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{"id":223,"date":"2012-06-18T16:55:07","date_gmt":"2012-06-18T23:55:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jeremylott\/?p=223"},"modified":"2012-06-19T09:06:27","modified_gmt":"2012-06-19T16:06:27","slug":"development-of-dougherty-doctrine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jeremylott\/2012\/06\/development-of-dougherty-doctrine\/","title":{"rendered":"Development of Dougherty Doctrine"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

The Doctrine has broader application than Republicans. All political parties engage in it from time to time as its members try to tug it in one direction or other. And pundits practice it constantly, usually without much evidence. (The \u201cradical right\u201d is costing Republicans with swing voters; Dems are losing because they\u2019re \u201ctoo centrist\u201d or \u201ctoo liberal.\u201d) Sometimes that\u2019s understandable: television is not the most thoughtful medium and the usual length of op-eds forces writers to use a lot of shortcuts. Still, it\u2019s worth pointing out how identity-driven such politics actually tend to be.<\/p>\n

Does the Dougherty Doctrine apply to religion as well? That possibility occurred to me when I read this piece<\/a> by Carrie Sheffield in USA Today<\/em>. It\u2019s not a bad piece. Indeed, I led with it on Real Clear Religion<\/a> this afternoon. But the biographical angle raises certain large questions.<\/p>\n

Sheffield is a former Mormon whose work I\u2019ve published in the past, when she was still Mormon. She writes in USA Today<\/em> that she left the LDS church<\/a> in 2010 and positions her exit as part of a larger rush out the door that the Utah hierarchy really needs to address.<\/p>\n

\u201cChurch leaders can crack down and continue to see members, especially young people, leave,\u201d Sheffield writes. \u201cOr they can allow churchwide dialogue and changes relating to the church\u2019s historical and doctrinal claims, financial dealings, proselytizing and treatment of women, skeptics and outsiders.\u201d<\/p>\n

Just how large is the problem? Sheffield writes, \u201cThis year, Elder Marlin Jensen, the Mormon Church\u2019s outgoing official historian, acknowledged that members are defecting from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints<\/a> \u2018in droves\u2019 and that the pace is increasing.\u201d<\/p>\n

That sounds alarming, but without the relevant numbers, it\u2019s not terribly helpful. Just how many Mormons<\/a> are calling it quits and how does that stack up against Mormon births and conversions? She doesn\u2019t grapple with that question. Instead we get a lot of anecdotes about some former Mormon protest groups, a YouTube video with half a million views, and \u201chundreds\u201d of pro-gay Mormons that marched in something or other.<\/p>\n

Nor does Sheffield consider what a sort of Vatican 2 for Mormonism would do to the faith and practice of the large mass of faithful Mormons. Maybe most Mormons would be fine with it, or maybe you\u2019d see LDS participation plummet much like Mass attendance did in the 1970s. I\u2019d guess the latter but it\u2019s only a guess, because I\u2019d like to avoid the temptations of the Dougherty Doctrine on this fine Monday.<\/p>\n

UPDATE: Carrie Sheffield has replied here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"