Was Harry Reid elected by the voters of Nevada to represent their interests, or was he elected by the LDS Church to represent its interests?
I answered this already on, I believe, post #21.
The whole thing serves to illustrate once again that one cannot be (present tense) a Democrat and a good Mormon at the same time. No exceptions.
Nonsense. My parents have been active, faithful Mormons since they day they were baptized (thanks partly to my "member missionary" efforts with them) about 30 years ago.
Active and faithful only on the surface if their politics contradicts the doctrine.
They've served in many leadership and teaching positions since that time. They've faithfully attended the temple, although it's a three hour drive. They both spend many hours in community service, particularly in working in facilities dedicated to helping the poor. Right now they are serving a mission for the church.
This only shows they're on the right path. It does not necessarily indicate which direction they're going.
They are also democrats, and have been as long as I remember.
If it only goes back 30 years. I'd say they've been apostates for as long as you can remember because they have been acting in opposition to the Church. It's not necessarily intentional, but being blinded by the craftiness of men is no excuse.
Their political opinions have been strongly influenced by the Book of Mormon, which stridently preaches against greed and neglect of the poor and needy.
The Book of Mormon also stridently preaches against the greed of the poor, champions agency and personal responsibility, and does not propose any sort of socialist system. Your parents have only selectively accepted the Book of Mormon.
They are very open about their political persuasion, and will gladly do verbal "fisticuffs" with the ignorant loud-mouths in their ward who proclaim that one cannot be a Democrat and a good Mormon at the same time.
It would only take me two seconds to shut them down by simply teaching the doctrine. I've never allowed false doctrine to gain the upper hand in class. Socialism (among other things) has no place in the Church.
In fact, they believe that the practices of the current Republican party is in direct opposition to the teachings of the Book of Mormon.
Sustainable examples are pretty hard to come by. On the other hand, the Democratic party violates LDS doctrine on almost every twist of the agenda.
But they don't go around proclaiming that one cannot be a Republican and a good Mormon.
That's because there is nothing to sustain that pov.
They leave that to loud-mouth buffoons. They're sane and reasonable people, which means they understand that decent people can have very different views and opinions about politics.
By your description, they're moral relativists which is also contrary to the gospel. Opinions are not all equally valid and the gospel is black and white.