I must admit, I have never seen someone base their political philosophy on statements as incoherent and dishonest as you have. I am neither a Democrat or a Republican because neither party represents Christ’s teachings and my own moral and philosophical foundation. While I can go on for hours with my disagreement with Republicans, your description of their views are ignorant at best but more than likely are intentionally deceptive.

First of all, your attempt at separating freedom from agency is absolutely incorrect. In fact, most explanations of agency in scriptures use the word free or freedom. We are ‘free to choose’ (2 Nephi 2:27) No where in the scriptures or in modern revelation have we been taught that we are free in the gospel but captive in all other aspects of life.

The Doctrine and Covenants does say that governments were given for the benefit of man and the good and safety of society. I challenge you to find a knowledgeable Mormon that would argue that the Lord didn’t have a hand in forming the ideas and principles of the constitution. All of us believe that document is divinely inspired. My issue with the Democratic position and the government in general is that we have strayed far from the constitution. The Book of Mormon is full of examples of faithful followers of Christ upholding the government when it stood for liberty and standing apart or even against it when the will of the people or the direction of government was to gain power or abuse liberties. In Alma 59-60, Moroni threatens to overthrow the Nephite government unless they recommitted to ‘freedom.’ Mosiah said that it was only a benefit to have a king if he was a righteous king. Mormon left his post as general when the will of the people was against the doctrine of Christ.

You are absolutely incorrect in your assessment of freedom in society and the economy. Just so you know, the establishment Republicans are better than democrats on the economy but are far from advocating a free-market. But because this comment is already too long and any argument I give you would probably go over your head, I will forego a critique on your assessment of free-market economies and instead issue a challenge. I challenge you to go and find one instance in which someone advocating, Republican or Free-market, advocates an economy with no laws or protections where everyone is free to cheat, lie to, and steal from anyone for any reason. If you want to be a Democrat, fine be my guest. But to get there through a set of dishonest and incorrect premises is shameful and in direct opposition to Christ’s teachings.

If you are a member of the Democratic party, you have PROGRESSIVE views, not liberal views. The word liberal comes from liberty. Liberty is the freedom to act according to ones personal beliefs and best judgement and is rooted in self-determination. The democratic party only adheres to liberal views on racial and LGBT equality, and even that is suspect.

I try my hardest to be Christlike. I believe it is our duty as individuals to reach out to those in need. It is our duty to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to administer relief to the sick and afflicted. But when the government forcibly takes from one person to give to another, that is not charity, it is coercion. Was it God’s plan to take away our agency and force us to do the right thing? Nope. If I remember correctly that was actually Satan’s plan.