Approaching Justice
The above bumper sticker has been on our Chevy Suburban since early spring. Lyndee, my wonderful wife, let me put it on the vehicle after we decided to leave Wyoming. It was our way of saying that we no longer cared about what anyone in Wyoming thinks about us.
Being a Mormon made us black sheep amongst Wyoming Democrats. Recently, the state party promoted and championed a rant in the form on a letter to the editor which maligned religious people in general and Mormons in particular. With that, I officially renounced the Wyoming Democratic Party. I am still a Democrat, just not a Wyoming Democrat. I proudly identify with the national party and I look forward to soon being a Nevada Democrat.
Now, this is not just a Wyoming issue. Being a Mormon makes me an oddball on the left. I like it that way.
Being a Democrat, a liberal one no less, makes me a black sheep amongst Mormons. A friend recently asked if maybe I just really liked being oppositional. Well, that might have something to do with it. Yet, it is not so much that I am oppositional…I just see little reason to conform to either the Party culture or my religious culture…unless I want to do so.
Now I am an oddball Mormon for plenty of reasons, but as a political philosopher, activist, and one-time politician, my politics stands out…it is on my Suburban even. Plus, theological differences are more obscure and less identifiable.
Last week, as our family left the Natrona County Public Library after signing up for the summer reading program, we found a 3×5 index card on our windshield. It had a note:
"I LOVE your bumpersticker!"
I needed a kind note that day. I am grateful to the unknown angel that left it for us.
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