LDS Keeps Charity in Neutral
SALT LAKE CITY — It is a compassionate conservative's dream: a community made up of religious people who promote clean living, self-reliance and responsibility.
The Mormon church runs one of the tightest ships in the charity business, funneling millions of dollars worth of goods and services to the needy worldwide.
But when it comes to President Bush's offer to channel government funds through religious charities, the Mormons' unwavering answer is thanks, but no thanks.
"We're neutral. That's not saying we think it's wrong for every organization, but we just don't need it," said Dale Bills, spokesman for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
"There's nothing the government can provide that the church doesn't already have," said Garth Mangum, economics professor emeritus at the University of Utah and author of the book "The Mormons' War on Poverty."
Dependence on Government Avoided
There's another reason for rejecting the offer: the accountability to and dependence on the government in exchange for the money.
"The church doesn't want the government telling it how to do what the church sees as the church's job," Mangum said.
So while the Mormon example may be the model of a successful religious charity, it is also a model for those who say Bush's plan just won't work.
The White House, for its part, agrees that government funding isn't right for every religious charity.
"Charitable choice ought to be open to all qualified community-serving groups, but not all groups ought to participate. Faith leaders, organizations and communities that perceive the slope as secularizing and slippery ought simply to opt out," said John DiIulio, who directs the new White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives.
The Mormon welfare system's services are funded through donations from the church's 12 million members, who fast one day a month and donate the money they would have spent on food to the church to support welfare. The church also requires its members to tithe 10% of their income to support church infrastructure.
The church has always placed an emphasis on self-sufficiency. In its early years in the 19th century, members set up mutual aid systems to help one another make the trek across the Plains and through the mountains to Utah. Once settled in the West, Mormons set up community farms and storehouses.
