Top LDS leaders should speak out against Trump on “moral grounds,” says Gordon Monson

It's time.

It's time for a prophet or an apostle – someone, anyone, who believers believe to be in touch with the deity, among those who so desperately need to hear a clear message – come right out and say what apparently still needs to be said about Donald Trump.

There may be a number of individual Latter-day Saints who have done just that, including the current group. My June column on Trump made my position clear, partly as a follower of faith. Now it has to come straight from above, prophetic and apostolic sermons to deceived, confused church members.

Namely, that the Republican nominee for President of the United States and leader of the free world is not the kind of person that U.S. followers of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints should vote for, not without being hypocritical.

That opportunity was more than missed at the Church's recent general conference, when none of the faith's leaders said anything about Trump, nor about the threat he poses to the fundamental freedoms and traditions of our country and perhaps other countries, such as American traditions the peaceful transfer of power of the president. Believe what you will about public policy and current issues, but no one with eyes to see and ears to hear can honestly turn away from what happened at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, and of the lies that followed and continue to be put forward by this candidate.

Instead of speaking out against Trump, the church consciously or unconsciously leaned in the opposite direction. On Tuesday, she issued a press release about the denomination's supposed political neutrality, urging members to decide for themselves, followed by a loud reminder of her position on a single issue that will loom large in next month's election : Abortion.

While this church position allows abortion in some cases – in cases of rape and when the mother's health or the life of the child is at risk – it morally discourages women from choosing abortion for other reasons. Democrat Kamala Harris has campaigned vigorously to restore women's right to self-determination.

Some Latter-day Saints may misconstrue this specific repetition, along with their declaration of political neutrality, as the impetus for the election of Trump, who has boasted about packing the U.S. Supreme Court with justices who subsequently ruled on Roe v. Wade fell (thus ending the constitutional right). for abortion).

There was no balance in the church's release, no mention on moral grounds that the church had previously condemned the violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol sparked by Trump's rhetoric, or another big issue in the race: immigration.

While Trump ridiculed many immigrants, calling them criminals, drug addicts and poison for the nation's blood, and threatening them with violence and antipathy, the Church took a merciful and accommodating stance on the matter.

For “moral reasons” he is “unsuitable for office”

Regardless of the church's claim to neutrality, there are exceptions. And this is one of them. Yes, on moral grounds, Trump has proven and continues to prove unfit for the office he seeks.

Before those who have not yet understood what is so obvious scratch and spit in disgust at this explanation, pause, and pause again, and then pause again, to evaluate and reevaluate your stance, if you your country and if you follow the principles your church teaches in Sunday meetings.

The last part is important. And that's why the anti-Trump message should come from senior church leaders, and in the most formal way. Maybe then most members will listen. Perhaps. They always have agency, of course, but their leaders are the ones who insist on emphasizing the need for personal integrity and asking believers in temple interviews whether they are honest in all their interactions with others. They are the ones who talk about Jesus and his teachings, things like what is written in the New Testament Bible accounts, teachings like the Beatitudes. They are the ones who emphasize the importance of love, charity, kindness, benevolence, truthfulness, discipline, moral strength, moral rectitude, moral stability and trustworthiness. They are the ones who urge all people to treat other people with respect and dignity. They are the ones who emphasize obedience to the laws of the land. They are the ones who have told their supporters to vote for compassionate candidates who “demonstrate Christian love and civility in political discourse.”

Nobody is perfect, yes, but how many of these qualities does Trump model? How much of what these leaders just spoke so passionately about in General Conference does Trump embody, has, or would embody? How many of the decent attitudes and dialogues that Senior Apostle Dallin Oaks called for at the conference does Trump exhibit? I know that I am on the right track with this column and the criticism it contains. But I won't allow myself the childish and dangerous insults that Trump uses against anyone who doesn't bend the knee to him. The fact that he poses a threat to our democracy and disregards the fundamental principles of the US Constitution that he finds inconvenient is indeed a fact. What he says in his speeches is proof of this. His hateful language, directed at whomever he would be president again, gives all citizens permission to use hateful speech too. It divides, it does not unite. And calling out Trump for his bullying because his divisive approach doesn't fit into the same category. Inspired church leaders should know this.

As noted, these leaders have urged their loyal voters to properly assess the character of candidates and not rely solely on family tradition for party affiliation or direct election. They asked voters to examine this character and make decisions about it.

Were these messages strong enough? Polls continue to show that Latter-day Saint votes remain strong for Trump. Abortion or not—virtually no one will agree with a candidate on any issue—how can someone who believes the vast majority of his religion's tenets are important disregard them when voting for president?

It's really confusing.

The Constitution is at stake

A church that continually encourages its members to set a good, charitable example for the world and to let the light of Christ shine as an expression of what their faith and their church stand for should speak out now. It may grant some form of forgiveness after keeping Trump out of the Oval Office, even if the courts don't.

Is Trump honest? No honest person can answer this question with “yes”.

Those who say “all politicians are liars” would be hard-pressed to find many presidential candidates who have made more false statements than Trump. Lying has become a habit for the man. A simple thing, on the stump, in debates, in his life. He was found guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records for paying a porn star to have an alleged affair to improve his chances of being elected. He was accused of sexual abuse. He brags about grabbing women inappropriately and getting away with it. He has done things to people that most, if not all, Latter-day Saints would object to him doing to them or those they care about. He claims, without evidence, that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him and that if he loses this time, he might do it again.

And yet many Latter-day Saints are still willing to vote for him as president of this country, somehow dismissing his behavior as contrived or insignificant.

At no time in my life or in the lives of any of the current Latter-day Saint prophets and apostles has the Constitution faced such a threat as it does now. Isn't it time for these leaders to send a clear message to help save what the United States cares about most?

They might fear that such a statement could jeopardize the church's tax-exempt status, or that Trump, if elected, would alienate the church from his position of power, or that some church members previously committed to MAGA would fall away from the faith.

At first glance this is unlikely. Other religions have spoken out on political, even party-political issues without any consequences. Second, would Trump dare to damage God's true work on earth when members see their church? On the third page, members are occasionally confronted with doctrines that they struggle with and that are considered tests of their faith. It happens. If that were the case according to the instructions to save the Republic, then so be it. It will be up to these Latter-day Saints to determine what they believe is most pressing for their eternal salvation.

Prophets and apostles are believed to be called to speak and lead. If not now, on the eve of this particular monumental election, then when?

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