Of all the wonderful tributes and articles about President James E. Faust in the ‘nacle and the media, Peggy Fletcher Stack’s, in today’s Tribune, is one of the more interesting. Entitled, Faust Pulled for Democrats, Stack described then Apostle James E. Faust, who met behind the scenes with Utah’s democratic party shortly after Bill Clinton won the White House to discuss how to maintain political ties with the new administration. There were concerns that the Church would be seen as a one party Church, tied much too closely to the republican party:
Bill Clinton’s ascension to the White House in 1992 was a wake-up call to many Mormon leaders. Several of them, including then-LDS Apostle James E. Faust, agreed to meet with members of Utah’s Democratic Party to discuss how best to maintain political ties with the new administration.
The Mormons were concerned about being seen as a one-party church, tied too closely with Republicans, said Todd Taylor, a Democratic Party executive who was there. “They wanted to find better ways to get more Mormons involved in the Democratic Party.”
There’s no question that too many people even today see the Church as too closely allied with the republican party, and have for decades. Regardless of whether this association is justified, I’m pleased to have read President Faust’s efforts to dispel that myth.
President Faust would encourage Mormon democrats to run for office and not worry about any impact from their political activities. President Faust was politically active in Utah democratic politics in the 1940’s and 1950’s:
Faust, who had once been a Democratic state legislator, continued to serve as a kind of behind-the-scenes consultant, even after joining the LDS First Presidency in 1995. “Every once in a while, President Faust would quietly make calls, urging people to run, mostly to help the state have a healthy balance of political parties,” said Taylor on Friday.
“He would talk to any potential candidates who were concerned that their LDS Church callings would conflict with public service. He assured them they could do both,” Taylor said. After all, Faust did. He was a Democratic state legislator from 1949 to 1951, while he was an LDS bishop. In the mid-1950s he chaired the party in Utah and helped manage a campaign of Sen Frank Moss, D-Utah.
President Faust had two prominent General Authority mentors who helped shaped his political views: N. Eldon Tanner, and Hugh B. Brown.
He was also called upon by President David O. McKay, in the early 1960’s as a liaison to the Kennedy Administration on Civil Rights, because President McKay, was advised by a prominent Mormon republican, J. Willard Marriott Sr., it would not be wise for President McKay to attend. So, President McKay, turned to James E. Faust, who at the time was President of the Cottonwood (Salt Lake City) Stake, a democrat and a member of the Utah State Bar to go in his stead:
I told Brother Faust that he should go and find out what President Kennedy is trying to do. I said that I did not like to see a law passed which will make Hotel men violators of the law if they refuse to provide accommodations for a negro when their hotels are filled with white people, or restaurant men made violators when they decline to serve colored people. I said that businessmen ought to be free to run their own business, and not become law breakers if they choose to employ certain people; that if we have such a law as that, then it is unfair to the majority of the citizens of the country.
Faust attended the meeting, reported to the First Presidency, and received McKay’s clearance to be part of local committees that, at Kennedy’s invitation, would offer informal feedback on civil rights.
See Prince and Wright’s David O’ McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism p. 68.
President Faust, describing himself to his biographer noted:
I am liberal in terms of human values and human rights.” “I believe what it says in the Book of Mormon, that the Lord values all of his children equally – black and white, bond and free, male and female, Jew and gentile – and that the Lord likewise has compassion for the heathen.”
President Faust firmly believed that the Church was best served by members serving and being actively involved in both political parties:
He went on to say that the LDS Church would prefer to have members in both parties. “Both locally and nationally, the interests of the church and its members are best served when we have two good men or women running on each ticket, and then no matter who is elected, we win,” Faust told Bell, as reported in the 1999 volume, In the Strength of the Lord: The Life and Teachings of James E. Faust.
Faust, who died early Friday morning at 87, was “a compassionate, virtuous man and a beloved teacher,” said Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah. “I will always remember his concern for the less-fortunate and what a strong advocate he was for public service. He made the world a better place.”
President Faust, a true disciple of Christ, now serving where political parties don’t matter.
August 12, 2007 at 12:57 pm
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August 12, 2007 at 4:14 pm
Thanks, Guy, I will now lord it over everyone in my ward.
August 12, 2007 at 6:58 pm
This:
“I am liberal in terms of human values and human rights. I believe what it says in the Book of Mormon, that the Lord values all of his children equally – black and white, bond and free, male and female, Jew and gentile – and that the Lord likewise has compassion for the heathen.”
is not compatible with this:
“There is some widely accepted theory extant that homosexuality is inherited. How can this be? No scientific evidence demonstrates absolutely that this is so. Besides, if it were so, it would frustrate the whole plan of mortal happiness. Our
designation as men or women began before this world was. In contrast to the socially accepted doctrine that homosexuality is inborn, a number of respectable authorities contend that homosexuality is not acquired by birth. The false belief of inborn sexual orientation denies to repentant souls the
opportunity to change and will ultimately lead to discouragement, disappointment, and despair. Any alternatives to the legal and loving marriage between a man and a woman are helping to unravel the fabric of human society. I am sure this is pleasing to the devil. The fabric I refer to is the family.
These so-called alternative lifestyles must not be accepted as right because they frustrate God’s commandment for a life-giving union of male and female within a legal marriage as stated in Genesis. If
practiced by all adults, these lifestyles would mean the end of the human family.” (James E. Faust, 11 November 1995, BYU).
June 18, 2013 at 1:59 pm
just because people may lean liberal doesnt mean they believe everything in that party… that would be a mistake for anyone….because you’re not favoring a united states- just a party representing a party.following blindly. do you seriously think that the apostles and prophets should be a one party mind? After all- God isnt. He is too perfect for politics, let alone petty parties.
August 12, 2007 at 7:13 pm
I remember when this meeting happened (I lived in California at the time, but news of it somehow made it out there). My memory could be wrong, but it was my impression that it was the Utah Democratic Party that sought the meeting with the Church leaders and not the other way around (as the Tribune implies that it was).
June 18, 2013 at 2:00 pm
well good for whoever reached out !! we need more unity in this church and in this world.
August 12, 2007 at 8:42 pm
Nick,
I do not see how President Faust’s two quotes are incompatible. You do not even say how they are (though I am impressed with your ability to cut and paste text).
As a political liberal and a Mormon, I do not think that gay marriage is is the key issue of human rights. He is very specifically addressing gay marriage and not human rights in general for homosexuals. We also need to recognize that many attitudes about homosexuality are generational.
Now if these two ideas are incompatible, then my hope for a politically liberal Mormonism is doomed. The irony being that in political philosophy, my main enemies are conservatives and postmoderns (both of which are philosophically rubbish). Now a homosexual is joining with the conservatives to make the same points: Mormons cannot be liberals (though you may not have been aware you where making this point). Liberals can oppose homosexuality on a personal basis while recognizing the full citizenship of homosexual (though I am concerned by the way in which anti-gay marriage rhetoric often show a disrespect for such basic rights).
I am a Kantian liberal who thinks that freedom is based on our respect for others and their ability to make choices for themselves. For me it does not matter whether gays choose to be as such or whether they are born that way. Politically it should not matter. While this may go against what Pres. Faust is quoted as saying in your post, he is making his comment is response to people like you who insist on making the biological nature of homosexually a political argument, something which should not matter.
Most of all, I am annoyed that I have to address you on a post recognizing one of my few Democrat and liberal heroes within Mormonism. You are a jerk.
Guy,
Great post. Thanks for saving me the trouble of writing this over on FPR.
June 18, 2013 at 2:01 pm
agreed
August 12, 2007 at 10:22 pm
Chris,
I’m sorry that you don’t consider marriage a key issue of human rights. Perhaps you feel that your faith somehow trumps human rights, and that those who are not LDS, but are considered “sinners,” should only have those human rights that your faith assigns them. I’m sorry, but that is not a “liberal” position.
Your accusation that I said LDS cannot be liberals is a straw man. I said nothing of the sort. I merely pointed out that while Faust lauded his own enlightened respect for equal rights on one hand, he advocated discrimination against those humans who’s feelings and lives do not fit his theology. I am acquainted with a number of LDS who are liberal enough to recognize that their faith is not the standard by which citizens of a diverse political entity should be ruled.
You are right on one thing—the “causation” of homosexuality should have absolutely nothing to do with equal human rights. Unfortunately, many conservative religious types wish to politicize the issue by claiming (against the preponderance of scientific evidence, though the question is not entirely settled) that homosexuals are actually evil people, rebelliously choosing to anger the LDS deity.
June 18, 2013 at 2:09 pm
whoa whoa whoa…. … since when did the heterosexual christian been shunned rights from gays?i dont like when the LDS play victims.. our culture from our faith (along with others) is the one “trumping” rights… I dont think gays are just being gay to piss off the “LDS deity”.. seriously…? Im tired of the suicides of friends because they were gay LDS men who knew not Christs love bc our members felt like shunning them will help them to cure..
August 13, 2007 at 9:12 am
Nick,
Pres. Faust was working toward human and civil rights long before you and I had any clue what they were. Your continued confusion about what are and are not fundamental rights is completely irrelevant to Pres. Faust’s commitment to those rights. And, your attempt to paint Pres. Faust as somehow intolerant of human values and human rights won’t get much traction over here.
August 13, 2007 at 1:35 pm
Guy,
Your nonsense game of trying to separate “gay marriage” from the fundamental right of “marriage” in order to skew the question is duly noted. Furthermore, there is really no reason to automatically equate the USSC identification of “fundamental rights” with the larger category of “human rights.”
Faust wished to portray himself as liberal in regard to human rights, and gave his biographer a statement to that effect. His 1995 comments, however, are simply not in accord with that statement. He’s entitled, of course, to his own views of what constitutes “sin” under the doctrine of his faith. The idea that the rules of his faith should govern those not of his faith in a pluralistic society, however, is anything but “liberal” on the subject of human rights.
August 13, 2007 at 1:41 pm
One must also remember that liberalism has changed quite a bit in the past several decades.
Nick- there is no such thing as human rights, homosexual rights, black rights, mormon rights, or anything where rights are classed by a group of people. We are endowed with individual rights that (should) exist regardless of any affiliation, chosen or not.
June 18, 2013 at 2:10 pm
Amen
August 14, 2007 at 12:30 pm
Connor, liberalism hasn’t changed in the past decades per se. Rather, conservatives have tried to corrupt the definition of liberalism. I personally noted that President Faust told his biographer that he was a liberal in terms of human value and human rights and saw that the book was published in the 99. I don’t think the term liberal has changed much since then.
October 6, 2007 at 7:46 pm
Nick,
(Against the preponderance of scientific evidence, though the question is not entirely settled)
I graduated from college in 1996. At that time the textbooks said, “in spite of extensive research, there is no evidence to indicate that there is a biological predisposition to homosexuality.”
Show your scientific proof. Also tell me why the conservative Republicans who had control of both houses of the US Congress and the US Presidency for several years did nothing to institute “conservative legislation” against homosexuals. Could it be that the conservatives have homosexuals in their midst? Perhaps they just need issues like this to manipulate the voters during election years. Perhaps both?
President Faust’s memory does not deserve this kind of dialogue. He was a very good man, a liberal with good moral values and a Democrat. I attend church in the ward where he raised his family. The people there knew him well. His wife is still their friend. His children are still their friends. It is interesting to hear their perspective on his life up close and personal.
June 18, 2013 at 2:12 pm
visit mormonsandgays.org … it will give you an idea to what we really believe…not just what nick says.
November 3, 2008 at 9:56 am
Nick
Does this mean Harry Reid isn’t on your buddy list either? His views are in line with President Faust’s. If you are the same Nick Literski that I knew on my mission… “You have come a long way baby”. So sorry to see that this is the road you are on if it is you. That NL had a level head and a strong testimony.
October 15, 2009 at 12:55 pm
KTM, I find your insinuation that Nick somehow doesn’t have a level head or a strong testimony offensive. What a disgusting, illogical attack. You should be ashamed of yourself.
October 15, 2009 at 1:10 pm
Hmmm. EA, have you been in touch with Nick lately? Better not to take strangers to task when you may not be any more up-to-date on testimonies than you are with a response to this year-old post.
October 10, 2010 at 10:43 am
I have heard that Elder Faust was ask to speak at the Democratic National Convention. (1999?, 2000 ish?) Does anyone have any information on that? I would be very interested. The very fact is of course impressive, but one also would love to know what was actually said. Links, references, anything welcome.
June 18, 2013 at 2:14 pm
just look at Uchtdorf’s love and compassion in his latest statement about immigration. i believe they have their own opinions and political views, but showing a loving hand of unity is of God.
May 22, 2012 at 8:51 pm
I live in Europe and as a member I do not see the importance of any of this. To me the church is of God and for everyone in the world, American politics is not important or relevant. Americans love to label people calling them ‘liberal’ or ‘conservative’. That also does not fit into a world religion. How does any of this fit when looking at life in an eternal perspective?
August 14, 2012 at 7:27 pm
Thank you earthling… finally a comment with perspective! I have to admit being embarrassed by the lack of perspective by my fellow American members of the church. Thank goodness there are more of you out there in the church worldwide!
June 18, 2013 at 2:15 pm
Agreed! Thats how God sees it.
September 13, 2012 at 8:46 pm
[…] I found this blog post on President James E. Faust’s long-time commitment to liberalism. I had known he was a Democrat, but not much beyond that. I came across this five years after the […]
September 17, 2012 at 4:26 am
Nice column! I reposted this blog with a comment: http://leftofmormon.wordpress.com/2012/09/14/a-very-nice-tribute-to-president-faust/
March 4, 2014 at 10:22 pm
Golden Question: What year was high tide in LDS church history with regards to there being the highest percentage of Mormon Apostles affiliating with the progressive liberal Democratic Party? Please let me know! Thanks you, ArtEarthmann@gmail.com
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April 14, 2014 at 3:41 pm
[…] An Outline of President James E. Faust’s Life and Political Beliefs […]