9 And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.
Isaiah 6:9-10
10 Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.
The Republican agenda has never been more clear. Lies, racism, and fear are being used to generate political support for financial corruption, idolizing dictators, weakening alliances, subsidizing big corporations and the super rich, destroying the environment, tearing children from their parents, persecuting asylum seekers, depressing wages, denying people health coverage, making college less affordable, eliminating consumer protections, and making it harder to vote.
Republicans are determined to build walls rather than bridges, and jails rather than schools. Their policies serve the wealthy and deny the American Dream to everyone else. And, unbelievably, they are not trying to hide their appalling agenda. They are advocating for it openly, blatantly, even proudly.
It astonishes me that self-professed “Christians” seem to be the greatest supporters of this evil, anti-American, agenda. And the Latter-day Saints remain a large part of the problem. The fact that two thirds of LDS voters in the 2018 midterm election voted for Republican congressional candidates, while most of the rest of America rejected them, saddens and depresses me.
A study published soon after the 2018 election showed that 56 percent of LDS voters nationwide “approve of the way Trump is handling his job as President.” Forty six percent actually reported that they believe Trump is “honest and trustworthy.” (!!!)
This degree of political ignorance among a people who have been given so much is untenable. The Book of Mormon was given to the Latter-day Saints to warn us of the very dangers we now face. The book specifically condemns the behaviors of “king-men” who corrupt the courts and take over the government in their pursuit of “power and gain.”
The reasons for this mass blindness may differ from person to person, but the causes include ignorance, laziness, naivete, selfishness, prejudice, and stubbornness. Some people are, no doubt, victims of the carefully planned lies and deception put out for decades by the likes of Fox News. But there is no excuse for adult voters in a democracy to remain deliberately ignorant.
These people need a massive change of heart. They need to have their eyes opened. They need to be pushed and prodded. They need to be awakened and educated. They need to be loved and prayed for. And they need to study, and learn to live, the plain and simple messages of the scriptures:
34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
John 13:34
20 But it is not given that one man should possess that which is above another, wherefore the world lieth in sin.
Doctrine and Covenants 49:20
There are a few of us here in the blogosphere, and on Facebook, speaking out and pointing out the facts. We need your help. We need many more voices. We need to link to and support each other’s efforts. We need more people to join our mailing lists and Facebook groups. And we need everyone to speak up in our families, our neighborhoods, our workplaces, and yes, even in church.
According to Joseph Smith, those who can see the “hidden things of darkness” have an “imperative duty” to bring those things to light “with great earnestness.”
11 And also it is an imperative duty that we owe to all the rising generation, and to all the pure in heart—
Doctrine and Covenants 123:11-14
12 For there are many yet on the earth among all sects, parties, and denominations, who are blinded by the subtle craftiness of men, whereby they lie in wait to deceive, and who are only kept from the truth because they know not where to find it—
13 Therefore, that we should waste and wear out our lives in bringing to light all the hidden things of darkness, wherein we know them; and they are truly manifest from heaven—
14 These should then be attended to with great earnestness.
American politics is no longer a set of friendly disagreements over different approaches to policy. It is now a battle between truth and lies, between compassion and fear, between civility and crassness. The Republican party has chosen its side. Our religion demands that we choose the side of truth, compassion, and civility.
It is our duty as Latter-day Saint Democrats (and others who see clearly) to speak up and speak out for truth, facts, science, data, and empirical research. We must also defend our democratic processes and institutions against those who are actively working to destroy them.
We must educate our fellow Saints about what is at stake and what is being lost. Those of us who have been given the gift of insight must “cheerfully do all things that lie in our power” to expose the darkness to the light.
15 Let no man count them as small things; for there is much which lieth in futurity, pertaining to the saints, which depends upon these things.
Doctrine and Covenants 123:15-17
16 You know, brethren, that a very large ship is benefited very much by a very small helm in the time of a storm, by being kept workways with the wind and the waves.
17 Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed.
Sources:
“Most Mormons voted Republican in the midterms — But their Trump approval rating continues to decline, study finds,” Hannah Fingerhut and Brady McCombs, Associated Press, The Salt Lake Tribune, November 29, 2018.
“A Party Defined by Its Lies,”Paul Krugman, The New York Times, November 1, 2018.
“The Political Awakening of a Republican: ‘I Had Viewed Whole Swaths of the Country and the World as Second-Class People’,” Jeremiah Goulka / Tom Dispatch, AlterNet, September 9, 2012
Church members have very limited backgrounds academically. I could go on, but don’t have the energy. The Church response to Trump is poor, top to bottom. We are in a very bad way. I’ll leave it there.
I fear we are seeing the end of constitutional government. Don’t be surprised to see pictures of our Fuhrer in religious sanctuaries. I never thought I would leave my grandchildren behind in a fascist dictatorship. But it is happening!!!!!
I don’t see the Democratic party to be sinless in the area of deception etc and their agenda. In fact, most politicians, if not all, have their own agendas and I have yet to see any actually fulfill their campaign promises to we the people in recent years. It looks more to me that the Gadianton band is back in power, in both major parties, and in all levels and branches of government, and not just in America. Speaking up for truth and facts is needed, but science has been corrupted also by those who want money and power, and data can be massaged to agree with any theory. You also state: “Our religion demands that we choose the side of truth, compassion, and civility.” I agree totally with this, but there is not much of this in any party, not the major nor minor parties. We must be on the Lord’s side, and He is not on any political party’s side.