Mormon bloc voting
Public Forum Letter
02/09/2008
President Gordon B. Hinckley admonished Latter-day Saints to look
out, not in, and shrug off the stereotype of being intolerant or
insular. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' claim to
"truth" can, but need not, foster this stereotype. President Hinckley
believed it could be broken.
Matters of faith require a unified voice. But other issues do not.
When church members unite as a bloc on nonreligious political issues,
it intimidates nonmembers. It is insular. It is not American. It
perpetuates the stereotype. President Hinckley's vision gave hope that
the stereotype was dying.
But on Feb. 5, Utah Republicans gave a Mormon nearly 90 percent of
their vote. This margin was so grossly out of step with the national
vote that religion was the obvious motivator. Values and issues should
drive an election, not a candidate's religion.
The stereotype has deepened by Utah's anointing a good old Mormon
boy. It shows how much emotional and social growth is needed for
President Hinckley's vision to come about.
Only when this happens can we ask those of other faiths to be
governed by a member of our own.
Phillip Lowry
Provo
http://www.truthandgrace.com/mormonhistory.htm
