OGDEN (ABC 4 News) - The Mormon faith is not immune to America's political generation gap.
While a vast majority of Mormons identify themselves as Republican, the younger generation isn't necessarily voting with their parents.
Within the younger generation of Mormons, there's been a significant cultural shift.
"Through the 1980s, the church was fairly culturally insular and pessimistic about American society," says Mathew Bowman, author of "The Mormon People: The Making of an American Faith." "In the beginning of the 1990s, we saw a new period of cultural openness within Mormonism. The tone was set by the man who became president of the church in the mid-90s who rejected the cultural pessimism. This president said, 'No, we need to be more open. We need to embrace America. We need to be more optimistic about the future."
"A lot of younger Mormons—those born in the last twenty years—really grew up in that environment," Bowman told ABC News. "They feel at home in America. While their parents tend to be social conservatives, these younger people are less so. They are more culturally comfortable in the United States, and many of them tend to be more liberal."
Turns out religion is not the driving force behind the Mormon vote and having a Mormon running for president isn't shaping their views.
While the vast majority of Mormons lean to the right — only 8 percent consider themselves liberal,
according to Pew.
To read more on Romney's Mormon generation gap
CLICK HERE.
ABC 4 News hit up the campus of Weber State to see what students had to say. Click on the video attached to this story to find out.
