When Trump was running in 2020 and hinting that even if he lost, he would never concede, I was serving as a stake young women president in Washington State.
I posted several anti-Trump posts on Facebook, radical and hateful things like:
I know and love several Trump voters and I believe our difference of opinion stems more from their listening to completely different media sources than from a willful desire to support what I believe he is and stands for. So, this article does NOT capture my beliefs about people who support him.
Every Trump supporter I’ve spoken to personally has good motives. But this blog post does perfectly outline in stark detail all the reasons I raise my voice against Trump. This is not meant to convince my Trump-supporting friends and family. Their news and social media sources have done their job of thoroughly convincing them that these things are lies and that Biden is “just as bad”.
I share this because it is the most comprehensive compilation of arguments I’ve seen against Trump laid out in one place. I don’t believe for one second that he is “the lesser of two evils.” And while I’ve always voted Republican in pre-Trump presidential elections, I no longer trust the judgement of the party I’ve routinely supported nor do I trust President Trump to uphold the policies and morals that drew me to them in the past.
I’m not going to debate individual policies with you in the comments this time or go ten rounds with you about Hunter Biden. With our country divided to the point that we are basically incapable of agreeing on the fundamentals of reality, how can we possibly hope to have meaningful civic debate in our communities or families? This divide is so poetically visible in the fact that President Trump refused to participate in a virtual debate with Joe Biden and then when Joe Biden scheduled a town hall, Trump scheduled his own competing town hall during the time slot where they were supposed to be debating.
Our social media accounts have become like these competing town halls, yelling the facts of our discrete realities into the void.
and a link to a post I wrote on Medium about voting for a democrat for president for the first time.
Pence is someone who not only agrees that it’s 6pm but shouts it from the rooftops. His lockstep support of President Trump means I can never trust a word he says.
My stake leaders and I fielded communications from several stake members who felt I was unfit to serve and unsafe to lead a group of youth because I was too liberal and I needed to either be released or keep my mouth shut.
This was my response on Facebook and I stand by these comments:
I don’t like to talk about my church calling on my personal social media accounts because this space represents my personal opinions, not opinions related to any temporary assignment I may have been given in the Church. However, it has come to my attention that due to my current leadership position as Stake Young Women President, some local members are uncomfortable with my political opinions and feel I should remain neutral. I hope this discomfort is related to the idea of a church leader speaking out politically at all and not simply because they disagree with my political stances in this election.
I apologize to anyone I may have offended or who feels uncomfortable with my political engagement. Let me state unequivocally that my political views do not represent the Church but are strictly my own. It is always my goal to express and discuss them in a Christlike way and I’m sorry if I ever fall short of that standard.
While the Church is politically neutral, its members are not and have never been asked to be. In fact, we recently received the following in a letter from the First Presidency to American members of the Church of Jesus Christ:
“Principles compatible with the gospel may be found in various political parties, and members should seek candidates who best embody those principles.
“While the Church affirms its institutional neutrality regarding political parties and candidates, individual members should participate in the political process. Please strive to live the gospel in your own life by demonstrating Christlike love and civility in political discourse.”
More than any statements in the past, this one makes clear to me that the Church is ACTUALLY politically neutral. There’s no *wink* “We all know which is the one true party.”
The leader our church endorses is Jesus Christ.
Regarding my specific calling and the responsibility I have to remain neutral, please read the following from the Church stance on political neutrality that I think also applies to me:
“Since they are not full-time officers of the Church, Area Seventies, stake presidents and bishops are free to contribute, serve on campaign committees and otherwise support candidates of their choice with the understanding they:
Are acting solely as individual citizens in the democratic process and that they do not imply, or allow others to infer, that their actions or support in any way represent the church
Will not use Church stationery, Church-generated address lists or email systems or Church buildings for political promotional purposes.
Will not engage in fundraising or other types of campaigning focused on fellow Church members under their ecclesiastical supervision.” [link in comments – it’s not working when included in the post here]
I am more concerned about ministering to and serving the youth and ward Young Women leaders of our stake than I am about political activism, but I believe I can be actively engaged in both. I would like to make it clear that I would never and have never spoken out politically in my official church leadership capacity, either online or in person with the youth.
I hope that if those youth who follow me online take anything away from my example, they see a woman who is passionately engaged in her community and country and whose allegiance is to Jesus Christ and not to any manmade political party. If I could give one message to my own children about politics, it would be to diligently study things out in your heart and mind, pray for understanding, engage wholeheartedly, and never allow your relationship with God to somehow become linked with a specific political tribe.