1. Encyclopedia Britannica, 15th ed., sv. “The Technology of War.”

2. Encyclopedia Britannica, sv. “The Technology of War.”

3. See James Davison Hunter, Culture Wars: The Struggle to Define America (New York: Basic Books, 1991).

4. Hunter, Culture Wars, 42.

5. Hunter, Culture Wars, 44, 46.

6. Hunter, Culture Wars, 44, 46.

7. Hunter, Culture Wars, 44–45.

8. Hunter, Culture Wars, 42, 43.

9. Hunter, Culture Wars, 47.

10. Hunter notes that Latter-day Saints were among the founding associations forming the conservative Religious Network for Equality for Women in 1976. He groups Latter-day Saints with Evangelical Protestants, charismatic Catholics, and orthodox Jews in their attitudes on abortion and suggests that conservative Catholics, Evangelical Protestants, and Latter-day Saints are equally concerned about the secularization of America. He also observes that conservative Catholics, Evangelical Protestants, and Latter-day Saints “generally view the survival of the bourgeois family as essential, not just because it was believed to be established in nature and ordained by God, but because it is believed to foster social harmony.” Hunter, Culture Wars, 100, 129–30, 145, 181.

11. Dean M. Kelley, Why Conservative Churches Are Growing: A Study in Sociology of Religion (New York: Harper and Row, 1972).

12. Church leaders have taught the following concerning two-parent families and gender roles: “Children are entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony, and to be reared by a father and a mother who honor marital vows with complete fidelity. . . . By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children” (The First Presidency and Council of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, “The Family: A Proclamation to the World,” Ensign 25 [November 1995]: 102 [hereafter cited as “The Family”]). See also Darwin L. Thomas, “Family Life,” Martha Nibley Beck, “Women, Roles of,” and Victor L. Brown Jr., “Men, Roles of,” in Encyclopedia of Mormonism, ed. Daniel H. Ludlow, 4 vols. (New York: Macmillan, 1992), 2:490, 4:1575–77, 2:888–90.

13. See, for example, “The Family”; Terrance D. Olsen, “Sexuality,” in Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 3:1306–7.

14. See Doctrine and Covenants 89; Joseph Lynn Lyon, “Word of Wisdom,” in Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 4:1584–85; Gordon B. Hinckley, “Be Ye Clean,” Ensign 26 (May 1996): 48.

15. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints teaches that abortion is a sinful practice and instructs its members to consider undergoing an abortion only in cases in which the mother’s life or health is seriously threatened, the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest, or the fetus is unlikely to survive birth. See Mary K. Beard, “Abortion,” in Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 1:7. See also “The Family,” which states, “We affirm the sanctity of life and of its importance in God’s eternal plan.”

16. See Victor L. Brown Jr., “Homosexuality,” in Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 2:655–56; “The Family,” which states, “Marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God. . . . Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose. . . . [T]he sacred powers of procreation are to be employed only between a man and a woman, lawfully wedded as husband and wife.”

17. See Merlin B. Brinkerhoff, Jeffery C. Jacob, and Marlene M. Mackie, “Mormonism and the Moral Majority Make Strange Bedfellows? An Exploratory Critique,” Review of Religious Research 28 (March 1987): 236, 238, 239; Armand L. Mauss, “Assimilation and Ambivalence: The Mormon Reaction to Americanization,” Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 22 (Spring 1998): 41, 42; Wade Clark Roof and William McKinney, American Mainline Religion: Its Changing Shape and Future (London: Rutgers University Press, 1987), 212, 214.

18. Brinkerhoff, Jacob, and Mackie, “Mormonism and the Moral Majority,” 246. See also Albert J. Menendez, Evangelicals at the Ballot Box (Amherst, N.Y.: Prometheus Books, 1996), 224. Menendez observes that Latter-day Saints and Southern Baptists constitute the two most politically conservative religious voting blocs in Congress.

19. See Craig L. Blomberg and Stephen E. Robinson, How Wide the Divide? A Mormon and an Evangelical in Conversation (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity, 1997), 13, which states, “For many Latter-day Saints, [the expulsions from New York, Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois] are not yet ancient history. The murders, the rapes and the burnings are still a deeply felt part of our family heritage. Many still cherish the memory of each nineteenth-century outrage committed against their forebears”; The Religious Freedom Restoration Act: Hearing before the Committee on the Judiciary United States Senate, One Hundred Second Congress, Second Session on S. 2969: A Bill to Protect the Free Exercise of Religion, 102nd Cong. 35 (1993): 30, 40 (statement of Dallin H. Oaks, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). In his testimony, Elder Oaks noted that some of his ancestors immigrated to America “as refugees from religious persecution in their native lands,” that most of them “suffered with the Mormons in their earliest persecutions,” and that his third great-grandmother, who was among those expelled from Missouri and Illinois, “died on the plains of Iowa, a martyr to her faith.” He also noted that his grandfather’s oldest sister was sentenced to three and a half months in the territorial penitentiary for refusing to testify against her husband in a polygamy prosecution (35–36).

20. See Roof and McKinney, American Mainline Religion, 191–95. Although Latter-day Saints are generally more supportive than Roman Catholics of civil liberties for unpopular minorities, they are slightly less supportive than Catholics of civil liberties for homosexuals (192–93).

21. Brinkerhoff, Jacob, and Mackie, “Mormonism and the Moral Majority,” 240, 242. These authors note, however, that “while Mormons appear to be more tolerant of Conservative Christians than the conservatives are of them, the absolute social distance scores are still high, indicating only a degree of acceptance on the part of Mormons for the Conservative Christians” (242).

22. Roof and McKinney, American Mainline Religion, 197–200; Mauss, “Assimilation and Ambivalence,” 39–41. See also LDS Church Home Page, “Myth-Conceptions,” http//:www.lds.org/en/4_Global_Media_Guide/Myth-Conceptions.html, May 20, 1999, which states, “We repudiate efforts to deny to any person his or her inalienable dignity and rights on the abhorrent and tragic theory of the superiority of one race or color over another.” Mauss reports that levels of racial tolerance seem to be somewhat less among LDS converts than among those raised in the Church. Mauss, “Assimilation and Ambivalence,” 41. See also Brinkerhoff, Jacob, and Mackie, “Mormonism and the Moral Majority,” 238. The results of their study showed that the statement “It is a sin to discriminate against people because of their ethnicity” failed to differentiate Latter-day Saints from conservative Protestants and other religious groups.

23. See also Gary C. Bryner, “Political Teachings,” in Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 3:1103–4; Bruce R. McConkie, A New Witness for the Articles of Faith (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1985), 655–57.

24. 475 U.S. 503 (1986).

25. Menendez, Evangelicals at the Ballot Box, 235.

26. Menendez, Evangelicals at the Ballot Box, 235.

27. 494 U.S. 872 (1990).

28. 117 S.Ct. 2157 (1997).

29. The Religious Freedom Restoration Act, statement of Dallin H. Oaks, 30.

30. The Religious Freedom Restoration Act, statement of Dallin H. Oaks, 32.

31. The Religious Freedom Restoration Act, statement of Dallin H. Oaks, 31.

32. 410 U.S. 113 (1973).

33. See Planned Parenthood of S. E. Penn. v. Casey, 505 U.S. 833 (1992).

34. For various articles dealing with arguments for and against RFRA and the political forces behind these arguments, see Phillip E. Johnson, “Afterword,” Nexus: A Journal of Opinion 2 (fall 1997): 170, 173; Jay Alan Sekulow and John Tuskey, “City of Boerne v. Flores: The Justices Know Best,” Nexus: A Journal of Opinion 2 (fall 1997): 53; “Supreme Court Strikes Religious Freedom Restoration Act: Amending the Constitution Is the Only Way to Restore America’s Religious Liberty Protections,” http://www.cc.org/publications/ccnews/ccnews97.html#rfra, May 20, 1999; “Christian Coalition Applauds Protection for Religious Freedom in Federal Workplace: Calls for Religious Freedom Everywhere Else, Too,” http://www.cc.org/publications/ccnews/ccnews97.html#fedwork, May 20, 1999.

35. The depth of these differences may be more apparent than real; conservative Protestants and Latter-day Saints who have attempted genuine conversation about these issues are often surprised by the amount of theological agreement. For example, see Blomberg and Robinson, How Wide the Divide?

36. See, for example, Commission on Theology and Church Relations of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, “A Brief Statement of the Doctrinal Portion of the Missouri Synod: Of God,” http://www.lcms.org/belief.asp, May 13, 1999; “The Baptist Faith and Message—a Statement Adopted by the Southern Baptist Convention,” http://www.utm.edu/martinarea/fbc/bfm/2.html, May 17, 1999.

37. LDS Home Page, “Core Beliefs and Doctrines—Godhead,” http://www.lds.org/en/4_Global_Media_Guide/Core_Beliefs_and_Doctrines.html, May 13, 1999. Stanley Hauerwas suggested to me that many conservative Protestants are actually so focused on Jesus Christ to the exclusion of the Father and the Holy Ghost that they may be closer on this issue to Latter-day Saints than they are to Roman Catholics and mainline Protestants.

38. See Stephen E. Robinson, “God the Father,” in Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 2:548–49.

39. See, for example, Blomberg and Robinson, How Wide the Divide? 97, which states, “Evangelicals are determined to preserve the distinction between the Creator and the creation.”

40. Lorenzo Snow quoted in Robinson, “God the Father,” 2:549. Joseph Smith also taught this doctrine. See “The King Follett Discourse,” in Joseph Fielding Smith, comp., Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1972), 342, 345–46. Although this teaching has not, strictly speaking, been canonized, it is “so widely accepted by Latter-day Saints that this technical point has become moot.” Blomberg and Robinson, How Wide the Divide? 85.

41. See Doctrine and Covenants 130:22; Robinson, “God the Father,” 2:548.

42. See Robinson, “God the Father,” 2:549; “The Family”; Blomberg and Robinson, How Wide the Divide? 82, which states, “The soil from which the LDS doctrine of deification grows is the belief that humans are of the divine species and that the scriptural language of divine paternity is not merely figurative.”

43. See W. D. Davies and Truman G. Madsen, “Scripture,” in Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 3:1277; Robert L. Millet and Noel B. Reynolds, eds., Latter-day Christianity: Ten Basic Issues (Provo, Utah: FARMS and Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1998), 13–23; Article of Faith 8; Blomberg and Robinson, How Wide the Divide? 76.

44. Jan Shipps, “‘Is Mormonism Christian?’ Reflections on a Complicated Question,” BYU Studies 33, no. 3 (1993), 447.

45. Stephen Robinson maintains that any such contradictions are not with the biblical text but with the nontextual creeds through which other Christians read the text. Blomberg and Robinson, How Wide the Divide? 59–60.

46. Blomberg and Robinson, How Wide the Divide? 76.

47. See Brinkerhoff, Jacob, and Mackie, “Mormonism and the Moral Majority,” 238; Shipps, “‘Is Mormonism Christian?’” 454.

48. See Ed. J. Pinegar, “Born of God,” and Alma P. Burton, “Salvation,” in Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 1:218–19; 3:1256–57. See also Dallin H. Oaks, “Born of God,” Ensign 28 (May 1998): 56–57; Millet and Reynolds, Latter-day Christianity, 35–39.

49. Brinkerhoff, Jacobs, and Mackie, “Mormonism and the Moral Majority,” 240 (data citations omitted from quotation).

50. See, for example, James B. Allen and Glen M. Leonard, The Story of the Latter-day Saints, 2d ed. (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1992), 401–2; Leonard J. Arrington and Davis Bitton, The Mormon Experience: A History of the Latter-day Saints (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1979), 177–80; John T. Noonan Jr., “The End of Free Exercise?” DePaul Law Review 42 (1992): 580.

51. These similarities are illustrated by a comparison of Late Corp. of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints v. United States, 136 U.S. 1, 48, 49 (1889) and Davis v. Beason, 133 U.S. 333, 341, 345 (1889) with the statements from three recent communications: “Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church Communicator,” http://38.241.170.2/communicator/junejuly/ralph.htm, April 6, 1998; James Dobson, “Family News from Dr. James Dobson,” Focus on the Family Newsletter, June 1996, 3–4; Summit Ministries, “The Role of the Bible and Christianity in America,” May 20, 1999, http://www.christiananswers.net/summit/amer_her.html#AMER_HER_L4. In Late Corp. v. United States, the court ruled that plural marriage is “a crime against the laws, and abhorrent to the sentiments and feelings of the civilized world,” a “barbarous practice . . . contrary to the spirit of Christianity and of the civilization which Christianity has produced in the Western World,” and in Davis v. Beason that by threatening monogamous marriage—“the union for life of one man and one woman in the holy estate of matrimony”—“bigamy and polygamy are crimes by the laws of all civilized and Christian countries.” These arguments are similar to contemporary conservative Christian calls for a “Christian Nation.” See, for example, Coral Ridge Presbyterian Communicator, which states, “Churches today are obligated to seek to overturn the sinful nature of our land and the world and discover the truth of what our Founding Fathers started—a Christian Nation.” See also Dobson, who quotes John Jay: “‘It is the duty . . . of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers.’” Dobson also quotes Justice David Brewer: “This is a religious people. This is historically true. From the discovery of this continent to the present hour, there is a single voice making this affirmation. . . . We find everywhere a clear recognition of the same truth. . . . These, and many other matters which might be noticed, add a volume of unofficial declarations to the mass of organic utterances that this is a Christian nation.” Compare also the following statement made by Summit Ministries: “When one examines history . . . one cannot avoid the conclusion that America was founded on Christian principles and the assumption that her citizenry would adhere to those same principles.”

52. See generally Mauss, “Assimilation and Ambivalence,” 60–61.

53. See Robert L. Millet, “Jesus Christ,” in Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 2:724–26. See also Dallin H. Oaks, “Have You Been Saved?” Ensign 28 (May 1998): 55.

54. See Shipps, “‘Is Mormonism Christian?’” 455–56, 461–62.

55. See “Political Neutrality and Non-Use of Church Buildings,” First Presidency Letter, June 9, 1988, reprinted in Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 4:1733.

56. See David B. Magleby, “Contemporary American Politics,” in Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 3:1107.

57. “Political Neutrality and Non-Use of Church Buildings,” 4:1733.

58. Dallin H. Oaks has said: “As a general rule, our church does not take positions on specific legislative initiatives pending in Congress or State legislatures. Our action in this matter is an exception to this rule. It underscores the importance we attach to this congressional initiative to restore to the free exercise of religion what a divided Supreme Court took away in Employment Division v. Smith” (The Religious Freedom Restoration Act, statement of Dallin H. Oaks, 30).

59. “Political Neutrality and Non-Use of Church Buildings,” 4:1734.

60. See Robert Gottlieb and Peter Wiley, America’s Saints: The Rise of Mormon Power (New York: Putnam, 1984), 200–10; Magleby, “Contemporary American Politics,” 3:1108.

61. See Spencer W. Kimball, “A Report and a Challenge,” Ensign 6 (November 1976): 6; First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to General Authorities; Regional Representatives; Stake, Mission, and District Presidents; Temple Presidents; Bishops; and Branch Presidents, February 1, 1994; Patty Henetz, “LDS Cash Carries Gay-Marriage Fight: Mormon Church Has Spent $1.1 Million on Ballot Battles in Hawaii and Alaska,” Salt Lake Tribune, October 26, 1998, A1; “Church Opposes Government Sponsored Gambling,” Ensign 16 (November 1986): 104; “LDS Council Opposes Oregon Measure,” Deseret News, October 8, 1994, A8; “First Presidency Calls for Fight against Pornography, Obscenity,” Improvement Era 69 (April 1966): 264.

62. Mark J. Rozell and Clyde Wilcox, “Conclusion: The Christian Right in Campaign ’96,” in God at the Grass Roots, 1996: The Christian Right in the American Elections, ed. Mark J. Rozell and Clyde Wilcox (Lanham, Md.: Rowman and Littlefield, 1997), 255, 260; Ralph Reed, Active Faith (New York: Free Press, 1996), 192.

63. Jessica Lee, “Religious-Right Leader Sets Foreign Policy Goals,” USA Today, April 14, 1998, 6A.

64. Robert E. Riggs, “Government-Sponsored Prayer in the Classroom,” Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 18 (fall 1985): 43–44, 52.

65. Brinkerhoff, Jacob, and Mackie, “Mormonism and the Moral Majority,” 243.

66. Spencer W. Kimball, (Edward L. Kimball, ed., The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1982], 407), quoted in Riggs, “Government Sponsored Prayer in the Classroom,” 52.

67. See Gottlieb and Wiley, America’s Saints, 203–4; Magleby, “Contemporary American Politics,” 3:1108.

68. Allen and Leonard, Story of the Latter-day Saints, 659; Gottlieb and Wiley, America’s Saints, 28, 204–6.

69. Gottlieb and Wiley, America’s Saints, 27–28, 206–9.

70. McConkie, A New Witness for the Articles of Faith, 683–96.

71. See Brinkerhoff, Jacob, and Mackie, “Moralism and the Moral Majority,” 244.

72. See Thomas S. Monson, Faith Rewarded: A Personal Account of Prophetic Promises to the East German Saints (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1996), 132; Thomas S. Monson, The Church in a Changing World (Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University, 1989), 4; Garold N. Davis and Norma S. Davis, comps. and trans., Behind the Iron Curtain (Provo, Utah: BYU Studies, 1996), ix–xiv.

73. See Monson, Faith Rewarded, 12; Monson, Church in a Changing World, 5.

74. See, for example, Monson, Faith Rewarded, 60, 133.

75. See Monson, Faith Rewarded, 53, 84, 113, 126; Monson, Church in a Changing World, 11–14.

76. Monson, Faith Rewarded, 19–20, 49, 83.

77. See Monson, Faith Rewarded, 26–27.

78. See Monson, Faith Rewarded, 63, 134–35, 139.

79. Monson, Faith Rewarded, 70, 72–73, 88; Monson, Church in a Changing World, 9–10.

80. See Monson, Faith Rewarded, 158–59; Monson, Church in a Changing World, 12–14.

81. Steve Fidel, “Pres. Hinckley Announces Plans for First W. Africa Temple,” Deseret News, February 16, 1998, A1.

82. See, for example, “Christian Coalition Opposes MFN for China,” http://www.cc.org/publications/ccnews/ccnews97.html#mfn, May 21, 1997; “Christian Coalition to Include MFN Vote in Its 1997 Congressional Scorecard: Family Group Opposes Renewal of MFN for China,” http://www.cc.org/publications/ccnews/ccnews97.html#mfnscore, June 23, 1997.

83. Doctrine and Covenants 58:21. See also Articles of Faith 12, which states, “We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.”

84. See Doctrine and Covenants 134:5, which states, “We believe that all men are bound to sustain and uphold the respective governments in which they reside, while protected in their inherent and inalienable rights by the laws of such governments; and that sedition and rebellion are unbecoming every citizen thus protected, and should be punished accordingly” (emphasis added).

85. See, for example, Doctrine and Covenants 134:1, which states, “We believe that governments were instituted of God for the benefit of man; and that he holds men accountable for their acts in relation to them, both in making laws and administering them, for the good and safety of society.”

86. See W. Cole Durham Jr., “Church and State,” in Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 1:281–82.

Frederick M. Gedicks

BYU Studies Publications