As a child growing up in Snowflake, Ariz., a town that his Mormon pioneer great-great-grandfather helped found in the 1870s, Senator Jeff Flake learned to sing a popular children’s hymn, “Choose the Right.”
He had no trouble recalling the hymn’s words on the telephone Wednesday, a day after he took to the floor of the Senate to deliver a stinging rebuke to his party and president, and to announce that he would not run for re-election in 2018.
His decision was political and pragmatic, he acknowledged: he faced a tough primary battle and trailed in the polls. But his revulsion at President Trump also appeared to reflect his Mormon faith. It is a faith that puts a premium on decorum and comity, one that was born in America but is increasingly international and multicultural, and one whose young people often wear rings engraved “CTR” as a reminder of the hymn, which begins, “Choose the right when a choice is placed before you.”
Mormons are also accustomed to testifying in public at monthly meetings, sometimes offering passionate stories of personal revelation.
“We are taught that we ought to stand up for what we know is right, and also to be decent,” Mr. Flake said in the telephone interview. “I hope I’m acting on the faith that I believe in.”
Mr. Flake came out early in the presidential primaries as an opponent of Mr. Trump, and unlike many in his party, he has remained a vocal critic, despite representing a state where the president is still popular. Although he has generally voted with Mr. Trump and the Republican majority in the Senate, he chastised his party on Tuesday for acquiescing in the lying and divisiveness that he said had come from the White House.
