume Trump's getting the Republican nomination, I have to wonder how much of Bernie's success is Republicans voting in the Democrat primaries to sink Clinton.

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13 minutes ago, NightSG said:

Given that people pretty much assume Trump's getting the Republican nomination, I have to wonder how much of Bernie's success is Republicans voting in the Democrat primaries to sink Clinton.

If we're going to make some educated guesses... I would think it more likely that Democrats are voting Trump in the primaries to sink the Repubs.  The turn-out numbers support such guess.  The Repubs are still too busy desperately clawing their way out of a Trump nomination to think of what's going on in the left side of the aisle.

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Once again...move to Canada! ?You will be most welcome here. Okay it is a little cold and we do talk funny but Ontario is introducing free university education for the poor. I am thrilled! We may be introducing a minimum level of income for everyone. Most saints in my city are quite socialist. You would be quite comfortable here. I suspect that there are many lds social democrats in Europe and Australia and that they are very comfortable with being lds and holding their political views.

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2 hours ago, Sunday21 said:

Once again...move to Canada! ?You will be most welcome here. Okay it is a little cold and we do talk funny but Ontario is introducing free university education for the poor. I am thrilled! We may be introducing a minimum level of income for everyone. Most saints in my city are quite socialist. You would be quite comfortable here. I suspect that there are many lds social democrats in Europe and Australia and that they are very comfortable with being lds and holding their political views.

Social welfare programs is an application of socialist principles but it is not Socialism, Democratic or otherwise.

Canada, with their single-payer healthcare and everything else is not a Socialist country.  It is still, by far, a Capitalist country.  So much so that if Bernie would run for Canadian national public office, he'll fall on the leftest 10% of his peers.

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1 hour ago, Vort said:

I love free stuff. No one ever has to pay anything. How come we don't just make everything free?

Free stuff plus fat-burning European chocolate is a platform I could get behind. 

 

I've been studying Denmark lately, having recently discovered some Danish lineage. They are a highly socialist country, and rated the happiest in the world. They pay 43-58% taxes (or something along those lines), too.

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Tuckabee,

You are not alone. Most Mormons lean conservative, but not all, by any means.

I consider myself a left-leaning independent. I find wisdom and folly in both of the main US political parties.

I think democratic capitalism has a lot of strengths, and also a lot of weaknesses. As Churchill said, democracy is the worst possible system except everything else we've been able to think of. I am sympathetic to many of the ideas in socialism - if they can practically be put to use to help the poor and needy, then I'm all for it. I am fascinated with what I hear about Denmark, and wish the US could learn from them. 

I have enjoyed the following article many times - be sure to see page 2 of it:

"Why I'm a Mormon Democrat": http://www.patheos.com/Resources/Additional-Resources/Why-Im-a-Mormon-Democrat

I am confident that if people put aside ideology and focus on their core values, and work together, we can solve many of our problems. Most people in all parties have the same values: freedom, security, prosperity, peace, education, fairness, helping others, etc. And the more that the gospel of Jesus is part of the discussion, the better the solution.

I commend you for keeping politics and the gospel separate. They are. Politics is worldly ideology, and it usally acts to divide people. The gospel transcends politics - our goal as LDS members is to serve God and our neighbors, and to learn to be one in heart, to build Zion. We should not allow partisan thinking to hinder those things.

My advice is to keep an open mind, to allow people their freedom of thought, and be patient when you hear Mormons putting politics before the gospel. Just smile and pray for them.

 

Edited by tesuji
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9 hours ago, Eowyn said:

Free stuff plus fat-burning European chocolate is a platform I could get behind. 

 

I've been studying Denmark lately, having recently discovered some Danish lineage. They are a highly socialist country, and rated the happiest in the world. They pay 43-58% taxes (or something along those lines), too.

 

Interestingly, Denmark (and the other Scandinavian countries are following suit) has freed big swaths of their economy that they have achieved a freer market than post-Obamacare USA.

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47 minutes ago, anatess2 said:

 

Interestingly, Denmark (and the other Scandinavian countries are following suit) has freed big swaths of their economy that they have achieved a freer market than post-Obamacare USA.

Sweden for many decades has been held up as the example of what socialism can do.  But Friedman pointed out several weaknesses in their economy as well and Sweden took it to heart and freed up some portions of their economy as well.  And they're doing even better.

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47 minutes ago, Carborendum said:

Sweden for many decades has been held up as the example of what socialism can do.  But Friedman pointed out several weaknesses in their economy as well and Sweden took it to heart and freed up some portions of their economy as well.  And they're doing even better.

And looking through Swedish history it is clear to see that they achieved their much-celebrated income equality BEFORE they embarked on their socialist experiment.  And what's more... what's keeping them from stagnating is not so much Socialist ideals but their uni-culturalist make-up of mostly Protestants with culturally ingrained solid work ethic and selflessness.  Even then, by the 70's Swedish owned businesses started to decline so much so that by 2000, the top 100 businesses in Sweden by employment size is not owned by Sweden.  By 2005, Sweden went the way of Denmark and started deregulating and freeing big swaths of their economy as well.

See, this is the thing... these small countries have the freedom to experiment and try things out - with socialism, multi-culturalism, and all that stuff because they have America to rely on.  They don't have to spend big bucks on defense spending, heck, even Germany is a laggard in NATO and wouldn't spend the 2% of their GDP required by NATO contract.  So they can play with their economy. 

Sure, if New England wants to experiment with Democratic Socialism they can.  They're about the size of Sweden.  And they have the power of the Federal Government to help them with stuff like healthcare, education, and defense.  Yet, even with Bernie a long running public figure, representative of Vermont, he can't pass his Democratic Socialist agenda in Vermont with less than a million population of mostly solid progressives!  I mean, yeah, "Old Vermont" are not as liberal as "New Vermont" but the old is steadily declining into non-relevancy.  So Democratic Socialism being a Presidential Federal platform is just not the thing for America.  Because, as it stands right now... who is America going to rely on when it goes bust?  Because, as reality would have it, Democratic Socialism assumes that its citizenry believe in the same Christian principles of hard work and selflessness and devoid of greed.  The minute it realizes that greed is a part of human nature, then compulsion becomes necessary for the thing to continue to succeed... which leads to the dark side of Socialism.

But yeah, I can say this all day everyday but this does not mean... not even by a smidgen... that I think Tuckabee and his political principles do not belong in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  We're still in this together, mate.

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Guest MormonGator
43 minutes ago, anatess2 said:

  By 2005, Sweden went the way of Denmark and started deregulating and freeing big swaths of their economy as well.

 

Exactly. Both countries are actually experimenting with the free market and they are enjoying the outcome.  

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Guest MormonGator
43 minutes ago, anatess2 said:

  By 2005, Sweden went the way of Denmark and started deregulating and freeing big swaths of their economy as well.

 

Exactly. Both countries are actually experimenting with the free market and they are enjoying the outcome.  

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12 hours ago, Eowyn said:

Free stuff plus fat-burning European chocolate is a platform I could get behind. 

 

I've been studying Denmark lately, having recently discovered some Danish lineage. They are a highly socialist country, and rated the happiest in the world. They pay 43-58% taxes (or something along those lines), too.

http://www.investors.com/politics/capital-hill/denmark-tells-bernie-sanders-to-stop-calling-it-socialist/

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