First of all, they aren’t, just most of them, perhaps. James E. Faust was in the First Presidency of the LDS Church, which means he was in the top 3 as far as leaders are concerned, and he was a Democrat. Harry Reid is one of the most prominent Democrats at the moment, and he’s Mormon. But other than those two the rest are indeed Republicans. I’m kidding, of course, but there certainly are not many active Mormons who aren’t staunchly Republican. But there’s a fairly simple explanation for this. Democrats tend to be liberals, and Republicans tend to be conservatives, and conservatives ideals tend to match most closely the beliefs held by most Mormons, therefore most Mormons end up being Republicans.
But I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of Mormons are moving towards being independents these days. No, not because they’re mad at McCain for beating Romney, but because the Republican party seems to be trending more liberal lately, and McCain does happen to be a representation of that fact.
The last portion of your post is incorrect. I am a Mormon that became a Democrat, not because Republicans were becoming too liberal but because they were becoming to conservative.
I simply can’t understand how someone that believes in the LDS version of the gospel can support big business over the common laborer and war over peace. I don’t understand how Mormons that have a church welfare system and a system that promotes communal care for its members can oppose government programs designed to implement compassion, or how members of a church that strongly promotes education can be at odds with the public education system. I don’t understand how Mormons can ally themselves with evangelicals, who by and large despise Mormonism. I can’t understand how Mormons can work to implement moral laws and stand against the “agency” of others with alternative lifestyles, when the LDS Church itself argued for so many years in the latter half of the 19th Century to be left alone to live per their religious convictions while allowing all others the same privilege.
True Mormonism is, indeed, quite a liberal religion.
I suspect James E. Faust was one of many Democrats among the leaders of the church, but most simply choose to keep their mouths shut.
I understand where you’re coming from although I think your conclusions are based on a misunderstanding of the motives of other Mormons.
1. I’m probably one of those people you would perceive as supporting big business over the common laborer since I feel that placing less restrictions on business and more restrictions on unions is the way to go. But I think it’s the way to go not because I think it’s good for big business at the expense of the common laborer, but because I believe it’s better for everyone, including the common laborer.
2. Likewise, if you read some things I’ve written you might think I’m one of those Mormons who supports war over peace. But it’s not that I’m in favor of war, heaven no. But I do believe that you cannot have peace without being willing to go to war. I believe that wicked men are kept in check only by threat of force, and that when wicked men know that you are not willing to use the weapons you have it increases the likelihood they will do things that will lead to war. Germany and Japan did not think the US would enter WWII, or that if we did we wouldn’t have the stomach to see it through, and this led to the events that drew us into WWII. Sadaam did not think the US would attack him, and so he did not back down and his choices led to him being attacked. Iran and North Korea currently believe we will not attack them, which is why they are not stopping their nuclear programs which increases the likelihood that at some point we will attack them. If we were more willing to use military force and other countries believed it, there would be less incentive for evil men to do things that lead to us using it. That is, a stronger military and the will to use it means less war, not more.
3. The church welfare system and the communal living taught by the church is different in a number of ways than what is practiced by our government:
Ultimately you cannot force someone to be charitable. When the government forces us to give our money to the poor, this is not compassion nor does it teach compassion anymore than you would learn compassion if I came into your house uninvited and took all your food, your furniture, and your car and told you “Hey, I saw a guy who needs these more than you do so I’m going to take them from you and give them to him.”
4. I strongly support education, but I do not believe that the public education system is doing a very good job of it. I believe teacher’s unions are more interested in power and money than educating children. I believe there are alternatives to the public education system as presently structured that would greatly improve the education of our children while dramatically cutting costs. I also believe the public education system is by and large administered by people who are indoctrinating children with incorrect information.
5. We believe in allowing others to live their religious convictions as long as they don’t interfere with our own in an onerous way. If I believed that gay marriage would have no negative impact on me, my family, or society at large then I wouldn’t care about it. But I believe legalized gay marriage will have an enormously negative impact on society that will most certainly impact me and my family. What if someone said that murder was part of their religion? Should we say “Well, we don’t want to stand against their agency, so maybe we should change the law to allow murder, as long as the person being murdered consents to it. After all, how does that affect me and my family?” The only difference between these examples is the seriousness of the offense, but the principle is the same. When a society officially accepts behavior that is wrong, then the behavior becomes perceived as being “not so bad”. When this is done over and over again in many areas we end up with a general degradation of society, ultimately leading to increased levels of pain and suffering in the here and now, not to mention the hereafter.
6. I agree, true Mormonism is a liberal religion in that it is willing to accept any and all truth, no matter what the source. But there is a big difference between “classical liberalism”, which was the liberalism practiced by our Founding Fathers, and today’s “Liberalism” which is actually quite similar to fascism. If you are willing to study history you’ll find unnerving similarities between what is happening in our society and government today and those of Germany and Italy right before Hitler and Mussolini came to power. Unfortunately we’ve been led here by both Republicans and Democrats, the Democrats just happen to be moving us along the path faster.