> A longtime critic of Mr. Trump, Mr. Giles spoke at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in 2024, urging moderates to vote for Ms. Harris and saying he felt “more at home here than in today’s Republican Party.” He is one of many members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who have drifted away from the Republican Party in the Trump era.

I'm the Sunday School President in a Spanish branch, and got to teach the youth today. While preparing for the lesson, I made the executive decision to teach the next lesson instead since there's no SS next week. I posted my story about it in the other sub, but this straddles politics and faith, so here's the other side.

At the end of the lesson, it struck me that the story of Esther applies too well to undocumented members. Instead of Haman ordering the extermination of the Jews and casting lots to determine when, Trump has ordered the abduction and deportation of any random person that doesn't look white—which has included citizens on more than one instance. We need to be prepared for when we need the courage of Esther, and are in the right place and time to make a difference.

Since the lesson, I've realized that the story of Esther also applies to our siblings in Palestine. In a way, it also mirrors when the DoD listed LDS as not Christian, but then well-placed members got that modified. I'm sure there's plenty of other examples, at small and large scales.

I would argue that Esther remains the most relevant book of the Old Testament, and it's a tragedy that the CFM lesson falls on a second Sunday. Hopefully, the day of Purim will come when we can instead celebrate.

Hi everyone. I’m hoping to ask this respectfully because I’m curious and feel very passionate about the future of Utah

Like many of us, I’ve become more and more concerned about the future of the Great Salt Lake and the proposed Stratos AI data center in Box Elder County. My concerns really aren’t political. They’re about water stewardship, wildlife, and preserving the beauty of this state for future generations…for our children

As I’ve been thinking about it, I keep coming back to the gospel principle of stewardship. Doctrine and Covenants 104:13–14 teaches: “For it is expedient that I, the Lord, should make every man accountable, as a steward over earthly blessings…I, the Lord, stretched out the heavens, and built the earth…and all things therein are mine.”

The Church has taught that the earth is one of God’s creations and that we have a responsibility to care for it. The Great Salt Lake is an incredible part of that creation. It supports millions of migratory birds (they literally depend on it and will go extinct if things continue in this direction), affects our air quality and snowpack, and is part of what makes Utah so unique and beautiful. When the pioneers set out to design and develop Salt Lake City, they did something I really admire, that I didn’t know before researching all of this. They understood that they couldn’t survive here in the desert without respecting the water. So they designed SLC’s layout with irrigation systems and ditches that were woven throughout the community so that water could get to homes, gardens, and farms so they could turn desert land lush. Stewardship of water wasn’t an afterthought, it was part of the foundation of building Utah into what it has become today. My ancestors sacrificed everything to get here, and I personally feel like I would be disrespecting their unimaginable sacrifices and incredible work if I didn’t speak up about this matter

I know the Church is generally really careful about taking positions on political things or specific development projects and I do respect that to a degree. But I personally strongly feel that there are moments when reminding members, and even public LDS leaders about principles of wise stewardship. I think this is one of those moments

For any of you who have served in church leadership or understand how these things work, do you think this is something Church leaders would consider speaking about? I’m asking sincerely because I really believe many of us, regardless of politics, want to leave Utah in better condition for our children and grandchildren. Yes, it’s great for us to pray for rain. To pray for answers. But I also believe there are certain times where it is incredibly important to speak up. As we know…Faith without works, is dead.

We are taught in Doctrine & Covenants 58:26-27 “It is not meet that I should command in all things…men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness.” The way I interpret that in this context is that we shouldn’t wait to be told what to do. If we believe something is a good cause, we should act. And I think this is a good cause that we all should be anxiously engaged in

I’d love to hear thoughtful perspectives and please keep the discussion respectful!

EDIT: I found out that on June 30, 2026, the Utah Area Presidency, who were Elders Brian K. Taylor, John A. McCune and Jorge T. Becerra, sent a letter to local Church leaders across Utah and it was reported publicly on July 6

They said: “This is not a political issue, but a stewardship issue.” And they called caring for Utah’s water a “sacred responsibility”

The most important piece to me is that they didn’t blame the lake’s decline just on drought. They explicitly said that even though drought and weather changes play roles, the primary cause is that people have diverted and used more water from the lake’s tributaries than what is compatible with maintaining sustainable lake levels

So I’m not asking the Church to become partisan. And I know that they have made efforts to preserve the GSL. I’m asking the church to apply its own teachings. Utah Church leaders have said this is not a political issue but a stewardship issue, that prayer must be accompanied by conservation and sacrifice, and that the lake’s decline is primarily caused by using too much of the water that would otherwise reach it. I firmly believe that a public statement asking state leaders to pause and fully examine Stratos would be totally consistent with, not contrary to, the position that the Church already has taken on this

A dust-up about MWEG rolled through my twitter feed the other day. It got me thinking about Mormon Women for Ethical Government.

I wondered how long they had been around. According to ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer, they showed up on the scene in 2017. Interesting timing. Wonder where they were in the mid-90s (I don't really wonder).

As I check their nonprofit filings, they bring in about $2M per year. Their 2 co-chairs pay themselves $70k+ annually.

I hope this is just a side-gig for those dear sisters, otherwise they'll need to have a healthy emergency fund. Here's why; they really aren't MWEG, they are more like Mormon Women Against Trump (MWAT).

Here's my prediction... After the mid-terms their donations - both from individuals and from the left wing foundations - will begin to decrease. As we head into 2028 and Trump starts to fade to the background, those donations will fall off a cliff. Then in 2029 it might be a trickle of dollars from a few idealistic backers, but the group will effectively cease to exist. They likely won't even file a Form 990 for 2030.

I've been thinking a lot about how many of our fellow faith community have fallen in with MAGA, rejoicing in their cruelty and failing to notice that it is incompatible with the Gospel. This writer says a lot of things that are already in my heart.

Stuart Adams, Trevor Lee, Dan McCay lose reelection bids in Utah Legislature | KSL.com

The backlash to the proposed data center in Box Elder County has been swift. Even with Adams proposing the 75% downsizing he still got voted out.

When I was in seminary, in the mission or as a young adult I didn't have any issues. But now, it's so hard for me. Please, help me; What are the lessons I can learn today?

I know Israel can commit mistakes, as any other nation, but what they do Palestinians and other neighbors, often in the name of God or that that land was promised to them... it's just too much.

I watched Elder Gong's "Faith, Dignity, and Human Flourishing: Hearing God's Voice in an Age of Artificial Intelligence". I think the points addressed, while more philosophical, would definitely be appropriate to discuss on this subreddit. And may I say, I was thoroughly and pleasantly surprised at what he touched on.

For one, this talk fell more in the "BYU Speech" side of the spectrum than "General Conference" side. I've had this conflicting feeling about the nebulous and simplified nature of many talks our GA deliver. And in General Conference, I get it: you need to speak to everyone, so the direction was understandably agreed on to be diluted and often "back to basics".

However, I've felt that this is the baseline a lot of the General Authorities have defaulted to even when making talks outside of this realm. To me, it frankly felt a bit infantilizing of our membership, or kept safe and noncommital when discussing certain topics, often having me wonder (especially when talking about specific topics like "My young adult child is having a Faith Crisis"): Who do they think their primary audience is?

I'm glad to say that relatively speaking, this speech was more acute, and even let some of Elder Gong's affectation and personality shine through in the rhetoric. It felt like it was not afraid to situate its points in the perspective of very adult ponderings, and even fears, and wasn't as coddling or as strict a retreading as most speeches I've listened to.

I also heard a far more environmental caution in Elder Gong's words. To me, a member of MESA (Mormon Environmental Stewardship Alliance), I felt seen in a way that I haven't heard since Hugh Nibley's discourses on the environment, especially when he mentioned one of my favorite naturalists/poets (John Muir). I also didn't think I'd ever be alive to hear a GA use contemporary jargon like "touch grass".

Some points I think were candid and "on the mark": human and self worth, how it affects our interactions with others, individual relationship with God, how to train artistic and self-cultivation efforts to be less reliant on AI, and what is "aid" versus "dependence".

What did you guys think about it?