Yes, I am a "fence sitter."

“I don’t believe you can be a Democrat and be a good Mormon,” I overheard a young man declare in the library my freshman year. This statement got me thinking; is it okay to be a Democrat and Mormon? Are their views cohesive with my religious views as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (also known as Mormons)? Harry Reid, a Democrat and a Mormon once said, “I am a Democrat because I am Mormon, not in spite of it.” Did I agree with Harry Reid’s declaration? It was time for me to find out for myself what I believed and what I stood for. After much studying, many political debates and some soul searching, I came to the conclusion that it is okay to share political views and beliefs with parties on both sides of the aisle. President Gordon B. Hinckley has said that we need more people on both sides, fighting for the good in each political group.
The quest begins
My high school years were filled with controversy. Moving from a predominantly white, wealthy suburb in Oregon to one of the most diverse counties in the United States opened my eyes to different perspectives, especially in the field of politics. I originally considered myself to be a fairly conservative Republican, but also open to all political views no matter which political platform they were part of. Due to my beliefs about what the family is, I had a stance against gay marriage and abortion, thus steering me away from the “left side,” however, many of the traditionally Democratic stances resonated with me. When I moved to California I participated in several school clubs including the Black Student Union (BSU) and the Young Republicans. Ironically, I found myself more accepted in the BSU even though I am not Black. Despite our different racial backgrounds and skin colors, I built strong relationships with many of these people due to our desires to fight for equality. This led me to learn more about their political beliefs and a high percentage of them happened to be Democrats. As we talked politics, I found myself agreeing with many of their views, but through a Conservative lens.
Years later I moved to the Republican state of Idaho; this is where the real political journey for me began. I left California still believing myself to be more of a Conservative, but I was in for a culture shock. After hearing that young man from my freshman year make comments about Democrats, my innate desire to fight for the underdog resurfaced. I started to attend College Democrats on campus. There I was able to gain a more complete understanding of the issues the BSU introduced to me. Here was a room full of my peers who had the same religious beliefs as I did and still floated to the left side. However, we were still by and large the minority on Brigham Young University’s Idaho campus. I faced some controversy from the political majority. For example, en route to a College Democrats meeting I ran into a friend who happened to be chatting with the president of the College Republicans. When I told them where I was headed, his reply was, “Have fun in Hell!” Outraged at his close-mindedness and mostly out of rebellion, I decided right then and there that I was a solid Democrat. Thus began my fight against all Republicans, but that soon changed as well.
Learning more about both sides (so I could argue)
In our family and among my friends, we like to debate. I consider myself somewhat of an expert in this field. I have found that you cannot really be passionate and opinionated about one side of an argument without being knowledgeable of its opposite. But, let’s be honest, it would take way too long to talk about both sides of each and every subject within politics. It takes candidates the better part of year to get debate and rally each issue. As a result, I am going to touch on a few things that I feel passionate about within both parties seeing as they helped shape my current political opinion. The more I research, the more I see that there are fundamental dichotomies within each party. To simplify, Republicans are for less government involvement in American lives and Democrats are for more government involvement. This is very interesting considering Republicans want to prohibit abortion and gay rights and Democrats are pro-choice and pro gay rights.
The main reason why I felt compelled to claim the “left side” came from my research on health insurance. One out of seven people in the Unites States do not have health insurance. Democrats want to move towards socializing health care, making it more affordable for everyone, essentially leading it to be controlled by the government. Republicans feel this will bring problems to health care, long lines and inefficiencies. Both sides want to make things better, but can’t find a common ground.
As for welfare and poverty, Democrats want to raise the national minimum wage to $7 allowing parents the opportunity to raise their children outside of poverty. It seems like a good idea, but Republicans are asking where this money would come from. The answer is taxes. Americans already feel like they are paying too much in taxes. When it comes to welfare, Republican say people should have the choice to give and shouldn’t be forced. This is where I struggle. If we aren’t forced to help then will it get done? I don’t know. I do know that when it comes to the Mormon faith, we are constantly striving to be more like Christ, and He would have helped. However, He never forced anyone to do that same—in fact that was Satan’s plan. Instead, He encouraged others to follow His example.
I also struggle with moral issues. I am a believer in the sentiment, “love the sinner hate the sin.” Republicans are constantly fighting to keep the definition of marriage between a man and a woman. By doing this it seems that we do not love the sinner as we are not giving them the agency to choose how they want to live their lives and who they are allowed to love and marry. But then, as members of the Mormon church it is our duty to stand up for the family as God has defined it from the beginning of time. On some issues like abortion and gay rights, it seems that I am more of a Republican. Having many people close to me whom can only have a family through adoption I am an advocate for women to have their babies and placing them with a loving family who would give them a good life. As for those whom choose the Gay lifestyle, I love them, I mean it, but I am still a believer in the family beginning with a man and women. Yet, on issues like governmental assistance like welfare and health care, I am more of a Democrat. I see good and bad within each party.
Coming to a conclusion
My father calls me a “Demublican” since I am clearly within both sides of party lines. I continue battling my ideas on government and life. I am only 20 years old and it seems that I am holding a pretty high expectation for myself to come to a full understanding of what I believe when in reality I am really on a life-long journey of learning. Politics aren’t something that you can just read up on and become an expert on overnight--or even within a few months. You have to live life, experience things and then draw an opinion from those experiences whether they are the area you are from with their respective socioeconomic demographics, diversity, joining the Black Student Union or going to BYU-Idaho. Despite my evolving political opinion and constant learning, I still have some sense of what I believe and what I want to fight for. And I am proud of that as it has not come easy. I give myself credit for caring enough about politics to learn about the issues that face us today and take a stand—even if I stand as both a Democrat and a Republican, even a “Demublican.”