The Mormon Mini-Empire
For each new class which puts itself in the place of one ruling before it, is compelled, merely in order to carry through its aim, to represent its interests as the common interest of all...
...Published by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S., 1959...
...The uniqueness of their religious beliefs have driven them to build their own social and economic system...
...Quoted from the Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt, edited by his son, Parley P. Pratt, (Salt Lake City:Deseret Book Co., 1938), p. 397-8...
...Yet Jesus came not to MEMBERSHIP OF U.S...
...These means of communication are constantly undergoing technological improvements which further centralize control over them...
...The channels for cultural imperialism are more or less obvious depending on the degree of control exercised over them by those who pull the strings of the U.S...
...Until socialism began influencing the minds of men and women presenting a challenge to the "legitimacy" of U.S...
...It is significant to note that the nature of the recent Mormon success contradicts in some respects the core of LDS doctrine and Parley Pratt's earlier teaching that "four-fifths or perhaps nine-tenths of the population" in Latin America were of the "blood of Lehi...
...2 6 This income is rounded off by profits from extensive investments...
...religious institutions and their missionaries provide an optimum "apolitical" front for the expansion of the nation's cultural hegemony...
...Translated and published as The Pearl of Great Price, this manuscript included the theory of the curse of Cain, interpreted as a bar against blacks in the priesthood...
...Prudencio Damboriena, El protestantismo en America latina Tomo II: La situacion del protestantismo en los paises latino-americanos, (Friburgo: Feres, 1963...
...Significantly, a new mission president, Albert T. Tuttle, was appointed for South America immediately following this seminar...
...or to Box 226, Berkeley, California 94701...
...Doctrines and Covenants, 42.2...
...2 The existing network is run by the International Telecommunications Satellite Consortium (Intelsat...
...9 The Prophet and Founder of Mormonism sent seven missionaries to England when the Church was only seven years old...
...The bishop would hold such goods as a trustee for the church...
...cit., p. 267...
...First, the revelation of the Book of Mormon to Joseph Smith in 1827 indicated God's will to restore the true gospel which had been misinterpreted by the other Churches...
...Frances Lang mentions the existence of 650 farms and 40 factories spread over 22 states...
...The revelation of tithing required all members eight years of age (the age of baptism) and more to contribute 10 percent of their income to the Church...
...4 Ibid., p. 15 5 Report of the 141st Annual Conference of the LDS Church, April 1971...
...5. Newsweek, "The Latter-day Profits," Jan...
...He comes of a race of gods, and as his eternal growth is continued, he will approach more nearly the point which to us is Godhood, and which is everlasting in its power over the elements of the Universe...
...The expansion of the 1960's also brought new missions...
...22, 1962...
...a Loyalty to his employer is fundamental to his conscience and peace of mind...
...cit., p. 264...
...In this life the progression of white males is marked by their rise in a hierarchical priesthood structure which, therefore, not only forms the backbone of Mormon church organization, but also defines and limits the proper course of a man's life, his goals and ambitions (which, as I mentioned earlier, fit middle class values...
...7 The Mormons have carried forward extensive archaeological and anthropological studies aimed at supporting their beliefs...
...For each new class which puts itself in the place of one ruling before it, is compelled, merely in order to carry through its aim, to represent its interests as the common interest of all the members of society, that is expressed in ideal form...
...13 S.J...
...Orlando Livestock Company: 100 percent owned, operates ranches in Florida exceeding 700,000 acres and feeding 100,000 head of cattle...
...The details of the Mormon faith are drawn from6 the Book of Mormon, the Articles of Faith, the Book of Doctrines and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price...
...This figure was given by Brack Lee, former Governor of Utah and Mayor of Salt Lake City, and quoted in "Utah: How Much Money Hath the Mormon Church," by Neil Morgan, Esquire, Aug...
...12 per year for institutions ($22 for two years...
...1 4 Just as commercial solicitors offered samples and gifts, Mormon missionaries brought aids such as pictures, pamphlets and exhibits.5 In June 1961, a week-long seminar was held for mission presidents to brief them on these new approaches to their work...
...And I will fortify this land against all other nations" (II Nephi, 10:11-12...
...Bonneville International Corporation: 100 percent owned, operates the Church's media network: KSL-AM, KSL-FM, KSL-TV, in Salt Lake City...
...A building spree followed the growth in membership...
...Joseph Smith also indicated the procedure for collecting and using these contributions...
...The 12th Article of Faith makes this very explicit: We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rules and magistrates in obeying, honoring and sustaining the law...
...power had given only token recognition to the need for spreading American-style capitalist culture in the region...
...Utah-Idaho Sugar Company: 60 percent owned, value in excess of $30 million...
...Publisher's Plant: paper plant in Oregbn...
...In 1843 others were sent to the South Seas, and by 1850 missionaries were scattered in France, Scandinavia and Germany...
...Mormonism has proven particularly attractive to middle-class bureaucrats because the LDS belief-system (as I will point out later) fits the aspirations of the Latin American middle sectors to climb the ladder of economic success and social prestige...
...Moreover to assure the equalization intended in the first measures, the consecrating member was to turn over his 'surplus,' the amount produced over that needed for his family, to the bishop each year, to be kept in the latter's storehouse for the relief of the poor and for church purposes...
...underdevelopment...
...1 6 In order to further their educational inclinations, they founded in 1967 an organization which would translate, publish and distribute Church literature and material...
...1 0 MORMON MISSIONS IN LATIN AMERICA As early as 1851, Parley P. Pratt, an Apostle (the Council of 12 Apostles elects the head of the Church) of the LDS Church, was sent to South America to assess the possibilities of extending Mormon missionary work to that continent...
...3. Robert Mullen, The Latter-day Saints: The Mormons Yesterday and Today, Doubleday & Co., NY, 1966...
...The missionaries were not only looking for converts, but were primarily seeking people with talents in a wide variety of trades and skills who would be willing to emigrate to Salt Lake City...
...The Church also owns a ranch in Georgia and another in Alberta, Canada, of 80,000 acres...
...the vicarious baptisms and marriages for the dead, which are also central to LDS practice...
...CATV franchise in Salt Lake City...
...Many features of LDS theology are common to all Christian churches and need not be dealt with here...
...Intelsat in turn is owned and administered by the Communication Satellite Corporation (Comsat), a U.S...
...They are another link in the chain of obstacles to Latin American liberation from imperialsim and its dependent oligarchies...
...4. The New Republic, "The Mormon Establishment," Jan...
...104:5...
...This latter function follows the principle that a larger family will contribute more the husband's religious fulfillment...
...SUBSCRIPTIONS: $6 per year for individuals ($11 for two years...
...4 Three basic beliefs in Mormonism differentiate it from the other Christian churches...
...7, 1970...
...8 The Indians should, therefore, be predisposed to the Mormon faith.* All these aspects of the LDS Church warrant a closer look at the history and meaning of mission in Mormonism, and its implication for Latin American countries.4 ANCIENT HISTORY OF MORMON MISSIONS Missionary work is at the core of Mormon doctrine...
...A Mormon in that city is likely to be employed in a Church-owned enterprise such as a bank, department store, factory, farm or radio station...
...Do you have any connection, in sympathy or otherwise, with any of the apostate groups or individuals who are running counter to the accepted rules and doctrines of the Church...
...The authorship of one of these was attributed to Abraham...
...18 Report of the 140th Semi-Annual Conference of the LDS Church, October 1970, p. 95...
...This might be the same as what he originally consecrated, or it might be more or less than the original amount...
...1962...
...It is therefore most significant to note that both blacks and women are prohibited access to the Mormon priesthood...
...The individual would then receive back from the bishop a parcel of land and an amount of property (or non-agricultural equivalents, in the case of consecration of commercial enterprise) sufficinet for the support of his family...
...26, 1966.are devoutly anti-revolutionary...
...It is also a fact of interest to non-Mormon church groups, for these normally find a much larger proportion of women joining than men, and quite often a greater proportion from the older age groups (Mullen, op...
...cit., p. 268...
...This is a point of particular importance for a continent where the average age of the population is rapidly falling...
...This international effort of a religious movement with only 20 years of life and experience may seem awesome, but it was motivated precisely by the development needs of the Mormon colony which had just founded its new Zion: Salt Lake City...
...By theory and by deed they directly promote capitalist development of Latin America: i.e...
...Born of a "revelation" in the United States almost a century and a half ago, the LDS Church claimed to be the only true religion of God, asserted that Catholicism was an apostasy, and concluded that the Protestant denominations, as products of an original error, were also apostasies...
...no fumbling with mumbled greetings...
...It owns Zion's First National Bank, the Lockart Corporation (Utah based finance company) and the Lockart Finance Company which operates the largest industrial loan business in the state...
...but goes back into the beginning with God...
...This is misleading only in that it fails to specify which governments the Mormon leadership considers worthy of respect and obedience...
...it is the richest per capita, and it has successfully blended religion with politics and business activities...
...The second form of activity for women sanctioned by the LDS Church is directly related to Mormon institutional organizations, such as the Women's Relief Society and the Young Women's Mutual Improvement Association...
...2 3 More recently, Mark E. Petersen, an Apostle of the Church, spoke out in the same line of thought at the Annual Conference of 1968:Most people do not realize it, but this nation is different from all other nations...
...They are assigned a double purpose which proceeds from their second rate status: first, they are warned against professional ambitions and are encouraged to be "good housewives" and to bring up large families...
...Should he be unemployed, a Mormon will never turn to the federal welfare system...
...4 (Winter 1969), p. 103...
...It is the means of survival of the Mormon Church...
...By action, knowledge, mastery and obedience to the Church, man will progress in this life and will achieve even greater progress in the life after death until he reaches a god-like status from which he will rule over his progeny...
...WURL (World Radio University), a short-wave radio, with five transmitters, used for international broadcasting, especially to Latin America...
...23 Parley P. Pratt, Key to the Science of Theology (Liverpool, 1855...
...Right at the first crack in the door the missionary was instructed to introduce himself, show his credentials, and firmly state his purpose, which was to tell about his Church as an educational effort and to answer questions...
...Cover: from tricontinental 73, April, 1972.3 This claim might also seem exaggerated to most of us who thought that Mormonism was restricted to the limits of Salt Lake City or, at most, to the state of Utah...
...4. At the core of LDS doctrine is "free agency:" We believe that no government can exist in peace except such laws are framed and held inviolate as will secure to each individual the free exercise of conscience, the right and control of property, and the protection of life...
...TheyTHE LDS ECONOMIC EMPIRE The Mormons are a close-knit society...
...The doctrine of "free agency" further delimits the Mormon idea of submission to the secular order...
...IV, No...
...cit., p. 4. 31 "The sealing ceremony seals men and women in marriage for time and eternity...
...We consider it the greatest satanical threat to peace, prosperity, and the spread of God's work among men that exists on the face of the earth...
...2 9 Finally, the LDS Church has developed means of securing the adherence of its members to its doctrines and its structure to the point that Turner has written: "To be a Mormon is to be born with a second nationality...
...2 2 This strictly religious interpretation contradicts the views held by the Mormon leadership since the founding of the LDS Chruch...
...and Mormon empires not only have much in common, but the latter has also pledged its support to the former: Men receive blessings by obedience to God's laws and without obedience there is no blessing...
...Once having monopolized the right to the word of God, the Mormons were then faced with the difficult proposition not only of reconverting the other "Christians" but also of spreading the gospel to those who still suffered from complete ignorance of their religion...
...They are the "solutions" which the LDS hierarchy feels will wipe out misery, poverty and underdevelopment, and offer salvation to Latin Americans...
...Also membership is increasing most rapidly in the 20 to 25-year-old age bracket, and represents primarily young married couples...
...The monopoly position of the Roman Catholic Church in religious affairs, the state protection of that monopoly, and the civil wars which prevailed in Chile during his stay, left him with little hope of immediate success in his endeavors...
...We have as many in Peru as we do in Missouri where so much Church history was made.' 8 It now remains to be seen what cultural, economic and political implications association with the theocracy of the LDS Church has for Latin Americans...
...Before the final triumphal return of the Lord, the question as to whether we may save our constitutional republic is simply based on two factors: the number of patriots and the extent of their obedience...
...7. U.S...
...12 Ibid...
...The growth rates were estimated by the author) U.& Church or Membership Membership 1960-71 j Church Bodies 1960 1971 Growth (%) I Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 1,394,529 2,850,000 102% Baptist Bodies 20,966,456 26,657,000 27% Churches of Christ 2,000,000 2,500,000 25% Christian Churches (Disciples of Christ) Int'l Convention 1,921,899 1,449,396 -24% Lutheran Chruch- Missouri Synod 2,442,933 3,039,887 24% Methodist Bodies 12,381,595 11,931,980 -3.5% National Lutheran Council Constituents 5,202,155 5,854,817 12.5% Pentecostal Assemblies 392,599 449,394 14% Presbyterian Bodies 4,140,162 4,353,800 5% Protestant Episcopal I Church 3,042,286 3,536,099 16% Roman Catholic Church 39,505,475 47,873,238 21% call the righteous but sinners to repentance...
...16 Mullen, op...
...While two world wars devastated empires and blasted the very idea of colonialism, both the American and Mormon "empires" were gathering strength...
...In general they are ignorarit and devoted Catholics...
...Deseret Book Company: 100 percent owned, largest bookstore in the West, annual sales in excess of $1.5 million...
...3 Robert Mullen, The Latter-day Saints: The Mormons Yesterday and Today (New York: Doubleday & Co., Inc., 1966), p. 203...
...The key source of new strategies was the commercial world...
...29 Report of the 137th Annual Conference of the LDS Church, April 1967, p. 38...
...By 1966 the total membership in these countries reached 60,000...
...By 1957 progress had been slow...
...Civilization is at a low ebb...
...In manners they are simple, frank, and extremely sociable and apparently affectionate, but subjects to a small low meanness in their dealings, and to trifling thefts...
...Moreover, as far as Latin America is concerned, it is not by pure chance that the LDS Church has shown increasing interest in the region since the beginning of the 1960's...
...17 Report of the 137th Annual Conference of the LDS Church, April 1967, p. 35-37...
...Despite this contradiction in their success in Latin America, the Mormons appear satisfied with the progress they have made...
...cit., p. 58...
...32 Ezra Taft Benson, speaking at the 137th Annual Conference of the LDS Church, April 1967, quoted in the report, p. 59...
...3 1 the endowment rites which represent the LDS member's commitment to God and Christ, and vice versa...
...As stated in the revelations of Joseph Smith, without this sealing, the marriages will not be valid after death...
...Copyright c 1972 by the North American Congress on Latin America, Inc...
...consists in doing everything within your power to figure out some new idea and some new method that will advance the interests of your employer...
...One [Knox] has aptly pointed out: "Loyalty...
...30 Turner, op...
...Involvement in the "free enterprise" economy has been carried out with considerable success, attributable no doubt to the significant number of business, banking and real estate experts among the Church's top authorities...
...Will you earnestly strive to do your duty in the Church, to attend your sacrament, priesthood and other meetings, and to obey the rules, laws, and commandments of the Gospel...
...Sources 1. Frances Lang, "The Mormon Empire," ramparts, Sept...
...2 NACLA'S LATIN AMERICA EMPIRE REPORT But if U.S...
...Company consolidated in 1907...
...Most recently, technology has developed a network of communication satellites for television, telephone, and telex purposes...
...The immensity of this task and the brief history of the LDS Church explain the relatively small size of the Church's membership: 2,930,810 in April 1971.5 This minimal following has led most observers of U.S...
...Church expansion means an increase in membership which will bring greater returns from tithing...
...The LDS Church accepts female labor while it denies women personal fulfillment and leadership roles...
...cit., p. 225...
...An expert in education was flown in from Brigham Young University (the university of the LDS Church) to run the schools, and materials and teaching aids were imported duty free...
...22 See interview with the bishop of the Montevideo Stake in Marcha, Jan...
...Second, since this restoration consisted initially in the revelation of the Book of Mormon, the latter was considered as divinely inspired as the Bible...
...Beneficial Life Insurance Company: 100 percent owned, assets exceeding $85 million...
...3 (These figures are probably underestimated since, for some countries where the Mormons were known to be active, no figures were available...
...cit., p. 190-1...
...With the growing size and the economic advances of its middle-sector membership, however, the LDS Church can soon hope for a reversal of the flow of capital to Salt Lake City...
...As early as 1831, Joseph Smith tried to establish by revelation a close-knit, cooperative economic system incorporating all the members of the Mormon Church...
...Between 1952 and 1962 the number of missionaries increased from 2,790 to 11,768...
...6 They overlook, however, some basic features of Mormonism today: the LDS Church now has one of the highest (if not the highest) growth rates among U.S...
...The Allessandri government was only too pleased to let someone else share the burden of education, regardless of what he might be teaching, so in 1964 the plan was put into effect...
...The 10th Article of Faith further includes a reference to the fact that "Zion will be built on this continent...
...The rationale for the authoritarian principles which prevail within the Church is to be found in the Mormon concept of man's origins, his relationship to God, and his mission and goal in this life and after death...
...8 The Book of Mormon...
...On the domestic front he went on to encourage LDS members to support "the FBI, the police, the congressional committees investigating Communism, and various organizations that are attempting to awaken the people...
...21 Report of the 136th Annual Conference of the LDS Church, April 1966, p. 109...
...cultural imperialism has spread and intensified, using all forms of mass communication to instill its politics, its consumerism, its religion, etc., in Latic Americans...
...U.S...
...He nevertheless pointed to developments which might offer the Mormons a more open field in the distant future: The press, as well as the mind, is beginning to exert its freedom in the countries where, for three centuries, all intellect has slept, and all freedom of thought has been crushed-buried-under the incubus of the horrid institutions of the great Mother of Abominations...
...The Law of Consecration, 2 5 as it was known, met considerable resistance and was abandoned in 1834...
...LDS racism is cloaked in theological and "God-given" justifications...
...The predominance of North American influence at all levels of Mormondom is presently sparking opposition at the local level in Latin America...
...24 Report of the 138th Annual Conference of the LDS Church, April 1968, p. 59...
...This is evidenced by Elder Neal A. Maxwell's (Church Commissioner of Education) claim that: We have for instance, more members of the Church now in Brazil than in all of the Scandinavian countries combined plus Holland...
...cit., p. 204...
...News and World Report, "A Church in the News: Story of Mormon Success," Sept...
...2. Neil Morgan, "Utah: How Much Money Hath the Mormon Church?," Esquire, Aug...
...3 Vol...
...Mormonism implies very distinct loyalties and priorities which take on added importance when faithful, active members hold leading positions in government, politics and business (see Box...
...7 Second, according to the Book of Mormon, Jesus Christ appeared to them in 34 A.D...
...Children are also sealed to parents to keep the family group together in the afterlife...
...it has to give its ideas the form of universality, and represent them as the only rational, universally valid ones.' In his analysis of capitalist society, Marx indicated the necessity for the ruling class to develop and communicate a culture which acts as the consciousness of all the members of that society, and which legitimates the prevailing order and the interests which determine it...
...missionary movements to ignore the Mormons...
...He will likewise turn to the Church-owned real estate agency to buy land or find a home, he will put his savings in a LDS savings institution, and take out an insurance policy at the Mormon life insurance company...
...VI, No...
...A branch was set up in Mexico City for the Spanish speaking countries, and another was located in Sao Paulo for Brazil...
...Whereas in 1960 there had only been 1,701 new baptisms in six South American countries, in 1961 there were 3,097...
...Beet-sugar industry...
...There are certain rites in the Mormon religion which can take place only within the Temple: the special marriage ceremony which seals union "for time and eternity...
...As progress to glory in the world beyond the grave will be greatly enhanced by the size of a man's family, for one will become king and eventually a god over his progeny, the importance of sealing is obvious...
...There are, however, many honorable exceptions to those faults or evil habits...
...Speech by Henry D. Taylor, Assistant to the Council of the Twelve Apostles...
...Many Latin American converts interpret this prediction as a reference to South America, where it is assumed Jesus Christ appeared to the Nephites and the Lamanites in 34 A.D...
...With the help of 1,200 missionaries he brought quick results...
...His visit was limited to Chile,' but his correspondence with Salt Lake City indicates keen interest in the cases of Argentina and Peru...
...Hotel Utah, Hotel Utah Motor Lodge, Temple Square Hotel: in Salt Lake City, 100 percent owned...
...But the Mormon Church, its missionaries and its doctrines are not simply "non-solutions" to Latin America's problems...
...6 Figures on Mormon missionary work are absent in the following statistical sources: Directory of North American Protestant Foreign Missionary Agencies (1965), Directory of Non-Catholic 10 Christian Missionary Groups (1968), Directory of World Missions (1938), Encyclopedia of Modern Christian Missions, The World Christian Handbook (1968) gave figures for European countries, New Zealand and South Africa, but omitted Latin America despite the assertion of th LDS Church that one of their largest missionary efforts in the last decade has been in South America...
...empire...
...First, the Mormons believe the Indians of North and South America are "Lamanites," descendants of Israelites who are said to have traveled to America (most probably South America) around 600 B.C...
...The contributions of missionary work to the empire are small in scale compared to those of the U.S...
...Pratt's emphasis...
...Throughout the world, none have gained wider renown for these virtues than the Mormons...
...Colin Cherry, Henry Mark Pease, World Communication: Threat or Promise...
...In Latin America, only Uruguay and El Salvador were absent...
...Two facts of Mormon history predestined Latin America to be a choice target of LDS missionaries...
...Capitalism was not elected by chance...
...2 8 It also offers a practical explanation (as opposed to the doctrinal explanation mentioned earlier) for the work ethic among Mormons...
...O'Dea, op...
...cit., p. 116...
...Address all mail to Box 57, Cathedral Station, New York, N.Y...
...ZUB owns considerable real estate in Salt Lake City, three industrial banks in Colorado, and a supermarket in Idaho Falls...
...The basic contradiction of imperialism (i.e., the conflict of interests between the metropolis and the dependent state) remains fundamental in Mormon doctrine and practice...
...Finally, in 1841 all forms of cooperative economic activity were abolished as ineffective and unpopular, and tithing remained the only means of support for the Church...
...Parley P. Pratt, who first assessed the possibilities for Mormon missionary work in Latin America in 1851, commented that "The United States of America was the favoured nation raised up, with institutions adapted to the protection and free development of the necessary truths and their practical results...
...The rise of socialism and communism has driven the LDS leadership to recognize a world ideological struggle and to oppose that ideology which threatens their interests...
...1962...
...27 The total yearly income has been estimated at $365,000,000...
...An Account Written by the Hand of Mormon Upon Plates Taken From the Plates of Nephi, translated by Joseph Smith, Jr...
...7 Finally, in the second half of the 1960's, the development of Mormonism in South America became apparent through the organization of the basic units of the Church (the "stakes") and their subsequent integration within the global structure...
...As he works he comes to realize the satisfaction and happiness that come from useful and productive labor...
...2 0 Women, for their part, are encouraged to seek salvation through the success of their husband as these climb up the priesthood ladder...
...The Mormons are now active in Chile, Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela...
...As of 1969, Intelsat had 80 country members...
...14 Mullen, op...
...imperialism has devised highly sophisticated means of universalizing its culture, it has also relied and continues to rely, directly or indirectly, on less prominent, more innocent, but still very damaging forms of cultural imperialism...
...CHRISTIAN CHURCHES OR CHURCH BODIES (Source: World Almanac...
...Christian churches (see Table...
...As of 1970 there were four, two in Sao Paulo, one in Buenos Aires, and one in Montevideo...
...Already the Mormon missionary work and building program have led it to acquire considerable real estate throughout the world...
...2 4 The need of the United States to provide an ideological rationale for its economic and military imperialism, and the LDS need to secure an environment which will allow it to pursue its particular goals, have brought Mormonism to identify religious mission with political propaganda for the United States and the "American way...
...McKay -- talking with bankers, the late Orville W. Adams, the late Wendell Smoot and LaMar Webb -- supervised church finances...
...5 / May-June 1972 (formerly NACLA NEWSLETTER) Published monthly, except May-June and July-August, when it is published bi-monthly at 160 Claremont Ave., New York, N.Y...
...And ye shall go forth in the power of my Spirit, preaching my gospel, two by two in my name, lifting up your voices as with the voice of a trump, declaring my word like unto Angels of God...
...continued on page 31...
...Zion's Securities Corporation: manages undeveloped real estate until the LDS Church uses it for religious or commercial purposes...
...Since the 1940's, U.S...
...1971...
...The foregoing are the spiritual offerings, the models of conduct, and the forms of social and economic organization which Mormon missionaries carry with them to Latin America...
...In terms of world-wide conversions, Latin Americans represented less than 1.5 percent of all conversions in 1961, but more than 6 percent in 1965, and over 10 percent in 1970 when total conversions numbered 100,000...
...In 1961, the most substantial world-wide missionary effort in Mormon history was initiated under the leadership of President David O. McKay...
...10027...
...Since 1962, 70 new chapels have been completed...
...There returns will then be used by the ruling authorities of the Church to buttress the persistently ailing economy of the Great Basin of Salt Lake City, and to increase the LDS religious and economic bases throughout the world...
...We will next see how other members in high positions have felt the need to redefine the Church's position on the world ideological struggle in terms of Mormon allegiance to the cause of the United States...
...9 God and man are of a same race and are in constant progression towards greater fulfillment and accomplishment...
...In 1959 the Andes mission was founded as an offshoot of the Uruguayan and Argentine missions...
...It is interesting to note that about an equal number of men and women are being converted in South America...
...20 Quoted from a letter from the First Presidency to the General Authorities, Regional Representatives of teh Twelve, Stake Presidents, Mission Presidents, and Bishops, published in Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, Vol...
...Tithing is the foundation of the financial empire of the Church...
...Hopes for religious fulfillment after death through hard work in this world mean greater financial contributions to the Church through tithing...
...McKay served as a mis- sionary in Scotland in the eighteen-nineties...
...The whole need no physicians, but those who are sick...
...2. The LDS Church discriminates against blacks and against women...
...In 1969, the First Presidency of the Church reaffirmed this position: From the beginning of this dispensation, Joseph Smith and all succeeding presidents of the Church have taught that Negroes, while spirit children of a common Father, and the progeny of our earthly parents Adam and Eve, were not yet to receive the priesthood, for reasons which we believe are known to God, but which He has not made fully known to man...
...As we saw above, the priesthood hierarchy is open to all white male members and is the only path towards salvation and the only open door to leadership positions within the LDS Church...
...According to Mullen, they annually provide for charitable distribution by the Church about $10 million worth of food and other goods...
...after his ascension from Palestine...
...Mullen, op...
...Zion's Utah Bancorporation: substantial minority interest owned, ZUB is Utah's only bank holding company...
...10 Due to this effort, Salt Lake City welcomed by 1854 96 boot and shoemakers, 10 boilermakers, 10 cabinetmakers, 46 engineers, w ironmongers, 226 miners, 73 masons, 8 printers, 22 spinners, 9 weavers, and some 300 more with other skills (Mullen, op...
...28 Mullen, op...
...The "inferior law" of 1838 retained many features of the Law of Consecration but added the new concept of tithing...
...It fits the double approach to Mormon development in this century: "good for the community and good for profits...
...Mullen estimated that 90 percent of the buildings in use in 1970 did not exist in 1955...
...11 In a letter to President Young, Pratt described the Chileans in the following way: "The Chileans are a mixed race of Spanish and Indian blood-say four-fifths Indian-consequently course features, black hair and eyes, low foreheads, high cheekbones, broad faces, and in most cases copper color in its various shades and degrees, whilst a few are white and even fair and beautiful...
...This welfare enterprise relies on countless farms and factories operated by individual stakes...
...Their knowledge of arts and industry is extremely limited...
...The core of the Mormon economic system is outlined below...
...Probably more than one half of them can neither read nor write...
...At the present time, the Mormons are investing more in Latin America than they are getting back from tithing or profits...
...5. The LDS Church agrees with the doctrine of manifest destiny...
...3. The LDS Church stands for law and order and the maintenance of the status quo...
...This middle sector increasingly functions as a key piece in the relations of power in some of the Latin American countries...
...In the same line, an iron industry was begun near Salt Lake City (later it failed) through the foundation of the Deseret Iron Company in London, with a capitalization of $4,840,000...
...In 1835 Joseph Smith came into possession of some manuscripts supposedly discovered in Egypt...
...In this respect too, the Mormon leadership has cast its lot with well-known capitalist principles: He [man] may establish his own business and provide work for himself, or he may seek and secure employment from others...
...It has a divine destiny not shared by other countries, and was set up as an independent power by a deliberate act of God to fulfill that destiny...
...Yet their greatest success has been concentrated in areas of Latin America and in the social classes where the percentage of Indian population is significantly low, if not completely absent (such as in Montevideo...
...Besides this geographical isolation, the LDS Church is still theologically banned in the minds of many from the sanctuaries of Christianity and even of Protestantism...
...2 7 (See box...
...It is also the key to its growth...
...Second-class postage paid at New York, N.Y...
...Are you a full tithe payer...
...Without it, Mormonism could not survive...
...By 1926 these long-term hopes were revived by Melvin J. Ballard, and a South American mission was founded...
...economic, political and religious spheres, in order to increase the size of Mormondom...
...In Brazil, for instance, the military dictatorship is seeking the support of the budding middle sector for policies which intensify the exploitation of the working classes...
...In the broad and imprecise strokes by which historical trends are measured, it might be said that the first half of the twentieth century was one of preparation while the second half is one of extending help and offering leadership, in their relative spheres...
...6. Wallace Turner, The Mormon Establishment, The Riverside Press, Cambridge, 1966...
...We have as many members in Uruguay as in the state of New York, where the Church was founded...
...THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO THE MORMONS As a young man Mr...
...1971...
...25 The Law of Consecration: "The convert was to give all his possessions, land and other property, over to the bishop, with a deed making the latter the legal owner...
...A Socio-Technical Approach (NLondon: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., 1971), p. 85...
...Zion's Cooperative Mercantile Institute: department store, 1/3 owned, sales in excess of $35 million...
...The Book of Mormon contends that "this land shall be a land of liberty unto the Gentiles and there shall be no kings upon the land...
...In form and in spirit the U.S...
...imperialism as the dominant force in Latin America, U.S...
...cit., p. 21...
...This quantitative increase was matched by qualitative improvements in missionary techniques...
...quoted in O'Dea, op...
...empire as a contributor to cultural imperialism, yet even those who attribute the altruistic motives of a "people who care" to the Mormon missionary effort inadvertently admit to the striking similarity and relationship between the developments of the LDS Church and of the United States as an imperialistic power...
...Our living prophet, President David O. McKay, has said, "The seeming discrimination by the Church toward the Negro is not something which originated with man...
...The assets of a missionary are his perseverance and dedication...
...Man is a god in embryo...
...1. One of the glaring peculiarities of the LDS Church is the rigidly theocratic nature of its organizational structure...
...Investment of $20 million in the Los Angeles Times...
...Every word of commercial solicitors is carefully worked out in advance to gain the interest and confidence of the person coming to the door...
...p. 400...
...19 John A. Widtsoe, (an Apostle of the Church), Rational Theology, (Salt Lake City, 1915), p. 13...
...15 This last figure is from Frances Lang, "The Mormon Empire," Ramparts, Sept...
...9 "I give unto you this first commandment, that ye shall go forth in my name, every one of you...
...The Mormons preach acceptance of the status quo and complete obedience to the established laws...
...Four-fifths, or perhaps nine-tenths of the vast population of Peru, as well as of most other countries of Spanish America are of the blood of Lehi [i.e., Indians...
...The figure jumped to 6,441 in 1962, 8,862 in 1963, and above 10,000 in 1965...
...1967...
...Deseret News, Salt Lake City newspaper with a circulation of 100,000 (the Mormons have a partial interest in the company which does the printing, circulation and advertising of the other major daily, the Salt Lake Tribune...
...The LDS Church has its own alternative: the Relief Society...
...The Mormons have always claimed the Indians as chosen people for the "true" religion of God...
...Finally, Joseph Smith, to whom the revelation was given, was considered a Prophet and the head of the restored preisthoods...
...In 1963 they presented a plan to open two elementary schools in Chile...
...The Mormons, however, have added a few choice innovations which have particular relevance in assessing the impact of Mormonism on Latin America...
...The epitome of their self-sufficiency is, of course, Salt Lake City...
...In 1838 a similar attempt was made...
...private corporation which holds a 52% interest in the consortium...
...Full integration into and submission to the Church theocracy are required in order to attain religious fulfillment...
...and modesty and virtue, in the sense they are understood among the more polished nations, may hardly exist among them, even in idea...
...As capitalism grew into its present stage of imperialism, the phenomenon of modem cultural imperialism arose as an appendage to the economic and military penetration of the Third World by the developed countries...
...A study of Protestantism in Latin America revealed the following data for the LDS missions: 80 places of worship, 30,000 members, 35 foreign priests, 85 foreign assistants auxiliariess), and 72 national assistants, spread throughout Argentina, Brazil, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay...
...2 The Church's highest authority has thus sanctioned direct participation in anti-Communist efforts reminiscent of McCarthyism...
...The second coming of Christ is narrated in the Third Book of Nephi, chapters 11-28...
...3 0 An example of such authoritarian control is the system for issuing permits to visit the Temple...
...quoted in Thomas O'Dea, The Mormons (Chicago & London: The University of Chicago Press, 1965), p. 133...
...They were to be delivered to the stake bishops and to be disposed of by the First Presidency, the Presiding Bishopric, and the Council of the Twelve Apostles (i.e., the ruling elite of the LDS Church...
...Nevertheless, the LDS leadership continues to adhere to the theory of "manifest destiny...
...In order to visit a Temple, each member must obtain a permit from his stake bishop by answering to a series of ten questions, of which the following are particularly revealing: Will you and do you sustain the General Authorities of the Church, and will you live in accordance with the accepted rules and doctrines of the Church...
...The Mormons have traditionally emphasized education...
...In 1966 President David 0. McKay updated the LDS doctrine of free agency to meet these modern developments: The position of this Church on the subject of Communism has never changed...
...continued from page 10...
...It reflects the areas of interest to the Mormons, and also offers an insight into the probable format for economic expansion in foreign countries as the LDS Church grows as a world organization...
...Precise data on this subject is hard to obtain since the Church has not published a financial report since 1959, and since the Mormons are very secretive about the extent of their financial holdings and income...
...God has achieved supremacy over the world through action...
...6. The LDS Church subsists financially on the twin bases of tithing and profits from its investments in the capitalist economic system...
...It might seem strange to associate that obscure Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints (referred to from here on as the LDS or Mormon Church) to the U.S...
...Information Agency, or the radio and television networks, but the particular forms of communication which missionaries employ to produce religious conversions they often sow deeper and more lasting loyalties to the values they represent...
...Doctrines and Covenants 104:2) This doctrine is designed to assure the Mormon Church complete freedom of action in the7 Mr...
...3 2 By R. Beekman FOOTNOTES 1 Karl Marx, The German Ideology (New York: International Publishers Co., 1970), p. 65...
...26 This view is held by Wallace Turner, The Mormon Establishment, (Cambridge: The Riverside Press, 1966), p. 132...
...This stand is further clarified in the Doctrines and Covenants: We believe that all men are bound to sustain and uphold the respective governments in which they reside, while protected in their inherent and inalienable rights by the laws of such governments: and that sedition and rebellion are unbecoming every citizen thus protected, and should be punished accordingly...
...He emphasized the case of Peru to make his point: Should Peru sustain her liberties [of press, of speech, and of worship], a field is opened in the heart of Spanish America, and in the largest, best informed and most influential city and nation of South America, for the Bible, the Book of Mormon, and the fulness of the Gospel to be introduced...
...Tis true they are degraded...
...O'Dea, op...
...On the other hand, it hardly explains the rigid theocracy which governs the Church within...
Vol. 6 • May 1972 • No. 5
