Latest news with #Latter-daySaint
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Are Latter-day Saints shifting left? Here's what the data shows
An analysis of the 2024 presidential election found that politically moderate and younger Latter-day Saints have 'warmed up' to President Donald Trump after swinging away from the Republican candidate in 2016 and 2020. The Republican rebound among young and moderate voters goes against some predictions of a permanent Latter-day Saint shift toward the Democratic Party during the Trump era, according to a comparison of election data published Monday by political scientist Ryan Burge. 'There's nothing here that says that the LDS vote is trending to the left,' Burge told the Deseret News. 'You can't look at the data and make that claim.' Trump's initial lackluster showing among Latter-day Saints in 2016 has largely been reversed, Burge shows, with moderate voters moving 15 percentage points toward Trump since 2020, and younger voters jumping 25 points back his direction. Much has been made of Latter-day Saints' lukewarm reception of Trump in 2016. That year, Trump received just 52% of the Latter-day Saint vote — down 30 percentage points from Mitt Romney in 2012, and 20 points from John McCain in 2008. The drop was mostly caused by Trump's bid pushing 26% of Latter-day Saint voters toward third-party candidate Evan McMullin, Burge said, while 22% voted for Hillary Clinton. But with no viable third-party alternative in 2020 and 2024, Trump's vote share among Latter-day Saints surged, resulting in identical results both times: with 66% of Latter-day Saints voting for Trump, and 30% for his opponent. 'I think most of the hesitancy people had about Trump went away,' Burge said. Burge's calculations are based on the latest data from the Cooperative Election Study, an election-year poll that surveyed 144,500 people from 2022 to 2024, including 1,600 self-identified Latter-day Saints. Taking a deeper look at the Latter-day Saint data reveals multiple transformations occurring simultaneously within one of the most religiously and civically active demographics in the United States. While Latter-day Saint voters continue to lean heavily Republican, Trump's rise to the top of conservative politics has contributed to real changes in Latter-day Saint political identification. Republican Party affiliation among Latter-day Saints fell from around 75% before Trump, to 64% in 2016, 62% in 2020 and 58% in 2024. Democratic affiliation, on the other hand, increased by 9 points, to 25%, and the percentage of independents doubled to 17%, during the same time period. Meanwhile, the share of Latter-day Saints who identify as 'conservative' fell from 61% to 50%, leading to an increase in self-described 'moderates' from 30% to 38%. But, as can be seen in the overall Latter-day Saint vote, these shifts have not translated to the ballot box. Trump's performance among Latter-day Saints has actually improved, paradoxically, as some voters attempt to distance themselves from certain conservative labels, Burge said. In 2016, 64% of Latter-day Saint voters identified as Republicans, and 61% as conservative, but Trump received around 50% of their vote. In 2024, GOP affiliation had fallen to 58%, and conservative identity to 50%, but Trump netted 66% of the Latter-day Saint vote. These crosscurrents could represent a desire among a substantial portion of Latter-day Saints to remain independent from 'the whole MAGA movement,' Burge said, even if they can't stomach the Democratic alternative and still vote for Trump. 'A lot of people want to say they're ideologically moderate but if you actually look at the way those groups vote, it's almost always leaning to what the larger group does,' Burge said. 'A vote's a binary choice, you don't get to stand in the middle on that.' Opposing pressures among the Latter-day Saint electorate have created a genuine 'swing voting bloc' among moderates, according to Burge. In 2020, moderate Latter-day Saints favored Joe Biden over Trump by 27 points, with nearly 60% voting Democrat. In 2024, however, moderate Latter-day Saints were split down the middle between Trump and Kamala Harris. Many of these swing voters appear to be those who came of age amid Trump's dominance in American politics. Less than one-third, 31%, of Latter-day Saint voters age 18-35 cast their ballot for Trump in 2020. But in 2024, Trump received support from 56% of young Latter-day Saints. The flip among young and moderate Latter-day Saint voters likely has something to do with tribal identities, and voters wanting to fit in with their community, Burge said, pointing out that 75% of Latter-day Saints over 50 voted for Trump in 2024. What's more, the relatively small gap in partisan affiliation among the youngest Latter-day Saint voters — with about 50% identifying as Republican and 35% as Democrat — is likely to grow over time because voters tend to become more conservative as they age, Burge said. But the increase in support for Trump among young Latter-day Saints might also reflect a process of self-selection, according to Burge. Politics has a greater impact on religious loyalties than many people would like to admit, Burge said, and some young people who leave the Republican Party because of Trump may also leave The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for linking or overlapping reasons. 'People are drawn to or from religious groups based on their political persuasion,' Burge said. 'What you're really seeing with the 18-35-year-old group of young LDS is the true believers because they're still identifying as LDS.' The church has issued statements declaring itself strictly 'neutral in matters of party politics.' The general handbook says, 'The Church does not endorse any political party or candidate. Nor does it advise members how to vote.' The church encourages its members to 'engage in the political process in an informed and civil manner, respecting the fact that members of the church come from a variety of backgrounds and experiences and may have differences of opinion in partisan political matters.'
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Are Latter-day Saints shifting left? Here's what the data shows
An analysis of the 2024 presidential election found that politically moderate and younger Latter-day Saints have 'warmed up' to President Donald Trump after swinging away from the Republican candidate in 2016 and 2020. The Republican rebound among young and moderate voters goes against some predictions of a permanent Latter-day Saint shift toward the Democratic Party during the Trump era, according to a comparison of election data published Monday by political scientist Ryan Burge. 'There's nothing here that says that the LDS vote is trending to the left,' Burge told the Deseret News. 'You can't look at the data and make that claim.' Trump's initial lackluster showing among Latter-day Saints in 2016 has largely been reversed, Burge shows, with moderate voters moving 15 percentage points toward Trump since 2020, and younger voters jumping 25 points back his direction. Much has been made of Latter-day Saints' lukewarm reception of Trump in 2016. That year, Trump received just 52% of the Latter-day Saint vote — down 30 percentage points from Mitt Romney in 2012, and 20 points from John McCain in 2008. The drop was mostly caused by Trump's bid pushing 26% of Latter-day Saint voters toward third-party candidate Evan McMullin, Burge said, while 22% voted for Hillary Clinton. But with no viable third-party alternative in 2020 and 2024, Trump's vote share among Latter-day Saints surged, resulting in identical results both times: with 66% of Latter-day Saints voting for Trump, and 30% for his opponent. 'I think most of the hesitancy people had about Trump went away,' Burge said. Burge's calculations are based on the latest data from the Cooperative Election Study, an election-year poll that surveyed 144,500 people from 2022 to 2024, including 1,600 self-identified Latter-day Saints. Taking a deeper look at the Latter-day Saint data reveals multiple transformations occurring simultaneously within one of the most religiously and civically active demographics in the United States. While Latter-day Saint voters continue to lean heavily Republican, Trump's rise to the top of conservative politics has contributed to real changes in Latter-day Saint political identification. Republican Party affiliation among Latter-day Saints fell from around 75% before Trump, to 64% in 2016, 62% in 2020 and 58% in 2024. Democratic affiliation, on the other hand, increased by 9 points, to 25%, and the percentage of independents doubled to 17%, during the same time period. Meanwhile, the share of Latter-day Saints who identify as 'conservative' fell from 61% to 50%, leading to an increase in self-described 'moderates' from 30% to 38%. But, as can be seen in the overall Latter-day Saint vote, these shifts have not translated to the ballot box. Trump's performance among Latter-day Saints has actually improved, paradoxically, as some voters attempt to distance themselves from certain conservative labels, Burge said. In 2016, 64% of Latter-day Saint voters identified as Republicans, and 61% as conservative, but Trump received around 50% of their vote. In 2024, GOP affiliation had fallen to 58%, and conservative identity to 50%, but Trump netted 66% of the Latter-day Saint vote. These crosscurrents could represent a desire among a substantial portion of Latter-day Saints to remain independent from 'the whole MAGA movement,' Burge said, even if they can't stomach the Democratic alternative and still vote for Trump. 'A lot of people want to say they're ideologically moderate but if you actually look at the way those groups vote, it's almost always leaning to what the larger group does,' Burge said. 'A vote's a binary choice, you don't get to stand in the middle on that.' Opposing pressures among the Latter-day Saint electorate have created a genuine 'swing voting bloc' among moderates, according to Burge. In 2020, moderate Latter-day Saints favored Joe Biden over Trump by 27 points, with nearly 60% voting Democrat. In 2024, however, moderate Latter-day Saints were split down the middle between Trump and Kamala Harris. Many of these swing voters appear to be those who came of age amid Trump's dominance in American politics. Less than one-third, 31%, of Latter-day Saint voters age 18-35 cast their ballot for Trump in 2020. But in 2024, Trump received support from 56% of young Latter-day Saints. The flip among young and moderate Latter-day Saint voters likely has something to do with tribal identities, and voters wanting to fit in with their community, Burge said, pointing out that 75% of Latter-day Saints over 50 voted for Trump in 2024. What's more, the relatively small gap in partisan affiliation among the youngest Latter-day Saint voters — with about 50% identifying as Republican and 35% as Democrat — is likely to grow over time because voters tend to become more conservative as they age, Burge said. But the increase in support for Trump among young Latter-day Saints might also reflect a process of self-selection, according to Burge. Politics has a greater impact on religious loyalties than many people would like to admit, Burge said, and some young people who leave the Republican Party because of Trump may also leave The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for linking or overlapping reasons. 'People are drawn to or from religious groups based on their political persuasion,' Burge said. 'What you're really seeing with the 18-35-year-old group of young LDS is the true believers because they're still identifying as LDS.' The church has issued statements declaring itself strictly 'neutral in matters of party politics.' The general handbook says, 'The Church does not endorse any political party or candidate. Nor does it advise members how to vote.' The church encourages its members to 'engage in the political process in an informed and civil manner, respecting the fact that members of the church come from a variety of backgrounds and experiences and may have differences of opinion in partisan political matters.'
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Religion, finances and violence: Latter-day Saint leaders provide answers to key questions
This article was first published in the ChurchBeat newsletter. Sign up to receive the newsletter in your inbox each Wednesday night. Latter-day Saint leaders recently released new resources providing additional transparency through answers to important questions. The information can be found in three new Gospel Topics and Questions pages on The pages on church finances, religion vs. violence and temples provide a broad look at important issues ranging from the use of tithing funds and other donations, doctrines and policies about violence and what happens inside temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Here's what is new and how the information can help church members and others. A new Gospel Topics page called Church Financial Administration will be of keen interest to many people, as much for the graphics included as for the information provided. Nearly all of the financial information has been reported in the past by the Deseret News, from the fact that the church annually spends $1 billion on education to its different reserve funds where it sets aside money for future needs. The page answers 10 questions like: Do church leaders receive financial support? Answer: Yes, members of the First Presidency, the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, the General Authority Seventies and the Presiding Bishopric receive a modest living allowance and insurance benefits so they can devote all their time to serving the Lord. Does the church pay taxes? Answer: Yes, the church and its affiliated entities pay various income, property, sales and value-added taxes. Why does the church spend so much on temples? Answer: Because they are houses of the Lord and the only places where people can make and receive covenants and ordinances that bind them and their families to God. So what is new in the finance Gospel Topics page? What is most visible are the new and easy to share graphics. Also, a news release that accompanied the release of the pages shared a graphic about the 19,000 locations where the church's 31,000 congregations worship each Sunday. 'The church spends hundreds of millions of dollars for meetinghouses each year,' the graphic says, representing the first time the church has provided a ballpark figure for meetinghouse costs. The news release also shared eight other graphics about church finances. A new page titled Religion vs. Violence openly discusses the Mountain Meadows Massacre ('the most tragic event in Latter-day Saint history') and blood atonement ('not a doctrine of the church'). The page poses and answers 11 questions, including: Are religious people more likely to be violent? Answer: No, 'most often, religious beliefs lead people to behave unselfishly and promote peaceful solutions to the world's problems.' How do we make sense of instances of violence in the scriptures? Answer: 'They should never be used to justify violence in the present.' The overall message of the page mirrors the peacemaking teachings of Jesus Christ, President Russell M. Nelson and others, including President Henry B. Eyring, first counselor in the First Presidency, who called violence 'a terrible and inexcusable departure from Christian teaching and conduct.' The new Gospel Topics page about temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints also answers 11 questions. The page could be helpful both to church members trying to answer questions about temples, temple worship and temple ordinances and to those unfamiliar with them. It provides a good, one-stop location for information on the covenants made in temples and much more. Other questions include: Why have there been some adjustments to temple procedures and ceremonies over time? Answer: Joseph Smith made adjustments to temple ceremonies from the church's beginnings and that has continued over the 195-year history 'as prophets have sought the Lord's guidance about the best way to explain and take the blessings of the temple to the Lord's children.' How does the temple endowment ceremony compare to Masonic rituals? Answer: 'There are some similarities between the teaching style and outward forms of Masonic ritual and the endowment, the substance and purpose of the two ceremonies are completely different.' That answer includes a link to the Church History Topics page on Masonry, and such links are provided in several places in all three of the new Gospel Topics pages. 'We're a partner to the cause': Church of Jesus Christ donates to center for child abuse survivors (May 23) Elder Ronald A. Rasband dedicated the Abidjan Ivory Coast Temple on Sunday. It is the first temple in the country and the church's 205th temple overall. Read the dedicatory prayer here. Elder Quentin L. Cook is on an eight-day ministry in the church's Europe North Area. In England, he said 'The Savior accomplished everything we need.' Elder Patrick Kearon joined a Catholic cardinal in ministering to parolees in the Philippines. Church leaders broke ground for the Benin City Nigeria Temple. The First Presidency announced the groundbreaking for the Vancouver Washington Temple, which isn't far from where I graduated from high school. Latter-day Saints now can choose between a mobile or printed temple recommend. The church used solar-powered desalination plants to provide clean drinking water to villages on five islands in Kiribati, with help to additional islands planned. A new sign honors the people of Quincy, Illinois, for sheltering Latter-day Saint pioneers expelled from Missouri in the winter of 1838-39. We're in the middle of a historic upheaval in sports. A new article shows how Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) deals are changing both the NFL and NBA, as well as college sports. Last month, only 69 underclassmen took part in the NFL Draft, down from 128 in 2021. Next month, only 106 players will be part of the NBA draft, down from 363 in 2021. More are staying in college because NIL money is more stable than draft position. While Provo, Rexburg, Laie and Salt Lake City — homes to BYU, BYU-Idaho, BYU-Hawaii and Ensign College — are all booming along with the enrollments at those schools, falling student enrollment at many public schools is busting many American towns. Demographics are part of the problem, as U.S. births peaked at 4.3 million in 2007 and have been falling almost every year since. The doors have closed at 242 institutions that issue college degrees in the past decade, according to the Hechinger Report. Also, more students are calculating that tuition prices and the opportunity cost of lost work years aren't it. The phenomenon is mostly striking regional state colleges and universities, according to the Wall Street Journal (paywall). It's pretty stats-heavy, but I enjoyed this look at whether Mike Trout or Mookie Betts is the best player of their generation.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
The Ukraine-Russia War through the eyes of ordinary people
Most people don't know the names or faces of any Ukrainian aside from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Harvard-trained historian Danielle Leavitt observes — with the rest of the country often seeming 'relatively nameless, faceless war people.' Having lived herself in Ukraine on and off since she was 12, Leavitt wondered, is it possible for outsiders to truly know Ukrainian people, 'not as war people or superheroes but as mere humans confronted with what was for many the unimaginable. Just like all of us, they are often brave, and they are sometimes not.' This Latter-day Saint historian decided to try, first by reviewing diaries posted online by Ukrainians at the beginning of the war. Since it was not safe to travel to their homes in the war zone, Leavitt contacted them online to begin following their lives through text messages. In addition to often daily written updates, Leavitt received regular voice recordings, photos and videos (however, photos, last names and sometimes even first names were withheld from publishing to protect the identity of subjects still in an active war zone). The author reports that such near 'constant contact created a different kind of presence: not physical, but persistent, and often very emotionally close.' The resulting text, 'By the Second Spring: Seven Lives and One Year of the War in Ukraine,' was described by Marcia Welsh in the Library Journal, as an 'important work of contemporary witness' for the way it 'gives names and faces, personality and identity' to a war 'mostly seen in the U.S. via news footage of tanks, masked soldiers, and demolished homes, schools, and hospitals.' Through the eyes of a cross section of modern Ukrainian society (most ethnically Ukrainian, some ethnically Russian), Leavitt explores what she calls 'the incomprehensible and deeply human task of believing in the future while destruction rages on.' During one interview, Maria, a young Ukrainian woman, tells the historian, 'you know, it's very important for me to remember these things and to talk about them. It helps me to continue living, to move forward.' Leavitt said she feels a 'responsibility to help preserve those voices in a form that would last longer than a social media feed or a fleeting news cycle.' Like 18-year-old Anna, who readers glimpse talking on the phone to her enlisted boyfriend near the front lines - sensing how scared he was. 'Often, if they had nothing left to say, they would just sit in silence, but even so, she could hear his breath rattling in the speaker, and she would listen to that as long as she could, knowing she was not alone.' Laying aside advice from others, Anna decides to join him on the front line - describing being encouraged to see trees that were still left undamaged not far from the battle, 'still beautifully full of leaves, and the sun shining through them.' While waiting for her soldier to pick her up, Anna worries: 'I hope he thinks I'm pretty.' Readers also witness the saga of a middle-aged woman from a small town in eastern Ukraine, Yulia, waiting at the train station contemplating what she might do in the garden that afternoon - having just planted blueberries and a currant in her yard. After hearing a harsh whistling sound above her head, Yulia finds herself in a pool of blood - with her legs badly wounded. Sixty others were killed at the Kramatorsk railway station that day. After her wide-eyed daughter and other family members transport her to the hospital, Yulia made only one request of her husband Oleg: 'please bring (to the hospital) one of the flowerpots filled with their soil.' Leavitt weaves historical background into the narrative, punctuating the potent personal stories. Such as Polina, a young Ukrainian woman living in Los Angeles, whose heart pounds as she follows news and video of the invasion in the early days. 'A new, foreign adrenaline washed over her body, and she trembled,' Leavitt writes, with the woman barely sleeping or eating over the next several days, anxiously refreshing the news to 'see if Kyiv was still standing.' 'Though physically safe, she felt as though she herself was under attack,' Leavitt continued, describing how this Latter-day Saint woman raised in Ukraine went back and forth between reaching out to people she knew trying to offer some help, and 'doubling over, nauseous, crying.' After a California rally, Polina reflected on the two realities she was living with her husband, John, who served a Latter-day Saint mission to Ukraine: 'one in which the world was actually coming to an end, and one in which people strolled outside with their families, complained about traffic, laughed, and took selfies.' When she and her husband began to consider going back to Ukraine, 'they felt a spike of energy.' Within two days, 'they gave away most of their stuff, packed up everything else, canceled their lease, quit their jobs' and found themselves dragging suitcases 'at total capacity, filled with over-the-counter medication, first aid supplies, and power banks for phones.' As this intrepid young couple tries to cross the border, the same one Ukrainians were fleeing, they see children at railway depots having stress-induced tantrums, while adult mothers stood there and 'openly wept.' As one mother got off the train carrying refugees out, 'aid workers threw them toothpaste, soap, toys, crackers, and water bottles. She accepted it all, dazed, struggling to carry everything.' 'Her young son tugged on her sleeve repeatedly, pestering: 'Mom where are we going?' She was silent. 'Mom—where are we going?'' 'I don't know,' she finally said. As the couple boarded a return train making them an easy target for attack, John and Polina looked at each other somberly. Only when they finally arrived in Lviv to a meal at their host's home, did their hearts stop racing. 'There is no single or 'correct' way to live through a war,' Leavitt underscores. 'Some people stay. Some leave. Some resist. Some survive quietly.' One story of quiet survival begins with a glimpse of a husband, Leonid, whispering to his wife one morning, 'We need to say goodbye' - as he prepares to leave to fight. Compared with tender departures in war movies, however, his wife Maria finds herself stiff and angry when he tries to embrace her - full of grief. After relying on her young husband so much, this Ukrainian mother, also in her mid-twenties, began to repeat to herself, 'I can do everything now. I will be the strong one.' Yet even when she received short notes from her husband to tell her that he was OK, Maria couldn't escape fury at his decision. With her two young children, Maria spends 12-hours at a time that late winter in a cold basement - as she did her best to occupy her baby and toddler playing games and telling stories (with battery life a precious commodity reserved for communication, tablet or TV entertainment wasn't any help). Explosions and shelling were so frequent that 'darting from the basement to… grab an item from the apartment, get some fresh air, cook food—risked sudden death.' Even so, Maria would venture out a couple of times a day to make a fire to heat soup with potatoes and canned fish. There was not enough water to wash themselves. 'Sick to their stomachs with anxiety and constantly cold,' Maria and her sister can hardly bring themselves to eat. They start to lose their milk supply from the constant stress, which 'further distressed the children, who batted at their breasts begging for milk that was not coming.' When the bombing began, Maria's body would get 'so rigid that the edges of all her body's muscles would ache.' The explosions that 'roared outside relentlessly' would frighten and awaken the children during the night. During daytime explosions, she would run to her young son, David, and 'hold him close, sing him songs, and rock him gently, a meditative motion she did as much for her own comfort as for his.' Her husband Leonid would show up intermittently, giving her a quick hug and then 'running quickly to the cellar to see David, swooping in, picking David up, and hugging him tight, trying to make him laugh.' As Leonid turned to leave, Maria would hug, but look away 'so that she didn't fall apart and cling to his clothes, begging him to stay like a woman possessed.' Upon glimpsing her city again from the view of their apartment, Maria gasps: 'Where there had been trees, or in the fields, where there used to be just gardens, now bodies are just lying there.' Leavitt is still in touch with all the people in the book, except one - 'still living through the story.' These individuals, now dear to her, continue to share updates with her, 'some joyful, some devastating.' This historian hopes her book will disclose a 'human depth' that's 'so often missing from the headlines.' Through these stories, she wants to offer others a more vivid sense of 'what it means to live inside the madness of an unwanted and brutal modern war.' Danielle Leavitt will be signing copies of her book, 'By the Second Spring: Seven Lives and One Year of the War in Ukraine' at Barnes and Noble in Orem on May 23 (6pm), and at Weller Book Works in Salt Lake City on May 24 (4pm).
Axios
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Axios
Faith, friendship and feuds: "The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives" returns
" The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives" is back for Season 2, featuring a new cast member, more infighting, and juicier drama. Why it matters: The anticipated season comes amid mainstream interest in the lives of Latter-day Saint women and on the heels of a Washington Post feature that declared 2024 " the year of Mormon women." What they're saying: Cast member Layla Taylor, 24, told Axios the series spotlighted Mormonism last year by showcasing LDS women and their varied approaches to the Utah-based faith. "We're not telling everyone to live your life this way, but we're saying that if you do, it's OK," she said. What's new: Season 2 introduces Miranda McWhorter, 27, who was part of the original #MomTok group that was linked to the 2022 viral swinging scandal that inspired the series. McWhorter, who clashes with former best friend Taylor Frankie Paul over what really transpired, told Axios, "Everyone wanted to know once and for all the tea on the swinging scandal." The season hones in on Taylor, Paul and McWhorter's experiences as single mothers in a community where divorce is deeply stigmatized. It also explores Whitney Leavitt's fallout from #MomTok after she left the group last season. Friction point: Despite its popularity, the series continues to be controversial to many Latter-Day Saints, who say the show "mischaracterizes" their religion. By the numbers: Within the first five days of its May 15 release, the reality television show garnered 5 million views on Disney+ and Hulu. 10 episodes of the season are available now. Last October, the show was renewed for 20 episodes, but it's unclear if 10 more will drop later this season or if they will appear in a potential third season.
