My friend shared THIS ARTICLE, titled "Just How Big is the 'Mormon Left,'" on Facebook a few days ago, and it caught my eye because, well, it's no secret that I'm not a conservative Mormon.
On the other hand, after I read the article, my feelings were, "Oh great, here we go again. Another one of those 'statistic' reports that focus only on North America- as if North America represents the rest of the world- and
WHY DO YOU/ I HAVE TO POLITICIZE MY RELIGION? WHO THE HECK CARES???!!!"
I'm sorry, I don't care if you are a liberal/ Democrat Mormon, or a conservative/ Republican Mormon or (insert your own political leaning combination here) Mormon. I don't care.
You know what I care about? I care about how your religion changes your life, and how you use your religious teachings as a guide to treating those around you. That's what I care about.
Perhaps, that is why I've never really been attracted to the Ordain Women (OW) movement. As moderately progressive and liberal as I think I am, OW has not had my support because they've not given me the impression that they want female ordination for genuine service and altruistic purposes. I could be wrong, but I've not heard about their "game plan" after women are ordained, like how priesthood ordination of women will give women more opportunities for service and change the lives of those around them for the better. Their platform seems to be more along the lines of "individual rights" and "gender equality" -- and once again, we are back to politicizing religion, and where definitions of "equality" and what constitutes "rights" are still heavily-contested terms.
I understand that religion can (and should) influence the decisions you make in your life, such as what causes you contribute to, etc. But please don't make it into this
"I am a liberal and more progressive and righteous compared to your provincial conservatives, so we need to make our voices heard to help bring change to the church"
vs.
"I am more conservative and more righteous than you liberals who are trying to introduce heresy into the church, so shut up liberals"
contest.
I don't care if you are in the 90%-non-Mormon Left/ 10%-Mormon Left. I don't care which political party you associate with. I don't care if you voted for Romney or not. I'm more concerned about how your religion and politics makes you and the world around you a better place. After all, Christ said that it is through their "fruits" (Matthew 7:16) that we can identify his prophets and disciples, NOT their professed empty religiosity or political leanings.
Amen!
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