The Next Mormons — Part 12

One member is examining the teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints from a biblical perspective viewpoint when Mormonism is sponsored by Mormonism research ministry since 1979 Mormonism research ministry has been dedicated to equipping the body of Christ with answers regarding the Christian faith in a manner that expresses gentleness and respect.

And now, your host for today's viewpoint on Mormonism so glad to be with us for this additional viewpoint on Mormonism on your host Bill McKeever Felder director Mormonism research ministry with me today is Eric Johnson. My colleague at MRM we continue to look at a book that came out of the spring of 2019 a book titled the next Mormons how millennial's are changing the LDS church. It was written by a very popular Mormon blogger by the name of Jana Reese and the reason why we felt it was so important to go through this book is because there's a lot of information in it that if you are interested in sharing your faith with Latter Day Saints of any age. It certainly helps to get an idea of what that age group may be thinking when it comes to certain issues and I think Jana Reese does a pretty good job of breaking this down. In fact, while some of the statistics from this survey that she set out didn't really surprise me. There are some categories that I did find surprising and what were going to be talking about today and tomorrow probably didn't surprise me. In some areas, but as I said it surprise me another so were going to look at what are the social and political views of the LDS membership broken down according to their generation and the millennial views probably don't surprise me.

In some categories as I mentioned earlier, but let's talk about this where is the LDS church going when it comes to the political views of their members broken down by generation or Reese talks about how Mormons are more conservative in their political views, then the rest of American society because the majority of Latter Day Saints to vote for lean at least to the Republican view that what the book tells us in the polls that were taken that the younger generations are more likely to be more liberal and also Democratic and so this is what Reese writes on page 171. She says Mormon millennial's are actually almost as likely to lean or vote Democratic 41% as Republican, 46%. So 41% of the millennial's, who are Mormon are voting Democratic to Republican, 46% and then she says, and Xanax. The GOP carries the day by nearly a two to one margin, 59 to 29% and then the Boomer silent cohort.

She writes trends even more decisively Republican 68% to 25% and that's because the Republican Party has traditionally been more conservative in its political views, whereas the Democratic Party would be of course much more liberal as you pointed out. But when you look at the chart that she provides the breakdown of these age groups. It seems to me that still the great majority of millennial's would not agree with a lot of the political platform of the Democratic Party. Even though you're saying that many of them are moving in that direction. Maybe I'm just not seeing the fruition of that movie yet because as we look at these numbers, it still seems like a greater majority find that a lot of outside societal ills are in fact wrong.

Even among many of the millennial aged members now on page 177.

She gives table 92 and is the current Mormons views on top issues facing America by generation and so when it comes to this, she finds out that millennial's disagree with their fellow Boomer silent Gen X generations because their number one issue would be poverty, hunger and homelessness in America. That's the largest concern they had and that was 30%. That's a very high percentage saying that was a most crucial issue to compare that to the other generations she's talking about in the book. It's only the six most important issue for boomers and silent generations as well as the Gen Xers six compared to first so they are really concerned about feeding the people that they feel are without a home who have hunger and are in poverty and then she also goes on and says she explains that for the Boomer in silence and for the Gen X. Their number one concern and I would agree with them the moral or religious decline 41% for boomers and silent and also for the Gen X it would be 34% and it was only the third issue for millennial's will wouldn't an older person. Look at the millennial views as a part of that moral decline.

They seem to be a part of this, or at least pushing in that direction, whereas the older generation would have a big problem with that and then another major difference included healthcare, Boomer and silent generations had it at 31% and that was the second most important issue, whereas for the Gen Xers and for the millennial's it was seven for the millennial's and eight most important for the Gen Xers and that makes sense because the Boomer and silent generation is looking at having to have the healthcare so that they can survive and I and so the younger folks don't think much about it. I wonder how much the younger generations even think about Social Security. For instance, will that be around. They may not think much about that or Medicare but that's certainly a huge issue for those who are already at the age of retirement or at least closing in on that and then when you come to the changing moral and social views millennial's are more likely to think that certain behaviors are not immoral compared to the older generations and I'm wondering Billups. Many of them would go to Matthew 71 Judge not lest you be judge. We hear that all the time. How many of the millennial's, and even the Gen Xers are saying that they can do whatever they want on certain issues, and so when we come to some of these societal issues such as abortion, we see that 83% of the silent and Boomer generations believe that abortion is wrong.

So more than 8/10 when you go down to the Gen X. Three out of four, 75%, but when you come to the millennial's, who are considering themselves Mormon 65% were talking about only two out of three, one third of all Mormon millennial's think that it's okay to have an abortion.

Well, that's probably because they been raised in the school system that tells you that what is being aborted is not really a human life, and if they bought into that story. They don't know the science, it would be very understandable that they would see this is a mere a mere inconvenience that is easy to get rid of. Rather than thinking of the human ramifications that are really involved here, but still 65% not remember if there moving Democratic. The Democratic Party has a platform for abortion. You really can even be a Democratic candidate unless you hold to this position.

If 65% that see abortion is wrong, even among millennial's. Does that seem to be a bit of an inconsistency, or at least is it going to be an inconsistency and that's really good point because only 1/3 are saying it's okay to have an abortion and yet over 40% of them are claiming to be democratic so that's a major platform in the Democratic view so I get this does seem inconsistent. What about having an affair having an adulterous affair. It says here that 95% of our generation.

The Boomer generation with silent generation. 95% say that having an adulterous relationship is wrong. 95% like I have to worry about those 5% in all, but still 95% feel that that's wrong and you just wonder if some of those 5% are thinking well if you're not happy in the marriage that you're in and it's the only way that you get satisfaction that maybe that would be okay if your wife is just not very nice to you but still it goes against biblical principles, doesn't that matter, let me stop you there. It also goes against Mormon principles or the doctrine covenants doesn't have anything positive to say about that. Even though most of us on the outside looking in, would see the Joseph Smith the founder of the movement was certainly involved in this but the way he got away with it is because he claimed God gave him permission to have these relationships with these women, under the guise of celestial marriage as it was understood at that time, but certainly the DNC does not excuse having an adulterous affair.

We don't have the exact question that was asked but all were left with is an affair but isn't that an adulterous affair is an adultery wrong and even 93% of Mormon Gen Xers would say as well so very close more than 9/10 but you go down the millennial's only 8/10, 79% of the millennial say it's wrong to have an affair that means 1/5 Mormon millennial's think it's moral for person to have an affair.

Okay what about fornication having the baby outside of marriage. What are we looking at their well three out of four silent boomers say that it is wrong.

74%. You go down to the Gen X 2/366% you go down the millennial's 58% think it's wrong to have a baby outside of marriage. That means 42% think it's moral to have a baby outside of marriage. Now the next category is kind of interesting to me more than one wife. Now we have to assume this is talking about having more than one wife at one time, which, of course, since 1904 has definitely been against the rules in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints when they came out with the second manifesto. In other words that's when they really meant business and if you were a member of the church and you had more than one wife.

You were excommunicated from the church, whereas the first manifesto in 1890 was more of a promise to the federal government even though the church was still performing those kind of marriages and those kind of marriages were still going on, but more than one wife were going to assume this is talking about polygamy folks, okay 76 of the silent in the Boomer generation.

The older generation. 76% would say that having more than one wife is wrong what you do with the rest of those though. I mean the church has a very specific stance on that now. In fact, the state of Utah is one of the only states that has polygamy mentioned specifically in our state constitution as being prohibited is that 76% said it's wrong only go to the Gen X and it goes down to 68% and then the millennial's 63% which is less than two out of three think it's wrong.

One out of three millennial's who call themselves Mormon are walking around other more liberal as we just said 41% identifying with the Democratic Party and yet I would think many of these more millennial's might even identify with feminism. How does that fit in with the idea that a man could take on multiple women as wives going back to the old standard. Mormons don't like to talk about polygamy of Joseph Smith and he had 30 to 40 wives of churches admitted that seems to me to be a very low percentage of those who think that having more than one right is wrong.

Now you would think the church would take note of something like this because as these younger people grow up.

If that number is as low as it is compared to the other age groups within the Mormon church that is probably going to have an effect on the thinking of those faithful members of the church to where that could in fact change the view of the church. So when people always asked me do you think that there ever going to allow polygamy back in the Mormon church. My argument as was well probably not in my lifetime I can't really see that happening because as you said there kind of embarrassed about all that history didn't like being connected with the