What the Mormons Know About Welfare

... Mitt Romney said he was "not concerned about the very poor" but would fix America's social safety net ...

But if he wants to see a welfare system that lets almost no one fall through the cracks while at the same time ensuring that its beneficiaries don't become lifelong dependents, he could look to his own church.

Launched during the Great Depression, the Mormon welfare system was designed by church leaders as a way to match the ... unemployed faithful with ... temporary labor. As storehouse manager ... explains, goods and services were traded so that if a father needed food for his family he could get some in exchange for, say, repairing the fence of a widow down the road.

... "Our primary purpose was to set up insofar as it might be possible, a system under which the curse of idleness would be done away with, the evils of a dole abolished and independence, industry, thrift and self respect be once more established among our people. The aim of the Church is help the people to help themselves. Work is to be re-enthroned as the ruling principle of the lives of our Church membership."

. . . the primary source of capital support is the Mormons' monthly fast, as church members are asked to contribute what they would have spent on two meals. Many give much more, says Mr. Foster.

It is safe to assume that Mr. Romney's (...) donations are supporting the kind of safety net that government can never hope to create. Jesus may have said the poor will always be with you, but he didn't say Medicaid would.

I found one article that exposed 75%-90% of CA church farm production is sold to premium market and yet is tax exempt...but it was written in '87...you know the response i would have gotten from that

official sources are mumshut about church welfare...

another article showing a peanut butter plant that sells all its production to public pantries for 90c a jar, the author made it sound like they were bill gates philanthropists at the same time asking people (not just morg) to go there and volunteer a few hrs...i have to wonder, even with a jar of pnut butter that cheap, nonprofit plant + free labor + peanuts grown on their own farms by their volunteer morgs...it just isn't in their nature to give things away breaking even maybe

you know lds are doing free charity for gentiles if they wear ugly yellow shirts with lds in red letters and one out of five has a video camera to document...to make the most of a pr moment...none of the pics showed yellow shirts so maybe they're making a dime

one bit of fresh news they are closing many of the small canneries in slc because a new mechanized one is taking over...less volunteerism and more profit

anyone whos a mormon know deseret industries is the morg welfare arm and deseret industries is what is printed on the cans of food they hawk for morgs home food storage (at least 1yr recommended 2)...even if you have a savalot next door they press you to buy the mormon stuff...some of the dehyfrated good last 30yrs so it is good quality for shtf...but things like canned vegs and flour, grain (grinding your own flour is a big thing) you can buy these at sams club...but you're not supporting the lds that way

anyone who grew up mormon knows deseret ind. is the slc welfare and also the source of these long term storage food you are supposed to buy, so a statement that the church welfare doesn't sell more food than it gives away is kinda prevaricating from the beginning...no surprise

an example of the same closed circle is the church traditional fundraiser called 'dime a dip dinners' (these days they're probably quarter a dip) they ask members to bring 2 covered dishes to the dinner, the put all the dises on a table and you pay a dime (.25c now?) a spoonful and fix your plate...you buy the food, fix it, bring it, and pay to eat...closed system

they are fun and a chance to eat other folks cooking but you see what im driving at kind of a pattern

being raised in the church all i knew was mormonism i remember asking a church leader what being 'born again' meant...he said so help me that it was a cult belief...!...and when i got out i didnt want -anything- to do with religion, and in a conversation someone proselytizing said to me that God gave salvation as a free gift if you wanted it...totally alien to my experience and i thought ah, this must be the 'cult' he was talking about

God got me in the door, it might be the back door but thats where the kitchen is...peace~A.~

I posted up thread, an expose done in GB about the LDS “charities” and how little actually goes to the “charities”. The laws in GB concerning “non-profits” are quite different, so it was pretty enlightening to see. If that amount of fraud is going on in GB, I can only imagine the scale here. It’s pretty damning.

Funny story (I think), while I was an active mormon, my wife was starting to get into food storage and the like through deseret. She was going to go and “volunteer” to prep and can like many good mormons do.

Asked me how much grain and flour to bring back. I asked her what she intended to do with it if she bought it. She looked at me funny for a minute, thought about it and said “make bread”. I replied “how?”. She doesn’t bake bread unless it’s already frozen or in a blue can, forget about mixing, kneading, etc. all of the ingredients needed for baking bread.

Needless to say, she didn’t bring any of it home. I just don’t know that many folks really put much thought (reason) into what they’re being told to do (faith) by the church.

The faith over reason dilemma is a tough one for many of us ex-mo’s with active family members to contend with.

I never heard of the “dime a dip” dinners. At all of the church functions I attended, main courses and sides were few. A lot of bread and sweets, but not much in the way of real food.

Interesting...

I got this E-MAIL last Friday night:

Hello Everyone,

I apologize for the very short notice, but I wanted to let you all know that there is going to be a gathering tomorrow after church to welcome back Pastor *** from Mozambique.

This is pretty informal, just a time to visit with *** and share some lunch. I am asking that if you can, to please bring something to share.

So far, pulled pork and sloppy joes are being provided for sandwiches, as well as various sides and desserts, such as mac and cheese, chips, potato salad, cookies, and a pie.

Any sides, desserts, or drinks you could bring would be great (vegetables, potatoes, pies, cakes, cookies, soft drinks, etc.)

You don't really need to respond back to this, just bring something if you can, or even if you can't please join us to welcome back Pastor ***.

Like I said, this is pretty informal. If you have any questions, feel free to call me at 989-5555. Thanks!

Arnold

interesting...while on the subject of tithing and temple recommends...

court case where a man lost his job at a mormon-owned gym because his bishop withheld his temple recommend (the certificate you get that allows you the ceremony to go to heaven and become a god, essentially)...at this non profit (naturally!...lds) gym, apparently in order to do an engineer's job you need your god license first

the court disagreed...decision and link follows...~A.~

Section 702 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 78 Stat. 255, as amended, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-1, exempts religious organizations from Title VII's prohibition against discrimination in employment on the basis of religion.1 The question presented is whether applying the § 702 exemption to the secular nonprofit activities of religious organizations violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. The District Court held that it does, and these cases are here on direct appeal pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1252.2 We reverse.

2* The Deseret Gymnasium (Gymnasium) in Salt Lake City, Utah, is a nonprofit facility, open to the public, run by the Corporation of the Presiding Bishop of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (CPB), and the Corporation of the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (COP). The CPB and the COP are religious entities associated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Church), an unincorporated religious association sometimes called the Mormon or LDS Church.3

3Appellee Mayson worked at the Gymnasium for some 16 years as an assistant building engineer and then as building engineer. He was discharged in 1981 because he failed to qualify for a temple recommend, that is, a certificate that he is a member of the Church and eligible to attend its temples.4

4Mayson and others purporting to represent a class of plaintiffs brought an action against the CPB and the COP alleging, among other things, discrimination on the basis of religion in violation of § 703 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2.5 The defendants moved to dismiss this claim on the ground that § 702 shields them from liability. The plaintiffs contended that if construed to allow religious employers to discriminate on religious grounds in hiring for nonreligious jobs, § 702 violates the Establishment Clause.

5The District Court first considered whether the facts of these cases require a decision on the plaintiffs' constitutional argument. Starting from the premise that the religious activities of religious employers can permissibly be exempted under § 702, the court developed a three-part test to determine whether an activity is religious.6 Applying this test to Mayson's situation, the court found: first, that the Gymnasium is intimately connected to the Church financially and in matters of management; second, that there is no clear connection between the primary function which the Gymnasium performs and the religious beliefs and tenets of the Mormon Church or church administration;7 and third, that none of Mayson's duties at the Gymnasium are "even tangentially related to any conceivable religious belief or ritual of the Mormon Church or church administration," 594 F.Supp. 791, 802 (Utah 1984). The court concluded that Mayson's case involves nonreligious activity.8

6The court next considered the plaintiffs' constitutional challenge to § 702. Applying the three-part test set out in Lemon v. Kurtzman, 403 U.S. 602, 91 S.Ct. 2105, 29 L.Ed.2d 745 (1971), the court first held that § 702 has the permissible secular purpose of "assuring that the government remains neutral and does not meddle in religious affairs by interfering with the decision-making process in religions. . . ." 594 F.Supp. at 812.9 The court concluded, however, that § 702 fails the second part of the Lemon test because the provision has the primary effect of advancing religion.10 Among the considerations mentioned by the court were: that § 702 singles out religious entities for a benefit, rather than benefiting a broad grouping of which religious organizations are only a part;11 that § 702 is not supported by long historical tradition;12 and that § 702 burdens the free exercise rights of employees of religious institutions who work in nonreligious jobs. Finding that § 702 impermissibly sponsors religious organizations by granting them "an exclusive authorization to engage in conduct which can directly and immediately advance religious tenets and practices," id., at 825, the court declared the statute unconstitutional as applied to secular activity. The court entered summary judgment in favor of Mayson pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 54(b) and ordered him reinstated with backpay.13 Subsequently, the court vacated its judgment so that the United States could intervene to defend the constitutionality of § 702. After further briefing and argument the court affirmed its prior determination and reentered a final judgment for Mayson. http://bulk.resource.org/courts.gov/c/US/483/483.US.327.86-401.86-179.html

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