Yes! Mormons of all types of religious and spiritual persuasions can be Socialists. Mormons have historically participated in the fight for Socialism and many do today, including members of Mormons with Hope for a Better World. Many specifically wonder whether members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints can be Socialists. We do not claim to speak for the LDS Church, but our answer is also yes! The LDS Church’s official policy is that ”faithful Latter-day Saints can belong to a variety of political parties and vote for a variety of candidates.” Here are some things worth remembering regarding this question:

1. ”The [LDS] Church does not endorse, promote or oppose political parties and their platforms.” It also does not ”advise its members on how to vote.” This position obviously applies to Socialist, Communist, or otherwise Left-Wing parties in the United States. More than that, it is in the context of the LDS Church’s status as an international church that it has embraced this policy. This policy applies in nations with robust Leftist, Socialist, and Communist parties of which many Latter-day Saints belong and retain membership.

2. The various oppositions to Socialism (and even social programs generally) expressed by some LDS Church leaders were largely localized to the period of the Cold War. These views ”represent personal … opinion[s], not meant to be official or binding for the whole Church.” They should be understood as based on their language and understanding—or even misunderstandings—and the complex and incredibly volatile political landscape of McCarthyist America. They should be understood in their historical and socio-political contexts just as Latter-day Saints reflexively understand various statements on other contentious issues of that and other time periods made by some of the LDS Church’s leaders that do not represent the contemporary positions of the LDS Church.

3. Opposition to Socialism is hardly Mormonism’s consistent word on the matter. Early Mormon leaders, Mormons, and Latter-day Saints had a variety of encounters with 19th and 20th century socialistic thought and a variety of responses to them. Active Latter-day Saints were mainstays in Utah’s Socialist Party in the early 20th century, for example. Statements made during the contentious political atmosphere of the Cold War are hardly representative of this complex history. We find that the historical Mormon tradition is filled with consistent spiritual, religious, and ethical reasons for Latter-day Saints to consider supporting Socialist platforms. This, we believe, is the only consistent way to account for historical and contemporary examples of Mormons and Latter-day Saints who are also committed Socialists.

4. Ultimately, the Lord leaves your political activities to you: ”be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness. For the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves. And inasmuch as [people] do good they shall in nowise lose their reward” (D&C 58:27-28). If you are an active Latter-day Saint who views our program as a political orientation that will cause you to be “anxiously engaged in a good cause,” we believe it will be a fruitful expression of your faith in the realm of secular politics. We encourage you to experiment upon this principle and see if you feel it is the fruitful expression of your faith we think it will be.

No. Mormons with Hope for a Better World is a strictly political organization with a strictly political program. We support our members in their various advocacies for greater justice within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, religious organizations, or other organizations they belong to, but our advocacy and struggle is centered on political issues. We will only engage in advocacy or criticism of issues that directly contradict our political program—this does extend to corporations and even religious organizations where relevant. We do not seek to change the LDS Church or influence its internal activities as an aspired end. It is not in our program or organizational vision.

Mormons with Hope for a Better World is dedicated to the principles laid out in our program, including the fight to end capitalism, imperialism, colonialism, occupation, Apartheid, racism, sexism, ableism, queerphobia, carceral systems, religious and ethnic persecution, and all oppressive systems. MWH is dedicated to socialist politics, but we are a non-sectarian Leftist movement with a broad coalition. From Social Democrats to Democratic Socialists, from Marxist-Leninists to Syndicalists, Open Marxists to Orthodox Marxists, Anarchists to Tortskyists, and Third-Worldists to Post-Marxists—from those really dedicated to a particular persuasion of Leftist thinking to people who haven’t engaged formally with any Leftist theory—if a person agrees with our 10-Point Program, they are welcome to join and organize with us.

This is for a few reasons:

1. We seek to build a strong, diverse, and mobilized Mormon Left. We believe sectarianism is counter-revolutionary at this moment for that aim.

2. The material conditions of capitalism create morally ambiguous circumstances where some may feel differently about the best and most ethical readily available ways to alleviate the harms of imperialist capitalist hegemony. Fracturing on the basis of disagreement of the morality of morally shaky questions will help absolutely no one.

3. Some may feel particular ideologies espoused by some of our members will ultimately acquiesce to the very systems we oppose. We expect disagreement on these matters; Leftists are not monolithic. That said, the United States is so far right it is in your best interests to partner with anyone opposed to fascist politics and capitalism. In the event that there is a robust Mormon and American Left, further defining ourselves by our particular ideologies may be helpful. No such event has occured.

We offer an expansive atmosphere to interrogate and investigate various Leftist and Socialist political ideologies and perspectives. We hope to be a space where our members can grow in their revolutionary political understandings freely without judgement. As the Prophet Joseph Smith said: ”I never thought it was right to call up a man and try him because he erred in doctrine. ... I want the liberty of believing as I please. It feels so good not to be trammeled. It doesn’t prove that a man is not a good man because he errs in doctrine.”

Joining Mormons with Hope for a Better World is incredibly easy! Just fill out some basic information on our Join page and come to a meeting so we can get to know you better. Retaining membership is easy, just consistently show up to monthly meetings as you are able. We’re happy to have you!

Nothing! Our meetings live out the slogan posted outside Latter-day Saint chapels around the world: visitors welcome. Anyone who wishes to respectfully visit our meetings and learn more is welcome to come.

The Bee and the Rose is more than a symbol, it is an integral part of Mormons with Hope for a Better World. We offer the following explanation of this important symbol so others understand the weight, importance, beauty, and power it carries for us:

Read more: The Bee and the Rose