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Mormon Doctrine Leads to Socialism?

cashe Wrote: May 09, 2012 4:21 AM

When the Mormons first arrived in Utah, things were pretty rough for them. At that point, Brigham Young instituted "The United Order", stating that all things would be held in common. There was no government at that time, only the church structure and leadership. But the church owned all the means of production. Things like sawmills, graneries, printing presses, construction efforts, and every other type of production was owned and managed by the church. This is socialism, but it is controlled by a church instead of a government. BTW, it only lasted for a few years until conditions allowed a return to normal capitalism.

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CombatMissionary Wrote: May 09, 2012 11:24 AM

The most important characteristic of the United Order is that of its practice being voluntary. If a member joined the United Order, and later decided to get out, they were essentially "bought out" of their share and could leave any time. Not so with a socialist government. Payment of tithing today, and practice of the United Order in the past (and possibly in the future) is, has been, and would be strictly voluntary.

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Opa2 Wrote: May 09, 2012 1:14 PM

Most Christian sects advocate tithing. They don't get it. But they advocate it. Utah is a prosperous Capitalist state. And Mormons run it.

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ChuckP2 Wrote: May 09, 2012 4:46 AM

Actually the the Law of Consecration and later the United Order (specifically the Orderville community) failed because too many of those participating wouldn't work. There was no incentive for them to do so when they were going to share in the increase of the entire community anyway. They learned the lesson that Communists and Socialists have never learned, which is that the need to eat is powerful incentive to work.

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MormonsAreChristian Wrote: May 09, 2012 7:55 AM

Harry Reid was asleep when the issues with Orderville and the necessity of Free Agency in God's plan for His children were discussed. Also the lessons on why volition is necessary to practice charity.

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Mormon Doctrine Leads to Socialism?

Now that Mitt Romney is the presumptive Republican nominee for president, the left is increasing its attacks on his Mormon religion, hoping to distract voters into focusing on perceived negatives about Mormonism. The latest attack is shrewdly done. Instead of directly attacking Mormonism, which could look bad, the left is claiming that Mormonism is really socialist.

Last month, the far left website Salon ran an article entitled, “When Mormons Were Socialists.” It relied completely upon a deliberate misinterpretation of a few verses in the Book of Mormon. The author claimed that Mormon doctrine about events in the first century...

Related Tags: Media and Culture Faith and Family Harry Reid mormonism