When discussing the influence of religion on politics in the United States, commentators typically discuss the “religious right.” However, in devoting so much attention to this group, it is easy to forget about other groups that are influential on a smaller scale. One such group is the Mormons, who make for an interesting case to study given the consistency of belief among orthodox members. The aim of this project is to demonstrate how institutional Mormonism has shaped American policy in the 20th and 21st centuries in a more significant way than might otherwise be anticipated. The official position of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS) on U.S. public policy is emphatically politically neutral. However, as illustrated both by policies covertly supported by the institutional LDS Church and by U.S. Supreme court cases related to these policies, this is not the case in practice. The methodology for this project will be to take a case study approach. I argue that in each of the cases I present the LDS Church was de facto involved in the political sphere in a way that it claims not to be. The cases I inspect include the Equal Rights Amendment, Proposition 8, and the MormonLeaks release of internal tapes that bring into question the separation of church and state among LDS politicians. This evidence includes videos, as in the MormonLeaks case, opinions from court cases, and internal writings. As an outsider, I am uniquely situated to write on this topic, as previous writings come primarily from members or former members of the LDS Church. As a whole, this evidence indicates that there is a divide between word and deed in the institutional LDS Church. For this reason, we would be remiss to ignore its influence.
