Opinion: Can Democrats be Latter-day Saints?

Recently, a friend of mine sarcastically asked me whether there were any members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints among the Democrats in the Utah State Legislature. The question did not surprise me. Many Latter-day Saints cannot imagine that someone could be a Democrat and a member of the same church they belong to, even active in the faith.

Recently, I supervised a project that conducted oral interviews with politicians who are affiliated with the church. The politicians were not just from Utah; they also included Church members in other states as well as other nations. Within the United States, they included both Republicans and Democrats.

The Democrats we interviewed shared their views on the role of their faith in their public service. Three of the Democrats shared their conversion stories and the prayer and meditation that led to their eventual baptisms into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Some discussed how they became involved in politics because of their religious experiences. Former Rep. Ben McAdams explained that his conversion to a public service career came first while he was a missionary in Brazil. Karen Hale, a former Utah state senator, said that she was inspired to run for office by a Salt Lake Tribune interview given by Elder Marlin Jensen, a General Authority Seventy, in 1998.

Their approach to their public service was often attributed to the church’s teachings. Utah state Rep. Brian King attributed his position against gambling to his religious beliefs. Hale said she learned from King Benjamin’s sermon in the Book of Mormon when he asserted: “Are we not all beggars?” She concluded that “we can work together … to find ways that we can meet the needs of all of our brothers and sisters.” McAdams said he learned as a full-time missionary about the importance of appreciating differing perspectives and attempting to find common ground. Similarly, King said that gospel teachings led him to not hate others who disagree with him. “Some of my very best friends are folks on the other side of the aisle” at the legislature, King related.

Some Democrats have been instrumental in helping the church’s mission. For example, many Latter-day Saints enjoy visiting Martin’s Cove, a historic site for the church. In 1856, a handcart company headed to Utah was caught in a winter storm there and rescued by a group of Utahns. Church leaders wanted the state of Wyoming to sell the site of the rescue to the church and asked Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada for his help in getting an agreement. Reid enlisted the support of a Republican senator from Wyoming, and the church was able to buy the property. Reid also intervened on multiple occasions to help the church obtain international visas for Latter-Day Saint missionaries. Former Rep. Dick Swett of New Hampshire also assisted the church in Denmark while he was U.S. ambassador to that country.

Reid also did individual missionary work among his fellow senators. A former Republican U.S. senator from South Dakota was introduced to the church by Reid, who gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon. The senator later joined the church.

Republicans who were interviewed for this project expressed similar sentiments, but they are not accused by members of their own faith of not being faithful. Nor do people question whether they could possibly be members in the first place.

Moises Denis, who served in the Nevada Assembly, summed up these Democratic legislators’ approaches: “So for me, the gospel is the way I live my life, and so all the things that I do are centered around that. The church has taught me to serve.”

So, I answered my friend that, yes, there were Latter-day Saints, even active ones, among the legislators in the Utah Legislature. And there are others in various parts of government throughout the nation. It is time for Church members to stop assuming someone cannot be a Democrat and a Latter-day Saint.

Richard Davis is the author of “Faith and Politics.”