Readers’ Forum

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This week’s forum comes from the Facebook comments on the story “Students, faculty discuss campus political climate.” Comments are unedited.

BYU’s political climate

I think this is wonderful because it shows how our religious beliefs can be reconciled with both major political parties on most issues. This way I hope there will be less Mormon cultural pressure to stand on any one political side. And hopefully less judging. There are a lot of self- righteous people on both sides who have confused their political leanings with religious teachings. Of course there are issues that the church has made specific stands on, but those are few.

— Marsha Sisco

 

It’s the same story that repeats itself in the Book of Mormon… they get too prosperous and all turn into flaming liberals with trinkets and tinkling cymbals

— Merrill Weinheimer

 

As a point of fact the Republican Party is also getting more liberal (citing the healthcare bill as one reference point), so that isn’t surprising. More newsworthy would be that more are voting Democratic.

— Shaun Morgan

 

I hate to see us pigeonholed into categorical political descriptions. I’m conservative on most issues, but I’m also liberal on a few of them.

Also, my views have evolved and changed over time. My principles have stayed the same, but my policy approaches have become more nuanced.

— Alex Kolkena

 

BYU students are more liberal in certain departments such as the fine arts, humanities, liberal arts, soft sciences etc. Go figure. Take a STEM or business class and you’ll see the difference, how surprising.

— Evan Chrisney

 

This article is sad but spot on. We had a debate break out in class last semester about capitalism vs. communism with a 50/50 split.

— Richie Angel

 

At this point, few Mormons should be part of either party. That being said, the democratic platform directly opposes LDS doctrine and I cannot think of a single reason why any Latter-day Saint would vote for Clinton, Sanders, Warren, and the like. Same for the right as well.

TL; DR Abortion is murder, Socialism is evil, both parties are corrupt

— Michael Thompson

 

Haha I love how they are trying to portray BYU as being more liberal than people might think and then post a picture 8 protesters out of a school of 30k +

— Brad Wake

 

Good to see that they are able to think for themselves in a progressive manner rather than be pressured into being mindless sheep of the far-right, like many in the church and at BYU, are.

— Aaron Smith

 

I don’t know about you, but I’ve encountered many more openly Libertarian Mormons than outright leftists (although I do know a few leftist Mormons). Heck, even those I know who are left are more socially Libertarian than anything else

— Eric CM Wolford

 

It’s sad to see so many comments disparaging members who espouse liberal politics when even recently church leaders have called for respect for those with differing viewpoints.

— Aurelio Rodriguez

 

The Church teaches that there are good and faithful members in both parties, and that Latter-day Saints can and should be members of both. The one party rule/Democrats are bad idea (such as the one Dallas espouses) in Mormon culture is actually contrary to church doctrine.

Kwaku M. El

 

All this article proves is that people are getting fed up with the stupidity overtaking the Republican party.

—Abram Beazer

Of course the article was written by a Journalism Major so… They have to get used to exaggerating if they want to work in their chosen field.

— Jimmie Meadows

 

Millennials do not remember when America was still great. You have to realize there is a problem in order to fix it. 90% of Americans have a quality of life worse than people making minimum wage in the 1950’s.

—CJ Pennington

 

The BYU College Republicans club is run by liberals anyway and the school won’t allow for additional (conservative) political groups. There’s no conservative voice on campus.

Richie Angel

 

BYU grad here. I graduated last year, and even by the time I graduated, my views couldn’t really be described as purely conservative. More … in the middle. If anything, my BYU education broadened my perspective and made my opinions more nuanced — and if that makes me more liberal, so be it. Others I knew were much more liberal than I was. This isn’t about the person who wrote the article. The BYU student body, in general, is becoming more liberal than before.

Erin Tanner

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