A Sea Of Red

By NAOMI SCHAEFER RILEY

Salt Lake City

Ever since Mitt Romney said he was "not concerned about the very poor" but would fix America's social safety net "if it needs repair," conservatives and liberals have been frantically making suggestions. Gov. Romney says he would consider options like restructuring Medicaid. But if he wants to see a welfare system that lets almost no one fall through the cracks while at the same time ensuring that its beneficiaries don't become lifelong dependents, he could look to his own church.

As I ride in a golf cart through a new 15-acre warehouse on the outskirts of Utah's capital, I can't help but wonder: How many Wal-Marts would fit in here? How many burgers can you make from 4,400 industrial pallets of frozen meat? And how do they keep this place cleaner than my kitchen floor?

Dedicated last month, the Bishops Central Storehouse contains a two-year supply of food to support the Mormon church's welfare system in the U.S. and Canada (primarily for church members in need) and its humanitarian program, which sends food, medical supplies and other necessities to the needy (of all faiths) world-wide.

In addition to goods from canned peaches to emergency generators, the facility also houses the church's own trucking company, complete with 43 tractors and 98 trailers, as well as a one-year supply of fuel, parts and tires for the vehicles. Just in case.

The storehouse is not only a kind of physical marvel—it has been built to withstand an earthquake with a magnitude as high as 7.5—but also a symbol of strength and self-sufficiency.

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

In 1936, Heber Grant, one of the church leaders, reported the reasoning behind this effort: "Our primary purpose was to set up insofar as it might be possible, a system under which the curse of idleness would be done away with, the evils of a dole abolished and independence, industry, thrift and self respect be once more established among our people. The aim of the Church is help the people to help themselves. Work is to be re-enthroned as the ruling principle of the lives of our Church membership."

Over the ensuing decades, the church acquired farms and ranches of its own. It built grain silos and dairies and canneries to store and process the food. By the end of World War II, church leaders had enough in the way of reserves that they contacted President Truman to ask if they might assist in feeding and clothing the destitute across Europe. The president readily agreed.

Because it has members on the ground around the world, the church continues to be an important force in bringing food and supplies to the impoverished and victims of natural disasters. Local church leaders contact the central headquarters in Salt Lake City to tell them what is needed—gauze pads, school supplies, wheelchairs—and the church does its best to accommodate.

The Department of Defense recently visited the new storehouse to find out how the Mormons are able to mobilize so quickly, and there is an almost military sense of efficiency and strategy to the church's efforts. When Hurricane Katrina struck, for instance, the church had positioned its fully loaded trucks in a kind of semicircle from South Carolina to Texas because no one knew how the storm was going to move. The church used reserves of fuel that it has placed around the country, and drivers were able to bring full tanker trucks into New Orleans, powering rescue vehicles and even chain saws to remove tree limbs.

Most of the inventory in the central storehouse, though, goes to supply more than 100 smaller storehouses around the country, plus hundreds of soup kitchens and homeless shelters of other religious communities around North America. Members of the Mormon church who find themselves in difficult circumstances can go to their local bishop and ask for aid.

The bishop then fills out an order allowing them to go and receive food from the local storehouse. Seventy percent of the items on the shelves are produced by the church itself and the remainder are purchased at steep wholesale discounts. According to Rick Foster, who oversees a smaller storehouse in Salt Lake City along with the cannery and dairy at Welfare Square (the original site of all the church's welfare services), people depend on the food at the storehouse for an average of three to six months.

That's because the church's goal is to help them get back on their feet as soon as possible. And the storehouse is only one of the tools at the disposal of local bishops, who may also refer members to other church programs, including employment counseling or family services. The bishop may even use money from a fund at his disposal to help pay for education, housing or utilities.

The labor behind the farming, food production, counseling and even cattle ranching is provided almost entirely by volunteers. Some are retired folks who come in every day. Other times an entire ward, or congregation, will come for the day, each of the members standing on an industrial assembly line packaging bread, processing cheese or sealing jars of apple sauce.

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

It is safe to assume that Mr. Romney is among them. The tens of millions of dollars he has given the church over the years have raised suspicion in some quarters. What does the church do with all that cash? Wouldn't that money have been better spent paying a higher income-tax rate? But his donations are supporting the kind of safety net that government can never hope to create. Jesus may have said the poor will always be with you, but he didn't say Medicaid would.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... 56682.html

I've always admired the Mormons for this. The Catholic Church used to do the same thing...but that was even before Ciders time!

No doubt the Mormons are good people. They do a lot of good works and walk a very straight line, much straighter than I .... thank goodness for Grace!

So what is the gospel according to Mormonism? It's a tough question for many LDS to answer. According to Mormon apostle Bruce McConkie, author of the book Mormon Doctrine, the gospel is "the plan of salvation [that] embraces all of the laws, principles, doctrines, rites, ordinances, acts, powers, authorities, and keys necessary to save and exalt men." In other words, the whole of Mormon theology. In the Mormon gospel we see belief + repentance + baptism + laying on of hands + temple work + mission work + church ministry + tithing + ceasing from sin + abstaining from the use of intoxicants and strong drinks and tobacco and caffeine + confessing Joseph Smith as Prophet + temple marriage + baptism for the dead + genealogy research . . . the list could go on and on and on. Only upon completion of all these things may Mormons attain to the third and highest level of heaven thus achieving the ultimate goal of the Mormon gospel - godhood.

In essence, Christ's death means nothing more to a Mormon than the gaining of the ability to be resurrected so that their works may be judged.

And........

To be honest I don't know that much about the book of mormon? One of my best buddies, a big Wake Forest fan converted to Christianity and his mormon father wouldn't speak to him for years?

And ..... http://www.gotquestions.org/search.php? ... search.y=0

so he converted from a Wake Forest fan to a Christian?

Not trying to say the Mormans have the right faith TH just that they seem to be doing a better job at taking care of the needy. Which I believe is something we as Christians are called to do.

From the class of 09 wrote:Not trying to say the Mormans have the right faith TH just that they seem to be doing a better job at taking care of the needy. Which I believe is something we as Christians are called to do.

Can we get a chicken dinner for this winner winner?

LUconn wrote:so he converted from a Wake Forest fan to a Christian?

Very funny . You been hanging around Purple, haven't you? .... My buddy was raised Mormon ... He and his father-in-law are BIG Wake athletic club donors, and ..... they use to gave me a lot of complimentary tickets to Wake games ... before my "conversion" to an LU fan. He filled me in a little on Mormon beliefs.

I think I better stick with Grace .... I'm not the best worker ..... have been known to be a little

LUconn wrote:so he converted from a Wake Forest fan to a Christian?

It's easy to do. As a WF fan, you learn to start praying for a miracle early every season.

I wouldn't make it as a mormon, no way I can stay away from caffeine.

However, they do a great job of promoting health, education, taking care of the poor/needy...a far better job than what a lot of Evangelicals seem to do. That, or maybe the Mormons just have a better PR firm.

ATrain wrote:I wouldn't make it as a mormon, no way I can stay away from caffeine.

However, they do a great job of promoting health, education, taking care of the poor/needy...a far better job than what a lot of Evangelicals seem to do. That, or maybe the Mormons just have a better PR firm.

Yes, I think some of "us" Christians, me included, take advantage of "Grace" and drop the ball from time to time.

Here is a website that I have found that explains Mormonism and how it matches up against Christianity.

http://mormoninfo.org/

Best explains what they believe. Many people think/understand/believe Mormons to be Christians, which couldn't be further from the truth. Check it out.

Again no one here (at least the guy who started this thread) is confusing the Mormon faith with Christianity. But I do think it's embarrassing that we who claim to be Christian do such a poor job of caring for the needy, especially when I see this sect/cult doing a great job with the works even when following a false hope.

James 2:18 is a constant reminder to me, taking advantage of grace by not having the works make me question if we really believe. It also undermines our witness.

From the class of 09 wrote:Again no one here (at least the guy who started this thread) is confusing the Mormon faith with Christianity. But I do think it's embarrassing that we who claim to be Christian do such a poor job of caring for the needy, especially when I see this sect/cult doing a great job with the works even when following a false hope.

James 2:18 is a constant reminder to me, taking advantage of grace by not having the works make me question if we really believe. It also undermines our witness.

it would make sense that a religion that heavily relies on works in order to move up the heavenly ranks would do a better job of helping out the needy. also, when was the last time your church scheduled you for their yearly giving audit though? have no idea what i'm talking about? many mormons do.

mormon has spread very rapidly because of their missionary and charitable programs. as many times as i've seen them outshine Christianity, there have also been plenty of times where its been the opposite. they just don't have the antipub groups hanging all over them like many Christian denoms do.

From the class of 09 wrote:But I do think it's embarrassing that we who claim to be Christian do such a poor job of caring for the needy, especially when I see this sect/cult doing a great job with the works even when following a false hope.

I have heard this hundreds of times and have never seen anybody back it up with anything more than anecdotes. Considering the percentage of the population alone with regards to Christians vs Mormons, I'm surprised anybody believes it.

The reason I strayed from this thread was because I knew it wouldn't be a discussion about Mormons helping others... instead it's "Mormons are bad people!" okay okay, I got that.

LUconn wrote:

From the class of 09 wrote:But I do think it's embarrassing that we who claim to be Christian do such a poor job of caring for the needy, especially when I see this sect/cult doing a great job with the works even when following a false hope.

I have heard this hundreds of times and have never seen anybody back it up with anything more than anecdotes. Considering the percentage of the population alone with regards to Christians vs Mormons, I'm surprised anybody believes it.

All I know is that Mormons self-report tithing (defined as 10%) of nearly 80%. Depending how you break down the Christian crowd it’s between 10%-3% tithe.

In order to care for the needy it has some cost. I’d imagine that per capita the Mormons can do a better job even if they waste a little.

Again the Mormon church is lost but they do a good job of being legalistic and caring for the needy. Where, imo, the American Christian Church has failed.

jbock13 wrote:The reason I strayed from this thread was because I knew it wouldn't be a discussion about Mormons helping others... instead it's "Mormons are bad people!" okay okay, I got that.

I actual posted it with the opposite intent

To me as a Christian it’s embarrassing that this cult/sect has done a better job of caring for the needy. While we as Christians with a real life changing relationship with God sit by and let them do the good works we are called to do.

Also, I really like the idea of forming a safety net backed by "The Church" instead of the government but that’s just me.

jbock13 wrote:The reason I strayed from this thread was because I knew it wouldn't be a discussion about Mormons helping others... instead it's "Mormons are bad people!" okay okay, I got that.

No actually they are very, very good people ....... They "work" very hard at it.

Here's the most recent statistics on giving. Some good numbers, and some bad.

http://library.generousgiving.org/page. ... 4&page=161

http://library.generousgiving.org/page. ... 4&page=312

Same website .... has nothing to do with giving ... but is good news

Church Growth (China)

Fifty-Year Growth: In China there were only 1 million known Christians in 1950. Today, despite great persecution, China now has more than 91 million Christians, with more coming to know Christ every day.

Fastest Growth: “The country with the fastest Christian expansion ever is China, now at 10,000 new converts every day.”

Church Growth (Africa)

Coming Explosion: Today’s census of 90 million Christians in Africa is likely to explode to 1 billion in 2050.

Hold up. When I said it would degrade into the "mormons are bad people", I meant the theology arguments. Not how much they give or their works.