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THE MORMON CURTAIN
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SERVICE AND CHARITY
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6
Mormons are commanded to give 10% of their gross income to the Church in tithing. After that, they are admonished to give an additional 1% to fast offerings, an additional percent to Church Humanitarian Projects. They are also counseled to purchase and keep active subscriptions in several Church published magazines.
Mormons shun service to any organization outside of the Church and consider themselves as doing spiritual service to the community by giving time and money to the Church. Church members do very little community service outside of Mormonism and donate less than 1% per year of their income to any organization outside of Mormonism.
Less than 1 half of one penny per dollar is spent by the Mormon Church on humanitarian projects by monies donated to the Church by members (see LDS Church Canadian reporting and United Kingdom reporting).
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Yesterday, October 15th, I went with others from my ward and stake to cut down trees and do cleanup in southeast Texas in the wake of Hurricane Rita.
I showed up at 5:00 am at our stake center, and my bishop saw that I was wearing a white T-shirt and asked if I needed a yellow "Mormon Helping Hands" shirt. I said, "No, I'm OK." To my surprise, he shrugged it off and said no more about it. After everyone showed up, we left for Orange, TX. At the Orange stake center, I ran into my stake president, who again asked me if I needed a yellow T-shirt. I again said, "No, I'm OK." but didn't bother to stick around for his reaction because I was hurrying into the building to take a leak. A few guys from my ward asked me if I needed a yellow T-shirt. I gave each of them my standard, "No, I'm OK." answer, except one guy who kept pressing the issue. I finally said "I don't look good in yellow." One guy from my ward, XXX, said "Oh, don't bother {myfirstname}, he's an independant thinker." (More on XXX later.) What is the deal with wearing those damn T-shirts? I can't tell if the church is more interested in the PR, the "missionary opportunities", or the actual work beingdone. In Orange there were a couple of guys with a professional video camera going around interviewing people. They didn't look like reporters, because the interviewer was always off-camera and dressed in work clothes, too. I wonder if it was a church PR effort?
Orange and the surrounding area still has a lot of tree damage. All power was back on from what I could tell. There were many businesses open, but still a sizable fraction temporarily closed. About two-thirds of the roofs had at least a small section of blue tarps covering them, and several that were completely covered. The area around Orange is fairly wooded, and probably one third of the trees were snapped in half. Even though it had been three weeks, the storm damage was still pretty evident.
My work group was assigned to Vidor, "Home of the KKK", Texas. We went to a non-member's house. She was an elderly lady who had four or five large trees down in her back yard. My work crew had 8 men and 4 chain saws. It was hot, humid, and heavy work. Differences in religious devotion not withstanding, there wasn't a slacker in my group. We all worked our butts off. At lunch, I joked that if we were Jedi Knights with lightsabers, we'd have finished the job in less than an hour. Brother XXX chuckled, and I got a lot of blank stares, and dour EQP said, "I prefer to live in the real world, not a fantasy world." I had several responses to that, but I kept my mouth shut.
Later in the afternoon, we had one tree left to clear. It was leaning at about a 45 degree angle, up against another tree. After cutting a couple of limbs that were apparently holding it up, it only went down a couple of feet. The roots were still keeping it up. I was tired and punchy, so I ran up the trunk and started to jump on it. XXX also came up and jumped up and down on it with me. It slowly started to fall, and we rode it down. We were only about 8 feet off the ground, and it fell pretty slowly, so it was kind of fun, and we were not ever really in danger. XXX was the only guy there who called me by my first name. Everyone else called me Brother Lastname. I, on the other hand, called everyone by their first names. I really don't understand the whole Brother/Sister thing. If it was meant to show closeness or fellowship, it sure doesn't do it for me. People I am close with call me by my first name, even people I work with. Being addressed by my last name is only done by strangers and ward members. Go figure.
We finished a little early, at 4:00, because all of our chain saws gave out. We still had to cut up that last tree that we downed, but if the saws don't work, there's nothing more we could have done. At least we listened to the Astros game on the radio on the way home, instead of telling each other "inspirational" stories.
I was recently assigned to home teach XXX. I had not really known him or his family before. I am glad to see that he seems like a real person, and not some thoughtless drone. I was pleasantly surprised at how affable and friendly he was, esecially compared to my other work-crew members.
We helped a poor, elderly, non-member lady clear trees from her back yard. I am satisfied that what we did made a real difference, at least to one person. I'm also glad that I didn't have to wear advertising for the church.
| Thinking of my former time in Mormonism (40 years), I realized that me, my wife and our kids did NOTHING for our communities in the form of service. In fact, this selfishness extended to charitable giving as well. I am not promoting or endorsing any charitable organization here, I am just relating my experiences with this topic. I also realize that not everyone had the same attitude as we did as mormons.
Community Service:
As a busy mormon, I attended Sunday services, additional church meetings, YM/YW activities (weeknights and often weekends), did HT, attended the temple regularly (whatever that meant?), prepared lessons etc... When all of that was done, coupled with a demanding professional life, I found little time and/or energy left to help with community service opportunities. I would see needs to volunteer with various school, community and kids sporting events but I would "quietly" avoid volunteering. Why? Because I felt I was doing my part with all of my "church service".
This cog-dis has been apparent more since we left the morg and have had conversations about this topic with my FIL. FIL and MIL are very active TBM temple workers. As we talk to them about community service, my FIL feels that he is providing a "spiritual service" to his community by doing temple work (huh?). Of course I disagree because I think he's simply wasting away his prime retirement energy on useless work but I regress!
Since we have left the church we have attempted to correct the error of our ways. We have encouraged our kids and actively sought ways to serve our fellow community friends. Being in the morg eliminated the need for us as parents to find "community service" projects for either ourselves or our kids. Now we have to find them ourselves and it takes a hell of a lot of work. However, it does get easier as we get more experience finding those opportunities.
This also segways into the next area.
Charitable Giving:
Of course any faithful, practicing TBM is a "full" tithe payer. What this means to a community is that "mormons" don't contribute to anything else. In my case we felt that after a 10% tithe, an additional ~1% fast offering, church magazine subscriptions, various donations of items for the "church humanitarian aid projects" or should we say the "church members humanitarian aid projects", potlucks and youth activities etc. we didn't have anything left in our budget. The result is we would snub any other "charitable" giving as much as possible. Often we would get "forced" to donate something but it was done begrudgingly. I know it was a bad thing and we are attempting to right our wrongs with both our kids and our community. Again our logic was based on the false premise that we were already doing our part. Looking back I regret donating so much to one organization. We are now teaching our kids that it is okay to drop a $1 into the red salvation army container at Christmas time or to send $10-$20 into the schoolfor some charity or even to buy GS cookies sometimes. It is really not big deal, but we made it a big deal as morgbots.
Of course I acknowledge that there are exceptions to the rule. However, my personal experience was one of selfishness towards my community in the form of my time and money. No wonder mormons are looked at as "peculiar", we were!
| When I was an EQP the Stake challenged each ward to come up with a service project; to help those in need in the ward.
That sounded like a good idea; get everyone involved in helping those less fortunate, those truly in need.
My phone rings and it's the first counselor in the bishopric all excited because he had come up with a great service project. "Let's finished the Bishop's basement for him!"
I didn't know what to say. I had thought we were going to help the truly needy in the ward. But the counselor went on to explain to me that the Bishop donated so much of his time to the church, that he taught seminary as an occupation so he didn't make a lot of money, that his wife didn't work outside the home to obey the words of the prophet and to take care for their five children, so you see the bishop was truly needy! He needed the ward to step in and finish his basement for him.
Now mind you, I was TBM through and through at the time but this didn't seem right to me. Was the Bishop a nice guy; yes he was. Did he donate a lot of time for his church calling; yes he did. Was he strapped for cash due to his fairly low paying employment, his five children and his stay at home wife; yes he was. Was his the most needy family in the ward; no his was not.
I explained my feelings to the counselor. The Bishop was short on cash due to the choices he had made and was continuing to make. These were his personal choices about employment, number of children, church callings, etc. Would it be nice for some of his friends or neighbors to perhaps help him do some finish work in his basement, sure. But not as a ward service project. Their were other people in the ward who were in much worst situations not due to their personal choices but due to happenstance. Medical conditions, families where the bread winner had abandoned them, a family who had been involved in a car wreck, etc., etc.
I lost the argument. The Bishop's basement was finished while others in greater need went without. Of course later on in testimony meeting you would have thought that the ward had all turned into literally saints due to the amount of tears, thanks and sobbing that went on. Did it help the Bishop and his family; sure it did, it was a nice thing to do. But as an official church service project I felt it was wrong. I sat there with my hard heart thinking about the other families that could have been helped but weren't.
This isn't meant to condemn all church service projects. Some of them are great and really benefit those in need. But this one didn't. If you really want to hear me rant just ask about another official service project; install a family's roof mount air conditioner.
| I was reading the post on Temple Square on how a ward goes in and plants items in the gardens there. This is their service project.
Missionaries are also supposed to give 4 hours of service a week.
One of the lines we read in Priesthood each Sunday regarding the Aaronic Priesthood guidelines is that the young men are to give meaningful service.
Now I am thinking about the service projects I have been involved in.
Yesterday, I helped my 2 sons mow an older ladies lawn in the neighborhood. She was a member who was in her 70s who had suffered a stroke last year, and was unable to do it. The yard was big, and took about an hour and 1/2 with a push mower. I thought it was meaningful service (until she insisted on paying my boys and wouldn't take no for an answer) because there was no possible way she could have done it. It was hard exhausting work.
On Saturday, the Elders Quorum is also mowing a lawn...The Salvation Army's church lawn. Why they can't do that themselves is beyond me. I am sure they have at least a couple of guys or gals strong enough to push a mower around the place. I think of this as meaningless service. Other than PR relation points between us and them it does nothing. I might go since it's just down the street a block away and help for the exercise, which I could use.
One thing I have noticed about Church projects is how they LOVE to toot their own horn about how much service they are doing. Service to get converts and tithing. The stake will swoop into a small town in our area each year and clean it up. I think a couple years ago they passed out t-shirts, just like the Katrina thing. So they become walking billboards and do it for ulterior motives.
Basically service for the sake of service without hope for some payback later, does not exist in the Church. It is all about obligating those served to serve the Church later.
I didn't put diapers on my kids with the expectation for them to put diapers on me when I get old and feeble later in life.
Is it true and meaningful service though, if your real aim is to get something in return. If that's the case, then it's not service, it's a job, a job where the Church doesn't pay you, but they expect payment from those served.
| During the four decades of my LDS Church membership and faithful participation, one lesson was repeated to me on a regular basis: If you are not happy, you must be disobeying some commandment. Happiness, in the LDS Church, is predicated on righteous living. Righteous living is determined by what other people tell you is correct parents, home teachers, YM/YW advisors, bishops, stake presidents, mission presidents, General Authorities, et al.
When I was a teenager, I felt happiness exploring my life and its limits. Some of my exploration took me outside of prescribed Mormon boundaries. I felt conflicted then why did I feel happiness when I was disobeying. I didnt understand why LDS adults strayed so easily from the source which should have been making them happy.
On my mission, I earned the reputation of being a strict rule follower. I woke up on time, made street contacts as outlined, had baptisms, etc. Yet, when I felt unhappy enough to speak with the mission president, he always told me that the source of my unhappiness was some small disobedience to a rule and who couldnt find some way to improve compliance?
During the following two decades, I remained very active. During law school, I was an Elders Quorum president of an Oklahoma ward that covered five counties. Then I became a Young Mens President, then Ward Mission Leader, then HP Group Assistant (and temple worker at the same time), then bishopric member, then HP Group leader, then bishopric member again. I never slacked in service and duties. But I was becoming increasingly unhappy.
I noticed along the way the most church duties are nothing more than busy work. I was having meetings to discuss meetings about other meetings. We didnt do a lot of service. The service we did do was nothing more than busy work temple attendance not to benefit the living who actually needed some help, but for the dead (allegedly). And when we did go visit the living, it was usually to encourage them to be active in the church and to re-new their commitment to what was essentially busy work. The LDS Church could and should be known as the Church of the Busy Work.
I have concluded that the LDS Church is incapable of producing happy members even for the believers. There is only an artificial happiness which comes from staying busy - even when that busy work is sanctioned by church leaders. The placebo effect doesnt last forever. True happiness, in my opinion, comes from within. The Church of the Busy Work teaches that happiness comes from performing arbitrary tasks which have no real significance.
The second problem of such teachings is that when its victims notice that being busy doing church work isnt leading them to happiness, they are told that they arent doing it well enough, or more of it, or with the right attitude. This just increases the level of unhappiness. The person is forced to look at herself/himself instead of realizing that it is the environment which is causing the problem. No wonder so many LDS men and women have become so dependent on anti-depressants.
The real problem the LDS Church faces isnt its false historical teachings, or past offensive practices, it is that even for the faithful, church hurts.
| The LDS Church donates enough in humanitarian cash donations each year for all of the members of the church to buy a candy bar. One candy bar. Or maybe a non-caffeinated soda...
According to the church's website, they have donated $201 million in humanitarian cash donations since 1985. That comes to $9, 136,364 per year. The church lists their current membership at 12,868,606 members. The average growth rate of the LDS Church is roughly equivalent to the inflation rate during the period from 1985 to 2007. Therefore the member growth rate is cancelled out by the inflation rate, allowing us to do a simple calculation: Total Donation/Membership/22yrs.
This comes to $0.71 per member per year.
For the average large Mormon family, the required 10% tithing per year costs about the same as the much-needed used car for the kids. From this donation, the loose change from underneath the seats is donated to humanitarian causes.
http://www.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/v/inde...
Yeah, I was amazed when I actually ran the numbers! And these are the figures that the church gives, so I don't think they are any more accurate than the total church membership number at the top of the page.
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