Mitt Romney will not seek reelection in 2024

[Celerity]

45. yes................. The GOP has a glaring Mormon problem

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/07/03/republican-party-mormon-church-decline/

https://archive.ph/EpkAk

Republicans often find themselves on the losing end of demographic shifts as the United States grows more racially diverse, better-educated and less religious. Only one long-term trend — the rapid growth of the reliably conservative Mormon Church — has consistently provided the GOP with good news. But that consolation might be slipping away. Mormonism is in decline, and Democrats are gaining traction with younger church members. There are no easy solutions for the church or the GOP.

The Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints has long been laser-focused on growth. Mormons often spend two to three years of their young adulthood as full-time missionaries in an effort to convert people across the nation and globe. And when missionaries come home, LDS culture encourages them to settle down quickly and raise large families. Despite these efforts, the American Mormon Church is shrinking.



According to the Cooperative Elections Study — a long-running survey with enough respondents to reliably track Mormon affiliation — 1.8 percent of American adults identified as Mormon in 2007. In 15 years, that total dropped to 1.2 percent. In raw terms, that’s a net loss of roughly 1 million adult members. The LDS Church maintains a more detailed count, but it might overestimate its strength. Its records include children and “inactive” members, some of whom are former Mormons who skipped the bureaucratic chore of removing their names from the church’s rolls. The church’s count shows positive — but rapidly decelerating — growth.



The LDS Church isn’t unique in its struggles. Americans increasingly distrust organized religion — and organizations of all kinds, for that matter. That feeling of alienation is driving Americans away from other Christian sects as well.



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