“When Mormons are among Trump’s most zealous supporters, we betray our faith. We dishonor the core spiritual and religious beliefs we claim to revere.” — Brian S. King.
A recently published Gallup Poll, that included 2,141 Mormons, showed that 61 percent of Mormons approve of Donald Trump’s job as president. In response, The Minority Leader of the Utah House of Representatives, Brian King, a Mormon Democrat, wrote a commentary for the Salt Lake Tribune entitled “Why do so many Mormons back this president?”
This question has haunted me for a year. The Republican president blatantly demonstrates his childish, self-centered, incompetence every day. One only has to listen to him speak, or read his tweets, to see how unsuited he is for this office. Worse, his lack of character, as shown by his racism, his misogyny, his selfishness, his laziness, and his lack of ethics, is strongly counter to the beliefs and standards of the LDS Church. Representative King is concerned about what support of Trump tells the world about who Mormons really are. I share his concern.
Prophets have taught that we must stand for charity, honesty, morality, virtue and civility. Donald Trump stands for none of these things. He often shows open disdain for each of these qualities to which we aspire. His words and behavior are jarringly inconsistent with not just Mormon values, but with universally accepted norms of decent human behavior across all cultures for millennia. — Brian S. King
After considering several possible reasons why a large percentage of American Mormons still seem to support Trump, King sadly concludes, “Apparently Mormons are more attached to party labels than to their supposed religious values.”
In spite of his bleak analysis, Representative King expresses his determination to keep speaking the truth.
It is not an option for me to claim to be a disciple of Christ and be quiet in the face of such an unrelenting and prominent example of indecency, discrimination and lack of charity toward other people. We must speak out in disapproval of the moral rot coming from the leader of our country. — Brian S. King
May we all show the moral and political courage of Brother King.
Source: “Brian S. King, Why do so many Mormons back this president?” Salt Lake Tribune, Saturday, January 20, 2018
It is a good question. During a Sunday School lesson the other day, a reading of Moroni 7 on charity, and noticed how what it describes is the opposite of Trump.
And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
In an effort to understand the other side, I spotted and read this essay:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/commentary/ct-trump-accomplishments-first-year-20180122-story.html
Clearly there is a lot of filtering and prioritizing going on, different paradigms. But are the things they choose to notice and value consistent with Christian values? Today, I read another article pondering why the Evangelicals have supported Trump, and clearly, there is a lot of deliberate not-seeing going on.
http://www.newsweek.com/trumps-true-believing-christian-tell-me-how-does-work-787192
Depressing and disturbing. We need the therapy of late night monologues. And look to November and hopefully some change. And watch for Mueller time.