“We weaken our greatness when we confuse our patriotism with tribal rivalries that have sown resentment and hatred and violence in all the corners of the globe.” — Senator John McCain
In the United States, we like to believe that we make important decisions logically and rationally. When asked how they decide who to vote for, people usually claim that they base their decisions on “the candidates’ positions on the issues.” In fact, this is rarely true. Brain research shows that people make decisions emotionally and then later try to explain or justify their decisions rationally.
In study after study, researchers have found that it is not so much what voters think than it is about what voters feel…Three sets of emotions, in this order, are primary in determining how people vote: their feelings toward the parties and the party’s principles, their feelings toward the candidates, and, if they haven’t decided by then, their feelings toward the candidates’ policy positions. Voters get their feelings toward the parties largely by internalizing the values of their parents. — Boyd Peterson
A candidate’s positions on issues have little to no effect on voter’s decisions. Voter’s are primarily interested in knowing if a candidate is a member of their tribe. Latter-day Saints largely supported Mitt Romney for President in 2012 because he was a member of their tribe, not because of his policy positions. This became problematical in 2016 when Donald J. Trump, a man who is clearly NOT a member of the same tribe, received the largest portion of the LDS vote.
This occurred because most American Latter-day Saints also still identify with a tribe called the Republican Party. Utah has not voted for a Democratic Presidential candidate since LBJ in 1964. The problem is that tribalism is a form of self-blindness. It allows us to feel confident and secure without actually examining the situation. Tribalism allows us to be intellectually and morally lazy. We all too easily make excuses for the bad behaviors of those on “our side” while being angered, or shocked, or disgusted, by the actions of those on “the other side.”
The Latter-day Saints must awake to this danger. The Saints should not be ignoring or excusing the vile personal (paying off porn stars?) and political (separating children from their parents?) behaviors of the current president simply because he claims to be a Republican. We should never be guilty of putting a political party ahead of our religious values. And we should never excuse a politician for capricious, irresponsible, or immoral behavior.
Democrats, including LDS Democrats, were completely baffled by the inability of Republicans to see the good in Hillary Clinton. We know her as a compassionate, intelligent, hard-working, Methodist grandmother who truly cares about children, minorities, and working people. But decades of tribal Republican poison led many Latter-day Saints to somehow seriously believe that Donald J. Trump, despite the many warning signs, was the better choice.
The people who enter the covenant are not to be considered righteous simply by virtue of party affiliation. They do not represent the Good People as opposed to the Bad People: their own transgression can spoil anything at any time; they are quite as capable of sinning and incurring destruction as their enemies; … there is no guarantee that they are the Good People. This is an extremely important lesson driven home in the Book of Mormon, that righteousness does not consist in being identified with this or that nation, party, church, or group. — Hugh Nibley
The Saints need to learn to see beyond partisan tribalism. This awakening is especially critical now because the the old Republican party many of us were comfortable in no longer exists. In this coming election, we must not cling blindly to our former Republican party affiliation. We must no longer defend unrighteousness just because it comes from “our side.” We must no longer be afraid to vote for Democrats because of what someone told us they believe.
Political parties are not, and have never been, safe havens of Truth and Righteousness. That is the role of the Church. To give a political party our blind trust is a form of idolatry. Instead, we each must spend the time and effort necessary to actually learn about individual candidates and, yes, their policy positions, before we vote. Good citizenship requires effort — and too many of us have been lazy voters for far too long.
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity. — W.B.Yeats
Sources: “Read full text of Sen. John McCain’s final words to nation,” NBC News (online), August 27,2018.
“The Morality of Politics: The Challenges of Mormon Tribalism,” Boyd Peterson, posted online on April 4, 2009.
“Freemen and King-men in the Book of Mormon,” Hugh Nibley, The Prophetic Book of Mormon, The Collected Works of Hugh Nibley: Volume 8. 1989. p. 337.
“The Second Coming,” Poem by W.B.Yeats, 1919.
I am passed depressed with the LDS response to Trump. That’s about all I can say – passed depressed. I am also very angry.
Here, here!
Well here’s how I see things. I think Trump is the rise of an American fascism. Those of us who have opposed him will face grave danger. Moreover, the U.S. may well disintegrate. Trump may wreck the economy, bring on a war, or both. I am acquiring an international credential to allow me employment outside of the country, which I may well have to flee.
I have been baffled too. I could not in good conscience vote for Trump because he lacks morals. I didn’t quite trust Hillary either but it shocks me even still how many people support Trump.