Religion and Money Part #1

I've kind of had this idea inside my head for a while, but the problem is that it's been growing and morphing, and other idea's have been mixing in with it. Just last week, I realized that many of the ideas originated from a common thread, so I'm hoping to explore that. I've lost the basic road map I had laid out (It was in my head, so a good lesson why it's good to write stuff down!), so this series won't necessarily be chronological or in any kind of order. It's more likely to be just a series of postings related by topic.

Let me start with a story. I was asked some years back to serve as the Executive Secretary for the local LDS congregation. At the local level, all leadership positions are filled by a lay ministry. Members donate their time and fill this position on assignment from those under whose stewardship they fall. The premise is that these 'callings' are extended by God, but that's a whole other topic there.

The Executive Secretary takes notes in meetings, schedules appointments and keeps track of the Bishop's schedule for him. It wasn't something I enjoyed doing, and doesn't really factor into this story, other than to provide context.

One Sunday morning, there we all are in the Bishop's office for our morning meeting, and the Bishop relates a story. I believe it may have been his father, or else it was related by another relative of his. Apparently this person had been called to a rather high position. If memory serves correctly, it was to the position of Area Authority.

For those not familiar with Mormonism and how the hierarchy works...

You have the prophet or president of the Church. He's the head cheese and has 2 councilors. Together they form the First Presidency. This is the presiding council within the Church.

Below them, you have 12 apostles. They have a president and seniority is used to determine position within that council.

Below them you have the seventy. I believe at this point there are 7 quorums, or councils within this group, and I believe each can contain at most 70 members.

These seventies are called as either General Authorities, or Area authorities. I'm not sure of the exact distinction between the two. General Authorities likely have more responsibility, while an Area Authority would only preside over a specific geographic area.

We'll stop there since it gets more complicated from there on, but you get the basic idea.

Anyway, so a member of the Quorum of the 12 (#2 ruling council) is giving a training to some new Area Authorities, and he starts the meeting by having them sing a song. It's not from the normal hymnal though, it's actually from the kids song book. Here it is below....

I belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
I know who I am.
I know God’s plan.
I’ll follow him in faith.
I believe in the Savior, Jesus Christ.
I’ll honor his name.
I’ll do what is right;
I’ll follow his light.
His truth I will proclaim.

Words and music: Janice Kapp Perry, b. 1938. © 1989 IRI

It's a kids song, all about being a member of his Church...

So they sing the song, and the guy presiding says that he wanted to make the point that the men attending now "Belong to the Church". Belong as in property. He then went on to talk about how the Church would now be taking care of their needs, families and all of that because they have a responsibility from God to do his work.

The Bishop thought this was the most wonderful thing in the world, and I in turn found it rather disturbing.

What would make someone give up responsibility for their lives to an organization?

I've wondered about this a lot in recent years and months, but recently this has started to make more sense...

Let me share what I've found.

First of all, my initial impression was that these men strongly believe that they are doing Gods work. And I would suspect that a good number of them would fall into this category.

Second option may be related to peer pressure. You spend your entire life in an organization which dictates your lifestyle, social interactions and everything else. At the point in your life when you're asked to accept this position, you likely have kids and grandkids all looking to you as well. As someone who has considered the implications of stepping back from all of this, that prospect is terrifying, and I have far less to lose than someone in this position. I think that if this is the case for any of these men, it may tie into option 1 though, and likely doesn't exist by itself.

Third option, and this is where is gets interesting... MONEY!!! Back when I was a missionary, I remember whipping out a chart with the top 2 councils, and a fair number of the seventy as well, and telling potential members that the entire organization was run with a lay ministry... "No one gets paid for any of the work they do for the Church, it all volunteer work. Isn't that wonderful?" Perhaps some find this attractive... A Church run by men of conviction and unshaking faith...

So then I go to work for the LDS Church. Part of my time was spent on the headquarters complex in downtown Salt Lake City. I believe the LDS Church has the largest private fleet of vehicles in the world. Some are used for missionaries, but many are used by the upper echelons of power. The thing is, these aren't just nice cars, they are beyond nice. Typically, if you are one of the highers leadership, you'll be assigned a Lexus, a Toyota Avalon, a Crown Victoria and a saw a few other high end cars as well. They get replaced every year as well.

Perhaps a little over the top I thought, but these guys do donate their time, so I guess its not too bad...

Then I learn that all clothing is provided as well. If you get called as a General Authority, you're expected to wear a dark suit whenever you're officiating. You're suits, as well as all dry cleaning is all paid for as well. Not quite as expensive as a car, but even so, it's adding up.

Prior to leaving employment, I learned that these men receive a stipend from the Church as well. And I also learned that their tax preparation gets taken care of by the financial department as well.

At this point there were red flags, but nothing too serious.

The thing with the LDS Church, is that being a privately help organization, there is no requirement for financial information to be made public. As a result information of the financial holdings and salaries, stipends or whatever you want to call them are not a matter of public record as well.

I gained the following information from MormonThink.com (There's a link to their site on the left if you want to learn more - This is all under the topic of tithing.) They were unable to confirm it as fact either, but cite their source as being fairly reliable (An ex-employee like myself), and it would appear to be in line with the other things I have learned about the Church itself.

So what do you get for being one of the top 15 guys in the LDS Church? Bear in mind this is the organization which claims to be based on the same Church organized by Jesus Christ, and still claims to be led by him. Jesus Christ, a man who lived a minimalist lifestyle without significant assets of any kind...

According to the source on MormonThink, a member of either the First Presidency or Quorum of the 12 receives annual income of about $600,000. That's 50% more than the President of the United States!! That's just an exorbitant amount of money. Even if it's half that, it's still highly immoral in my book.

Members of the seventy are reported to receive a stipend of $120,000 per year.

All expenses are paid for as well, all travel, everything.

I think the money would be a huge motivator to accept a position such as this and stick with it.

As a final item, MormonThink also mentions a little about Church Loans. I'll quote directly from that site...

In the early days of the Church, some leaders lived the law of consecration, more or less, where they turned over much of their assets to the church and then received a very satisfactory living allowance. Some church employees have said that leaders in the church have the church pay for their homes through interest-free forgivable loans. The forgivable loans also allow them to pad their stock portfolios. On the other hand, these loans tie them to the church, because if they get out of line, the loans can be called. These loans started in the days of Brigham Young and it is still reportedly the practice today but we can't verify that.

Like they said at the end... No way to verify this, but it would seem to be consistent. If the money doesn't keep you in-line, then there is the extra threat of them taking your home from you as well.

Being owned by someone or an organization is slavery. Even if you are compensated with exorbitant amounts of money, it's still slavery. And slavery in any form is inconsistent with the notion of a loving God, or the principle of Free Agency.