Navigating the Intersection of Faith and Politics | An Interview with Thomas Griffith

This is a rebroadcast. The episode originally ran in April 2021.
Judge Thomas B. Griffith is an expert in constitutional law. He has
served as chief counsel for both the U.S. Senate and for Brigham
Young University, and was appointed to a judgeship by George W.
Bush on the Washington, D.C., Court of Appeals, from which he
retired in 2020. In his church experience he has served as both a
bishop and a stake president. He currently lectures on law at
Harvard Law School and serves as a fellow at the Wheatley
Institution at BYU, as special counsel to the international law
firm of Hunton Andrews Kurth, and as senior policy advisor to the
National Institute for Civil Discourse. Links There is already a
discussion started about this podcast. Share your thoughts.
FaithMatters.org A Mormon Approach to Politics, by Thomas B.
Griffith Defending Our Divinely Inspired Constitution, by President
Dallin H. Oaks Beyond Politics, by Hugh Nibley Handbook links:
38.8.30 Political and Civic Activity 38.8.40 Seeking Information
from Reliable Sources Liberals, Doctrine, & Apologetics at
Church | An Interview with Blair Hodges Transcript coming soon Get
14-day access to the Core Leader Library Highlights In this
collaborative episode, Kurt Francom and Faith Matters co-founder
Bill Turnbull talk with Thomas to explore President Oaks’ 2021
General Conference address, "Defending Our Divinely Inspired
Constitution". President Oaks spoke passionately about the U.S.
Constitution and ended with an urgent admonition to end political
tribalism and division, insisting that we address this in our wards
and stakes. They also discuss what lies behind those divisions—the
rapid erosion of goodwill and trust in the American body
politic—including among Latter-day Saints. Thomas believes
Latter-day Saints can and must play a critical role in healing
today’s divides. Leaders especially have a role in helping ward
members follow President Oaks’ counsel. 2:10 Quote from President
Oaks' talk: "On contested issues, we should seek to moderate and
unify. … There are many political issues, and no party, platform,
or individual candidate can satisfy all personal preferences. Each
citizen must therefore decide which issues are most important to
him or her at any particular time. Then members should seek
inspiration on how to exercise their influence according to their
individual priorities. This process will not be easy. It may
require changing party support or candidate choices, even from
election to election." 3:45 The thought never occurred to him that
his political views were driven by his faith commitments Quote from
President Oaks' talk: "Such independent actions will sometimes
require voters to support candidates or political parties or
platforms whose other positions they cannot approve. That is one
reason we encourage our members to refrain from judging one another
in political matters. We should never assert that a faithful
Latter-day Saint cannot belong to a particular party or vote for a
particular candidate. We teach correct principles and leave our
members to choose how to prioritize and apply those principles on
the issues presented from time to time. We also insist, and we ask
our local leaders to insist, that political choices and
affiliations not be the subject of teachings or advocacy in any of
our Church meetings." 6:40 What can leaders take away from this:
How does this apply to me? How can I change and be a better
disciple of Christ based on this counsel? 8:30 Rigid identification
with one political party has been a long-time concern with the
general leadership of the church 9:45 Polarization is complicated:
we sort ourselves with like-minded people and have less interaction
with people who think differently, and those interactions are
increasingly hostile 11:15 Media, social media, and confirmation
bias: living in an echo chamber 13:45 Be introspective and
thoughtful,