Sex-ed and LDS Values

Craig Janis, the executive director of Utah Common Values and the Director of LDS Outreach for the Utah Democratic Party, and Crystal Young-Otterstrom, a profiled member of Utah Common Values, recently discussed sex education and religion on RadioActive on KRCL.

To listen to the program, click here.

Posted on March 7, 2012 in Links, News, Opinion.

LDS Church Members Encouraged to Attend Caucus Meetings

From BYU’s Daily Universe newspaper:

The LDS First Presidency sent a letter dated Feb. 9, 2012, to area leaders with directions to read it during sacrament meeting. The letter instructs that no weekday church meetings be scheduled during the precinct caucus meetings to be held in mid-March.

“We are concerned with the decreasing attendance at these caucus meetings in Utah in recent years,” the letter reads.

Craig Janis, executive director of Utah Common Values and outreach chair of the LDS Democrats Caucus, said he appreciates the push from LDS leaders.

“Utah’s caucus system is flawed and difficult,” Janis said, “but it is what drives politics in our state. If we as members of the Church want to ensure that LDS values are represented in our political system we need to be active participants in that system.”

We hope that UCV’s supporters will attend their caucus meetings as well. Here’s how to find yours!

Posted on February 22, 2012 in Links, News.

LDS Values and Political Partisanship on NPR

The LDS Values and Political Partisanship event held last month at UVU was broadcast by RadioWest on NPR. It was a great event, and while the panelists had a lot to disagree about, their overriding conclusion was that faithful Mormons can indeed be members of either major political party. Here’s the summary from RadioWest:

A new study by the Pew Forum came out last week. It was about Mormons. The survey contained a lot of information, but one part of it was no surprise: most Mormons call themselves political conservatives. Utah Mormons are nine times as likely to be Republican than Democrat. But why? On Monday we’re broadcasting a show we recorded last week at Utah Valley University. A group of LDS legislators joined Doug on stage to discuss how their political beliefs are informed by Mormonism and vice versa.

 http://radiowest.kuer.org/post/11612-lds-values-and-political-beliefs

Posted on February 7, 2012 in Links, News.

A Tutorial in Democratic Ideals

Vance Pace, a retired Foreign Service officer and LDS Democrat, recent shared some thoughts about the political views of LDS people in Utah. His article, LDS Need Tutorial in Democratic Ideals, discusses misconceptions that LDS people have about the two parties. Pace argues that many Mormons feel they must be Republican, even if they often don’t agree with the party, despite the fact the Church doesn’t take an official stand on political party or candidates. In addition, Pace argues that maintaining the separation of church and state in our country is essential.

Pace encourages his fellow Latter-day Saints to consider other political arguments and not immediately revert to Republican positions. This is something UCV can really get behind, since it fits well with the third principle of the Utah Common Values pledge: having an open mind about new ideas.

Pace also describes experiences he has had within the church where he has been criticized for his political beliefs. Some of you may have had similar experiences with church members or even leaders, but it’s important to remember that Mormon Democrats are not “second-class Latter-day Saints”. Some politically conservative church members may look down upon moderate and progressive church members. To some, liberal and democratic political views equate to being less righteous members of the LDS Church. Pace and many of the people UCV has profiled are living proof that’s not true — their LDS values are what have made them embrace the values of the Democratic Party.

Note: This news summary was written by UCV intern Annelise White.

Posted on January 26, 2012 in Links, News.

Attacks Against Mitt Romney’s French

As most of you probably know, Mitt Romney served a two-year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. During his mission Romney learned French, and he continues to speak the language fluently. Unfortunately some have tried to use Romney’s French language abilities and missionary experience as a way of attacking him, saying the he’s “too French”.

While most UCV supporters are probably not planning to vote for Romney in the upcoming election, as members of the LDS Church we strongly condemn ad-hominem attacks in politics generally, and we specifically abhor attacks targeting candidates based on their faith. Here’s to hoping that we aren’t the only ones who stand behind principle #3 in the UCV pledge!

Note: This news summary was written by UCV intern Annelise White.

Posted on January 10, 2012 in Links, News, Opinion.

Mormonism and the Public Good

A few months ago Richard Bushman, a leading scholar of LDS history and the author of the seminal Joseph Smith biography, Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling, gave the 2011 David P. Gardner Lecture in the Humanities and Fine Arts at the University of Utah. Bushman’s topic was “Mormonism and the Public Good”:

Recent events in Washington have demonstrated once again how much Americans differ on how to resolve the nation’s problem.  The parties to the debate cannot even agree on the nature of the public good.  The lecture will argue that these conflicts arise out of basic contradictions in our national values and therefore will perpetually recur.  The question the lecture will pose is: Can Mormonism, a religious tradition of particular relevance to Utahns,  contribute to the resolution of these fundamental disagreements.  Can a religion that is authoritarian in nature help solve the problems of a democracy?

You can watch Bushman’s full presentation by following this link: http://stream.utah.edu/m/dp/frame.php?f=d2dc65e364f8da77135

Posted on January 2, 2012 in Links, News.