Late last night, Mitt Romney conceded the 2012 presidential election to Barack Obama.  Having been born and raised in Utah, it was no shock to see a largely negative response from my friends and family.

Here’s a sampling of their comments:

“Cannot believe how stupid the majority of people in this country are.  They are all idiots.”

“For as their laws and their governments were established by the voice of the people, and they who chose evil were more numerous than they who chose good, therefore they were ripening for destruction, for the laws had become corrupted. Helaman 5:2.”

“God will not be mocked.”

I find the mingling of Mormonism and Conservatism to be disturbing.  For years, I’ve had a left-leaning tilt in my political views but I try not to make the mistake of confusing my political beliefs for the will the God.

Too many in the Mormon community have allowed themselves to think that their favorite political party and candidate are somehow tied to their testimony of the truthfulness of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  When they are confronted with an opposing political viewpoint, they react with the same vitriol as they would to someone challenging their faith.  It ain’t purdy.

Face it.  Our religion is a bit weird.  We’re stiff.  We have a tendency to be rather exclusive, perhaps a bit judgmental.  We are more preoccupied with avoiding the evils of coffee and porn than we are about poverty and illness.  We have a history of systemic racism. And polygamy still makes us look a little silly because we refuse to think of it as anything but God’s will.

The secrets are out.  Everybody knows about our underwear.  Our most secret ordinances are on Youtube.  The great mysteries of our religion are just few clicks away.  We cannot hide from it.  We should not hide from it.

But, by taking the ideas of a political party and incorporating it into our faith we do a disservice to our broad and deep religion.  In Temples across the world, women are blessed to become priestesses.  Early women pioneers placed their hands on each others heads and gave blessings.  We believe in a Heavenly Mother who is equal partners with our Heavenly Father.  We were on the forefront of suffrage.  But, somewhere along the way, the Mormon community co-opted the idea that a woman is lesser than her husband.  She belongs in the home, supporting the priesthood holder.

By allowing a political belief — the Conservative tenant of ‘Family Values’ — to become part of the Mormon Faith we do a disservice to the eternal nature of woman.

I think there are other examples of how human beliefs have unnecessarily permeated our faith: the ban on African-Americans holding the priesthood or attending temples, for example.  Joseph Smith gave at least two African-Americans the Melchizedek priesthood.  It was only after his death that the policy of denying God’s blessings to people with dark skin was formalized by Brigham Young.  But, to this day, Mormons are unable to accept that institutional racism was not God’s will.  We goofed up.  We allowed a temporary idea to become so entrenched we confused it for the will for God.  We have to be able to admit our mistakes and move forward.  God isn’t a racist.  Brigham was.

Next time a Mormon comes to the forefront like Mitt Romney did (please, not any time soon) let’s remember that he (or she) is not the sum total of our faith. Their beliefs are their own, they are not dictates from God.

Yes, we have funny underwear.  Yea, we do all that stuff in the temple.  So what?  Embrace it.  Don’t freak out, it’s who we are, it’s our history, our culture, our identity.  There is so much beauty in the temple and even in what our garments represent.  But, we have to let go of those ideas that are based on hate and exclusion.

You can still believe in the church and not believe in racism or sexism.  You have my permission.  You don’t have to accept hard-line views on abortion.  You don’t have to see political diversity as a sign of evil.  If someone disagrees with you, they are not tools of the devil.  They are not stupid.  They too have values and beliefs that are important to them.

We have a broad, deep faith based on the belief that we have an unlimited personal potential.  We should be wary of taking that faith and cramming it into any political platform.