{"id":18106,"date":"2011-12-16T01:19:52","date_gmt":"2011-12-16T06:19:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/?p=18106"},"modified":"2011-12-16T01:57:44","modified_gmt":"2011-12-16T06:57:44","slug":"the-irreconcilable-triangle-of-mormon-political-values","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/2011\/12\/the-irreconcilable-triangle-of-mormon-political-values\/","title":{"rendered":"The Irreconcilable Triangle of Mormon Political Values"},"content":{"rendered":"

FOX News was on while I stood in line at McDonald’s last night. I noticed that the guy being interviewed looked distinctly Mormon (apparently we\u00a0have a distinctive look<\/a>), so I walked over to see what was up.\u00a0The guest was Connor Boyack, and he was talking about how, of all the political ideologies, Mormonism is most compatible with Libertarianism.<\/p>\n

The Mormon-Libertarian connection is nothing new, but it fits in with something that’s been on my mind lately — competing “goods”. Or, in Elder Oaks’ words, “good, better, and best”.<\/p>\n

As I see it, there are three cardinal points of political virtue that we wrangle over in the church:<\/p>\n

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(I think the role of authoritative church statements in this triangle is fascinating. Boyack reaches out to Pres. Benson for support, and others have done the same in support of Libertarianism with words from church leaders extending back to Brigham Young. But not Joseph Smith, I don’t think. Joseph’s statements are, perhaps, generally too pro-government to be used as ammunition there.)<\/p>\n

Now there might be better names for these than the ones I’ve chosen, but I think “freedom”, “purity”, and “charity” convey the point effectively. By purity, I mean those values that come down to an intrinsic sense of “rightness” — things that are not arguable, but that are right (or wrong) because God declares them to be that way. Gay marriage is as good a political issue as any to exemplify what I mean by purity. Arguments of gay marriage pit the “purity” camp against the “freedom” and “charity” camps.<\/p>\n

When there is moral strife over the appropriate policies of government, I believe it essentially comes down to a question of ordering these three principles into “good”, “better”, and “best”. By and large, we recognize that all three of these are valid principles. The question is, when they conflict, which do we privilege?<\/p>\n

A few more examples:<\/p>\n