Monday, October 16, 2006

LDS-Left


As we approach the fall election season, I am reminded how important
it is for progressive Mormons to speak out in favor of the issues
and policies important to us. In this era of christian conservative
spin, it is crucial that Mormons on the left side of te political
spectrum unite.

Many MESJ members are familiar with the LDS-Left Yahoo! group. And
quite a few participate in our rigorous discussions. For those who
have not, I invite each of you to join our lively discussions.

***JOIN US AT groups.yahoo.com/group/lds-left TO GET IN ON THE
ACTION***

recently I decided to look back at the first message posted
to our group. Ironically, it came from a group member named Jean
(who I believe has long since left the group) asking if the group
was real, or were we just poking fun at more left-leaning Mormons
like her. I assured her that we were serious.

Since those days, much has changed. Other groups similar to LDS-LEFT
and Mormon_Congress have been formed (ie Mormonsfordean,
mormonsforkerry,)including the most recent, LDS-DEMS. Today almost
200 people call LDS-Left their online home for liberal Mormon
discussion.

But not everything has changed. Our group is still the most active
group for left-leaning Mormons. We continue to post and average of
15 messages per day. And we are still fulfilling the goals the group
was founded upon -- namely to unite members and friends of the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with political
leanings "left-of-center".

Thanks to those of you who are already memebers for your meaningful
contributions to the forum. I hope it has been a least partly as
meaningful to you, as it has been to me.

Now lets unite and tell America, and our elected officials that they
must earn our votes.

Sincerely,

Ryan J. Roberts
Washington D.C.

3 comments:

Kris said...

I really appreciate that we have this LDS-left group -- my husband and I have been reading it for a couple of years now, and feel reassured that there are people within the church who share our political outlook.

Clair Barrus said...

Kris,

I am an independent and also appreciate it when I see some diversity of political opinion in the church too.

-Clair

Anonymous said...

As an active Latter-day Saint, my problem with the Democratic party is its tacit support of abortion. In my mind, recessions, economic crisis, and even wars come and go on a regular basis, no matter which party is in power. However, moral issues, primarily abortion, have been with us since 1972. Up until Ronald Reagan, even the Republican party tacitly supported abortion. George Bush, with all his perceived faults, moved us closer to overturning Roe v. Wade by appointing two conservative Supreme Court justices. I am already seeing Obama and the Democrats undermining some of the progress we have made toward more strict rules against abortion. How can Latter-day Saints who believe that every spirit child of our Heavenly Father has a right to life, support politicians who actively seek to uphold abortion?
Brad