This story is a breath of fresh air to a long time Democrat born in the covenant and active in my church. I dearly love all my conservative brothers and sisters but am hurt constantly by their right-wing anti-liberal remarks. I have no problem justifying all my liberal (I prefer progressive as it deletes the hint of libertine from the name) views with scripture as, I'm sure my conservative brothers and sisters can do the same. I challenge them, however to justify their common and unkind references at Church meetings.

My liberalism is based on our commandment to share our bounty with the poor, take care of the sick and our covenant to consecrate all that we have to the building up of Zion. And to seeking peaceful solutions.

I can't begin to tell you the anti-democrat/liberal comments I have heard in Church and even in the Temple.

Our growth, particularly in the USA, has flattened out. I think we could change this if we made progressive (liberal) democrats feel welcome in our Church. Trust me, we don't. My son-in-law, a new convert, no longer goes to Church because a Bishop referred to democrats as near subversives. True story!

The difference between liberals and conservatives concerning the poor is simply that conservatives believe we should keep our wealth and share it on our own rather than trusting the government to redistribute wealth. It's not like the government does anything effectively or efficiently.


Put otherwise, we should each be good Christians on our own rather than relying on the government to be so for us.

Nicely done.

Brooks, what courage and fortitude you have. While I'm a conservative myself, I agree with you that there needs to be more room in the church for "progressives" who truly feel, as you do, that their religion prescribes a more liberal outlook on society. I am so sick and tired of the ignorance displayed by some who say, "I don't think you can be a democrat and be Mormon." They are obviously unaware of many prominent Democrats in the church, including the late President James E. Faust, current seventy Elder Marlin K. Jensen, and the late Hugh Nibley, who was a staunch progressive, if I've ever seen one.