Democrats must not be afraid to express religious conviction, Kristin Matthews, an English professor at BYU, told BYU Democrats Thursday night, March 16, 2006, in a meeting where students gathered to discuss the problem of articulating a moral vision for the Democratic Party.

"The Democratic Party must not allow the religious right to dictate the conversation on moral values," Matthews said.

For the past 30 years, Utah Democrats have struggled in a state where Republicans in both the legislature and the culture of the state. But with the recent letter released by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that must be read over every pulpit by Tuesday, March 21, 2006, the minority political party hopes for progress have been bolstered because of one sentence:

"Principles compatible with the gospel may be found in the platforms of all major political parties," the letter states.

The church has never endorsed any political party, but encourages its members each year to become involved in their local communities by voting and supporting candidates that stand for high moral values that do not conflict with church standards. Utah's Democratic party has taken a beating as national Democratic platforms on abortion and gay rights have driven many LDS members from joining ranks with local Democrats, who don't necessarily advocate the same issues as their national colleagues.

"The statement from the First Presidency is a clear comfort to the many thousands of LDS Democrats in Utah," Utah State Democratic Party Chairman Wayne Holland, Jr. said in a news release Wednesday. "The Utah Democratic Party, like The Church of Jesus Christ, there is an obvious responsibility for society to care for the poor, the infirm and the elderly, help working families with the challenges of raising children and the ability to work for an income that will meet those challenges, and to reach out to those in society who are most often left out."

Mackenzie Ackerson, a Middle East studies major from Oregon, was adamant on taking an inside-out approach to fixing the problems within the party.

"We don't need to have more of what we have; we need to reform what we have, because a lot of what we have is broken," she said.

BYU Democrats president, Rolf Straubhaar, urged students to get involved in the city's upcoming caucuses, illustrating their need to show others the moral side of Democrats. He used the church's Perpetual Education Fund as a beautiful example of working towards the common good.

"We need to build social programs around empowerment, around giving people enough help so they can help themselves," he said.

Matthews explained to the BYU Democrats that she chose to become a Democrat as she started to truly understand what it meant to be LDS.

"As I searched the scriptures and have strengthened my testimony of Christ, I have further identified myself with the Democratic Party because of its willingness to represent 'the least of these,' privilege the common good over self-interest, and to act responsibly as stewards over God's creations," she said.

Matthews said the country needs to broaden its definition of what the term "moral values" means and focus more instead on addressing the deeper problems that are the source of the many moral issues the country faces.

"The current political conversation would like us to believe that abortion and same-sex marriage are the only moral issues with which we should be concerned," she said. "If that were so, our scriptures would be significantly shorter, and our world less complex."

The group of 20 BYU students discussed how Democrats should combat the suffering moral image of democrats among conservatives, who have taken such issues as abortion and same-sex marriage and made them into "ideological touchstones," according to Matthews.

Quoting the church's official position on homosexuality, Matthews said church leaders have better identified the true causes for the breakdown of the family in today's society - child abuse, unrighteous dominion, infidelity, rampant materialism, and debt. She said pointing the finger outward is much easier than examining the problems within.

"To claim that gays and lesbians are causing the breakdown of the heterosexual family is a cop-out and in many ways, is just plain wrong," she said.

Matthews said eliminating poverty is the answer to reducing abortion, drug use and crime, and only in doing so will the world be prepared for the second coming of Christ.

"It's our duty to serve others from whom we differ; not just those like us, or those who donate the most to our political campaigns," she said. "How we care for the poor is a moral value."

(For comments, e-mail Katie Laird at laird.k@gmail.com)

Copyright Brigham Young University 20 Mar 2006