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.¹

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.² 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.)