Study finds LDS politically conservative

An updated and rereleased study of Mormons and politics confirms what many Utahns already believe — that most Latter-day Saints are conservative and most are Republicans.

The study by the Pew Center for Religion and Politics, "A Portrait of Mormons in the U.S.," has loads of data that culminate in this general conclusion — American Mormons are unique in a number of areas, including political thinking.

The study also leads to this understanding: As the Republican Party retrenches and redefines itself across the United States following heavy defeats in the 2008 elections, if GOP leaders ignore Mormons, they'll be ignoring a loyal part of their base.

And, the findings show, Democrats in Utah, and to a smaller degree in the West, have a tough hill to climb if they can't get more Mormons to consider their candidates.

The study can be found online at pewforum.org/docs/?DocID=427.

While not mentioned specifically in the new Pew study, the success of Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, is even more of a story because of what the study finds. For clearly many Mormons who vote for Matheson are swimming against the political tide found among their faithful, which is otherwise running strong for Republicans.

Here are some of the study statements, backed up by extensive polling:

 Mormons are considerably more Republican and conservative than any other major religious tradition, including members of the evangelical Protestant churches.

 A strong majority of Mormons (88 percent) says there are absolute standards for right and wrong — higher than other religions.

 65 percent of Mormons identify with the Republican Party. And even a higher percent of Mormons living in the West are Republicans.

 70 percent of Mormons say abortion should be illegal in most cases, and 68 percent say homosexuality should be discouraged.

 Most Mormons say government should be smaller and do less for the needy than those of other major religions. (Part of this is the natural conservatism of Mormons, part no doubt because the LDS Church itself does a lot for needy church members.)

 However, while most LDS believe government should be smaller, Mormons favor a larger role of government in questions of morality. Fifty-four percent of Mormons say government should do more in protecting morality, while 52 percent of Americans say government is too involved in morality as it is.

 While most Americans say our federal government should play less of a role in world events and issues, Mormons feel the opposite. Fifty-one percent of Mormons say the U.S. should be active in world affairs, only 37 percent say we should do less. Of all religions, only more American Jews share that worldview, the study found.