By Jesse Coleman
When I came to BYU two years ago, I learned a frightening truth: BYU is at the heart of the most conservative county in the most conservative state in the most conservative region in the union.
For example, Utah has the most Republican state senate in the nation - two-thirds Republican since 1978. A huge portion of all state lawmakers are Republicans and active Latter-day Saints who are former bishops and stake presidency members. They support guns on campus, restricting education funds and rural programs.
One TV reporter once called Utah a bastion of rural conservative values, and I even heard a student at BYU once say you cannot be a Democrat and Mormon.
But hold the phone here. Political parties aside, since when does being a Latter-day Saint mean you have to be conservative?
The standard definition of a conservative in Webster''s New World Dictionary is one who tends to 'preserve established traditions or institutions and to resist or opposed any changes in these.'
For all intents and purposes, this definition fits Utah Latter-day Saint political leaders to a T.
Watching out for its own interests and resisting any real changes to the current power structure, the state legislature has shown it deserves the title 'cowboy caucus.'
But this hasn''t always been their lot. Traditionally, Latter-day Saints were as liberal as they come. Joseph Smith''s First Vision was a radical proclamation that challenged 2000 years of conservative dogma.
The subsequent visions revealed a revolutionary radical doctrine that continues to drastically change the status quo.
Latter-day Saints are not liberal according to the agenda set by those who have politically usurped its meaning for their purposes. They do not believe in licentiousness, abandoning of moral values, or excessive freedoms. But in all reality, these activities and beliefs are anything but new and liberating. They are as old and entrenched as any crusty conservative creation.
I grew up in Latter-day Saint communities all over the world, from small military branches in Belgium and Japan to sprawling wards in Alabama, and some of the most faithful Latter-day Saints I have met are not conservative. They all believed in the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, but their views were all over the political page.
I haven''t found this abundance of opinion in Utah.
Though church members in Utah are steeped in a tradition of liberal change, it has only been in the last 150 years as the Latter-day Saint power base has been firmly established in Utah, that many have become antagonists to change.
This axiom is not necessarily true. To be liberal means to be 'generous,' 'favoring reform or progress,' and 'tolerant of views different from one''s own.' Similar words in French and Spanish mean 'free.' How are these views in conflict with the gospel?
As a Latter-day Saint, I believe we should be liberal in our willingness to accept change. We should implement change based on unchanging moral principles, but we can do that in pragmatic and innovative ways.
The current political programs are not perfect and human nature will always stand in need of change. It''s what we call repentance, and 'The New and Everlasting Covenant' requires a lot of it on a personal and political level.
Don''t let the 11th Article of Faith lead you to believe that we don''t believe in revolutionary changes in government.
We support and honor governments, but we should also be on the front lines when change is possible and necessary for the better. This doesn''t mean abandoning what is right, but it also doesn''t mean stubbornly clinging to old ways that have outlived their usefulness.
The truth is that the gospel of Jesus Christ is designed to prepare people for His second coming and the establishment of His perfect government. Until earthly governments reflect the Celestial Kingdom, Latter-day Saints should advocate liberal change.