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Permalink Reply by Samuel the Lamanite on April 12, 2012 at 1:16pm

I agree with you on this point, although extrapolating positions based on modern political dichotomies is risky to a point.  It's funny that most latter-day saints are die-hard conservatives, but our founder's own political positions were very liberal for his day.  In 1844, Joseph Smith ran for president of the US.  A person with a shallow knowledge of this tends to presume that his candidacy was an outgrowth of some kind of megalomania.  When one reads the Prophet's own accounts and those of his contemporaries, we find that his motivation was trying to prevent the Whigs and the Democrats from dividing the Church alongn political lines.  Joseph Smith had warned his associates that his adversaries might try to assassinate him and he didn't want the Church to fracture along political lines.

His political platform was very progressive.  He advocated not only the abolition of slavery, but also equality for blacks.  (Even Abraham Lincoln didn't advocate that!)  He proposed liberal prison reforms, the establishment of a national bank, military reforms, and the expansion of free public education.  On international relations, Smith proposed inviting Mexico and Western Canada to become states and held the notion that all of the Americas should be one land without borders.  He was also sensitive to issues regarding the rights of Native Americans.  Mormon doctrine strongly supports notions of restorative justice and redistribution of wealth.  He also proposed reducing the numbers of Congressmen by changing the apportionment ratio, so as not to build up an inordinately large ruling class.  

Because I believe Joseph Smith's views would have been shaped by the profound personal experiences he had with Deity, I feel that we benefit from more liberal policies than we would from conservative ones.  I came to this view gradually over about three decades, but I believe it is a well-considered one.  I find it an odd thing that latter-day saints tend to side with conservative evangelicals on many issues given the philosophy of our founder.

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Permalink Reply by Robert DeFord on April 13, 2012 at 3:54pm

Jeswus rode inhto Jerusalem to be sacrificed in your place Sidion, (so you can have eternal life "gratis"), on a donkey.  Had he been a so called "conservative" of a REpublican, (aka fascist lately),  He wouold have been aboard an elephant.

Very li9beral indeed.  Good call

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Permalink Reply by Kernel John on April 13, 2012 at 4:29pm

Robert, eternal life had been promised long before Jesus.  The Egyptians were big advocates of this.  Jesus did not originate the idea - nor can we assume he was the only one who ever demonstrated the idea. Without explanation and/or description, the concept of everlasting life is a bit of a come-on - IMHO.  I am still waiting for someone like you to provide a reasonable belief module that substantiates your belief or understanding.  So far, I have heard little - if anything. 

Robert, who is Jeswus . . . or do you really care?   I think he might represent political freedom to people like you . . . and this is very good . . . however, is it not spiritual freedom that we must seek?

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Permalink Reply by Sidian M.S. Jones on April 13, 2012 at 6:32pm

Kernel I'm not certain what your reply has to do with Jesus being a liberal?

Kernel John said:

Robert, eternal life had been promised long before Jesus.  The Egyptians were big advocates of this.  Jesus did not originate the idea - nor can we assume he was the only one who ever demonstrated the idea. Without explanation and/or description, the concept of everlasting life is a bit of a come-on - IMHO.  I am still waiting for someone like you to provide a reasonable belief module that substantiates your belief or understanding.  So far, I have heard little - if anything. 

Robert, who is Jeswus . . . or do you really care?   I think he might represent political freedom to people like you . . . and this is very good . . . however, is it not spiritual freedom that we must seek?

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Permalink Reply by Kernel John on April 13, 2012 at 9:01pm

Don't worry about it Sid.

Robert said, "Jeswus rode inhto Jerusalem to be sacrificed in your place Sidion, (so you can have eternal life "gratis"), on a donkey.  Had he been a so called "conservative" of a REpublican, (aka fascist lately),  He wouold have been aboard an elephant."

I replied to him by saying, "Robert, eternal life had been promised long before Jesus. . . .  "

That's all.

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Permalink Reply by Blade Swift on April 15, 2012 at 8:33pm

I'd agree that Jesus does seem to be liberal from our understanding of the world liberal, but one thing that should be noted is that what is an average liberal in one part of the world might not be the same in another part of the world. The same could be said for conservatives. 

That being said, if I understand the purpose of this website, the point is to break down belief systems into a number of small basic beliefs and see which beliefs are prerequisites for others, and which beliefs tend to co-exist with others. It might be best to say, "I believe Jesus would have been pro-choice." and "I believe Jesus would have been pro-welfare." which are very simple statements about Jesus' stance on a simple topic, whereas "Jesus is a liberal." can have an extremely broad an open definition. (Hell, I know liberals who are pro-life, something you wouldn't usually expect from a liberal!)

 Then of course these little beliefs can lead towards the larger and more complicated claims such as "Jesus was a liberal." 

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