by Rose
In LDS theology and temple rituals, obedience is defined as the first law of heaven. Obedience is not to God but to the living prophet whom the Church says speaks for God. When obedience, not love, is the highest value of a Church, those who are marginalized often suffer. Since the Church’s inception, at times LDS leaders have restricted BIPOC and LGBTQ members from participating fully in the Church. Over the years, LDS prophets have told women how to marry, have children, dress, talk, have sex, think, eat, work, and serve—to name a few. In patriarchal, high-demand religions, too often the most vulnerable are excluded from full inclusion in decision-making processes and some are denied salvific blessings.
Years ago, the curriculum for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints focused on Christ’s Ideals for Living, a wonderful book that emphasized Christ-like qualities that we can implement in our daily lives. The current LDS curriculum emphasizes observable practices of obedience, such as temple and church attendance, which may not necessarily indicate the internal state of an individual’s soul. Because obedience—not love—is the first law of heaven in the LDS church, sometimes leaders marginalize the vulnerable, oppress the poor and widows, and ignore the suffering of the needy.
LDS members are told to pay tithing before feeding their children, which places their children at risk for malnutrition and stunting. The Bountiful Children’s Foundation has identified over 100,000 LDS children who are undernourished, yet LDS pilots programs provides food for only a small number of these children. The LDS Church could feed its starving children with a fraction of what is costs to build one temple.
In the United States, as political leaders double down on attacking immigrants, the LDS church recently issued a statement saying that they will no longer provide any housing assistance for these vulnerable folks, many of whom has fled horrific conditions to come to America and harvest our crops, build our houses, and clean our office buildings.
LDS leaders now disallow transgender members from using church restrooms without supervision or serving in callings involving children or youth. Members who transition are punished by removing their Church membership or privileges. When Jesus said to “love one another,” he did not exempt folks of marginalized races, sexual orientation, age, immigration status, ability, or gender.
If love—not obedience—were the first law of the gospel, the LDS Church would care as much about feeding its starving children and widows, showing compassion for the unhoused and the immigrant, and respecting its LGBTQ members as it does in building temples and investing in the stock market, while it moves to become a trillion dollar church by 2044 according to the Widow’s Mite Report.
Jesus said that those God appoints to eternal salvation have helped those who were hungry, strangers or foreigners, the sick, and those in prison. He repeatedly served the poor, the sick and suffering, and the marginalized, and repeatedly urged both Church leaders and followers to help the poor. In the future, I will give my tithes to legitimate, transparent humanitarian organizations doing just that.
To follow Jesus, I am serving those who are marginalized, including my neighbors who are unhoused, poor, and suffering. Instead of giving my tithing to a Church that hoards two-thirds of its tithes in investment accounts, I will be following Jesus and helping the poor instead. As Jana Reiss wrote, “At tithing settlement this year, I declared myself a full tithe-payer and explained why none of that money has gone to the Church. I don’t know what fallout there will be from this decision, if any. Frankly, whether I continue to hold a temple recommend is less important than whether at least a few kids who didn’t have food or access to education will have meals, school, and the basics. I should have done this a long time ago.”
Rose finds joy in serving the marginalized and in speaking up for them.
10 Responses
The whole be obedient thing I’ve heard my entire life. Instead of helping my mother and sisters with our abusive father? Our bishop told us that it was our job to fellowship our abuser into the church. Whenever I spoke out against the abuse? I was told it said in the Bible to Honor thy father and mother. Even my parochial blessing, states my main goal of this life is to learn obedience. **My mother used to throw that one at me so many times during my teen years.
Ugh. Just UGH.
I agree so much with what is said in this post- Frankly, whether I continue to hold a temple recommend is less important than whether at least a few kids who didn’t have food or access to education will have meals, school, and the basics. ** I agree. It disgusts me how a church that says we are to be Christ-like and help those in need, says with the latest statement not to do that. Our church has hundreds of billions of dollars. With that money, we can help so many.
Thank you for your kind comments. I wholeheartedly agree that the LDS Church places obedience to leaders regarding the fellowshiping of abusers over the safety of its members. If it truly loved its members, it would have a hotline where members could report ecclesiastical sexual abuse–not one to protect the church when abuse is reported.
Thank you so much for this powerful, lucid post. I went to a temple open house the other day and the guides kept saying that in the temple we learn of Jesus’s ways. The temple has some beneficial things like an origin story, but learning to be a loving, strong pacemaker like Jesus is actually not ond of them. It’s all about obedience.
I appreciate your thoughts about tithing and you drawing my attention to Jana Reiss’s article. Tithing is such an ethical dilemma for many people in the community right now and this perspective is useful. The points about malnourished children in Utah truly Sting and disturb. Boo to the Church for requiring so much financial sacrifice of lower income families to be in full fellowship with the church and to receive salvation while ignoring these shameful, ugly consequnences.
Thanks for your insightful comment, Candice. If the temple truly taught us about Jesus’ ways, I believe it would emphasize loving God and others more and blind obedience less. Also, if it requires starving members to pay tithing, it should ensure that they are helped with food assistance–and I have personally seen them repeatedly where they are not. This is unacceptable to me.
This is a great perspective. Thank you.
About 8 years ago I was listening to a comedy/history style podcast. I was listening for entertainment, but something one of the hosts said changed my thinking forever. I don’t remember the exact context, but the guy said, “that person deserves to be treated with dignity because they are a human being.”
I’d been so engulfed in the conditional world of Mormonism that I had to be told that people had value just for existing. They didn’t need to earn that right. They didn’t need to show their obedience.
I can’t believe I learned that from a silly podcast and not from church. No wonder I was hustling for my worth and dealing with people pleasing tendencies.
Our church likes to give lip service to “the worth of souls” and being children of God, but unless you are actively helping the church in some way they don’t actually think you have value.
“that person deserves to be treated with dignity because they are a human being”
This statement summarizes what I learned in the LDS church I grew up in but doesn’t seem to reflect the LDS church I am in now. Maybe there were influential leaders in my childhood stake half a century ago who encouraged this viewpoint (besides that this concept is central is in our scriptures). Sunday I attended gospel doctrine knowing that the scripture would be covered that the worth of souls is great in the sight of God found in D&C 18:10. I was looking forward to a deep discussion of the worth of all souls from a teacher I have deep respect for. Instead the scripture was rushed past and barely touched on. Instead of looking at the worth of every person around us including so many marginalized groups and individuals, a topic that is currently so timely, barely a word was said about a scripture that could have, and really should have, been the center of the entire lesson. I left with a hungering soul and a determination to feed it in other spaces. And I left with a sense of sadness and mourning.
Oh, such an important insight, madiW. Yes, we see most members hustling for their worth because the value of an LDS member is defined by how obedient the person is to LDS leaders. Lessons and talks usually center around tithing, temple attendance, and reading the scriptures, which are identity markers that leaders use to reveal a person’s obedience. Many–if not most–LDS women I’ve talkef to feel unworthy and never doing enough to earn God’s approval, which is a toxic, dangerous, and trauma-inducing concept. And, with each General Conference, the list of rules members are expected to obey usually increases. The Church’s recent obsession with female garment-wearing shows how obsessed leaders are with strict obedience to their misogynist rules.
Such an important comment, Ann. I absolutely agree that if the church believed the “worth of souls” is great, it would value and include all–including those who are not actively involved and the marginalized, including women, LGBTQIA, BIPOC, and other marginalized folks. When obedience trumps love, folks are disenfranchised and even threatened with membership removal when they do not strictly obey their leaders, even if they are loving and compassionate, ie. Lavina Fielding Anderson.
I’ve been thinking some more lately about how much emphasis is put on obedience in the church, in order to fully participate. (As in qualifying for a temple recommend, for example.) There should be basic rules of decency, of course, like physical and inner cleanliness, honesty, and kindness, but isn’t being forced to toe the line on everything else the same as Satan’s plan?
Some years back in General Conference (and I can’t find the comment by searching videos and mags on the church website, so maybe it was edited out), one of our General Authorities said we only have the agency to say Yes, we don’t have the agency to say No. He seemed to be mostly referring to callings. Talk about raising my hackles! Speaking from more than one personal experience, I know some callings are made from desperation, not inspiration. They just need a body..
I think I remember who made the “agency” statement but not being 100% sure, I don’t want to name him, yet to this day, I hope he was reprimanded. GC talks have to be submitted in advance, likely for approval, as well as to aid the live translations, so any deviation isn’t likely to be kept.
And as far as taking care of and including those in desperate need of a little basic help, love and acceptance — really? It seems more important to cower before a mad, wannabe king and his court, who are tearing our country apart. And taking care of the widows? Surely you jest? We don’t do very well at all, still expecting too much from those whose health is failing by the day.. The church could easily afford to offer non-profit retirement homes for members who have no family or no relatives in this country. And I don’t necessarily mean squinchy little studios where there’s hardly space to have a kitchenette and a bathroom nook, let alone have a friend stop by to visit. Some of those investments for future hard times could be put to good use in these days.
Oh, your comment is wonderful, Shirley. I looked at Elder Bednar’s talk to a South American group of young single adults nine years ago. He said, “The hymn says, ‘Choose the right,’ not choose what you want. …You can’t just choose what you want…..We are blessed with moral agency….It is taught incorrectly often….As I listen to members all over the world, this is how they define agency: The ability to choose and I can do what i want. That’s false. Why do we have agency.? …We have agency to choose Him [God]. (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P96APKw1EfQ and begin about 50 minutes in.)
I remember someone say in General Conference that when an 8-year-old boy was baptized, he covenanted to go on a mission. If someone can find that quote, please post it.
The Church is moving to a paradigm that places leaders in the place of God and that urges members to forfeit their agency by following the leaders without question. This is dangerous doctrine.
Thanks, again, Shirley. You’ve really got me thinking.