Q&A with a Mormon Elder

As Mormons encounter greater media attention and scrutiny, Reuters spoke with Elder D. Todd Christofferson, a member of the Presidency of the Seventy, a church leadership body, in his office at the headquarters of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City, Utah. The following are excerpts from the interview.

REUTERS: As Mitt Romney (a Republican and prominent member of the Mormon church) runs as a candidate for the White House, the church is now under the spotlight - is this something that you are ready for?

CHRISTOFFERSON: I don't know if we are ready or not. You'll have to decide that. But we welcome it in the sense that even though the church has grown in recent years to a significant sizewe're still a largely unknown quantity for a lot of people. So, to the extent that attention can be informative as opposed to pejorative and there's a sincere interest and honest curiosity I think that's positive.

REUTERS: Joseph Smith ran for president. Brigham Young was head of the Utah territory and once said he intended to make Utah a sovereign state. The early church history is very political. Given that this was just 170 years ago, what relationship does the church have with politics today?

CHRISTOFFERSON: I think it's important to distinguish the church's role as an institution and the roles of its members as individuals. We do as a church encourage members to be politically involved, to the extent that it's permitted under whatever system they live in At least at a minimum to exercise the right to vote if they have that. By contrast, as an institution the church sees its primary role as teaching the gospel and helping people become better, and influence society through improving people and people's lives. In other words, we don't believe political systems change people but rather that religion can improve or enhance people who in turn make better societies, better laws, better governments.

If we have any role in politics it's indirect one like that except in situations where we have a position on something we think is of moral significance - a piece of legislation or a proposal that has some particular moral significance where we want to take a position - we feel we are free to do that and petition government as any ordinary citizen or organization is permitted to do. But to try to direct members in their political choices, no; to oppose or promote candidates, no; to try to dictate to members of the church who happen to be government officials, no.

In our view, the first loyalty of a member of the church in his role as a government official is to the nation and his constituency. As a church member, he's obligated to be honest, uphold high moral standards in his own life, to exercise his best judgment but he's not required to vote in a particular way or act in a particular way with regard to his duties or his political activity.

REUTERS: Or put God above the law?

CHRISTOFFERSON: No, his first duty is to his constituency and nation. Even where the church has taken a firm or vigorous position on something, which we do occasionally, if a member as a government officer votes in a different way or contrary to the church's position there's no church censure, there's no church discipline applied.

A recent example would be the proposed constitutional amendment on defense of marriage. We had senators voting both ways. In federal funding for stem cell research, we've got senators going both ways. Both members of the church. In the one case, the church took a position. The church favored the defense of marriage amendment. In the other case they took no position, but what I'm saying is that either way we say be honest, be of high moral standards and govern yourself that way but vote according to your best judgment.

If we were to try and dictate to members how to vote or how to act who had political office we would contravene a very fundamental doctrine and the whole idea of pluralism and religious freedom that we value so much.

REUTERS: That said, is the Romney campaign exciting for Mormons?

CHRISTOFFERSON: I think it is for many members. I'm sure there are many who support his candidacy and others who don't. It's not going to be 100 percent in either direction. But it's of interest obviously because it's a fellow church member who is in a prominent political race in this country. It's a matter certainly of interest here.

REUTERS: On Romney, is it problematic for a Saint to use Baptist language to describe their faith, as Romney is now doing as he seeks the vote of evangelicals. He says, for example, that Jesus is his personal savoir - but that means two different things for evangelicals and Mormons.

CHRISTOFFERSON: I don't think so. I'm guessing but I'm presuming he's trying to be understood - to communicate in a language that other people understand. Much of the problem we found in the past with religious conflict is people talking past each other. They don't understand each other's vocabulary. And many times there's not the level of disagreement or conflict that there appears to be just because the terms and phrases and how people understand different things so if he can make himself understood by the use of vocabulary that other people understand that's alright. It doesn't cause me any problems.

REUTERS: Do you believe that the LDS faith is the "One True church"? Is that a fundamental underpinning of the church?