Mormons and Social Justice
Full disclosure: The author of this article is a Mormon or member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I do not speak for the church, but it is my intent to clearly present the doctrine of the church. I have the utmost respect for people of other faiths and even no faith. It is not my intent to misrepresent the beliefs of others.
For those of you not familiar with Mormonism, I have included a very brief primer on the subject. Please skip to the next section if you already have a good understanding.
About The Mormons
The actual name of the church is “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints”. Often a Mormon is referred to as “LDS” (Latter-Day Saint). There is some debate as to whether or not Mormons are Christian. For the purposes of this article it is enough to say that Mormons believe they are Christian, that is to say that they believe that Jesus Christ (from the Bible), is the one and only Savior of the World and the Son of God. Differences in doctrine and scriptural canon prompt many to claim that they are not Christian. As that is a completely different subject, I’ll leave it to the reader to form his/her own opinion. For more info see www.mormon.org and/or http://www.lds.org/.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is not classified as a Protestant religion, and is not Catholic either. To shorten a lengthy explanation, I will summarize as follows:
1) Catholics believe that Christ established His church in his day and it has continued through the centuries until now.
2) Protestants believe that at some point the Catholic church lost its way and was therefore reformed, by the Reformers (Martin Luther, etc.).
3) Mormons believe that the true church of Christ was taken from the Earth for many centuries and was subsequently restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith in 1830.
Mormons believe that Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God just like Moses or Samuel from the Old Testament. Joseph Smith was the first in a line of modern prophets that continue to this day, the current being President Thomas S. Monson. The Prophet or President of the Church, has two counselors, and the three of them together form The First Presidency, and are considered to hold the same offices (Apostles) as Peter, James, and John from the New Testament. Additionally there are 12 more Apostles as existed in the church organized by Christ himself.
Mormons believe in an open canon of scripture, meaning they accept more as canonized scripture than just the Holy Bible. Canonized scripture is as follows:
1) Holy Bible – King James Version
2) The Book of Mormon – A history written by ancient prophets on the American continent, translated by Joseph Smith. Recorded in this history is the appearance of Jesus Christ (the same one from the Bible) to the people in the Americas, AFTER his resurrection and ascension into Heaven. This is the book the missionaries are always trying to give you.
3) Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price – To additional books of scripture given through/translated by Joseph Smith.
For additional information I refer you to the church’s websites: www.mormon.org and http://www.lds.org
Mormons and Social Justice
Before discussing what the Mormons believe about Social Justice, it will be necessary to define the term “Social Justice”.
“Social Justice” is a somewhat nebulous term and it is a little bit hard to nail down, but this is the best I’ve got:
Social Justice refers to a state of equality and fairness among all individuals in a society. To be socially just is to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless, take care of the sick, and protect the rights of all. In such a society there would be no poor because the wealth, privileges, and benefits of society would be fairly distributed among all people.
I think it reasonable to assume that virtually everyone would be in favor such a society. The controversy that surrounds the term “Social Justice” revolves not around such a society being the end goal, but the means by which it is achieved. In other words, while almost everyone would prefer a socially just society, there is a lot of disagreement over how to create such a society.
On a fundamental level there are two approaches, which I will call:
1) Voluntary Social Justice – Consisting of people voluntarily helping others at their own discretion
2) Involuntary Social Justice – People being required by law to help others
For Mormons the key words here are Voluntary and Involuntary. Mormon theology holds that the world was created for the purpose of providing a mortal experience in which mankind would have opportunity to learn and grow and, in simplistic terms, qualify for salvation and exaltation.
We existed as spirit children of God before the world was created and in that pre-mortal existence, two plans were presented:
1) God’s Plan: Mankind would have the ability to choose between good and evil. This means that some people would choose evil and not be saved. All of us would make mistakes so a Savior (Jesus Christ) would have to be provided to redeem those who repent of their sins and seek to follow God.
2) Satan’s Plan: Mankind would be forced to choose good, and since no one could sin, all would be saved. In order to achieve this, Satan would require God’s power and glory. (It is important to understand that in Mormon theology, Satan, or Lucifer, was not always the Devil. It was at this point when his plan was rejected that he “rebelled against God” and became the Devil.)
God rejected Satan’s plan because it would “destroy the agency of man”, or in other words, take away our ability to choose between good and evil. During man’s (and woman’s) experience in mortality, he (she) would not be able to grow spiritually, because all his choices would be made for him. This event commonly referred to as “the war in heaven” although the phrase is somewhat contradictory.
So here we can see that in Mormon theology, free will, moral agency, or the right of individuals to choose, is of paramount importance. Indeed it was necessary that Christ himself be a willing sacrifice to atone for the sins of all mankind. The salvation of mankind is a pretty big deal, yet Christ was not forced to do it.
Voluntary Social Justice
Lets first deal with what Mormons believe about Voluntary Social Justice.
The Mormons absolutely do believe in Voluntary Social Justice and numerous programs exist and have existed for this purpose. Among these are the following:
1) The Church Welfare Program – The church has a very extensive and well organized welfare program all based on voluntary donations and service. It is used to take care of the poor, needy, jobless, etc. If you’ve had a disaster in your area, it is likely you noticed that the Mormons were among the first to arrive and last to leave.
2) Law of Consecration/United Order – The church believes in and has at times practiced the Law of Consecration or United Order. This is a voluntary, private property, free enterprise system in which all involved “consecrate” their property to the church and “stewardships” are assigned back to everyone. These stewardships are the private property of the participants and should a person desire to leave the society, they would retain their stewardship.
For an excellent explanation of how the church believes in a private property, free enterprise, and voluntary redistribution of wealth, I refer you to the following talk archived on the church’s website:
The Purpose of Church Welfare Services
President Marion G. Romney, Second Counselor in the First Presidency, May 1977
As you’ll see, the church considers Involuntary Social Justice the literal embodiment of Satan’s Plan. (See above)
For the sake of speaking in the same terms I have included definitions of Socialism and Communism:
Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary:
Entry: so·cial·ism
Pronunciation: \ˈsō-shə-ˌli-zəm\
Function: noun
Date: 1837
1 : any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods
2 a : a system of society or group living in which there is no private property b : a system or condition of society in which the means of production are owned and controlled by the state
3 : a stage of society in Marxist theory transitional between capitalism and communism and distinguished by unequal distribution of goods and pay according to work done
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/socialism
Main Entry: com·mu·nism
Pronunciation: \ˈkäm-yə-ˌni-zəm, -yü-\
Function: noun
Etymology: French communisme, from commun common
Date: 1840
1 a : a theory advocating elimination of private property b : a system in which goods are owned in common and are available to all as needed
2 capitalized a : a doctrine based on revolutionary Marxian socialism and Marxism-Leninism that was the official ideology of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics b : a totalitarian system of government in which a single authoritarian party controls state-owned means of production c : a final stage of society in Marxist theory in which the state has withered away and economic goods are distributed equitably d : communist systems collectively
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/communism
To convey the church’s view on Socialism and Communism I have included the following quotes and recommend you read the full talk for more context:
“It was never intended in God’s divine plan that man should live off the labor of someone else.”
President Ezra Taft Benson of the Council of the Twelve, July 1978
“The saddest day of a person’s life is when he sits down to work out a means whereby he can live thereafter without his own effort. One of the most demeaning things a government can do is to teach people that the government owes them a living.”
Work and Welfare: A Historical Perspective
President Marion G. Romney Second Counselor in the First Presidency, April 3, 1982
“There is also another political party, who desire, through the influence of legislation and coercion, to level the world. To say the least, it is a species of robbery; to some it may appear an honorable one, but, nevertheless, it is robbery. What right has any private man to take by force the property of another? The laws of all nations would punish such a man as a thief. Would thousands of men engaged in the same business make it more honorable? Certainly not. And if a nation were to do it, would a nation’s act sanctify a wrong deed? No; the Algerine pirates, or Arabian hordes, were never considered honorable, on account of their numbers; and a nation, or nations, engaging in this would only augment the banditti, but could never sanctify the deed.
“I shall not, here, enter into the various manners of obtaining wealth; but would merely state, that any unjust acquisition of it ought to be punished by law. Wealth is generally the representation of labour, industry, and talent. If one man is industrious, enterprising, diligent, careful, and saves property, and his children follow in his steps, and accumulate wealth; and another man is careless, prodigal, and lazy, and his children inherit his poverty, I cannot conceive upon what principles of justice, the children of the idle and profligate have a right to put their hands into the pockets of those who are diligent and careful, and rob them of their purse. Let this principle exist, and all energy and enterprise would be crushed. Men would be afraid of again accumulating, lest they should again be robbed. Industry and talent would have no stimulant, and confusion and ruin would inevitably follow.
“Again, if you took men’s property without their consent, the natural consequence would be that they would seek to retake it the first opportunity; and this state of things would only deluge the world in blood. So that let any of these measures be carried out, even according to the most sanguine hopes of the parties, they would not only bring distress upon others, but also upon themselves; certainly they would not bring about the peace of the world.”
President John Taylor, The Government Of God, printed 1852.
“How strong is our will to remain free—to be good? False thinking and false ideologies, dressed in the most pleasing forms, quietly—almost without our knowing it—seek to reduce our moral defenses and to captivate our minds. They entice with bright promises of security, cradle-to-grave guarantees of many kinds. They masquerade under various names, but all may be recognized by one thing—one thing they all have in common: to erode away character and man’s freedom to think and act for himself.”
“Effort will be made to lull us away into a false security. Proposals will be and are being offered and programs sponsored that have wide appeal. Attractive labels are usually attached to the most dangerous programs, often in the name of public welfare and personal security. Again, let us not be misled.”
“Freedom can be killed by neglect as well as by direct attack.”
…..
As a free people, we are following very closely in many respects the pattern which led to the downfall of the great Roman Empire. A group of well-known historians has summarized those conditions leading to the downfall of Rome in these words:
“… Rome had known a pioneer beginning not unlike our own pioneer heritage, and then entered into two centuries of greatness, reaching its pinnacle in the second of those centuries, going into the decline and collapse in the third. Yet, the sins of decay were becoming apparent in the latter years of that second century.
“It is written that there were vast increases in the number of the idle rich, and the idle poor. The latter (the idle poor) were put on a permanent dole, a welfare system not unlike our own. As this system became permanent, the recipients of public largesse (welfare) increased in number. They organized into a political block with sizable power. They were not hesitant about making their demands known. Nor was the government hesitant about agreeing to their demands … and with ever-increasing frequency. Would-be emperors catered to them. The great, solid middle class—Rome’s strength then as ours is today—was taxed more and more to support a bureaucracy that kept growing larger, and even more powerful. Surtaxes were imposed upon incomes to meet emergencies. The government engaged in deficit spending. The denarius, a silver coin similar to our half dollar, began to lose its silvery hue. It took on a copper color as the government reduced the silver content.
“Even then, Gresham’s law was at work, because the real silver coin soon disappeared. It went into hiding.
“Military service was an obligation highly honored by the Romans. Indeed, a foreigner could win Roman citizenship simply by volunteering for service in the legions of Rome. But, with increasing affluence and opulence, the young men of Rome began avoiding this service, finding excuses to remain in the soft and sordid life of the city. They took to using cosmetics and wearing feminine-like hairdo’s and garments, until it became difficult, the historians tell us, to tell the sexes apart.
“Among the teachers and scholars was a group called the Cynics whose number let their hair and beards grow, and who wore slovenly clothes, and professed indifference to worldly goods as they heaped scorn on what they called ‘middle class values.’
“The morals declined. It became unsafe to walk in the countryside or the city streets. Rioting was commonplace and sometimes whole sections of towns and cities were burned.
“And, all the time, the twin diseases of confiscatory taxation and creeping inflation were waiting to deliver the death blow.
“Then finally, all these forces overcame the energy and ambition of the middle class.
“We are now approaching the end of our second century.” (Address by Governor Ronald Reagan of California at Eisenhower College, New York, 1969.)
Ezra Taft Benson, July 1973
We again warn our people in America of the constantly increasing threat against our inspired Constitution and our free institutions set up under it. The same political tenets and philosophies that have brought war and terror in other parts of the world are at work amongst us in America. The proponents thereof are seeking to undermine our own form of government and to set up instead one of the forms of dictatorships now flourishing in other lands. These revolutionists are using a technique that is as old as the human race—a fervid but false solicitude for the unfortunate over whom they thus gain mastery and then enslave them.
They suit their approaches to the particular group they seek to deceive. Among the Latter-day Saints they speak of their philosophy and their plans under it as an ushering in of the United Order. Communism and all other similar isms bear no relationship whatever to the United Order. They are merely the clumsy counterfeits which Satan always devises of the gospel plan. Communism debases the individual and makes him the enslaved tool of the state to whom he must look for sustenance and religion; the United Order exalts the individual, leaves him his property, "according to his family, according to his circumstances and his wants and needs," (D&C 51:3) and provides a system by which he helps care for his less fortunate brethren; the United Order leaves every man free to choose his own religion as his conscience directs. Communism destroys man's God-given free agency; the United Order glorifies it. Latter-day Saints can not be true to their faith and lend aid, encouragement, or sympathy to any of these false philosophies. They will prove snares to their feet.
First Presidency Message, in Conference Report, April 1942
The Doctrine and Covenants states, “We believe that no government can exist in peace, except such laws are framed and held inviolate as will secure to each individual the free exercise of conscience, the right and control of property, and the protection of life” (D&C 134:2). Life, liberty, property—mankind’s three great rights.
President Ezra Taft Benson, Oct 3 1987
The following are excerpts from From October 1961 Conference Report, Ezra Taft Benson
It is time, therefore, that every American, and especially every member of the priesthood, became informed about the aims, tactics, and schemes of socialistic-communism. This becomes particularly important when it is realized that communism is turning out to be the earthly image of the plan which Satan presented in the pre-existence. The whole program of socialistic- communism is essentially a war against God and the plan of salvation-the very plan which we fought to uphold during "the war in heaven."
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Today the devil as a wolf in a supposedly new suit of sheep's clothing is enticing some men, both in and out of the Church, to parrot his line by advocating planned government guaranteed security programs at the expense of our liberties.
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When all of the trappings of propaganda and pretense have been pulled aside, the exposed hard-core structure of modern communism is amazingly similar to the ancient Book of Mormon record of secret societies such as the Gadiantons. In the ancient American civilization there was no word which struck greater terror to the hearts of the people than the name of the Gadiantons. It was a secret political party which operated as a murder cult. Its object was to infiltrate legitimate government, plant its officers in high places, and then seize power and live off the spoils appropriated from the people. (It would start out as a small group of "dissenters" and by using secret oaths with the threat of death for defectors it would gradually gain a choke hold on the political and economic life of whole civilizations. )
The object of the Gadiantons, like modern communists, was to destroy the existing government and set up a ruthless criminal dictatorship over the whole land.
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We must ever keep in mind that collectivized socialism is part of the communist strategy. Communism is fundamentally socialism. We will never win our fight against communism by making concessions to socialism. Communism and socialism, closely related, must be defeated on principle. The close relationship between socialism and communism is clearly pointed out by Senator Strom Thurmond of South Carolina in a letter to the editor of the Washington Post, of August 6, 1961, in these words:
". . . Both socialism and communism derive from the teachings of Marx and Engels. In fact, the movements were one until the split over methods of approach, which resulted after the Russian revolution in 1905.... The aim and purpose of both was then and is now world socialism, which communism seeks to achieve through revolution and which socialists seek to achieve through evolution.
"The industrial achievements of the U. S. are the result of an economic system which is the antithesis of socialism. Our economic system is called 'capitalism' or 'private enterprise' and is based on private property rights, the profit motive and competition.
"Both communism and socialism seek to destroy our economic system and replace it with socialism; and their success, whether through evolution by socialism or through revolution by communism or a combination, will destroy not only our economic system, but our liberty, including the 'civil' aspects as well....
". . . The 'common ground' of socialism and communism is a factor to which the American people should be alerted. Without a clear understanding that communism is socialism, the total threat and menace of the cold war can never be comprehended and fought to victory."
When socialism is understood, we will realize that many of the programs advocated, and some of those already adopted in the United States, fall clearly within the category of socialism. What is socialism? It is simply governmental ownership and management of the essential means for the production and distribution of goods.
We must never forget that nations may sow the seeds of their own destruction while enjoying unprecedented prosperity.
The socialistic-communist conspiracy to weaken the United States involves attacks on many fronts. To weaken the American free-enterprise economy which outproduced both its enemies and allies during World War II is a high priority target of the communist leaders. Their press and other propaganda media are therefore constantly selling the principles of centralized or federal control of farms, railroads, electric power, schools, steel, maritime shipping, and many other aspects of the economy-but always in the name of public welfare.
This carries out the strategy laid down by the communist masters. John Strachey, a top official in the Labor Socialist party of Great Britain, in his book entitled The Theory and Practice of Socialism said:
"It is impossible to establish communism as the immediate successor to capitalism. It is accordingly proposed to establish socialism as something which we can put in the place of our present decaying capitalism. Hence, communists work for the establishment of socialism as a necessary transition stage on the road to communism."
It is significant that 118 years ago this month the Prophet Joseph Smith, after attending lectures on socialism, made this official entry in church history: "I said I did not believe the doctrine." (History of the Church, Vol. 6, p. 33.)
No true Latter-day Saint and no true American can be a socialist or a communist or support programs leading in that direction. These evil philosophies are incompatible with Mormonism, the true gospel of Jesus Christ.
