Religious and Liberal: Self-Promoting

This is a follow up on my blog post, Oxymoron: Religious and Liberal. That post was more background and history then how my beliefs coincide and even support each other. I will focus on the latter part here.


Article of Faith

In 1842, Joseph Smith wrote a letter to John Wadsworth, editor of the Chicago Democrat, in which he outlined the basic beliefs of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, which are now called the Articles of Faith. The eleventh article says "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." 


I truly believe this.


Every person should be able to practice their religion freely as long as it does not impede the freedoms of others whether that religion is Christianity, Islam, Hindi, or atheism. 


This applies directly to separation of church and state. I believe in the Constitution and I believe they should be separate.

Children of God


In Romans 8:16 it says, "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God."

We are all children of God.

Even if some people do not believe this, I do. Therefore I try to treat everyone as a brother or sister. I  love my siblings and, next to my wife, they are probably my favorite people in the world. So that is a big deal.

This is parallel with my political beliefs in many ways.

The broadest sense of this idea is that we should all be treated equally. The Declaration of Independence supports this idea by saying "all men are created equal." There should be no prejudices against minorities whether they be African-American, Muslim, or homosexual.

A specific example of where this principle should hold sway in politics is in education. All children are entitled to a good education. This doesn't mean the federal government is responsible for that because their attempt, No Child Left Behind, was unsuccessful. But more money should be put into education, there should be more incentives for good teaching, and a greater emphasis should be put on learning at home in addition to at school.

Also healthcare shouldn't be a luxury of the rich. If we are all children of our Heavenly Father everyone should have an equal opportunity to receive healthcare.

Charity


Charity is the pure love of Christ. "Though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing" (1 Cor. 13:2). We can have our faith but alone it's not enough. "Faith without works is dead" (James 2:26).We need to act on our faith and serve people around us. 


I believe in service. I believe in helping other people. I think that we all should do this and that the government should also.

Part of the covenant I made at baptism was that I was "willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things" (Mosiah 18:9). The LDS Church is one of the world's greatest humanitarian aid providers. I believe the US government should do the same. I don't think that necessarily means we should be giving arms to Israel and other countries but definitely food and vaccines for suffering people around the world.


Mixing Politics and Religion


This can a risky business in my opinion. We should definitely not take away other people's rights because of our beliefs.

The basis, of who I am, is formed by how I think and what I believe. Using this base, I believe I can approach issues with an open mind and reasonable judgement.

Therefore, I think supporting a candidate because he is the same religion as you is nonsensical.

And clearly from my previous statements, I think it's absurd to reject someone because of their religion. We believe in freedom of religion so being biased against someone because of their religion is ignorant whether it's Mormonism, Islam, Catholicism, or whatever.

My Advice

Use your mind.

Think for yourself.

Don't forget your values but don't try to impose those on others.

Be kind and try to put yourself in other people's position before you try to judge them.