Black Mormons and the Politics of Identity

[SpartanDem]

When Marguerite Driessen, a professor here, entered Brigham Young University in the early 1980s, she was the first black person many Mormon students had ever met, and she spent a good bit of her college time debunking stereotypes about African-Americans. Then she converted to Mormonism herself, and went on to spend a good deal of her adult life correcting assumptions about Mormons.

So the matchup in this year’s presidential election comes as a watershed moment for her, symbolizing the hard-won acceptance of racial and religious minorities.

“A Mormon candidate and a black candidate? Who would have thunk?” Ms. Driessen said. “I think 30 years ago, we would not have had this choice.”

After examining the dual — and sometimes conflicting — identities, she has decided that she will cast her vote for President Obama over Mitt Romney, the presumptive Republican nominee. Ms. Driessen believes that there is plenty in the Book of Mormon to support Mr. Obama’s candidacy, and she likes to cite chapter and verse, like Mosiah 29:39 and 23:13.

Being black, liberal and Mormon, Ms. Driessen represents a small but emerging point of view that is in stark contrast to the traditional profile of American Latter-day Saints, who tend to be conservative, Republican and white.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/23/us/for-black-mormons-a-political-choice-like-no-other.html?_r=2&partner=rss&emc=rss

Wow Black, liberal and Mormon are three words I don't I'd ever see in same sentence.

[Lionessa]

1. Anyone looking at either candidate based on one those criteria is an idiot.

Neither race nor religion should be a consideration within a presidential election.

[braddy]

5. Since Mitt will be becoming a God, it does merit some attention.

Americans have never been asked to vote for a Commander in Chief who truly thought that he was in the process of becoming literally a God, a deity.

[FreeState]

6. Except for thats not what Mormons actually teach

nor is it part of their official doctrine. The actual doctrine is that worthy members will inherit all that God has - which I believe is a fairly common Christian belief (Revelations 21 KJV "He that overcomes shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.&quot You can find references to people believing that means they will be gods in the next life with their own planets etc, but you would be pretty hard pressed to find anything about that in recognized cannon or doctrine (and no, the Discourse of Brigham Young are not, nor have they ever, been considered cannon or doctrine, see: http://www.fairlds.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/What_is_Mormon_Doctrine.pdf)

[braddy]

8. I know that Mormons are trained to defuse and divert from knowledge of such facts.

But yes, Mormonism teaches that the males will become Gods and be worshiped as deities.

Bishop and Stake President Mitt Romney is headed for God hood.

"In Mormonism, the goal of each adherent is to achieve "exaltation" via the atonement of Jesus, as a result of which they inherit all the attributes of God the Father, including godhood. Mormons believe that these people will become gods and goddesses in the afterlife, and will have "all power, glory, dominion, and knowledge".[5] Moreover, Mormons teach that exalted people will live with their earthly families and also "have spirit children".[6] Their cosmic posterity will continue to grow forever."

[FreeState]

9. Im not LDS

I was raised LDS, however Im agnostic Buddhist now.

Your quote isn't attributed. Its not doctrine.

[braddy]

10. You aren't LDS anymore you say, so I assume Wikipedia is an OK source.

I notice that Mormon sources admit it as well , they just like to beat around the bush as much as they can and try to feed as little meat as they can when they prefer to feed milk except among the inner circle, in fact the LDS church site answers the question of whether their belief in becoming Gods disagrees with Christian churches and the Christian bible, the Mormons conclude that no, it doesn't.

Mormonism actually considers Christians as non-Christians anyway, and requires them to be baptized as Mormons if they enlist in the Mormon religion that you say you fled.

[Drunken Irishman]

2. Back in the day, it wasn't hard to find liberal Mormons...

Utah, for the longest time, rarely elected Republican governors. It was only one of a handful of states that voted FDR in all four of his elections. Things changed, though, in the 1960s when the LDS Church actively started championing conservative causes. Unfortunately, it set root that to be a good Mormon, you had to be a good Republican.

Even then, Utah still managed to elect some pretty good Democratic governors - namely Cal Rampton (Utah's longest serving governor) and his Lt. Governor, Scott Matheson (who's the father of Jim Matheson, Utah's lone Democratic congressmen - who's less liberal than his father).

But that was in the 80s and ever since, it's been tough. Mormons don't vote Democratic anymore. They rarely support Democrats. Well, inside Utah, that is. Outside, I find, like most Americans, they're more diverse. Harry Reid is a Mormon. The Udall family, namely Mo, was/is Mormon (Mark, I believe, isn't - but Tom is).

But it's not like that anymore. Hell, even Romney's parents were fairly moderate, with his mom running as a pro-choice candidate for the U.S. Senate many moons ago. This shift to the right, though, has certainly changed the dynamics of the LDS Church on the national stage.

[Wellstone ruled]

3. Esra Benson was the change agent

for Utah. Ike's Secretary of Agriculture,a John Bircher,and later head prophet of the Mo's,pushed their church to the far hate driven right. Read the history of how Hatch used his missionary pals to take down Moss in 1976. Tells the story of the why and how of Utah's hard right turn.

Beautiful state buy some really messed up people.

[HiPointDem]

4. Assisted by writer W. Cleon Skousen and an alliance with the evangelical right.

[FreeState]

7. Id say it was Spencer Kimball

He was very conservative and far right as far as Mormon beliefs go as well. Benson was nicer than Kimball.

There have been several Prophets who have profoundly changed the church (for the worse in my opinion) Brigham Young being the most radical change from Smith.

By the way Benson was Prophet in the late part of the 80s into the 90s.

Joseph Smith JR (1830-1844)
Brigham Young (1847-1877)
John Taylor (1880-1887)
Wilford Woodruff (1887-1898)
Lorenzo Snow (1898-1901)
Joseph F. Smith (1901-1918)
Heber J. Grant (1918-1945)
George Albert Smith (1945-1951)
David O. McKay (1951-1970)
Joseph Fielding Smith (1970-1972)
Harold B. Lee (1972-1973)
Spencer W. Kimball (1973-1985)
Ezra Taft Benson (1985-1994)
Howard W. Hunter (1994-1995)
Gordon B. Hinckley (1995-2008)
Thomas S. Monson (2008-)