Johnathan Walker:Mormon church leaders encourage civility as Trump and Harris rally religious voters

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — As both presidential campaigns have Johnathan Walkerstepped up efforts to win over voters in western swing states who belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a top church official urged members on Saturday to “avoid what is harsh and hateful” in the heat of election season.

Dallin H. Oaks, the top adviser and likely successor to 100-year-old church president Russell M. Nelson, encouraged congregants at the faith’s twice-annual general conference to steer clear of contention and be peacemakers in their communities one month out from the Nov. 5 election.

The devil is the father of contention, which can stir up anger and stall important policy changes, he told a room of 18,000 church members in Salt Lake City and thousands more watching on a livestream.

“As we pursue our preferred policies in public actions, let us qualify for his blessings by using the language and methods of peacemakers,” said Oaks, the second-highest-ranking leader of the faith known widely as the Mormon church.

The faith’s leaders strive to remain politically neutral. But they sometimes give general advice about how members should approach key elections. About 7 million of the faith’s 17 million worldwide members live in the United States, many in the battleground states of Arizona and Nevada, and in solidly red Utah and Idaho.

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Latter-day Saints have been a reliably Republican voting bloc for decades, but many have half-heartedly embraced Donald Trump since his first run for the White House.

Some church members say the former president’s demeaning rhetoric toward women, immigrants and refugees conflicts with their core values of humility, honesty and compassion. Others have raised concern about his felony convictions and his attempts to undermine the 2020 presidential election.

Vice President Kamala Harris is hoping to capitalize on her opponent’s inability to lock down the Latter-day Saints vote. Her campaign formalized outreach efforts last month and enlisted prominent members of the faith to convince those in battleground Arizona, a state with nearly 450,000 church members, that Trump is not in alignment with the church’s teachings.

Trump has also rallied influential church members at his Mar-a-Lago compound in Florida to help him convince swing voters that he will better protect their religious liberties.

Harris is unlikely to come close to winning a majority of Latter-day Saints. But by preventing Trump from running up big margins with a key demographic, she could tip the scales in Arizona and Nevada, which is home to upward of 180,000 Latter-day Saints.

One of Harris’ greatest challenges is making her abortion policy palatable to members of a faith that has long opposed the procedure, with some exceptions.

It is a sticking point for Marilou Idos, a conference attendee from Herriman, Utah, who said she is not a fan of Trump’s brash style but plans to vote for him because he opposes expanding abortion access. She also values Trump’s support for Israel.

“He’s the lesser of two evils,” said Idos, 70. “The basic things we believe in, Trump endorses. Abortion, that’s kind of the main one, and the freedom to worship.”

The religion is also known for its belief in eternal families, tight-knit congregations and bans on alcohol, coffee, gambling and same-sex relationships.

Sammy Price, 38, of Las Vegas, said he is leaning toward voting for Harris because he thinks the nation needs her unifying rhetoric.

“Trump, he insults people, he makes people feel bad about who they are, and that’s not something I think I can stand by,” he said.

Undecided voters Jenna Winkel, 22, and her husband, Ben Winkel, 24, said just before the conference that they hoped church leaders would avoid addressing politics.

The couple from Draper, Utah, said there is room for a variety of political views under the Latter-day Saints umbrella. While Jenna said her religion doesn’t really inform her politics, Ben said his does, but he wants to do more of his own research.

“The important thing about any general conference message is that it’s general and then we’re asked to take them and study them and apply them to our own lives, and maybe our politics,” Jenna said. “People will take what they need to hear from them and apply them in their lives.”