Mormon politics

I can't believe that I am giving this religion so much attention on my blog at the moment, but I'm actually finding some interesting stuff that is being published in the Salt Lake Tribune these days. This article in particular discusses the rise of a small, yet vocal group of Mormon Democrats that have emerged from out of the shadow of their overwhelmingly conservative co-religionists.

Eric Samuelsen, a playwright from Brigham Young University, said he feels "an increasing amount of cognitive dissonance" from some of his more conservative neighbors in Provo, primarily over their misgivings on the reasons the United States went to war in Iraq. But he says they still are unwilling to consider supporting a Democrat for one clear reason: "They don't see Democrats as a viable option because of moral issues."

"Mormons are not as interested in politics as they are in morals," Samuelsen said. And he believes the Republicans control the moral debate right now, focusing on key wedge issues such as gay marriage, abortion and gun rights.
His solution is to argue that Mormons have "a moral imperative" to protect the environment, help the poor and needy and oppose proactive wars - issues that favor the Democrats.

This is why Baha'is don't get involved in partisan politics: like any other morally conservative, socially liberal religion, we can have our cake and eat it too.