Comments about ‘Letter: Democratic Party views’

If you insist that the christian religion be represented in government then you have no recolection of the constitution.

The democratic platform is in harmony with the church much more than republicans. The church is actually pro-choice if you look it up. (cases of incest, rape and danger to the mother) not to mention free will. Prochoice is actually to the right of the republican party BTW.

Feed the poor, heal the sick, teach them to fish. The only danger I see in our society educating kids, building roads and trying to get people to doctors is we may be translated if we do it too well.

Contrast that to the current republican party that embraces the Ayan Rand selfishness is good philosophies and I too have no idea how a mormon can be republican.

If the church commanded that we live the law of consecration what would that be? You're not forced to live in the US any more than you would be forced to stay in the church.

As a liberal Mormon that loves his Church, I can attest that I believe very much in Divinity. Simultaneously, I also believe that it is completely reprehensible for me to utilize government as a means to dictate my personal spiritual convictions on anyone else. Indeed, forced moral compliance is antithetical to God's plan and undermines the very fabric of the American experiment. My religion informs how I personally act and treat others. Living a good, honest life while showing everyone respect, irrespective of their race, sexual preference, creed, or perspective, will bring far more people to inquire about the LDS Church than passing legislation that compels others to live by my personal moral code. God has no place in government other than to provide me my own moral compass in how I treat others.

To be sure, liberal Mormons likely have the strongest testimonies of all b/c we serve and attend services in spite of the self-righteous conservative drumming that beats a rhythm which constantly calls into question our allegiance simply because we refuse to buy into the idea that government ought to be used as a tool to force righteousness. Does that plan sound familiar?

Your rationale is very suspect. Many people in Utah just don't accept the idea that this nation was founded on Freedom of Religion AND Freedom From Religion. Just please try to be respectful when President Obama wins this election. I'm sick and tired of the whining and complaining about our legitimately elected President Obama. Ignoring the will of the people is not only arrogant, but unpatriotic!

"I have to wonder about the true nature of the Democrats, in particular their acceptance of divinity."

Of course you do James. It seems all Republican Mormons feel the same way. Many of the members of my ward here in Virginia have told me the same thing. Somehow regardless of my commitment to God and my church they somehow believe - and I think it is a genuine belief - that there is no way to be a faithful Mormon and be a Democrat.

Well, let me just tell you that concept is nonsense. If you think the issues discussed by the Democrats at their convention - working together for the benefit of all, tolernece and understanding, being our brother's keeper - are not concepts carried forward by God's people throughout the ages, then I would suggest you take the time to study the scriptures.

Republicans apparently did a better job of creating the appearance of being on God's side but the proof is not found in their signs and slogans, it will be in their actions. It's always been that way.

Just because the Democrats don't want God in their political platform doesn't mean that they don't believe in God. Some people actually believe that the constitution states that there should be separation of church and state. God isn't going to win or lose the election in November so i'm not sure why we need to constantly bring him into politics. Besides, my rule has always been if someone is using religion to try and sell you on an idea they aren't to be trusted. I've live in Utah long enough to see how certain people try and use mormonism to get you to invest or join an MLM program. I put using religion to get elected into that same category.

Sorry, but your lame presentation leaves me unconvinced. A political party is about electing leaders of government, not selecting religious leaders. As a Mormon who is well aware of our history of government imposing contrary views upon us, I am sensitive to the need for separation of church and state. It is ironic that many Mormons today seek government protection for their activities. At the same time, they stand silent when other religions are assaulted. I am perfectly fine with religion not being part of a political platform. As for the hot button issues, in the end, individuals must make choices about their own lives, and many on the right actually want the government to intervene in those personal decisions, even when those personal decisions have the support of that person's chosen religion/church. Leaving it to the individual to make those personal moral choices is not excluding God from our lives, but merely leaving it to the people and religion to take charge of the issue rather than government. I am amazed how some cry out for government to get out of our lives, and then turn around and try to impose it on us.

I know the GOP proclaims God in most of their speeches... But as the scriptures repeat over and over and over again, it doesn't matter what you say, but what you ACTUALLY DO.

The countless negative ads, the long line of adulterers, the wars, the lies to get us to war, the intolerance, the selfish attitudes, the yelling, the flip flopping, the compulsion rather than allowing folks to make decisions based on free agency all scream the OPPOSITE of the religious principles the GOP wraps itself with.

Furthermore, I just can't vote for a party that believes in unchecked defense spending, who believes in giving tax cuts to the rich (at the expense of the middle class), and who blame old people and students for everything (all while leaving CEOs, big banks, and Wall Street) unscathed.

I don't support the GOP anymore because, quite honestly, they aren't working for the majority of Americans but merely the top few percent of the population.

This letter illustrates a problem that is all too common in public discourse, namely, the tendency to stereotype any position or person that doesn't conform to one's own viewpoint, and reducing them to their most controversial or unfavorable characteristic in order to marginalize them (lest I be accused of being a hypocrite, I know that I have done this, too; recognizing that I have a problem is the first step to recovery).

To hold that ALL Democrats reject Diety is either naive or disingenuous. There is a wide array of views on divinity within the Democratic party (just as there is within the Republican party), and while most Democrats are fairly respectful of divergent views regarding divinity, some clearly are not. I believe the same can be said of the Republican party (though some of the Republicans who are less tolerant of divergent views on divinity seem to be the most vocal and influential right now).

The problem of stereotyping and marginalizing people and opinions is most insidious when it is manifest in the form of coercing one's own peers to conform to some monolithic ideological standard of purity, and rejecting those who do not.

Which party believes more in mercy and the relief of human suffering?

I love it when conservatives with an extremely limited knowledge and understanding about Democrats explain and describe what Democrats believe.

If you wanted to know about the LDS Church, would you go to the Baptist Minister or to a representative of the LDS Church (like a missionary)?

So if I wanted to learn about Democrats, would I go to someone like this letter writer? Who obviously knows nothing about the Democrat platform?

Or would I actually go to a Democrat?

So if this letter writer wouldn't trust what a Baptist Minister would say about the LDS Church, why does he expect us to believe in anything he says about Democrats?

Why would anyone think that a political party that demands that a woman has the right to destroy the life within her, that same-sex unions be considered "marriage", and that the limits placed on government by the Constitution be ignored when legislation is proposed, would mention God on their party platform?

Even a school child would wonder how a political party can do what it does and then invoke the blessings of a loving Creator on their efforts.

The Democrat Party has done the right thing. Their platform violates so many Godlike attributes that their only choice is to remove God from their platform.

Of course they twisted the Constitution and claimed separation of Church and State and the right to be free from religion. That just shows that they can't read the 1st Amendment as it is written: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;"

There is no mention of separation of church and state nor is there any mention of freedom from religion.

@J Thompson
So how is it that the Democrats twisted the constitution? Our government was designed to be a secular institution, hence the phrase "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion" The Tea Party republicans claim this is a christian nation. According to our constitution there should be no state religion. This doesn't jive with the GOP platform. They want our laws to be based on Christian values, aka a theocracy. If they could, the GOP would institute the christian version of Sharia law. How is this not a state religion? How is this not twisting the 1st amendment?

I can't believe this is even an issue. How many of you believe 100% of everything that your political party thinks and does? I would wager it's not many. I'm a Democrat, but I don't believe and agree with everything they do, but I agree more with them than I do Republicans, so I consider myself a Democrat. I guess in reality that would make me an independent, but I chose to register as a Democrat so I could participate more fully in the political process.

Frankly the whole debate is pretty ridiculous in my opinion. I don't think that either political party has all the answers, and I am tired of feeling like you have to belong to one. In my experience most Mormons are fairly moderate and well balanced, I find it hard to believe that we really fit into either party.

J Thompson
SPRINGVILLE, UT
Why would anyone think that a political party that demands that a woman has the right to destroy the life within her, that same-sex unions be considered "marriage", would mention God on their party platform?
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The LDS Church allows a woman that right.
The LDS Church advocated extending civil rights to the LGBT community.
The LDS Church appealed on behalf of illegal immigration.

Yet in all 3 of the these examples,
The Republicans ignored and even defiantly disregarded the appeals directly from the LDS Church HeadQuarters.

11.We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.
12.We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law. [which includes Roe v. Wade]

The Church has not favored or opposed legislative proposals… concerning abortion.
[i.e., the Church is Neutral]

FYI - The Patriot Act [spying on U.S. Citizens - aka American Ghestapo] was a GOP act.

Let’s ask again…

Which Party is more in-harmony with the LDS Church?

As a Christian liberal I'll say that many Democrats are Christians. We just believe that freedom of religion means not suggesting there's any sort of preferred faith when it comes to our governmental leadership and thus we feel that inserting language about God (or keeping it in) the platform to violate the spirit of that principle. It's not about being anti-God, it's about being inclusive of everyone that this nation comprises of.

I think when the Democratic Party started booing God is when the Democratic Party started to become incompatible with LDS teachings. Just sayin.'

Oh dear! Oh my!

Did I read the comments correctly? Haven't some posters told us members of the LDS Church to shut up about abortion? Haven't they told us that "good" members of the Church will accept abortion just because they (those posters) tell us to?

That's why I'm not a Democrat. I can think for myself. I will not allow any political party to tell me that I must accept abortion or that I'm somehow lacking in wisdom or integrity or values. I believe just the opposite is true.

Every value is based on a principle. The principle that concerns me is that so many people see no relationship between our Creator and the created. They seem to think that because they do not understand the master plan, that there is no master plan. This earth was created for a purpose. We are here for a purpose. ALL of us who were to be part of the family of Man are important. None of us were meant to be "thrown out".

Sorry, but I will not compromise my principles just to be accepted by a political party.

Last time I checked the Dictionary GOD was not spelled G.O.P.

@L White
"I will not allow any political party to tell me that I must accept abortion or that I'm somehow lacking in wisdom or integrity or values. I believe just the opposite is true."

So in spurning the party whose platform you say mandates acceptance of the idea that people have the choice to get an abortion or not... you are going with the party whose platform allows for no choice at all and would like to mandate a ban on all abortions, without exception, even in cases of rape, incest, or life of the mother.

Look at the problems that face America. What is the greatest problem? Some say finances. That's a minor problem. It can be fixed. People can be taught to work. People can be expected to work.

What about morality? That's a bigger problem than finances. It starts with a belief and reliance on something or someone greater than ourselves; otherwise we would just say that what WE think is correct. Since no two people have the exact same set of values, relying on self will never be acceptable for anyone except yourself.

That's where the Democrat Platform defies all logic. They have determined that some all-knowing Democrat will decide for the nation the meaning of all things moral. They further complicate things by removing God from their platform. In other words, they decide what is right or wrong without reference to God.

What are the controversial planks in the Democrat Platform?

- God

- Marriage

- Abortion

- Self-reliance

- Pride (they consider themselves to be the source of morality)

They are in direct opposition with the values of most Utahns. Most Utahns will not reject principles and values to join the Democrat Party.