Wake Up: Now is not the time for Mormons to lose interest in politics

By Simon Eugster. Original. License: CC BY-SA 3.0.

It's time for us to wake up as a people. The principle of agency, so fundamental to our values and our progression as children of God, may be substantially at stake as we enter another messy political season.

Now, the choices are starker than ever: there are politicians filled with the spirit of contention, and there are egomaniacs. There is also a very reasonable and sincere person advocating the dangerous ideology of socialism, and another candidate who would go part-way towards it. We have to act quickly if we want to preserve agency as the fundamental principle of our society.

President Benson, directing his address to the entire church while speaking at the BYU Marriott Center in 1986, warned of the overreaches of government that serve to violate the agency that we came to this earth to experience:

The important thing to keep in mind is that the people who have created their government can give to that government only such powers as they, themselves, have in the first place.... [Government] cannot claim the power to redistribute money or property nor to force reluctant citizens to perform acts of charity against their will. Government is created by the people. No individual possesses the power to take another’s wealth or to force others to do good, so no government has the right to do such things either. The creature cannot exceed the creator. (The Constitution: A Heavenly Banner, 1986)

I'm not suggesting we succumb to the extreme right-wing, which is often so full of contention and so scant on compassion. In other words, I'm not suggesting there is nothing that government can legitimately do to help the poor, or that we should be hawkish on foreign policy. But no matter how much the left shouts that more government programs, higher taxes and more redistribution are essential, we must compassionately and firmly insist that agency is preserved as the fundamental guiding principle of our society.

America was and is great because of agency. We have unprecedented freedom to think, create and organize because government is not the nucleus and control center of our society, nor of most of our personal resources. Wherever government's hand touches to help, it also controls. This is, very literally, an earthly shade of Satan's plan from the preexistence, complete with promises that everyone will be 'saved' in an earthly way. We have a choice now to continue believing in agency with all of its risks and rewards, or to move closer to European style 'comfortable decline,' and its associated spiritual malaise.

The case I am trying to make with this blog is that Marco Rubio is really the last viable choice we have for this election, and this election seems crucial. The other two candidates who claim to support principles of agency (and also have some chance to win) are Donald Trump and Ted Cruz. If you are like me, you won't be able to stomach the spirit under which they seem to operate. It seems far from the principles of leadership mentioned in Doctrine and Covenants 121:41-45. I think anyone who honestly investigates will find that Marco Rubio is imperfect, but much closer to those principles than Cruz or Trump. And Rubio has a chance to win, as well. Beyond that, he is very intelligent and knowledgeable.

I believe we need to get behind him as a community. This will be a very hard election even if he is the nominee, and support from our community could push him over the edge. This is not a time for for excuses like "I'm just not interested in politics." This confusing and messy last-days political struggle is too intertwined with the Plan of Salvation to ignore with impunity. Although the Church will not endorse a candidate, we have been counseled often to be involved in politics. I'll finish with more of the rousing words of President Benson, from the same speech:

I testify that the God of heaven sent some of his choicest spirits to lay the foundation of this government, and he has sent other choice spirits—even you who hear my words this day—to preserve it. We, the blessed beneficiaries, face difficult days in this beloved land, “a land which is choice above all other lands” (Ether 2:10). It may also cost us blood before we are through. It is my conviction, however, that when the Lord comes, the Stars and Stripes will be floating on the breeze over this people. May it be so, and may God give us the faith and the courage exhibited by those patriots who pledged their lives and fortunes that we might be free, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

P.S. Please take a look at this blog and the Facebook page, including the videos I linked to in the first post, and see if you become as excited to support Marco Rubio as I have become. There is really not much time to lose.