liberal Church members

December 18, 2006

THE FOLLOWING IS MR. BRAD ROYAL'S LETTER TO THE EDITOR (with my response following):

"Liberal Church Members"
by Brad Royal, Las Vegas, Nev.

I have noticed an alarming increase in the number of "progressive" or "liberal" minded members of the LDS Church who appear to have simply adopted the propaganda of the liberal media and are only too happy to slam conservative values. This is manifested in some of the letters bashing the president for the war in Iraq (agreed to and funded by Congress), the economy (which is booming), same sex marriage (an obvious disgrace to mankind) and abortion, among other things. Do these "liberal Mormons" realize liberalism is the foundation of socialism? The mission of liberals is to make the American people so weak and dependant on the government that they can literally control every aspect of life. Of course, nobody will admit that.

Conservative values, in their purest sense, promote self-reliance, protect the family and, when practiced properly, greatly reduces spending and governmental involvement in our lives. It is a mystery to me why so many BYU students will submit hateful letters, which merely recite the latest dicta presented on CNN or in the New York Times. As students of BYU, we may not agree on politics; however, we should certainly agree on the very basics. I was in disgust when Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) a self-proclaimed temple recommend holder; blatantly rejected the prophet and voted against the Constitutional Amendment to ban same-sex marriage. Who else is willing to sell their soul in order to blindly join the mainstream liberal mantra?

AND NOW HERE ARE MY PERSONAL RUMINATIONS:

In response to "Liberal church members" (Dec. 15) I want to say that for one who apparently berates ad hominem arguments (as exemplified when he stated that liberals are "only too happy to slam conservative values"), the author sure has no sense of limiting his attacks on his liberal Mormon associates. As one of these self-proclaimed "liberal church members," I disagree with his reasoning about liberal Mormons and feel he did us a great disservice, especially in not acknowledging our efforts to live the Gospel as he is trying to live it

The author stated that "we may not agree on politics; however we should certainly agree on the very basics." In what "basics" does he believe we are NOT agreeing on? I believe the last time I participated in Sacrament meeting, or attended the temple, or paid my tithing or fast offerings, or participated in my calling, I was agreeing with my conservative Republican neighbor regarding the basics of the Gospel. If those are the basics he refers to, I feel we are doing a decent job (of course there is always room for improvement, but hey, we are accomplishing the mission of the Church, are we not?) If these are not the basics he refers to, he needs to make himself more clear in his distinction between political and religious "basics."

To answer his question: "do these 'liberal Mormons' realize liberalism is the foundation of socialism?" I ask: What does he remember the basics behind the Law of Consecration being? Quote me if I'm wrong but I believe the last time I studied about the Law of Consecration, basics revolve around the doctrine of uniting together in our temporal labors, working together for the common good of all, not taking advantage of one another - definitely a more "socialistic" mindset than that of the current capitalistic trend. I don't ever remember learning about the "winner-takes-all" principle or the "importance of the greatest increase on return of investment" or "purpose of material wealth in benefiting the individual" (all capitalistic/conservative mindsets mind you) as being part of MY Sunday school lessons. I refer him to countless scripture references such as Acts 2:44-45 or D&C 49:30, among others, that clearly imply the Gospel and the Law of Consecration as being a more "socialistic" system than what we rest on now.

No, I do not believe that a purely socialistic government will be a cure-all to the societal ills we face today – However, I forever maintain that a more socialistic approach is more in concert with the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Law of Consecration than is a capitalistic or limited-government one.

In conclusion, I refer the author to another "basic belief" we seem to agree on at the moment – the Book of Mormon. I invite this individual to think in a more "socialistic" vein the next time he studies his scriptures. An all-time favorite scripture in 4 Nephi 1:3 says " And they had all things common among them; therefore there were not rich and poor, bond and free, but they were all made free, and partakers of the heavenly gift." Think about that next time you choose to misinterpret the values we "liberal Mormons" regard as being in line with the Gospel.

Brittany Hofman