Mormons and conservativism

[YPestis]

If we were to take away the conservative social issues that the GOP and Mormons agree upon---i.e abortion, gay marriage---would Mormons still vote for Republican candidates in such large numbers?

 

I've noticed a common theme among among Mormons I know, and Mormon bloggers I've read, and there seem to be a similar pattern of belief that socialism is evil! welfare is evil! undeserving people receive welfare! It's a pretty common sentiment among many Americans, but I am rather surprised this view is so *uniformly common* among Mormons as a group. Ask a bunch of Catholics about these issues and you'll probably get a dozen perspectives. It just seems among Mormons, there are far less diverse viewpoints.

 

Now, I understand Mormons who vote republican for social reasons (even if I don't agree with the stance). That is a tenet of their faith that they believe gays are sinners and abortion is wrong. However, why do so many Mormons share this type of fiscal conservatism?

 

As I stated before, you randomly ask a bunch of nonMormons Christians about their political beliefs, you'd get a dozen different answers. However, it appears Mormons share a common belief system that goes beyond the moral preaching of a religion. Does the LDS church idealize the "pull-em by the bootstrap" mentality? Does the LDS church encourage people to enter careers that tend to benefit from fiscal conservatism (i.e small businesses) vs careers that benefit from more generous gov't programs (teachers, union workers)?

 

Again, I don't really want to debate whether fiscal conservatism is good or bad. I'm curious why there seems to be such an abhorrence of economically liberal policies and fear of "socialism" among Mormons I've seen.

[Arete]

The LDS church idealizes self sufficiency and they also believe that charity should be controlled strictly by the church. The fact is, no LDS in good standing has any danger of starving during a hard time and a very small chance of becoming homeless because of the huge charity arm of the Mormon church. However, that help does come with a lot of strings and with the understanding you are ceding a lot of your autonomy. The thing that seperates them from Quiverfull is that they do expect both sons and daughters to get higher education, even if the daughters are only doing it to be more marketable marriage wise. (The emphasis on education obviously does not apply to FLDS)

The LDS belief system basically self selects for people who can be economically successful. There is a lot of shame put on members that cannot pull themselves up by the bootstraps and a lot of them probably stop identifying as LDS.

[NerdyHil]

I feel like some of the fact being stated here are a little skewed. Yes, many Mormons are politically conservative, and all the narrow mindset that seems to come with that way of thinking. I don't, however, think I've ever seen a distinct anti-government programs/services attitude. As a young adult living in a college town there were plenty of young LDS families that used food stamps, WIC, and essentially lived off student loans. The welfare/humanitarian arm of the Mormon church doesn't just help those members in good standing. My aunt who is Mormon in the barest of senses received aid from the church. I doubt she's been to a church service since elementary school. It's just not her thing, but she didn't want her kids to starve. My husband's family also received aid from the LDS church, of which they're fairly active, when he was young. I think the closest think to pulling yourself by your bootstraps is that sometimes those who receive aid are asked to clean the church house or things like that.

Also, the small business owner isn't the majority of members of the Mormon church, at least not that I know. It could be the area. I've know a lot of wage slave parents, and a lot of families that live paycheck to paycheck. It's just more noticeable with 6+ kids. The women working stigma is still part of the culture, but it seems to slowly be dying. Once again, that could be a product of the area I live in. It's a large farming region, and the whole family is often involved in one way or another. Those women who do stay at home are often the well off, or the poor who can't afford child care expenses. Big families seem not to be the norm anymore either. Birth control isn't seen as Satan's medicine.

Yeah, there are some super douches that are bigoted and awful. That's part of the reason I'm a non-active Mormon.