"We do not believe it just to mingle religious influence with civil government, whereby one religious society is fostered and another proscribed in its spiritual privileges, and the individual rights of its members, as citizens, denied. "-Doctrine and Covenants 134:9
Talking about religion and politics often causes outrageous claims and passions to come to the front which often can cause serious contentions and divisions. But, with those divisions there arises unity as well, due to people coming together against a common foe. Christ often spoke of these situations and clarified the concepts of being agreeable and civil but not compromising in faith.
Consider this seemingly contradictory concept:
"If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple"- Luke 14:26
vs.
"But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you" -Luke 6:27
and
"But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire." Matthew 5:22
and
"Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison." -Matthew 5:25
and
"And according as I have commanded you thus shall ye baptize. And there shall be no disputations among you, as there have hitherto been; neither shall there be disputations among you concerning the points of my doctrine, as there have hitherto been.
For verily, verily I say unto you, he that hath the spirit of contention is not of me, but is of the devil, who is the father of contention, and he stirreth up the hearts of men to contend with anger, one with another.
Behold, this is not my doctrine, to stir up the hearts of men with anger, one against another; but this is my doctrine, that such things should be done away. " -3 Nephi 11:28-30
The Lord says to hate your own family in order to be a disciple? The scriptures afterword clarify that there must be a larger principle here than just that. All the scriptures command us to love others as ourselves and to serve others and especially to love others, even enemies. So why does Jesus say that? Well, a few verses later it says: "So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple." -Luke 14:33. The sense and meaning of Jesus’ instruction is that true disciples have a duty toward God which takes precedence over any family or personal obligation.
One of the most impressive things about the Gospel is that it changes our view of ourselves and others. We're not enemies. We're brothers and sisters. Even those on the other side of the political isle. God has no political party.
Glenn Beck is probably the most recognizable Mormon right now but I don't think he is inpsired by God as much as gold. Thats my opinion (obviously). Really though, it doesn't matter to my salvation if Glenn Beck is right or wrong about the political accusations he makes. My accountability is to God. Its my responsibility to try and help others and share what I can of my own testimony with others but ultimately I have no control at all with what people do and that is such a relief. The Lord will judge the wicked and its only up to me to decide what to do with my time and beliefs. Those in office or those who advocate for others to be in office do so out of their sense of patriotic duty but whats more important than patriotism is brotherhood. If you lose a brother due to politics, what have you gained? If you lose a brother due to your faith in God, you have the blessing of God. Its not good to sacrifice your moral obligations for your sense of patriotic obligations. Its not good to hate your enemies for the sake of a political party.
As it says in Doctrine and Covenants, I believe that one religion's morals shouldn't be manipulating the politics but the people should vote on who they think shares their values. How can you reconcile the difference? Its not always easy to separate church and state, especially in the state of Utah. But, in political affairs we must render unto Caeser's that which is Caeser's and unto God that which is God's. In other words, we should participate in the game but remember overall who's side we are on. Once our obligations to any other activity starts to tip toe and then take over our alligence to God, then we are denying God what is God's. God says to love your enemy but also to vote, by voting you chose one over another but you should still love all. If you begin to hate one then you no longer have the love of God in you (meaning God still loves you but you don't love God). "If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar" -1 John 4:20
Politics is good for us to participate in because we learn how to best govern ourselves. Through out the Book of Mormon they went through a few different forms of government and laws. At no point did the system or laws get chastised but the people for their wickedness were always admonished to change. The Lord allowed kings and judges to rule the people but through the prophets were the people to govern themselves to the precepts of God, as it is today. A member of the Legislature, once asked Joseph Smith how it was that he was enabled to govern so many people, and to preserve such perfect order…Joseph remarked that it was very easy to do... “How?” responded the gentleman; “to us it is very difficult.” Mr. Smith replied,
“I teach them correct principles, and they govern themselves.”
