LDS U.S. Senator Harry Reid And LDS Apostle Dallin H. Oaks Best Illustrate The Political Diversity Within The LDS Church

During the past 24 hours, reports on two public statements by prominent members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints illustrate the political diversity which exists within the Church, but at the same time preserving spiritual unity.

U.S. Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) and Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve are both equally devout Mormons. Both equally support the LDS Church defining marriage as being between one man and one woman. But both are at opposite poles when it comes to expanded gay rights in the civil realm.

On October 12th, 2009, the Salt Lake Tribune reported that during a meeting with three organizers of the pro-gay National Equality March that took place in Washington D.C. on October 11th, Senator Reid criticized the LDS Church for backing Proposition 8 banning same-sex marriage in California, saying the leaders of his faith should have stayed out of the contentious political fight. Reid's spokesman Jon Summers would not discuss the private meeting, but he didn't deny the conversation took place. Summers explained that "While Senator Reid agrees with his church that marriage is between a man and a woman, he also believes that the resources that went into the Proposition 8 effort could have been put to better use."

This shows that Senator Reid still agrees with the Church's definition of marriage, but that he doesn't want to force that definition upon the greater society.

Meanwhile, in a speech delivered to students at Brigham Young University-Idaho (BYUI; formerly known as Ricks College) on October 13th, Elder Dallin H. Oaks took a decidedly different point of view. While not criticizing Senator Reid by name, Elder Oaks warned about the erosion of religious liberty under the guise of promoting "civil rights" for others, and how atheists, secular humanists, and even some "Christians" are trying intimidate persons with religious-based points of view from influencing or making the laws of their state or nation. He extensively cited the Proposition 8 campaign as an example, as opponents of Prop 8 falsely claimed that Mormons were trying to “deny” people or “strip” people of their “rights.” Opponents of Prop 8 presume that marriage is a civil right in the absence of any formally-specified constitutional corroboration of that position. Read Elder Oaks' full speech HERE; KSL news video embedded below:

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

Elder Oaks also answers some questions about the speech in the video embedded below:



Bloggernacle coverage now provided by A Soft Answer and the Milennial Star. In addition, KSTU Channel 13, which has published its own report on the speech, is also running an "unscientific" opinion poll on the speech. In response to the question, "The anti-Mormon backlash after California voters overturned gay marriage last fall is similar to the intimidation of Southern blacks during the civil rights movement, according to Elder Dallin H. Oaks, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Do you agree?", out of 848 respondents so far, 43.6 percent say Yes, while 56.4 percent say No.

But Elder Oaks wound up his speech by citing five points of counsel on how Latter-day Saints should conduct themselves to enhance religious freedom in this period of turmoil and challenge.

-- First, speak with love, always showing patience, understanding and compassion toward our adversaries.

-- Second, don't be deterred or coerced into silence by intimidation.

-- Third, insist on our freedom to preach the doctrines of our faith.

-- Fourth, as advocates of the obvious truth that persons with religious positions or motivations have the right to express their religious views in public, we must nevertheless be wise in our political participation.

-- Fifth, Latter-day Saints must be careful never to support or act upon the idea that a person must subscribe to some particular set of religious beliefs in order to qualify for a public office.

The latter principle indicates that the Church accepts the right of Senator Reid and others to hold and promote differing political views without risking membership sanctions. While it is unlikely that this speech was crafted as a specific response to Senator Reid's remarks, the timing is fortuitous.

It shows that the LDS Church is big enough for both Harry Reid and Dallin Oaks.