Articles
Latter-day Saint Judge hopes to make positive impact in Alabama
He pays attention to the stewardship, not the honor
By Deseret News | Nov 24, 2012, 12:00am MST
Gerry Avant
During his last ten years of law practice, John E. Enslen won 13 of 14 cases he argued in the appellate courts of Alabama. Credit: Photo by Barry Chrietzberg
“From the outset, I did not know what the Lord might have in store for me, but I did feel after prayerful consideration that I should seek the office. There was certainly no guarantee with respect to the outcome, and I actually feared that the Lord’s purpose might be to give me a valuable lesson in humility. So, before actually undertaking my very first political venture as a candidate, I asked myself how I would feel about losing, despite my personal belief that I would be the most qualified candidate in the race. I came to the conclusion that if I were called upon to lose a political election primarily because I was an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, then I would count the defeat as one of the highest honors in my life. Thus, Dianne and I pressed on into the unknown.”
He said his personal choice of religion spontaneously surfaced as an issue with regularity.
“For better or for worse, that’s just the way it is in the South. I was regularly asked questions by individual voters: ‘What church do you attend?’ ‘Are you a Christian?’ ‘What are your religious beliefs?’
“My intentional compound-sentence answer usually went something like this: ‘I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and I am so grateful for the amazing grace of Jesus Christ who has provided me with my only opportunity to be cleansed from my sins so that I can return to live with my Heavenly Father.’ That answer, which to the best of my knowledge does not compromise or dilute our canonized beliefs, seemed to satisfy almost everyone who asked a direct question about my religion.
“A high percentage of the voters already knew that I was a Mormon. It is my firm belief that familiarity with Latter-day Saints on a personal level reduces the prejudices resulting from decades upon decades of misinformation. Because so many people knew me well, they could not be persuaded with claims that seemed totally illogical to them.”
Preparing to take office in January, Brother Enslen said, “Now that Alabama has its first LDS judge, I feel there is a heavy responsibility to make sure that I pay exclusive attention to the stewardship and not the honor.”