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FairMormon Questions: Is the church excessively “hoarding” money that should be given to charities?

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[Editor’s note: Latter-day Saint Charities just released their 2019 Annual Report, available here.]

FairMormon has a service where questions can be submitted and they are answered by volunteers. If you have a question, you can submit it at http://www.fairmormon.org/contact. We will occasionally publish answers here for questions that are commonly asked, or are on topics that are receiving a lot of attention. The question below has been edited for brevity.

Question:

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal said that Ensign Peak Advisors has amassed about 100 billion dollars for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints over the years because of prudent investment. I applaud the fact that the Church is fiscally conservative and stays out of debt, however “hoarding” 100 billion dollars seems very excessive given the fact that there is so much poverty in the world. I am concerned that too little (percentage wise compared to the overall revenue) is being given to the poor and needy.

Answer from FairMormon Volunteer Sarah Quan:

Frankly, we don’t know enough about Ensign Peak as a general populace to really say one way or another. The issue is nuanced, and a single whistleblower report is not enough for us to draw a good conclusion about the church’s financial situation or intentions. In response to the WSJ article, Bishop Waddell commented that the budget for humanitarian aid has increased to close to a billion dollars in welfare per year.[1] Here are four doctrinal considerations to help us better understand the church’s position.   [Read more…] about FairMormon Questions: Is the church excessively “hoarding” money that should be given to charities?

Post-Mortem Analysis on this Year’s Exposé Stunt

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Monday sometime, news reports made it clear that (at least for the opponents of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) Christmas had come a little early. In a post from the, um, Post, we read that, “In a declaration signed under penalty of perjury, Nielsen [a former employee and current whistleblower] urges the IRS to strip the nonprofit of its tax-exempt status and alleges that Ensign could owe billions in taxes. He is seeking a reward from the IRS, which offers whistleblowers a cut of unpaid taxes that it recovers.”

Though at first glance this might seem like a story about someone speaking truth to power, closer examination suggests it is an attempt by someone who doesn’t like the Church of Jesus Christ to tar its reputation. Accusations have been filed with the IRS, but that says nothing of the merit of those accusations. Due process is one of the wonderful ideas embodied in the American system. In news reporting, however, no such standard prevails, and there is often an advantage to be gained by making an accusation and tarring your opponent with it. A substantial first mover advantage exists when attacking an opponent through the news, because reporting accusations and scandal is much more exciting and consequently reaches a larger audience than reporting the resolution of those charges or their refutation.

So why do I think that this story reflects an attempt to attack the Church’s reputation rather than a more narrow desire to right wrongs with regard to the provisions of tax law and the Church’s compliance? One goes to the media when one wants the effect that the media will predictably produce, in this case frenzy leading to reputational damage. Now it’s plausible that the whistleblower is motivated by the prospect of money. As a whistleblower, he has essentially written himself a lottery ticket. In the (frankly improbable) event that the IRS finds that someone managing an investment erred in complying with tax regulations, he stands to receive a percentage of any taxes recovered. Nice work if you can get it. On the motivational end of things, however, there appears to be more to unpack. First of all, I don’t think this is going to pan out very well for him. I’m always open to being corrected by reality, but most of what he has actually claimed amounts to the Church operating frugally, living within their means and saving for a rainy day, consistent with their published statement. Though I can’t rule it out, I would actually be inclined to largely dismiss his financial motivation for doing this, and won’t cover it more in this post. Others have dealt with the claims about the actual financial transactions very capably, notably KSL, and made the case that this is, in essence, a nothing-burger. Beyond the improbable financial outcome, however, several aspects of what was actually published cause me to call into question whether this stunt had any real intent to do anything more than tar the Church for the duration of a news cycle. [Read more…] about Post-Mortem Analysis on this Year’s Exposé Stunt

Women as Witnesses

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Editor’s Note: The transcript of Daniel Peterson’s 2019 FairMormon Conference presentation is now available.

by Jeffrey Thayne

At the 2019 FAIR Mormon conference, Dr. Daniel Peterson gave an illuminating presentation that — among other things — summarized the history of women serving as formal witnesses. He explored how female witnesses were considered less reliable than male witnesses in many ancient and modern legal systems, including within the United States. In U.S. jurisprudence, the testimony of women was routinely dismissed over the testimony of men. In fact, women were ineligible to serve on juries in most jurisdictions, and it was not until 1973 that women could serve on juries anywhere in the U.S. These were facts that I did not know.

Last week, President Russel M. Nelson announced that women could now serve as formal witnesses to all live and proxy ordinances within the Church. This exciting development can be seen as an extension of this broader historical movement of increasing female participation in formal legal and ecclesiastical contexts. At the direction of the Lord’s servants, it is thrilling to see that participation grow as we find new and better ways for sisters within the Church to wield righteous influence within our institution.

Furthermore, we are seeing an increase in women serving as witnesses in other areas, as more sisters serve missions and participate in Church councils. We are also doing a better job of documenting the witnesses of women across time who have been historically underrepresented in the literature. In the rest of Dr. Peterson’s presentation, it relates the stories and witnesses of the women who felt, handled, or saw the plates — and there are more than you would expect. These voices and accounts serve as additional witnesses of the Restoration of the Gospel, and add to the credibility of the men who signed their witness (included at the beginning of that sacred book). [Read more…] about Women as Witnesses

A Look at the Church’s Change of Policy on Same-Sex Couples and their Children

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Members of the Church and interested outsiders have noted that the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ recently announced a change of its policy regarding same-sex behavior and the blessing or baptism by custodial parents in same-sex relationships.[1]

Such changes in policy are not unexpected. As President Boyd K. Packer taught:

Procedures, programs, the administrative policies, even some patterns of organization are subject to change. The First Presidency are quite free, indeed quite obliged, to alter them from time to time. But the principles, the doctrines, never change. If we overemphasize programs and procedures that can change, and will change, and must change, and do not understand the fundamental principles of the gospel, which never change, we can be misled.[2]

Many sincere members of the Church struggled with the previous policy. For them and many others, we should understand this change as removing a heavy burden, for which we can rejoice.[3]

Some are asking about the First Presidency “flip-flopping.” Tied with this concern is the fact that President Russell M. Nelson (then President of the Quorum of the Twelve) said of the earlier policy: [Read more…] about A Look at the Church’s Change of Policy on Same-Sex Couples and their Children

Responding to Abuse

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The Gospel of Jesus Christ is a message of peace and good will.  The healing of relationships is an important goal of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

The General Authorities of The Church of Jesus Christ do not condone abuse of any type.  General Conference talks over the last several decades have made clear that abuse is not the Lord’s way and is never acceptable for members in good standing [a search for “abuse” in the General Conference section of lds.org produces many talks which address this concern].

Before 1995, training provided to local leadership was less formalized, leaving local leaders to determine how to deal with offenders and how to counsel victims. Since that time, the governing handbooks have clarified the strong position of the church that protection of victims is a primary priority for local leadership.

In 1995, a Handbook* was published concerning this issue. In one of the sections, the stance of the Church against abuse was given teeth by instructing that abusers should not be given callings or have a temple recommend until they have repented. [Read more…] about Responding to Abuse

Celebrating Two New Books in the Book of Mormon Critical Text Project: The Nature of the Original Language of the Book of Mormon

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Royal Skousen

On Tuesday, September 25, at 7 p.m., BYU Professor Royal Skousen will speak on the just-published The Nature of the Original Language, parts 3 and 4 of volume 3 of the Book of Mormon Critical Text Project. The lecture will include additional commentary by Stanford Carmack, Skousen’s collaborator in authoring and researching these two new books.

The presentation is free and open to the public. It will be held in the Assembly Hall of the Hinckley Center at Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah. Parking is available after 6 p.m. in the large lot east of the Hinckley Center (Lot 16).

The lecture will be videotaped and made available in the weeks following the presentation. The event is sponsored by BYU Studies and the Interpreter Foundation. For further information, contact BYU Studies (801-422-6691 or [email protected]).

The two new books are now available for purchase from BYU Studies, the joint publisher of these books, along with the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies (FARMS).

The Nature of the Original Language (NOL) continues the analysis of the Book of Mormon [Read more…] about Celebrating Two New Books in the Book of Mormon Critical Text Project: The Nature of the Original Language of the Book of Mormon

The 2018 FairMormon Conference in Review

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We had another great conference last week (it was our 20th!). This time it ran for 3 days. Some of the topics covered were lesser-known women’s stories in church history, the Gospel Topics Essays, stories of members of the church in India and Africa, the new Saints church history series coming out from the church, grace, the Book of Abraham, homosexuality, horses in the Book of Mormon, and how to help people having a faith crisis. We also had a general authority speak for the first time. Elder Kevin W. Pearson spoke about the good that FairMormon and other organizations are doing to help correct misunderstandings about the church, and that more voices are needed in the effort. Awards were given to Scott Gordon, Louis Midgley, and Michael Hickenbotham for their service, and a painting of “Mary Whitmer and Moroni” in honor of Lynne Hilton Wilson was unveiled.

Each day, one presentation was live-streamed free on Facebook, where you can still watch the recordings. You can also watch them here:

  • Jenny Reeder: “Fire In My Bones”: Women’s Stories on churchhistorianspress.org
  • John Gee: Selling Our Birthright for a Mess of Pottage: The Historical Authenticity of the Book of Abraham
  • Elder Kevin W. Pearson: A Sacred and Imperative Duty

It’s not too late to purchase the streaming and watch the videos of the entire conference. After purchase, they will be available to view on any device with a web browser, as well as on a Roku box. You can buy it here.

We have had several articles published about the conference (this section will be updated as more appear):

Mike Ash, one of our volunteers who is a great photographer, has posted photos from the conference on our Facebook page.

Transcriptions of the presentations will be posted on our website after they are prepared by our volunteers.

The full conference schedule can be reviewed here.

 

FairMormon Questions: Does God call those who are wolves in sheep’s clothing?

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FairMormon has a service where questions can be submitted and they are answered by volunteers. If you have a question, you can submit it at http://www.fairmormon.org/contact. We will occasionally publish answers here for questions that are commonly asked, or are on topics that are receiving a lot of attention. The question and answer below have been edited to maintain confidentiality.

Question:

Why would God allow someone who has a hidden history of sexual misconduct to serve in callings such as a Bishop, Stake President, MTC President, etc.? Wouldn’t the Lord warn those making the call?

Answer from FairMormon volunteer Greg Smith:

Thanks for writing FairMormon. I speak only for myself, not FairMormon or the Church.

You ask an important question, and in a sense it is a version of probably the most difficult question any believer in God confronts. Some have said that it is the only decent objection against a belief in God. The question turns on the “Problem of Evil”–that is, if God is good, why does he allow or tolerate, or permit, evil?

[Read more…] about FairMormon Questions: Does God call those who are wolves in sheep’s clothing?

FairMormon Questions: How can the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sing at the US Presidential Inauguration and put the stamp of religious approval on that event?

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FairMormon has a service where questions can be submitted and they are answered by volunteers. If you have a question, you can submit it at http://www.fairmormon.org/contact. We will occasionally publish answers here for questions that are commonly asked, or are on topics that are receiving a lot of attention. The question below has been rewritten to maintain confidentiality.

Question: How can the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sing at the US Presidential Inauguration and put the stamp of religious approval on that event?

Answer from FairMormon volunteer Craig Foster:

I am only a volunteer at FairMormon and, therefore, my comments are my own and do not represent either the LDS Church or FairMormon. Nor do I or any other member of FairMormon have access to convey messages to the First Presidency regarding the decision to allow the Mormon Tabernacle Choir to sing at the inauguration.

Still, I saw your message and decided to respond, hoping that I might at least give some thoughts that might prove helpful.

By now, I am sure that most of the country is aware that the Mormon Tabernacle Choir has accepted an invitation to sing at Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration. There have been mixed reaction both within and without the LDS Church. These reactions have varied in the spectrum from whole-hearted approval to dismay and disapproval.

Some of the strongest disapproval has come from Latter-day Saints, active and inactive, believing and non-believing. While most of the criticism appears to have been from those politically liberal and/or Democrat-leaning, it has also crossed political boundaries with some I know to be conservative or Libertarian expressing disapproval. I myself was a Never Trumper and did not vote for Donald Trump. Nevertheless, I approve of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir’s decision to sing at the inauguration. Let me explain why. [Read more…] about FairMormon Questions: How can the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sing at the US Presidential Inauguration and put the stamp of religious approval on that event?

Stephen H. Webb, 1961–2016

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Stephen WebbDr. Stephen H. Webb, retired Professor of Religion and Philosophy at Wabash College, passed away unexpectedly on March 5, 2016. He was a speaker at the 2015 FairMormon Conference in Provo, Utah, where he delivered his remarks on “Why Mormon Materialism Matters.”

Dr. Webb earned his Ph.D. at the University of Chicago and, since 2007, was a practicing Roman Catholic. In recent years he had become interested in the Latter-day Saint faith, and published two books on Mormonism through Oxford University Press: Mormon Christianity: What Other Christians Can Learn from the Latter-day Saints (2013) and, with Alonzo L. Gaskill, Catholic and Mormon: A Theological Conversation (2015).

FairMormon volunteers are deeply saddened by his passing, and express our sympathy to his family and loved ones.

You may read Dr. Webb’s obituary and sign the online guest register on the Legacy.com website.