No Poor Among Them

One of the qualifying properties of Zion is that there be no poor there.¹ Because our ability to achieve Zion is inescapably tied to our ability to care for the poor, our effort to achieve Zion can be measured by how much effort we expend in caring for the poor.

Care for the poor may seem to some to be an auxiliary commandment. After all, Jesus said that loving our neighbor was the second commandment, second to the commandment to love God.² And yet, king Benjamin taught that “when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God,”³ suggesting that the way that we serve God is through serving our neighbor. Therefore, in a sense, there is only one real great commandment, and it has to do with caring for the poor.⁴ A significant indication of how well we are living the first great commandment is through analyzing how well we are living the second great commandment. Proverbs 14:31 suggests that the relationship holds in reverse as well: “He that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker: but he that honoureth him hath mercy on the poor.” We can measure our love of God by the love we have for our neighbor, and we can measure our disobedience towards God by the degree of poor treatment that we dispense on our neighbor.

Jesus taught it this way:

When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. (Matthew 25:31-45.)

These instructions appeared in the New Testament. Do they apply to our dispensation? It turns out that we have been directly commanded in this dispensation to care for the poor. The Lord said,

Remember in all things the poor and the needy (D&C 52:40.)

Therefore, if any man shall take of the abundance which I have made, and impart not his portion, according to the law of my gospel, unto the poor and the needy, he shall, with the wicked, lift up his eyes in hell, being in torment. (D&C 104:18.)

And they shall look to the poor and the needy, and administer to their relief that they shall not suffer... (D&C 38:35.)

And the storehouse shall be kept by the consecrations of the church; and the widows and orphans shall be provided for, as also the poor. (D&C 83:6.)

Verily, thus saith the Lord, in addition to the laws of the church concerning women and children, those who belong to the church, who have lost their husbands or fathers: Women have claim on their husbands for their maintenance, until their husbands are taken; and if they are not found transgressors they shall have fellowship in the church. And if they are not faithful they shall not have fellowship in the church; yet they may remain upon their inheritances according to the laws of the land. All children have claim upon their parents for their maintenance until they are of age. And after that, they have claim upon the church, or in other words upon the Lord’s storehouse, if their parents have not wherewith to give them inheritances. And the storehouse shall be kept by the consecrations of the church; and widows and orphans shall be provided for, as also the poor. Amen. (D&C 83:1-6.)

The Lord has been clear and repetitive in his admonition to care for the poor. It is one fulfillment of both the first and second great commandments. It is how he has told us he will interpret our fidelity to him. Modern Mormonism answers this charge through tithing and fast offerings.

The Doctrine of Tithing

D&C 119 provides a revelation on tithing. It reads:

Verily, thus saith the Lord, I require all their surplus property to be put into the hands of the bishop of my church in Zion, For the building of mine house, and for the laying of the foundation of Zion and for the priesthood, and for the debts of the Presidency of my Church. And this shall be the beginning of the tithing of my people. And after that, those who have thus been tithed shall pay one-tenth of all their interest annually; and this shall be a standing law unto them forever, for my holy priesthood, saith the Lord. Verily I say unto you, it shall come to pass that all those who gather unto the land of Zion shall be tithed of their surplus properties, and shall observe this law, or they shall not be found worthy to abide among you. And I say unto you, if my people observe not this law, to keep it holy, and by this law sanctify the land of Zion unto me, that my statutes and my judgments may be kept thereon, that it may be most holy, behold, verily I say unto you, it shall not be a land of Zion unto you. And this shall be an ensample unto all the stakes of Zion. Even so. Amen. (D&C 119:1-7.)

God states that tithing consists of two phases. Those new to the law are to donate all surplus property to the church. Thereafter, they are to pay a tenth of their interest annually. It is important to note that those who have not donated all their surplus property to the church at some point in their lives do not live the law of tithing as given by the Lord.

The Lord said that “this shall be a standing law” forever, or that it would not change. It turns out that this commandment is not new. It was restored anew, but it existed in the same exact form at least since the time of Abraham. As Joseph restored to Genesis 14 in the JST, when Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek, “Abram paid unto him tithes of all that he had, of all the riches which he possessed, which God had given him more than that which he had need.” (JST Gen 14:39.) Clearly, one tenth of one’s interest is defined as one tenth of what God gives you over what you need. In other word’s, God has said that tithing is one tenth of your net income, not one tenth of your gross income.

The expenses authorized by this section 119 are not very clear. This passage enumerates what the Lord has authorized tithing to be spent on:

1. “The building of mine house.” The revelation does not specify what “mine house” means. Does it mean the group of people that follow God? Does it mean the Far West temple, the one temple that was the focus of the church in 1838 when this revelation was received? Does it extend to the many subsequent temples built after Joseph’s death? Does it include the thousands of chapels the church has built? Does it include any building the church builds?
2. “The laying of the foundation of Zion.” What does this mean?
3. “The priesthood.” What aspect of the priesthood requires property?
4. “The debts of the Presidency of my Church.” Does this extend to future expenses?

From JST Gen 14, we learn that tithing in Abraham’s day was “for the poor” (JST Gen 12:38). Members donate tithing, estimated at over $7 billion per year⁵ with an understanding that their donation is the fulfillment of the commandment to care for the poor. How well does their understanding match reality?

The Practice of Tithing

The church has not published an accounting of the receipt or expenditure of tithing funds since the 60s when President Henry D. Moyle of the 1[st] presidency successfully lobbied President David O. McKay to cease the practice of providing an accounting of funds to the membership at each annual conference.⁶ However, private estimates of the amount donated are about $7 billion per year.⁷ Where does this money go?

Although a complete accounting is impossible to reconstruct, there are sufficient morsels of information that have been released that allow inference.

The largest recipient of tithing, according to Gordon B. Hinckley, is the operation of church universities: “[BYU] is the single most expensive entity funded by the tithes of the Church.”⁸ The church universities (BYU Provo, BYU Hawaii, BYU Idaho, LDS Business School, and BYU Salt Lake Campus) are a very expensive enterprise. Using actual BYU tuition rates and comparative private tuition figures published by BYU, as well as current enrollment numbers, we can estimate the tithing cost of the church universities at $1.1 billion. In addition to the church universities, the Church Educational System retains over 1,000 institute directors (see full list at institute.lds.org). Each director receives a significant salary in addition to perks such as a company car, a cost of living allowance, and a lifetime retirement at 30 years of service. The annual cost of the institute directors easily exceeds $10 million before counting the cost of those on retirement. Additionally, the church employs up to 24,000 lesser-paid full-time seminary teachers, which would cost a bare minimum of $600 million per year (assuming $24,000 per year salaries and conservative employer tax contributions). Thus, the CES annual budget is at least $1.5 billion per year, or 21% of tithing, and could be higher than $2 billion per year, or 29% of tithing.

After the CES system, the next highest tithing expense is most likely the salaries, benefits, and office space costs of full-time employees of the church (excluding CES). The church has not publicly released the number of workers it employs globally. However, a consideration of the number of entities and the work they do can assist in getting an idea of the order of magnitude of church employment. We typically think of the ecclesiastical employees who receive a salary for their work, such as the First Presidency, the Quorum of the 12, and the General Authorities. Each of these men also have secretaries. Also, there are over 400 mission presidents who are salaried and 25 area office staffs that consist of a collection of full-time employees to handle welfare, finance, facilities, etc. There are also facilities management personnel for the church buildings worldwide. Temple recorders are paid positions. There are also those who make garments, print scriptures and manuals, etc. There are a large number of professionals that provide support functions for church administration: lawyers, accountants, editors, programmers, electricians, janitors, and the like. Finally, there are the emeritus 70s, who receive pay and benefits for life.

Beyond the ecclesiastical employees of the church, the church wholly owns and operates an array of for-profit businesses. The employees of these operations are church employees. These companies include Deseret Management Corporation, Beneficial Financial Group, Bonneville International, Bonneville Communications, Bonneville Interactive Services, Bonneville Satellite, 35 different radio stations, KSL Television Station, Deseret Book, Excel Entertainment, Deseret Morning News, Hawaii Reserves, Polynesian Cultural Center, La'ie Shopping Center, La'ie Water Company, La'ie Treatment Works, Temple Square Hospitality and Temple Square restaurants, Zions Securities Corporation, Ensign Peak Advisors, Farm Management Corporation, Deseret Land and Livestock, Sun Ranch, Deseret Ranches of Florida, Deseret Farms of California, West Hills Orchards, Cactus Lane Ranch, Deseret Trust Company, LDS Family Services, Property Reserves Inc., and Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators (DMBA).

Again, quantifying the amount of money spent on these employees is not possible. However, to get an idea, we can consider the legally mandated financial information published by the LDS church in the UK. In 2012, the church in the UK had 188,029 members and spent 12,350,000 pounds on staff. This number did not include “missionary work,” the category which would tally the cost of mission president salaries and expense accounts, as well as associated employees at the area office, totaling about 7 million pounds. However, just using the exclusionary 12.3 million pounds number, that equates to sixty five pounds per member, or about $103 per member. This figure is the cost for local administration and does not include the army of lawyers, accountants, IT professionals, and General Authorities who are on the headquarters payroll. It likewise does not include any of the for-profit businesses, many of which are operated in the USA. However, it provides a very conservative lower bound. Extrapolating to the 15 million members reported by the church worldwide, we can estimate that LDS non-business salaries and benefits worldwide cost at least $1.5 billion per year, or approximately 21% of tithing.

Temples and chapels are another large item of expenditure for the church. The church publicizes the sparing of no expense in the construction of its temples. In the October 2012 General Conference, Elder Scott D. Whiting recounted how, during the renovation of the Laie Hawaii Temple, he watched a delegation of Church leaders indicate that certain parts of the construction would have to be redone. These included a large custom made stained glass window where a two-inch square was one eighth of an inch crooked and how several walls felt gritty to the touch. Elder Whiting later realized that the walls had always been intended to be wallpapered, and the small, crooked glass square was planned to sit behind a large potted plant. This level of exactness costs a lot of money to achieve. This is besides the materials themselves, which are lauded as being top of the line. On an open house tour of the Draper Utah temple, the tour guide showed me the astounding number of costly materials used to construct the 57,000 sq. ft. building. The abundant granite facing, counters and floor molding come from China. The wooden panels, doors, and molding come from Africa. The limestone floors are from France. There are over 35,000 hand-cut pieces of glass in the building. The church has not disclosed the cost of the Draper temple, though unofficial estimates are all over $100 million. The only temple whose cost has been partially disclosed is the Washington, D.C. temple, which leaders said would cost an estimated $15 million in the late 1960s, or about $88 million today. The D.C. temple is much larger than the Draper temple, but the materials used inside and out are significantly less costly than those in recent temples. The Preston England temple complex cost around $165 million in 1998, according to a Stake President there. The smaller temples are estimated to cost much less, around $16-20 million. Each temple has maintenance costs for the grounds, utilities, etc. that are considerable. Since 1998, the church has built or is building a total of 66 temples. Assuming the non-local contribution of each temple is $16 million (a conservative estimate), that equates to over a billion dollars, or around $62 million per year, excluding the cost of renovations or maintenance of existing temples. In total, the church could easily spend a billion dollars per year in temple operations and construction. This is at least 14% of annual tithing.

The church also builds about one chapel per day. According to the Zwick Construction (a firm that has built many temples and chapels for the church) website, a standard, US chapel costs 2-3 million dollars (excluding land cost and landscaping).Like temples, chapels built in the first world are built of considerably more expensive materials than in the developing world. If we assume that international chapels cost half what US chapels do (a very conservative factor), and that 1 in 10 new chapels are stake centers (also a conservative estimate), the church spends at least $400 million on new chapels per year. But what about the land cost? Although in some areas, like the UK, land costs exceed construction costs, we can conservatively estimate the cost of the land occupied by new chapels at 50% of the construction cost, or $200 million per year.⁹ It is harder to estimate utilities and renovation costs. However, the church is required by law to release financials for operations in the UK. From this information, we can gather that chapel renovations usually cost half what a new chapel would cost.¹⁰ We assume $200 million annually for these renovations, and for the sake of being conservative, ignore the costs of utilities and maintenance. This brings the total chapel cost estimation at $800 million per year. This is about 11% of tithing.

It is commonly understood in the church that one of the uses for tithing is to care for the poor. However, that is a false understanding. The LDS.org topics essay of “Tithing” does not list care for the poor as one of its uses:

“Tithing funds are always used for the Lord’s purposes—to build and maintain temples and meetinghouses, to sustain missionary work, to educate Church members, and to carry on the work of the Lord throughout the world.”

President Monson recently explained that money spent on the poor in the church comes completely from fast offerings.¹¹ The portion of tithing spent on the poor comes in the form of the humanitarian aid fund. In 2011, the church disclosed exactly how much money was spent in the preceding 26 years on humanitarian aid: $1.4 billion.¹² This amounts to $53.8 million per year, or 0.76% of tithing per year.

In conclusion, approximately 29% of tithing goes to CES, 21% in ecclesiastic and administrative salaries, 14% to temple construction and operation, 11% to chapel construction and maintenance, 0.76% to humanitarian aid.¹³

The Practice of Fast Offerings

Fast offerings in the church are prescribed to be donated the first Sunday of each month. They are meant to be at least the amount of two consecutive meals, but generosity is encouraged.

The concept is that, by fasting, the funds saved on food can be reallocated to the poor in the church. Using publicly disclosed data from the church in the UK, fast offerings are around 10% of tithing donations, or approximately $700 million per year. Local units dispense fast offerings to the poor, and local leaders are encouraged to find people on whom to spend the donations. Funds that remain unspent at the local unit level are forwarded to the stake, where they can be reapportioned to other units in the stake. Like the bishops, stake presidents are counseled to find a use for the funds they have. If the stake has excess funds, they go to church headquarters. Although there is a mechanism for needy wards to obtain extra fast offering funds, it requires the approval of the stake president, the area president, and even the presiding bishop, meaning it is a very rare occurrence.

The Doctrine of Fast Offerings

The Lord has never given a revelation on fast offerings. The doctrines pertaining to the concept of caring for the poor in relation to fasting are individual instructions, not connected to an institution. Both the commandment and the promised blessings are individual.

Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh? Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the Lord shall be thy rearward. Then shalt thou call, and enumerated on the sheet, which would not have caused money to be spent by the church. the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity; And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday: And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. (Isaiah 58:6-11.)

In principle, the church’s fast offering program could be used to facilitate mobilization of resources from affluent members to areas of the world that are more destitute. In practice, since the church’s fast offerings are encouraged to be consumed locally, and since it takes approval from the stake, area, and presiding bishop levels before funds can be obtained from headquarters, the fast offering program does not have many advantages compared to the scriptural practice of individuals directly donating their money to needy parties. In fact, given the abundance of all-volunteer organizations who care for the poor internationally, it could be argued that direct contributions through international charities have greater impact on the plight of the poor than traditional church fast offerings, which are almost guaranteed to be consumed locally in comparatively affluent areas.

The Plight of Poor LDS

Only 51% of the LDS membership lives in the first world.¹⁴ For the rest, poverty is a surprisingly ubiquitous condition. In 2013, I attended a meeting with LDS leaders and members from several stakes and districts in Guatemala, Peru, and Ecuador stated that most members in their units ate one meal per day consisting of perhaps some rice one day, a tomato another day, and a tortilla the third day. In Zimbabwe, interviews I conducted in early 2014 with the stake/district and ward/branch leadership yielded a consistent picture: the 90% unemployment in the country applied equally to the membership. Measured malnutrition rates in LDS children in these and other countries like the Philippines and Cambodia are staggering. In the developing world, making up 49% of church membership, many LDS children are starving. Several hundred die every year,¹⁵ while those who survive will suffer the ill effects of their childhood hunger during a lifetime of physical and cognitive problems that reduce or prevent workforce participation, increasing the probability that future generations will find themselves in the same condition. There are poor among us—millions of them.

According to the church, fast offerings are a local program.¹⁶ Unlike tithing, fast offerings are not sent to headquarters to be redistributed according to need. Instead, Bishops are instructed to seek out the most needy members in the congregation and offer them assistance.¹⁷ When Bishops cannot find members in need, they send the excess offerings to the stake. Stake presidents are in turn instructed to send those offerings to other Bishops in the stake whose needs exceed their donations. Funds are sent to headquarters only when there is surplus at the stake level. These funds do not necessarily get used on the poor at all, as “all donations become the Church’s property and will be used at the Church’s sole discretion.”¹⁸

But what about tithing? As discussed, tithing represents some $7 billion per year in member donations. How much of that is spent on caring for the poor membership of the church? The basic answer is simple: none of it. President Monson said that the church’s welfare program is funded not by tithing, but by fast offerings.¹⁹ Some tithing is spent on the world’s poor through the humanitarian aid program. This aid comes in the form of disaster relief supplies, not in the normal course of life. The church revealed that $1.4 billion was spent in humanitarian aid over 26 years ending in 2011.²⁰ This amounts to $53.8 million per year, or 0.76% of tithing per year. Why?

Church Reasoning for Neglecting the Poor

Recently, a couple traveled to the Philippines in order to volunteer to help rebuild from the natural disaster they had suffered. This couple was not only shocked by the first-hand witness of the poverty of active LDS members, but noted the extra helping of irony provided by a story told in General Conference six months prior. Elder Teh told the story of a widow having paid her tithing despite having lost her family and home in the earthquake. She was forced to live in a tent and go back to work in order to afford food. This couple happened to meet the widow from Elder Teh’s story and help rebuild her house. Six months after being mentioned in conference, the widow was still homeless, and only regained housing through the actions of people outside the church.

How is it possible that modern Mormonism can speak so often about helping the poor, and yet leave so much undone? How is it that members can skip two meals a month in the name of helping the poor, raising much more money than needed to provide the necessities of life for all members who struggle, yet those members still go without? How is it that members are so incredulous when presented with this information?

If tithing and offerings are not spent on the poor, what are they spent on? The gross majority is spent annually on buildings and salaries for church officers and employees. In order to spend money on the poor, one or more of those expenses would have to be reduced or eliminated. The church therefore judges subsidized education for first world members, salaries for full time ecclesiastical officers and professionals, and the building and maintenance of chapels and temples to be more important than the lives of the poor members of the church.²¹

The preeminence of the spiritual over the temporal, which Jesus taught, has many applications in our own day. For example, it explains why our church spends great sums preaching the restored gospel and building temples to perform the ordinances of eternity rather than (as some advocate) devoting these same resources to temporal concerns already being pursued by others, such as preserving the environment, researching cures for diseases, or administering to other physical needs that can be accomplished without priesthood power or direction. (“The Lord's Way,” Dallin H. Oaks, p.111.)

The prevailing belief in the hierarchy seems to be that the only responsibility they have toward the poor LDS is to act when doing so would also improve their spirituality. As Elder Oaks expounded upon the use of the pricey ointment on Jesus,

Thus, while the care of the poor was important, its importance should be seen in a spiritual context. In this instance, there was something more important to do with this ointment than to give its value to the poor. The things of eternity, including what Jesus could teach his followers concerning the salvation of their souls and what he could do for them by his death and resurrection, were more important than the temporal care of the poor. (“The Lord's Way” Dallin H. Oaks, p. 110.)

At least some of the brethren believe that what the church spends its money on is more important than caring for the poor because, well, other Christians without “priesthood power” can attend to that. There are two significant problems with this attitude. First, God has not described the building of temples, or the building of chapels, or the operation of heavily subsidized church universities, or full time stipends for ecclesiastical ministers, or a litany of church employees as the key to bringing Zion. Instead, Zion will come when people keep God’s commandments. Caring for the poor is one of those commandments.

But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? (I John 3:17.)

Building modern temples, building chapels, providing nearly free education for North American LDS, and paying thousands and thousands of employees were never given as commandments.²² Chapels cannot be argued to be necessary for the advancement of the gospel. Joseph did everything he did without the aid of a single chapel. Temples seem justified. But it would be a mistake to assume that their presence is always an indication of God’s approbation. Jeremiah says otherwise:

But don't be fooled by those who promise you safety simply because the LORD's Temple is here. They chant, “The LORD's Temple is here! The LORD's Temple is here!” (New Living Translation, Jeremiah 7:4)

Second, if the issue is focusing on what we can do as a church that no one else can, then why spend approximately $1 billion per year on subsidizing U.S. members’ education, when the U.S. government already provides programs that put an education within reach for all North Americans? Why spend billions per year on salaries for church officers and church professional employees? Are there really no members who would teach seminary as a calling for free or volunteer legal services for free? Is there a reason these people can’t support themselves while simultaneously offering their time to the church, as did King Benjamin? It seems that the rule of prioritizing the things that only LDS can do does not explain what the church does spend its money on as much as it justifies what it does not spend its money on.

When God’s basic commandments are ignored in order to build temples, will he honor them? As Paul said, “if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.” (1 Tim 5:8) We focus so much on the idea that we cannot be spiritually saved without the salvation of our dead. However, we seem to ignore that we cannot be spiritually saved without the temporal salvation of our fellow LDS. “The rich cannot be saved without Charity, giving to feed the poor when and how God requires as well as building.” (Joseph Smith, 1 May 1842, Manuscript History of the Church.) Is it the existence of the building that sanctifies it, or is it God who sanctifies it? Will he sanctify a building that is built through opposition to his commandments? As God said through Jeremiah, a temple can’t be efficacious if those who attend it oppress the poor:

Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord, are these. For if ye throughly amend your ways and your doings; if ye throughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbour; If ye oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your hurt: Then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, for ever and ever. Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit. Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not; And come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations? Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen it, saith the Lord. But go ye now unto my place which was in Shiloh, where I set my name at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel. And now, because ye have done all these works, saith the Lord, and I spake unto you, rising up early and speaking, but ye heard not; and I called you, but ye answered not; Therefore will I do unto this house, which is called by my name, wherein ye trust, and unto the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I have done to Shiloh. And I will cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out all your brethren, even the whole seed of Ephraim. Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me: for I will not hear thee. (Jeremiah 7:4-16.)

It displays great hubris and hypocrisy beyond measure for modern Mormons to pray in the most holy posture to ask the Lord to hear their pleas while necessarily ignoring the pleas of the poor in order to build the temples they pray in. The Lord says through Isaiah, referring to this very act:

When you spread forth your hands, I will conceal my eyes from you; though you pray at length, I will not hear—your hands are filled with blood. (Isaiah 1:15.)

We also are warned about this in the Book of Mormon:

Behold, O God, they cry unto thee, and yet their hearts are swallowed up in their pride. Behold, O God, they cry unto thee with their mouths, while they are puffed up, even to greatness, with the vain things of the world. Behold, O my God, their costly apparel, and their ringlets, and their bracelets, and their ornaments of gold, and all their precious things which they are ornamented with; and behold, their hearts are set upon them, and yet they cry unto thee and say—We thank thee, O God, for we are a chosen people unto thee, while others shall perish. (Alma 31:27-28.)

When there are yet poor among us, and we build temples instead of caring for them, we cause LDS members to die by building temples. This is perhaps of what Nephi was prophesying of when he said:

Because of pride, and because of false teachers, and false doctrine, their churches have become corrupted, and their churches are lifted up; because of pride they are puffed up. They rob the poor because of their fine sanctuaries; they rob the poor because of their fine clothing; and they persecute the meek and poor in heart, because in their pride they are puffed up. They wear stiff necks and high heads; yea, and because of pride, and wickedness, and abominations, and whoredoms, they have all gone astray save it be a few, who are the humble followers of Christ; nevertheless, they are led, that in many instances they do err because they are taught by the precepts of men. (2 Ne. 28:12-14.)

It is because of our building fine sanctuaries that we rob the poor. In other words, we rob the poor when we build fine sanctuaries, or we rob the poor in order to build fine sanctuaries. Therefore, when we go to temples and “spread forth” our hands, they are filled with the blood of those we have killed and continue to kill in order to sustain our vain worship. God does not hear such prayers, and the offerers of such prayers bring down cursing instead of blessing on their own heads through their idolatrous hypocrisy.

Ironically, the claim is sometimes made that the purpose of dotting the land with temples is to make temples accessible to the poor, who cannot afford to travel to the temples already in existence. The preference of building temples that cost many times what it would cost to alleviate poverty among members is an example of the embodiment of the church policy to focus only on the spiritual welfare of members. But again, this is not an either or scenario. The church can provide both spiritual and temporal salvation to its poor members. Proposals have been made (and rejected) to convert a cruise ship or a large airplane into a temple. Such an approach would result in a tremendous cost savings that could be allocated to the poor while also providing them with the temple ordinances.

It seems appropriate to recall that the covetousness of the Saints in being unwilling to give their time, talents, etc. to the poor was what invoked the ire of the Lord in Kirtland.

I, the Lord, am not well pleased with many who are in the church at Kirtland; For they do not forsake their sins, and their wicked ways, the pride of their hearts, and their covetousness, and all their detestable things, and observe all things whatsoever I have said unto them. (D&C 98:19-21, see also D&C 104:4, 52.)

The same argument could be made about the failure to achieve Zion in Missouri and Illinois. Joseph Smith implied this was a regular problem: “God had often sealed up the heavens because of covetousness in the Church.” (Joseph Smith, TPJS, p. 9.) This begs the question of how the Lord feels with us as an institution when we have many times more wealth than these brethren in Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois ever dreamed of, yet our members are so poor they are actually dying (a calamity unknown to the early Saints).

In a time of great comparative poverty the Lord said,

There is even now already in store sufficient, yea, even an abundance, to redeem Zion, and establish her waste places, no more to be thrown down, were the churches, who call themselves after my name, willing to hearken to my voice. (D&C 101:75.)

What would he say now, when the church has tens of billions of dollars in equity, yet has failed to build Zion? Could it be because they continue to attempt to build Zion without eradicating the plight of the poor among us?

...were it not for the transgressions of my people, speaking concerning the church and not individuals....they have not learned to be obedient to the things which I required at their hands, but are full of all manner of evil, and do not impart of their substance, as becometh saints, to the poor and afflicted among them; ...Zion cannot be built up unless it is by the principles of the law of the celestial kingdom; otherwise I cannot receive her unto myself. (D&C 105:1-5.)

Purpose: Self Sufficiency for Some But not Others?

The various handbooks instructing Bishops and Stake Presidents on administering church welfare are clear in explaining that the purpose of the church welfare program isn’t about alleviating suffering: “The bishop provides welfare assistance to members to help them develop spirituality, become self-reliant, and learn to provide for others.” Self-reliance, or the ability of a member to provide for the needs of himself and his family without outside intervention, is the keystone of modern church welfare.²³ However, the necessary precondition for self-reliance is the economic possibility of supporting yourself and your family. Unknown to most U.S. members, including far too many in church leadership, is the fact that in many developing nations, sufficient employment does not exist—no matter your training—to meet the needs of your family. For example, in most of Guatemala, even the most industrious may only be able to find work 3 days of the week, while one day’s wages are insufficient to purchase one day’s food.²⁴ The same is the case in many parts of Mexico.²⁵ In Zimbabwe, there are no real employment opportunities.²⁶ These situations stress the limitations of the church welfare program under the current guidelines that instruct church leaders to avoid the situation where the church is being relied upon to provide the staples of life.

Of course, the doctrines provided by God to alleviate the poor are not limited by local economic circumstances. God instructed the Saints to physically gather into one place specified by revelation. They were instructed to buy up land and donate it to the church. The church then allowed the poor to work the donated land to feed themselves. The only resource that had to be provided by the church was limited training on how to farm and welfare for those very few who were physically or mentally disabled and did not have family that could provide for them. The system as prescribed cannot be fully implemented in modern Mormonism, since the gathering was ended by fiat in the early 1900s. However, buying farms in the developing world and allowing the poor to work them in exchange for the food that is produced on them would be a much closer approximation to the Lord’s instructions that the US-centric modern welfare system. It would certainly alleviate the concerns of the Brethren who have reservations about creating a system where members are not self-reliant.

Beyond the mechanical limitations of the program in the realities of economies outside of the first world, a deeper philosophical problem exists: Why is it acceptable for church leaders to receive a comfortable and guaranteed living while it is not acceptable for the poor to do the same?

The First Presidency, Quorum of the Twelve, all other General Authorities,²⁷ and mission presidents receive money as a result of their callings. General Authority Seventies who have reached the age of 70 continue to receive benefits until death, despite a release from their duties, despite the church’s insistence that “There is no paid or professional ministry.”²⁸ Until 1995, General Authorities’ salaries came not from their ecclesiastical work, but from their membership on the boards of churchowned businesses.²⁹ After 1995, when General Authorities ceased to sit on such boards, there are only two possible ways of describing the money given to them.³⁰ Either they are being paid for the ministry, which is priestcraft, or they are being paid for doing nothing, which would present an awfully hypocritical situation given the persistence of avoiding giving handouts to the poor. Why is it acceptable to stress that the poor not be given assistance without working for it, when we freely give many times the welfare budget of entire stakes in each paycheck to a seventy or apostle without any work requirement?³¹

The scriptures, particularly the Book of Mormon, teach plainly that ecclesiastical officers should support themselves. Alma “...commanded them that the priests whom he had ordained should labor with their own hands for their support.” (Mosiah 18:24.). We are also told that the priests received power and authority in their teaching as a result of their not being paid to do it:

And the priests were not to depend upon the people for their support; but for their labor they were to receive the grace of God, that they might wax strong in the Spirit, having the knowledge of God, that they might teach with power and authority from God. (Mosiah 18:26.)

King Mosiah also adopted this law: “Yea, and all their priests and teachers should labor with their own hands for their support, in all cases save it were in sickness, or in much want...” (Mosiah 27:5.) Leaders in the Book of Mormon did not use their many ecclesiastical responsibilities as an excuse not to support themselves. Alma explained how he supported himself despite his litany of responsibilities as the presiding officer of both the church and the government,

...I have labored even from the commencement of the reign of the judges until now, with mine own hands for my support, notwithstanding my many travels round about the land to declare the word of God unto my people. (Alma 30:32.)

Neither workload nor physical age was used as an excuse worthy of earning the people’s support by King Benjamin, who not only led the church, but ruled the secular kingdom:

And even I, myself, have labored with mine own hands that I might serve you, and that ye should not be laden with taxes, and that there should nothing come upon you which was grievous to be borne... (Mosiah 2:14.)

Arguments supporting the church’s paying clergy it found in the Book of Mormon, but unfortunately they are offered up by apostates and anti-Christs. Nehor, for example,

had gone about among the people, preaching to them that which he termed to be the word of God...declaring unto the people that every priest and teacher ought to become popular; and they ought not to labor with their hands, but that they ought to be supported by the people. (Alma 1:3.)

These behaviors are described by Samuel the Lamanite as becoming only a false prophet:

Yea, ye will lift him up, and ye will give unto him of your substance; ye will give unto him of your gold, and of your silver, and ye will clothe him with costly apparel; and because he speaketh flattering words unto you, and he saith that all is well, then ye will not find fault with him. O ye wicked and ye perverse generation; ye hardened and ye stiffnecked people, how long will ye suppose that the Lord will suffer you? Yea, how long will ye suffer yourselves to be led by foolish and blind guides? Yea, how long will ye choose darkness rather than light? (Helaman 13:28-29.)

Even if church leaders will not support themselves with their own hands, couldn’t they at least reduce their standard of living? Does the average member of the church get a new luxury car every year, have multiple homes, have personal assistants, have a cook, a gardener, or expensive suits? The royalties they receive for their books should be sufficient alone to maintain an affluent standard of living. Why do they need lavish salaries to have sufficient for their needs?

The discrepancy between the living situation of many members and the poverty of other members is reminiscent of the description Amos gave of leaders at his time living in opulence while others lived in squalor:

Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria, which are named chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel came! Pass ye unto Calneh, and see; and from thence go ye to Hamath the great: then go down to Gath of the Philistines: be they better than these kingdoms? or their border greater than your border? Ye that put far away the evil day, and cause the seat of violence to come near; That lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch themselves upon their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the midst of the stall; That chant to the sound of the viol, and invent to themselves instruments of musick, like David; That drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the chief ointments: but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph. (Amos 6:1-6.)

How can we live so opulently when billions of the inhabitants of the earth and millions of church members live in dire poverty? How can modern Mormons not be repulsed by the contrast between the fineries of church leaders and the poor half of the church?

Respect of Persons

The Lord has commanded us to be one.³² Until we are one, we cannot be Zion. One way we can be one is by treating all our brothers and sisters in the developing world the same way we treat those in the first world. Throughout the scriptures, the Lord commands us to do exactly that. He indicates that it would not be right to treat one group of members better than another group:

And again I say unto you, let every man esteem his brother as himself. For what man among you having twelve sons, and is no respecter of them, and they serve him obediently, and he saith unto the one: Be thou clothed in robes and sit thou here; and to the other: Be thou clothed in rags and sit thou there—and looketh upon his sons and saith I am just? Behold, this I have given unto you as a parable, and it is even as I am. I say unto you, be one; and if ye are not one ye are not mine. (D&C 38:25-27.)

Elder Glenn L. Pace once said, “There is a state of human misery below which no Latter-day Saint should descend as long as others are living in abundance.” This is a laudatory thought. We ought to be just as concerned about those Saints in the developing world as we are the Saints in our own ward.

Jacob strongly chastened his brethren because they thought they were better than the poor among them due to their riches:

And the hand of providence hath smiled upon you most pleasingly, that you have obtained many riches; and because some of you have obtained more abundantly than that of your brethren ye are lifted up in the pride of your hearts, and wear stiff necks and high heads because of the costliness of your apparel, and persecute your brethren because ye suppose that ye are better than they. And now, my brethren, do ye suppose that God justifieth you in this thing? Behold, I say unto you, Nay. But he condemneth you, and if ye persist in these things his judgments must speedily come unto you....Think of your brethren like unto yourselves, and be familiar with all and free with your substance, that they may be rich like unto you. (Jacob 2:13-14,17.)

Although it is doubtful that anyone will ever self-identify as thinking they are better than others, or as treating one group differently than another, Jacob gives us a clue of how to tell: Are you familiar with all and free with your substance? Or, do you partition more of your substance to some than others? Are their qualifiers placed on your giving?

Alma taught that we suppose we “are better one than another” when we turn our “backs upon the poor, and the needy” and withhold our substance from them. He said those who do so have set their hearts upon riches.³³

The Lord has indicated that if we are not equal, and we do not treat others equally, that he will withhold his Spirit. “Nevertheless, in your temporal things you shall be equal, and this not grudgingly, otherwise the abundance of the manifestations of the Spirit shall be withheld.” (D&C 70:14.) We ought to pay strict heed, therefore, to whether or not we treat the poor among us as well as we do the rich.

One way modern Mormons treat the poor differently than the rich is in how we spend fast offerings. Estimated at $400 million per annum, only 2% of that goes to the developing world, where almost half of members live. About 25% of members in the developing world live on less than $1.25 per day in areas where the cost of food is not very different from the United States.³⁴ The issue with the manner of distributing fast offerings is that the poorest nations house both the members with the greatest financial need and the members with the least ability to donate fast offerings. Without a globally equal standard of need, Bishops instead define need based on local norms.³⁵ Thus, families in Zimbabwe are turned away from the few dollars in fast offerings the Bishops there have to spend per month because hunger is not a sufficiently emergent need in Zimbabwe, while a member in the United States can easily receive $1500 per month in aid to pay his mortgage when he is laid off of work. In places like Zimbabwe, the needs far exceed the welfare budget. Because of the nearly ubiquitous unemployment, nearly the entire ward is in need. In my interviews with leaders there, Bishops told me that they rotate their assistance allotment among perhaps 3 families each month.³⁶ A month’s assistance consists of perhaps a 2 lb. bag of corn flour and a bar of soap. There are no bishop’s storehouses in the developing world. There is no budget available for medical needs, as even the most minor medical need, such as a course of inexpensive antibiotic treatment for chronic diarrhea, exceeds the ward and stake welfare budgets. Although there is a codified mechanism to gain access to welfare funds beyond the ward/stake fast offerings collected, the need must be clearly recognizable as beyond the norm for the local area in order to gain the required approval of Stake President, Area President, and Presiding Bishop.³⁷ Thus, there is no direct mechanism to distribute fast offerings from affluent areas such as the United States to areas of great poverty. In short, fast offerings are not designed to alleviate poverty in the church, but rather to provide short term assistance in local congregations.

Would it really be so difficult to make the welfare budget like the ward budget, where all funds go to headquarters to be redistributed globally by ward size, instead of anchoring the offerings to the unit that donated them? This would not be as advantageous as allocating welfare budgets according to global weighted need, but it would be a change that could occur overnight and would be many times more efficacious (and equitable) than the current system.

Another way modern Mormons treat the poor differently is in the excuses they use not to donate to them. The biggest excuse is self-reliance. The counsel to be self-reliant is present in every manual discussing caring for the poor. In fact, it is listed first in order of duty before actually caring for the poor in every case. Self-reliance is a mantra of church welfare. For instance:

the Lord only helps those who are willing to help themselves. He expects His children to be self-reliant to the degree they can be. (L. Tom Perry, “Becoming Self-Reliant”, Oct 1991.)

Many programs have been set up by well-meaning individuals to aid those who are in need. However, many of these programs are designed with the shortsighted objective of “helping people,” as opposed to “helping people help themselves.” Our efforts must always be directed toward making able-bodied people self-reliant. (Marion G. Romney October 1982 General Conference.)

...the Church is not satisfied with any system which leaves able people permanently dependent, and insists, on the contrary, that the true function and office of giving, is to help people [get] into a position where they can help themselves and thus be free. (The Church Welfare Plan, Gospel Doctrine manual, 1946, p. 77.)

While there is nothing wrong with helping people avoid laziness, the mantra of self-reliance is based on the assumption that it is, in fact, possible to obtain self-sufficiency in all countries. The fact is—it isn’t. The United States has been an economically productive land since it’s inception. The modern reasons for this surround the value of our currency. It is not possible for all other nations, or even a majority of nations, to enjoy the economic prosperity we do. This is why their comments about the poor sound regrettably similar to Korihor, who was an antichrist. He preached that:

...every man fared in this life according to the management of the creature; therefore every man prospered according to his genius, and that every man conquered according to his strength.... (Alma 30:17.)

Unfortunately, about half of church members (and most church leaders) are from the United States, and have never experienced real poverty. Because the only poverty they have experienced has been from those who could work but choose not to, you hear church members saying the following about the poor:

• “They are poor because they don't pay tithing.”
• “They are poor because they keep electing corrupt governments.”
• “They are poor because they are lazy and won't work.”

No one who has met these poor members, visited their homes, or even heard their story could say such foolishly arrogant things. The mantra of selfreliance is one possible fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy:

For the godless utter blasphemy; their heart ponders impiety: how to practice hypocrisy and preach perverse things concerning Jehovah, leaving the hungry soul empty, depriving the thirsty soul of drink. And rogues scheme by malevolent means and insidious devices to ruin the poor, and with false slogans and accusations to denounce the needy. But the noble are of noble intent, and stand up for what is virtuous. (Isaiah 32:6-8, Gileadi Translation.)

Here, the false accusations are those above enumerated. The false slogan is “self-reliance.” Hypocrisy includes the fact that the Brethren receive salaries without working from the church, but they say it wouldn’t be righteous to give money to the poor without their working for it. Their programs leave the hungry soul empty. The idea of requiring 10% of a poor person’s income, in contradiction to God’s word on the subject, and withholding temple worship from those who cannot comply, can only be described as malevolent and insidious.

God did not ask us only to care for certain of the poor. He did not make it conditional. In fact, if he specified any group on whom we should have mercy, he said it was those who cannot repay us, those who will never be self-reliant.

But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind: And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just. (Luke 14:13-14.)

There are those who say, “well, giving to the wretchedly poor is not a permanent solution. You are just fighting the symptoms.” Yet, no parent ever looks at a baby who has just soiled their diaper and said, “I will not change them because they will just dirty the new diaper as well.” God knows that the poorest people will never cease to be poor. Yet, he commands us to be liberal even with these:

For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land. (Deuteronomy 15:11.)

God teaches that we should not give to others based on their capacity to give back. Rather, our generosity to those who cannot repay characterizes our generosity with God. “He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord; and that which he hath given will he pay him again.” (Proverbs 19:17.)

Another way we show preference to the rich in the church today is through how we spend on education. The church's universities and the perpetual education fund provide a staggering juxtaposition. President Hinckley said that “[BYU] is the single most expensive entity funded by the tithes of the Church.” (“Out of Your Experience Here,” October 16, 1990 BYU Speeches.) While we do not know how much tithing is spent on church universities, we can infer an estimate using BYU's comparison of tuition at comparable private universities at $24,000 per year per student more than BYU tuition, or over $1 billion per year for the more than 49,000 full-time students in church universities. That comes out to $96,000 in tithing per student assuming the student graduates in 4 years, a feat only accomplished by 31% of students at BYU according to US News.

The PEF costs roughly $1,000 per completed participant.³⁸ Since inception in 2001, the program has only consumed around $60 million dollars. The PEF is not a grant program. Participants are loaned the money. They are required to pay it back at a healthy interest rate.³⁹ Since every penny of that money came from interest on the donations from members earmarked for the PEF, no tithing has been spent on the PEF. During that same time, roughly $13 billion dollars in tithing have been spent on church schools.

While PEF entrants are required to complete a class on finance and choose a training program for which employment is available,⁴⁰ there are no such requirements at church universities. In fact in 2014, 46% of graduates from BYU received degrees in fields for which there is little to no employment.⁴¹ PEF tuition is an interest-bearing loan, not a gift, and the terms of repayment are contracted prior to receipt of the money. Meanwhile, church university students are trusted to repay the church's substantially greater investment (around 100 times greater) in them without any interest and no principle. PEF students are held to strict timelines. BYU students are not rushed in any way.⁴²

Education is quite affordable in the United States, Canada, and Europe, where government subsidies and job opportunities in sensible fields mean that tuition can be repaid within a year of graduating, even if the entire degree was financed. In most countries where the PEF is a church member’s only hope at church education assistance, there are limited or no subsidies, and financing is not available. So with the church spending 100 times more per student with no strings attached, why would any member of the church choose to go through the PEF instead of BYU? Because they can’t afford to. Acceptance rates aside, BYU costs prohibitively more for international students than for first world students. International students must not only pay tuition, room, and board at rates that are many times higher than their native countries, but they also must come up with a $4,000 to deposit into a BYU-controlled escrow account in order to be admitted, which cannot be spent for tuition, room, or board.¹¹⁴ Finally, passing the English fluency requirement is usually only possible after years of expensive English classes, something only the relatively wealthy can afford. As President Hinckley once said, the exclusion of members who wish to go to BYU but cannot is an “injustice.”⁴³ Yet, neither he nor his successor have done anything to make it more fair. Simply subjecting BYU students to the same terms as the PEF would be a marked improvement.

Joseph said, “God had often sealed up the heavens because of covetousness in the Church.” (TPJS, p. 9) Is there any wonder whether the church today is covetous? Do modern Mormons treat the poor members of the church the same as they treat the rich? No wonder Jesus said, “For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” (Luke 18:25) If such is true for a man, what of an institution?

To Get Gain

Modern Mormonism teaches that salvation comes in and through the temple ordinances (see “Temples”). Because of this, all aspects of the church point to the temple. Financial aspects of the church are no different. Because temples are taught as necessary to salvation, and because temples cost so much to build, it is understandable that the church puts so much emphasis on the acquisition of money.

Of course, the temple model for salvation does not require the army of professionals employed by the church, nor the smaller contingent of paid ministers employed by the church (CES, General Authorities, and mission presidents). Oddly, the annual combined cost of all church employees easily exceeds the cost to build and maintain temples. To labor for money in the name of building Zion is explicitly identified by Nephi as priestcraft: “the laborer in Zion shall labor for Zion; for if they labor for money they shall perish” (2 Ne. 26:31).

Nephi prophesied that “the Gentiles” would do exactly these things. Though modern Mormons comfortably shrug off this prophecy to the Catholics, it is unquestionable that the church’s actions fit the bill.

And the Gentiles are lifted up in the pride of their eyes, and have stumbled, because of the greatness of their stumbling block, that they have built up many churches; nevertheless, they put down the power and miracles of God, and preach up unto themselves their own wisdom and their own learning, that they may get gain and grind upon the face of the poor. (2 Nephi 26:20.)

Has the church built many churches? The church breaks ground on one chapel per day. Have the leaders put down the power and miracles of God?

They have preached consistently that revelation is just your feelings,⁴⁴ that only the unrighteous seek spiritual manifestations,⁴⁵ that spiritual gifts are often from the devil,⁴⁶ and that, contrary to God’s word on the subject, one should not actually seek the face of Jesus in this life.⁴⁷

Have the leaders “preached up unto themselves their own wisdom and their own learning?” They have truly set themselves up as the light of the world, proclaiming that revelation can’t be from God if it disagrees with them,⁴⁸ that we should trust in them for salvation,⁴⁹ that their opinions should be accepted as God’s word,⁵⁰ and that a man’s allegiance to Christ is measured by his allegiance to them.⁵¹

But have these teachings been demonstrably for the purpose of getting gain at the expense of the poor? If a poor man can obtain salvation directly from Christ, he does not need to worry about selling his house or working away from his family for years in order to obtain salvific ordinances from the church while the rich can obtain it without any such sacrifice.⁵² If a poor man can obtain salvation directly from Christ, he doesn’t have to go without food, medicine, or shelter to pay 10% of his already insufficient income to the church in order to finance ornate temples⁵³ and luxury living standards for church employees. Turning the people away from Christ and towards themselves in order to maintain their dependence upon them is a literal fulfillment of 2Nephi 26:20, and it is particularly harmful to the poor, whose sacrifices to maintain membership in the system must far exceed that of the rich.

Therefore, there is no doubt that the following lament lays squarely upon the leaders of modern Mormonism as much as any other group:

O ye wicked and perverse and stiffnecked people, why have ye built up churches unto yourselves to get gain? Why have ye transfigured the holy word of God, that ye might bring damnation upon your souls? Behold, look ye unto the revelations of God; for behold, the time cometh at that day when all these things must be fulfilled. (Mormon 8:33.)

The change of tithing from a one-time consecration with 10% of annual surplus thereafter to 10% of annual income with no consecration of surplus was a change made by fiat with the intent to bring in more money.⁵⁴ Because God gave no revelation to change his standing law forever (D&C 119), this was and is a transfiguration of the holy word of God.

Changes to align church policy more closely to God’s revealed word would not need to be drastic (though many church employees would lose high paying jobs). For example, the church is already buying massive tracts of farmland. Would it be that much of a change to buy it in the developing world instead of the United States, and give poor members the opportunity to farm their own food? Simply by moving these land holdings to the developing world, the church could save millions of church members from poverty.

Other, more drastic changes, would be needed to bring about complete compliance with God’s word. He doesn’t provide a mechanism for priestcraft or for a for-profit church. He doesn’t provide for a way to have both rich and poor members.

And it is my purpose to provide for my saints, for all things are mine. But it must needs be done in mine own way; and behold this is the way that I, the Lord, have decreed to provide for my saints, that the poor shall be exalted, in that the rich are made low. For the earth is full, and there is enough and to spare; yea, I prepared all things, and have given unto the children of men to be agents unto themselves. Therefore, if any man shall take of the abundance which I have made, and impart not his portion, according to the law of my gospel, unto the poor and the needy, he shall, with the wicked, lift up his eyes in hell, being in torment. (D&C 104:15-18.)

He did not say, “my way is that the rich remain rich and the poor remain poor.” The way he has appointed is that the money flow from the rich to the poor. If this is true of individuals, should it not be true of the church itself? Does God approve of a rich church whose members are still poor?

In the end, it is abundantly clear that the model of the church is that salvation comes in and through temples and the paid personnel of the church, and therefore the objective of the church is to gain as much money as possible in order to finance the temple-church employee complex because, under this model, the more money gained, the more souls can be saved. As a result, the poor are disproportionately deprived of welfare that would otherwise be their due under the gospel, and also disproportionately deprived of the little they have as a result of priestcraft. While the church decides against proselyting activities that will only add poor members to the church, such as baptizing thousands of Africans who have petitioned for missionaries,⁵⁵ the church infrastructure is filled with entities whose sole purpose is to get gain.

First among its for-profit enterprises is DMC, which reaps estimated annual revenue of $1.2 billion from six subsidiaries, according to the business information and analysis firm Hoover’s Company Records (DNB). Those subsidiaries run a newspaper, 11 radio stations, a TV station, a publishing and distribution company, a digital media company, a hospitality business, and an insurance business with assets worth $3.3 billion. AgReserves, another forprofit Mormon umbrella company, together with other church-run agricultural affiliates, reportedly owns about 1 million acres in the continental U.S., on which the church has farms, hunting preserves, orchards, and ranches. These include the $1 billion, 290,000-acre Deseret Ranches in Florida, which, in addition to keeping 44,000 cows and 1,300 bulls, also has citrus, sod, and timber operations. Outside the U.S., AgReserves operates in Britain, Canada, Australia, Mexico, Argentina, and Brazil. Its Australian property, valued at $61 million in 1997, has estimated annual sales of $276 million, according to Dun & Bradstreet. The church also runs several for-profit real estate arms that own, develop, and manage malls, parking lots, office parks, residential buildings, and more. Hawaii Reserves, for example, owns or manages more than 7,000 acres on Oahu, where it maintains commercial and residential buildings, parks, water and sewage infrastructure, and two cemeteries. Utah Property Management Associates, a real estate arm of the church, manages portions of City Creek Center. According to Spencer P. Eccles from the Utah Governor’s Office of Economic Development, the mall cost the church an estimated $2 billion. It is only one part of a $5 billion church-funded revamping of downtown Salt Lake City, according to the Mormon-owned news site KSL. (http://www.bloomberg.com/bw/articles/2012-0710/how-the-mormons-make-money.)

The article goes on to list Ensign Peak Advisors, a multi-billion dollar hedge fund whose sole purpose is to invest money for the church. Since this article was published, the church has accelerated the acquisition of real estate holdings, including the construction of a luxury apartment complex on the site of the new Philadelphia temple.

In the end, the following criticism from Moroni seems to fit well:

For behold, ye do love money, and your substance, and your fine apparel, and the adorning of your churches, more than ye love the poor and the needy, the sick and the afflicted....Yea, why do ye build up your secret abominations to get gain, and cause that widows should mourn before the Lord, and also orphans to mourn before the Lord, and also the blood of their fathers and their husbands to cry unto the Lord from the ground, for vengeance upon your heads? Behold, the sword of vengeance hangeth over you; and the time soon cometh that he avengeth the blood of the saints upon you, for he will not suffer their cries any longer. (Mormon 8:36-41.)

The Rainy Day Fund

An undisclosed amount of church offerings are invested. For example, all donations to the perpetual aid fund are invested. Awards are made in the form of interest-bearing loans out of the interest on the principle endowment. Similarly, church leaders have built what they call a “rainy day” fund in the anticipation of a drop in tithes significant enough to disrupt the regular financial obligations of the church (salaries and rents). Michael Purdy, church spokesman, said,

The church teaches its members to live within their means and put a little money aside for life's unexpected events. As a church, we live by the same principle. (“Insight: Mormon church made wealthy by donations,” Reuters.com, Aug 12, 2012.)

In defense of this position, President Hinckley taught:

For years, the Church has taught its membership the principle of setting aside a reserve of food, as well as money, to take care of emergency needs that might arise. We are only trying to follow the same principle for the Church as a whole. (April 1991 General Conference.)

In this same talk he explained that,

In the financial operations of the Church, we have observed two basic and fixed principles: One, the Church will live within its means. It will not spend more than it receives. Two, a fixed percentage of the income will be set aside to build reserves against what might be called a possible 'rainy day.'

We do not know what this fixed percentage is. However, we know at least some of the things that have been purchased as part of the rainy day fund.

Stocks. Ensign Peak Advisors is an investment company owned by the church. It’s sole mission is to invest church money. Ensign Peak Advisors employee Laurence R. Stay told the Deseret News in 2006 that “billions of dollars change hands every day.”

Real estate. In recent history, the church has accelerated its acquisition of real estate holdings. The City Creek Center, whose costs exceeded a billion dollars, joins with the construction of a large luxury apartment complex in Philadelphia and increases in ranch holdings in Florida. To date, the church owns more ranch land in the United States than any other private entity. It owns a chunk of Florida the size of Rhode Island in addition to large ranches in California, Utah, Nebraska, and Hawaii.

The rainy day fund seems like a good idea on the surface. Just as Joseph stored excess grain in times of surplus, the church can save up money and land in order to use it for good in a time of scarcity. Yet, the money is not surplus. We are surrounded both in and out of the church with those who do not have sufficient food to eat. This is not surplus money—this is money that is optionally assigned to investment rather than fulfilling the needs of the poor, including active LDS poor. We are taking food out of the mouths of members in order to invest it for future use. The question is, future use for whom? If the money comes from ignoring the plight of the poor in the developing world, is it any doubt that the proceeds will not be spent on the developing world?

The rainy day fund is respect of persons. It is saving for the benefit of members in the United States at the expense of international members. As with chapels, temples, and universities, it is another example of how the church treats developing world members differently than those in the United States.

The rainy day fund is a curious program when compared with the scriptures. It is based on many assumptions that are anti-scriptural. When needed, leaders assume that:

• Money will still exist. God says it will not. “Your silver and gold will be thrown into the streets like garbage, because those are the two things that led you into sin, and now they cannot save you from my anger. They are not even worth enough to buy food.” (Ezekiel 7:19, CEV.)
• The stock market will persist. In light of recent regular crashes of the stock market in response to comparatively minor events, this is ludicrous even without considering relevant scriptural prophecies that suggest otherwise.
• Transportation mechanisms will still exist. God says they will not. “The highways are desolate, travel is at an end.” (Isaiah 33:8)
• Civil law and order will be sufficient to protect and distribute the goods. Isaiah says it will not.

Even if God approved of the idea of a rainy day fund, the likelihood that it will be of use when the events God has promised come to pass is essentially zero. All the stockpiled wealth will disappear in an instant, and the stored material goods will be mobbed by local vandals.

The Lord taught amply that his disciples were to give what they had to the poor, not store it up for themselves in a latter time of need:

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. (Matthew 6:19-21.)

In Luke 12:33-34, Jesus gives us an idea of treasure in heaven when he says:

Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Where is modern Mormonism's treasure? Is there any doubt that the heart of modern Mormonism is to be found in Babylon, where its treasure lies? It is certainly not to be found in alms to the poor.

The business model of investing to then later spend a share of whatever profits may come is antithetical to the model the Savior employed while on the earth. He took a boy's few loaves and fishes and distributed them among the hungry. After receiving all the crowd had to give, he made it enough to meet their needs. Their needs were met through faith in God and not security in the bank.

Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days. (Ecclesiastes 1:11.)

The Lord spoke derisively of those who would build bigger barns to store their amassed wealth instead of caring for the poor:

And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. (Luke 12:15-21.)

Let us remember that God has promised widespread destruction at our doors. Any one of these prophesied calamities will render our bigger barns worthless. Isaiah predicted that, in our day, the presiding officers of Ephraim would be drunk on delusion and craft a plan to avoid the suffering to precede the second coming not by righteousness, but by creating secret refuges:

Woe to the garlands of glory of the drunkards of Ephraim! Their crowning splendor has become as fading wreaths on the heads of the opulent overcome with wine....These too have indulged in wine and are giddy with strong drink: priests and prophets have gone astray through liquor. They are intoxicated with wine and stagger because of strong drink; they err as seers, they blunder in their decisions....Therefore hear the word of Jehovah, you scoffers who preside over these people in Jerusalem. You have supposed, by taking refuge in deception and hiding behind falsehoods, to have covenanted with Death, or reached an understanding with Sheol, that, should a flooding scourge sweep through the earth, it shall not reach you. I will make justice the measure, righteousness the weight; a hail shall sweep away your false refuge and waters flood the hiding place. Your covenant with Death shall prove void, your understanding with Sheol have no effect: when the flooding scourge sweeps through, you shall be overrun by it. As often as it sweeps through, you shall be seized by it: by day and by night it shall seize you; it shall cause terror merely to hear word of it. Then shall come to pass the proverb: The couch is too short to stretch out on, the covering too narrow to wrap oneself in. (Isaiah 28: 1,7-20.)

The Lord told Isaiah that the leaders' attempts at avoiding the punishment coming would fail. This isn't surprising to anyone who has read the scriptures. Is a cattle ranch any good when darkness covers the earth for a long time? Will food deposits do anyone any good when God has taken our modern transportation away, or when men are encompassed by plague? Does it not go without saying that real estate holdings and stock market equities will be worthless when Babylon is fallen? The church may claim to preach the gospel, but it certainly does make decisions predicated upon its truthfulness. The only way these programs make any rational sense is if you completely ignore the fact that there are people who are dying now because of lack of very cheap intervention and you believe that the Lord delays his coming (see Matthew 24:48). Not only are we neglecting our brothers and sisters in Christ in order to build bigger barns, but we are building the barns knowing full well they will not be accessible when the prophesied destruction is poured out.

At the time of destruction, it will be righteousness (giving to the poor) and not storage (rainy day fund) that will save.

Treasures of wickedness profit nothing: but righteousness delivereth from death. The Lord will not suffer the soul of the righteous to famish: but he casteth away the substance of the wicked. (Proverbs 10:2-3.)

Riches profit not in the day of wrath: but righteousness delivereth from death....The righteousness of the upright shall deliver them: but transgressors shall be taken in their own naughtiness. (Proverbs 11:4,6.)

He that trusteth in his riches shall fall: but the righteous shall flourish as a branch. (Proverbs 11:28.)

This covenant with death will surely fail, and when it does, the repercussion will be that God will not hear the cries of those who oppressed the poor in order to set up security for their own time of need. “Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard.” (Proverbs 21:13.)

There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. (Luke 16:19-25.)

And again,

Therefore thus saith the Lord; Ye have not hearkened unto me, in proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother, and every man to his neighbour: behold, I proclaim a liberty for you, saith the Lord, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will make you to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth. (Jeremiah 24:17.)

And again,

Rob not the poor, because he is poor: neither oppress the afflicted in the gate: For the Lord will plead their cause, and spoil the soul of those that spoiled them. (Proverbs 22:2223.)

And again,

I will punish you for your sins and treat you the same way you have treated others. (Ezekiel 7:27, CEV.)

The Lord's “rainy day” plan is to give to the poor—now—in whatever way we can.

Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it. Say not unto thy neighbour, Go, and come again, and to morrow I will give; when thou hast it by thee. (Proverbs 3:27-28.)

Then, and only then, we will have a right to call on him for protection when the destruction comes, not as slothful servants who ignored his commission and counted on his prolonged absence, but as faithful stewards who anticipated his return.

Modern Mormons would do well to heed Mormon's warning to them, having seen our day:

And I know that ye do walk in the pride of your hearts; and there are none save a few only who do not lift themselves up in the pride of their hearts, unto the wearing of very fine apparel, unto envying, and strifes, and malice, and persecutions, and all manner of iniquities; and your churches, yea, even every one, have become polluted because of the pride of your hearts. For behold, ye do love money, and your substance, and your fine apparel, and the adorning of your churches, more than ye love the poor and the needy, the sick and the afflicted. O ye pollutions, ye hypocrites, ye teachers, who sell yourselves for that which will canker, why have ye polluted the holy church of God? Why are ye ashamed to take upon you the name of Christ? Why do ye not think that greater is the value of an endless happiness than that misery which never dies—because of the praise of the world? Why do ye adorn yourselves with that which hath no life, and yet suffer the hungry, and the needy, and the naked, and the sick and the afflicted to pass by you, and notice them not? Yea, why do ye build up your secret abominations to get gain, and cause that widows should mourn before the Lord, and also orphans to mourn before the Lord, and also the blood of their fathers and their husbands to cry unto the Lord from the ground, for vengeance upon your heads? Behold, the sword of vengeance hangeth over you; and the time soon cometh that he avengeth the blood of the saints upon you, for he will not suffer their cries any longer. (Mormon 8:36-41.)

Tithing the Poor

While it is quite repugnant that the church withholds assistance to the poor who have no opportunity to work in the name of self reliance while giving salaries to General Authorities and Mission Presidents, it would be well if that were the only problem in the matter. What is more egregious still is that the doctrine of tithing has been modified to enable the extraction of money from the poor.

As detailed earlier, God states in D&C 119 and JST Gen 14 that tithing consists of 1) a one-time donation of all surplus property to God’s representative, and 2) an annual payment of one tenth of net income.

In today’s church, there is no mechanism for or instruction to give a one-time donation of all surplus property. There is instruction, however, to pay one tenth of one’s gross annual income, instead of one tenth of one’s net income.

As God said in D&C 119, and as is confirmed by the consistency of the law given to Abraham and that given through Joseph Smith, tithing as revealed in D&C 119 is to be a standing law forever. God himself said that it would not change. So how did modern Mormons come to practice a different law?

It is apparent that during Joseph’s life, the law was lived as written. The church newspaper featured an article that said:

The celestial law requires one-tenth part of all a man's substance which he possesses at the time he comes into the church (See D&C 119:1), and one-tenth part of his annual increase ever after (See D&C 119:4). If it requires all man can earn to support himself and his family, he is not tithed at all. The celestial law does not take the mother's and children's bread, neither ought else which they really need for their comfort. The poor that have not of this world's good to spare, but serve and honor God according to the best of their abilities in every other way, shall have a celestial crown in the Eternal Kingdom of our Father. (The Millenial Star, 1847.)

Another contemporary source reads:

If a man gives for the benefit of the Church, it is considered a voluntary offering. Yet the law requires or enjoins a consecration of the overplus, after reserving for himself and family to carry on his business. (John Corrill, A Brief History of the Church of Latter Day Saints, p. 45.)

Less than two months after Joseph’s death, the brethren issued a proclamation demanding a one time payment of 1/10th of members’ property to the church, without exemptions for those who had already done so per D&C 119. That started an incessant shift to tithing as it is practiced today. In 1873, Orson Hyde preached that tithing was 1/10 of your income, instead of 1/10 of your surplus. In 1874, Orson Pratt preached that tithing was separate from the initial consecration commanded in D&C 119. In 1892, Joseph F. Smith publicly taught that tithing ought to be paid before the necessities of life. In 1899, Lorenzo Snow ended the practice of an initial consecration. In 1910, tithing on one’s income became a requirement to enter the temple.

As the Lord said through Ezekiel:

There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things; they have made her many widows in the midst thereof. Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things...Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain. And her prophets have daubed them with untempered mortar, seeing vanity, and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith the Lord God, when the Lord hath not spoken. The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy: yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully. (Ezekiel 22:25-29.)

Today, the church constantly preaches that individuals must pay 10% of their gross income in order to consider themselves full tithe payers, and that this payment should come even if it means one cannot pay their bills.⁵⁶

This policy is obviously much more difficult for the poor than for the rich. The rich are no longer required to make a one-time consecration of their surplus. The church commands the poor to give what little they have to finance expenditures not authorized by God and for which the poor receive nothing on the one hand, and then refuses to support the poor on the other. All the while, the Brethren themselves do not work. Is it any question what Jesus would say about this, when he said the following about the rulers in his day?

...The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat...they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers....Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation. (Matthew 23:2,4,14.)

Is it any wonder whether the church today is a fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy?

...O my people, your leaders mislead you, abolishing your traditional ways. Jehovah will...bring to trial the elders of his people and their rulers, and say to them, It is you who have devoured the vineyard; you fill your houses by depriving the needy. What do you mean by oppressing my people, humbling the faces of the poor? says Jehovah of Hosts. (Isaiah 3:12-15, Gileadi Translation.)

The leaders of ancient Israel treated the poor the same as the church does today.⁵⁷ God called their actions “manifold transgressions” and “mighty sins.” He promised their destruction as a result. In Micah, God promises that leaders who neglect the poor will not have visions, prophecies, or answers to prayers, causing one to wonder whether the church’s neglect of the poor today might have something to do with the lack of prophecy, visions, and revelations from those who are sustained as prophets, seers, and revelators.

And I said, Hear, I pray you, O heads of Jacob, and ye princes of the house of Israel; Is it not for you to know judgment? Who hate the good, and love the evil; who pluck off their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones; Who also eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them; and they break their bones, and chop them in pieces, as for the pot, and as flesh within the caldron. Then shall they cry unto the Lord, but he will not hear them: he will even hide his face from them at that time, as they have behaved themselves ill in their doings. Thus saith the Lord concerning the prophets that make my people err, that bite with their teeth, and cry, Peace; and he that putteth not into their mouths, they even prepare war against him. Therefore night shall be unto you, that ye shall not have a vision; and it shall be dark unto you, that ye shall not divine; and the sun shall go down over the prophets, and the day shall be dark over them. Then shall the seers be ashamed, and the diviners confounded: yea, they shall all cover their lips; for there is no answer of God. But truly I am full of power by the spirit of the Lord, and of judgment, and of might, to declare unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin. Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and princes of the house of Israel, that abhor judgment, and pervert all equity. They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity. The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the Lord, and say, Is not the Lord among us? none evil can come upon us. Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest. (Micah 3:1-12.)

As God said through Micah, it is as if leaders think that they can build Zion with the blood of the poor extracted through wresting the law of tithing, all while teaching the gospel for money. And yet, the leaders do claim that the Lord is among them, and that no evil can come upon them.⁵⁸ The following two passages of scriptures are necessary reading on the topic, though they will be presented without commentary.

And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks? Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed: but ye feed not the flock. The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them. And they were scattered, because there is no shepherd: and they became meat to all the beasts of the field, when they were scattered. My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill: yea, my flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth, and none did search or seek after them. Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of the Lord; As I live, saith the Lord God, surely because my flock became a prey, and my flock became meat to every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, neither did my shepherds search for my flock, but the shepherds fed themselves, and fed not my flock; Therefore, O ye shepherds, hear the word of the Lord; Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my flock at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; for I will deliver my flock from their mouth, that they may not be meat for them. For thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out. As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel. I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord God. I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them with judgment. And as for you, O my flock, thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I judge between cattle and cattle, between the rams and the he goats. Seemeth it a small thing unto you to have eaten up the good pasture, but ye must tread down with your feet the residue of your pastures? and to have drunk of the deep waters, but ye must foul the residue with your feet? And as for my flock, they eat that which ye have trodden with your feet; and they drink that which ye have fouled with your feet. Therefore thus saith the Lord God unto them; Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat cattle and between the lean cattle. Because ye have thrust with side and with shoulder, and pushed all the diseased with your horns, till ye have scattered them abroad; Therefore will I save my flock, and they shall no more be a prey; and I will judge between cattle and cattle. And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd. And I the Lord will be their God, and my servant David a prince among them; I the Lord have spoken it. And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land: and they shall dwell safely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods. And I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing. And the tree of the field shall yield her fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase, and they shall be safe in their land, and shall know that I am the Lord, when I have broken the bands of their yoke, and delivered them out of the hand of those that served themselves of them. And they shall no more be a prey to the heathen, neither shall the beast of the land devour them; but they shall dwell safely, and none shall make them afraid. And I will raise up for them a plant of renown, and they shall be no more consumed with hunger in the land, neither bear the shame of the heathen any more. Thus shall they know that I the Lord their God am with them, and that they, even the house of Israel, are my people, saith the Lord God. And ye my flock, the flock of my pasture, are men, and I am your God, saith the Lord God. (Ezekiel 34:1-31)

There is a voice of the howling of the shepherds; for their glory is spoiled: a voice of the roaring of young lions; for the pride of Jordan is spoiled. Thus saith the Lord my God; Feed the flock of the slaughter; Whose possessors slay them, and hold themselves not guilty: and they that sell them say, Blessed be the Lord; for I am rich: and their own shepherds pity them not. For I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land, saith the Lord: but, lo, I will deliver the men every one into his neighbour’s hand, and into the hand of his king: and they shall smite the land, and out of their hand I will not deliver them. And I will feed the flock of slaughter, even you, O poor of the flock. (Zechariah 11:3-7.)

Conclusion

The Lord explained that the reason the Saints in Joseph’s day failed to attain Zion was because of their institutional neglect of the poor.

Behold, I say unto you, were it not for the transgressions of my people, speaking concerning the church and not individuals, they might have been redeemed even now. But behold, they have not learned to be obedient to the things which I required at their hands, but are full of all manner of evil, and do not impart of their substance, as becometh saints, to the poor and afflicted among them. (D&C 105:23.)

Notice how the Lord was explicitly saying this was not a problem with individuals, but with the church organization itself.

When the institution is failing to care for the poor, who is at fault? Certainly not individual members, who are donating substantial sums to the organization every year. The Lord said:

If thou lovest me thou shalt serve me and keep all my commandments. And behold, thou wilt remember the poor, and consecrate of thy properties for their support that which thou hast to impart unto them, with a covenant and a deed which cannot be broken. And inasmuch as ye impart of your substance unto the poor, ye will do it unto me; and they shall be laid before the bishop of my church and his counselors, two of the elders, or high priests, such as he shall appoint or has appointed and set apart for that purpose. (D&C 42:29-31.)

It is the leaders' responsibility to distribute the offerings given from the people to the poor. Ironically, the oft-quoted passage from Malachi used to chide poor members into paying 10% of their gross income to the church is actually directed towards the very priests who quote it. It is they who are robbing God by refusing to spend tithing and offerings on the poor.

Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. (Malachi 3:8-10.)

The church leaders are commanded today to

...remember in all things the poor and the needy, the sick and the afflicted, for he that doeth not these things, the same is not my disciple. (D&C 52:40.)

Are they? How can we be the Lord's church if he wouldn’t even call us his disciples? Jesus said that “a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven....It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” (Matthew 19:23-24.) If a rich man can’t get into the Celestial Kingdom, can a rich church ever become Celestial? Can a rich church ever bring forth Zion?

We are told in the Book of Mormon that if we do not care for the poor, God will not hear our prayers:

And now behold, my beloved brethren, I say unto you, do not suppose that this is all; for after ye have done all these things, if ye turn away the needy, and the naked, and visit not the sick and afflicted, and impart of your substance, if ye have, to those who stand in need—I say unto you, if ye do not any of these things, behold, your prayer is vain, and availeth you nothing, and ye are as hypocrites who do deny the faith. Therefore, if ye do not remember to be charitable, ye are as dross, which the refiners do cast out, (it being of no worth) and is trodden under foot of men. (Alma 34:28-29.)

Perhaps this is one reason there is a drought of the word of God among the leadership of the church. Isaiah instructs us how we can again begin to receive institutional revelation. He notes how we pray to the Lord consistently and observe the rituals of our religion, as if we were doing the things we are meant to do. Yet, the Lord does not speak to us:

Proclaim it aloud without restraint; raise your voice like a trumpet! Declare to my people their transgressions, to the house of Jacob its sins. Yet they importune me daily, eager to learn my ways, like a nation practicing righteousness and not forsaking the precepts of its God. They inquire of me concerning correct ordinances, desiring to draw nearer to God: Why, when we fast, do you not notice? We afflict our bodies and you remain indifferent! It is because on your fast day you pursue your own ends and constrain all who toil for you. You fast amid strife and contention, striking out savagely with the fist. Your present fasts are not such as to make your voice heard on high. (Isaiah 58:1-4, Gileadi Translation.)

And he won’t, until we repent and care for the poor:

Is not this the fast I require: To release from wrongful bondage, to untie the harness of the yoke, to set the oppressed at liberty and abolish all forms of subjection? Is it not to share your food with the hungry, to bring home the wretchedly poor, and when you see men underclad to clothe them, and not to neglect your own kin? Then shall your light break through like the dawn and your healing speedily appear; your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of Jehovah will be your rearguard. Then, should you call, Jehovah will respond; should you cry, he will say, I am here. Indeed, if you will banish servitude from among you, and the pointing finger and offensive speech, if you will give of your own to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then shall your light dawn amid darkness and your twilight become as the noonday. Jehovah will direct you continually; he will satisfy your needs in the dearth and bring vigor to your limbs. (Isaiah 58:6-11, Gileadi Translation.)

The Lord expects the church to take care of the poor, but he does not find that happening. As Isaiah prophesied,

The vineyard of Jehovah of Hosts is the house of Israel and the people of Judah his cherished grove. He expected justice, but there was injustice; he expected righteousness, but there was an outcry. (Isaiah 5:7, Gileadi Translation.)

Today, as an institution, we commit the same sins for which Sodom was destroyed.

Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me: therefore I took them away as I saw good. (Ezekiel 16:49-50.)

Do you expect the Lord to deal with us any differently than he did Sodom?

In General Conference of April 2011, the Presiding Bishop said,

The commitment of church leaders to relieve human suffering was as certain as it was irrevocable. President Grant wanted ‘a system that would... reach out and take care of the people no matter what the cost.’ He said he would even go so far as to ‘close seminaries, shut down missionary work for a period of time, or even close temples, but they would not let the people go hungry.

If true, how far the church has fallen in only 100 years.

Of course, we can still repent. How would the Lord have us repent? He has already told us: “Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.” Will the church do this, or will it go “away sorrowful: for [it] had great possessions”? (Matthew 19:21.)

When Zion does come, it will come to the same type of people it always has: those with all things in common.

And it came to pass in the thirty and sixth year, the people were all converted unto the Lord, upon all the face of the land, both Nephites and Lamanites, and there were no contentions and disputations among them, and every man did deal justly one with another. And they had all things common among them; therefore there were not rich and poor, bond and free, but they were all made free, and partakers of the heavenly gift. (4 Nephi 1:2-3.)

That people will not oppress the poor by manipulating tithing to take the little they have. That people will not treat members from the developing world differently than first world members by providing them second rate education programs and withholding the welfare program from them. That people will not pay their leaders to preach the word. That people will not engage in extensive for-profit business to get gain. That people will not be lying as they sing, “We've shared our bread with those in need, Relieved the suffring poor. The stranger we have welcomed in—Wilt thou impart thy store?” (“Bless Our Fast, We Pray,” Hymn 138.)

That people will be Zion.