I'm pretty liberal.

At least by Mormon standards.

I'm proud of myself for going this long in my blog without bringing up politics. I actually hate politics—the games, the power struggles, the insincerity, the hypocrisy. At the same time, however, I love keeping up with what's going on in the world politically—it somehow helps me feel connected to the rest of the world. It allows me to make informed decisions and form opinions about day-to-day issues which match my core beliefs.

At the risk of revealing my identity, I must confess that I have a graduate degree in political-related something-or-other. :) I both hated and loved getting this degree. It was fascinating and frustrating all at once.

I grew up in the west in the midst of some very staunch conservatives. Even now, most of my mo-friends are quite conservative. I love it. We challenge each other. We respect each other even though we don't always understand each other.

I love when people are informed about their viewpoints and can defend them when necessary. But I don't love arguing.

I don't need people to agree with me. (In fact, most of my mo-friends don't). But I do need people to accept that my views are valid. And more importantly—that they don't make me a bad Mormon.

I take care not to flaunt my “liberal” views around my mo-friends. (And I use the term “liberal” very loosely. By rest-of-the-world standards, I'm more of a moderate.) But if you ask me what I think about an issue, I will tell you.

I have found that this can put my faith under closer scrutiny. Which is no fair, no fun, and frankly—kind of a turn off. Because if you are of the mindset that there is only one Church-sanctioned viewpoint for each issue, you're not really the kind of person I want to be with.