Unbeknownst to many of its members, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints enjoyed significant political diversity throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, with a relatively even distribution of members across major political parties. With the rise of FDR’s welfare state during the Great Depression, LDS leaders began staking conservative political positions in opposition to “handouts” they felt disincentivized work and increased dependency on government.

Several decades later, LDS conservatism would only deepen with the rise of civil rights, counter-culture and sexual liberation movements that leaders characterized as hedonistic, Satanic and destructive. In addition, anti-communist sentiments wrapped in McCarthyism red-scare conspiracies caught hold of LDS apostles like Ezra Taft Benson, who regularly crusaded his right-wing views at the general conference pulpit.

Throughout the 1980s and ’90s, LDS apostles, including former President Gordon B. Hinckley, grew increasingly uncomfortable over the church’s intimate relationship with right-wing politics and made subtle efforts to move the church to the center right. They did this by deemphasizing right-wing talking points and amplifying language around political neutrality, while framing their conservative stances on marriage, sexuality and gender as respectable moral and spiritual positions.

Despite leaders’ earnest efforts to untether the church from the far right, major factions of right-wing extremism continue to plague the modern church. Today, LDS authorities are anxiously facing and delicately addressing this reality, striving to simultaneously protect the church’s public image while not alienating large and powerful bases of right-wing membership.

The church’s recent condemnation of former Operation Underground Railroad (OUR) CEO and devout Latter-day Saint Tim Ballard is a prime example of this tension. Founded in 2013, OUR is an anti-sex trafficking nonprofit that conducts worldwide sting operations in attempts to rescue victims and arrest perpetrators. While their mission is admirable, extensive reporting by outlets such as Vice News and American Crime Journal have spotlighted consistent ethical and behavioral problems with Ballard. These problems include OUR’s gross misrepresentations of rescue statistics, claiming credit for the work of other anti-trafficking organizations, providing insufficient aftercare services for rescued victims, and mixing nonprofit funds with for-profit business endeavors. Ballard has also been an ardent advocate of right-wing extremist movements, perpetuating anti-immigrant and anti-LGBT hate speech as well as fomenting election denialism and “deep state” conspiracies.

Most recently, Ballard stepped down as OUR’s CEO in the wake of increasing sexual harassment allegations that have come from women who participated in sting operations. According to reports from Vice News, numerous women have relayed deeply disturbing accounts of Ballard coercing them into unwanted sexual acts (e.g., sleeping in the same bed, showering together) as part of going “undercover” as “husband and wife” on rescue operations.

Vice News recently requested comment from the LDS Church, to which an official spokesperson for the church, Doug Anderson, responded:

“President Ballard and Tim Ballard (no relation) established a friendship a number of years ago. That friendship was built on a shared interest in looking after God’s children wherever they are and without regard to their circumstance. However, that relationship is in the past. For many months, President Ballard has had no contact with the founder of Operation Underground Railroad (OUR). … Once it became clear Tim Ballard had betrayed their friendship, through the unauthorized use of President Ballard’s name for Tim Ballard’s personal advantage and activity regarded as morally unacceptable, President Ballard withdrew his association. President Ballard never authorized his name, or the name of the Church, to be used for Tim’s personal or financial interests. In addition, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints never endorsed, supported or represented OUR, Tim Ballard or any projects associated with them.”

It is important to note that it is extremely rare for the LDS Church to publicly criticize one of its members like this, even someone of Ballard’s prominence. Also noteworthy is the church’s concluding statement that they never “endorsed, supported or represented OUR, Tim Ballard or any projects associated with them.” This assertion does not align with the fact that the church’s own websites and news outlets have published hundreds of pieces supporting and promoting Tim Ballard and OUR. There is also extensive evidence documenting a longstanding business relationship between President M. Russell Ballard and Tim Ballard as partners in an LLC called Slave Stealers.

The church’s false or misleading statements aside, their unequivocal condemnation of Tim Ballard has confused and upset members who have long been his loyal supporters. In fact, many are questioning the authenticity of the official church statement and/or discrediting the report from Vice News altogether. Tim Ballard himself undermined Vice New’s report by asserting that “nothing you hear is true” and that “something evil is going on.”

While LDS leaders clearly disavow Tim Ballard and his morally reprehensible behavior, they cannot afford to alienate scores of right-wing members who revere him. This tension is not new. For example, when President Russell Nelson urged all members to get vaccinated, there was outcry from right-wing members of the church who criticized Nelson’s judgment and disobeyed his statements. Some even left the church over this issue, declaring that Nelson and the modern LDS Church were in a state of apostasy.

First Counselor in the First Presidency, Dallin Oaks, ironically known for his conservative image, has similarly made statements that have upset right-wing bases of the church. In a 2020 BYU address, he said: “Of course Black lives matter! That is an eternal truth all reasonable people should support.” He also gave a general conference address calling for the peaceful transition of power and denouncing any efforts to disrupt such a transition, which was poorly received by members who felt that Trump’s efforts to overturn a “stolen” 2020 election were patriotic and heroic.

In past decades, the church has branded its image on forceful condemnations of the left, most notably social-justice movements that have advocated for racial, gender and LGBTQ+ civil rights. While they have lost a fair share of progressive members because of this, it has never disrupted large coalitions of membership that would fundamentally threaten the church’s power and status.

Today, as leaders strive to distance from right-wing figures like Tim Ballard (and MAGA white-supremacist politics and conspiracies more broadly), they are highly reluctant and cautious not to alienate hundreds of thousands of loyal members. Tim Ballard is just one of many more examples to come in which the church must face head-on this crucial and perplexing dilemma.

Keith Burns is a graduate of Sarah Lawrence College who specializes in Mormonism and sexuality.

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