JUST SOCIETY
JUST SOCIETY
“…The heart of the sons of men is full of evil,
and madness is in their heart while they live…” (Ecc. 9.3)
Wherewith shall I come before the LORD,
and bow myself before the high God?...
He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good;
and what doth the LORD require of thee,
but to do justly, and to love mercy,
and to walk humbly with thy God? (Micah 6.6, 8)
archive of past homilies can be found at the bottom of this page
just society archive
dual purposes: caring for the poor and humbling the rich
dc 84.112
(12/1/24)
And the bishop, Newel K. Whitney, also should travel round about and among all the churches, searching after the poor to administer to their wants by humbling the rich and the proud.
introduction
This passage is one that I include in my list of scriptures that describe a just society. Some might question my inclusion of this passage in such a list. They may reason that this passage addresses behavior and intentions that relate only to those of the LDS faith and that it has no bearing or application to the world at large and how it manages its financial resources. I reject this reasoning. It is too puny a vision. God thinks big, as the prophet Isaiah reminded us over two millennia ago.
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,
saith the LORD.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways,
and my thoughts than your thoughts.”[1]
In this homily I hope to expand our vision of the counsel given to Bishop Newell K. Witney in 1832.
god’s call to serve
As I have suggested in numerous scripture-based homilies, meditations, and questionaries, God gave the small and insignificant nation of ancient Israel laws, imbedded with principles, by which a secure, just, and enduring society could be established. In doing so, God did more than provide laws and principles for the insular nation. God called Israel to be His servant to be an example to the world by keeping His just laws and forming a “more perfect union.”
Through Israel’s “evangelical” example, God hoped to transform and improve the entire world. Unfortunately, Israel did not live up to its calling. It did not keep God’s laws for a just society and so the world was left without an example. This is not my own estimation of Israel’s failed response to God and His call, but that of the Hebrew prophets.
I have also suggested in numerous scripture-based homilies, meditations, and questionaries that I believe that Jesus of Nazareth, through his words and actions during his ministry and through his disciples, intended to transform and improve the world—remake it into the image of the kingdom of God. Unfortunately, through the apostacy of “Christianity”—to be seen not so much in the corruption of doctrine as in the corruption of behavior in yielding to the twisted and unjust values of this world—this hope was shattered. Once more, the world was left without a servant and without an example of a just society. The salt lost its savor, and Christianity found itself trodden under the feet of violent marching armies for centuries.[2]
Finally, as I have suggested in numerous scripture-based homilies, meditations, and questionaries, I believe that God intended to transform and improve the world through an insignificant Joseph Smith, the principles that He taught him, and the small institutions that He established through him. The jury is still out on the effectiveness of this latter movement. The signs are not particularly encouraging as this movement seems to have succumbed to the same worldly temptations and twisted values as the earlier evangelists—ancient Israel and emergent Christianity. If so, they are liable to suffer the same tragic ends.
It is a sad reality that all these efforts to transform and improve the world have seemingly been for naught—not for the lack of divine inspiration, but for the failure of the called servants and the lack of human response. The world does not seem much changed from what it has been from the dawn of history. Still, that does not mean that we give up the hope of transforming and improving the world that we have inherited.
The instruction found in DC 84.112 is an example of God’s efforts to transform and improve the entire world through the example of an insignificant and small portion of the world’s population. This instruction contains principles that are to be applied to the entire world, not only to a small enclave of humanity formerly known as Mormon. Neither Joseph Smith nor God were so myopic as to have anything in mind other than worldwide transformation and improvement.
So, what divine principles are found in this passage that might bring about the transformation and improvement of the world and form a cornerstone of a just and enduring society? Here are the principal ones that I identify in this passage.
searching after the poor
Newel K. Whitney was to “travel round about and among all the churches, searching after the poor to administer to their wants.” At that time, the churches were scattered several miles apart. Roads were not great. During parts of the year, they were nearly impassable. The horse was the best and most swift means of travel, the horse-drawn wagon the principal means of transporting goods.
This is all preamble to our first point: fulfilling this divine direction required much time and energy. The Lord required leaders of the church to make whatever efforts were necessary to 1) identify the poor, and 2) supply the economic deficiencies of the poor. In fulfilling this divine mandate, the church not only cared for the poor, but served as example to the world. This is what just societies that are consistent with the character of God look like. Just societies actively and energetically and untiringly 1) identify the poor, and 2) supply their economic deficiencies, whatever difficulties that effort might entail. Looking after the poor is not to be a passive activity. Nor is it an afterthought. Identifying the poor and supplying their economic deficiencies is a high priority for God and is to be a high priority for those in governance and leadership.
The goal is not merely to meet temporary needs. The goal is to eliminate poverty entirely.
“And the Lord called his people ZION, because they were of one heart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness; and there was no poor among them.”[3]
“… The people were all converted unto the Lord, upon all the face of the land, both Nephites and Lamanites, and there were no contentions and disputations among them, and every man did deal justly one with another. And they had all things common among them; therefore there were not rich and poor, bond and free, but they were all made free, and partakers of the heavenly gift.” [4]
So, God, I contend, called a little group that would come to be known as Mormons to obey God in actively eliminating poverty among them through consecration. In engaging in this righteous work inside their group, they were to serve as examples to the outside world. Outside this movement, these called evangelists were to advocate for laws and policies that were consistent with the divine revelation and that would eliminate poverty in the broader society. These servants to the world were not called for their own glory. Yes, they were, by God’s own testimony, granted the “privilege of organizing themselves according to my laws.”[5] But in being so granted, they were under obligation to stand as an example, a city on a hill, to the rest of the world in hopes that the world would be transformed and improved until there were no poor anywhere on the globe.
So, that’s principle number one. Just societies actively and diligently identify those who are economically deficient and help supply the deficiencies of the poor. In today’s world, these deficiencies would include such things as food, housing, healthcare, education, and, where practical and realistic, jobs. Societies broaden these efforts, whatever the cost and effort, with the goal of eliminating the scourge of poverty from the planet.
humbling the rich
The question now arises: By what means are the deficiencies of the poor to be supplied? Here is the Lord’s plan for supplying the deficiencies of the poor. The Lord directed Newel K. Whitney to “administer to their wants by humbling the rich and the proud.”
Now, as we have so often remarked, modern religious thought too often domesticates the idea of humility, turning it into a pleasant, almost cute and cuddly little character trait. But, in calling for the “humbling” of the rich and proud, God isn’t simply talking about shaping an inner trait in the rich. In this passage the Lord uses the verb, “to humble,” in its participial form. The verb means “to lower in power, dominance, independence, importance, status, or prestige.” The Lord intends to utilize the wealth of the rich to change both the life of the poor and the life of the rich. He intends to raise the poor and lower the rich.
Lest I be accused of making stuff up, I would have the reader consider counsel given to Joseph Smith a little more than a year after the counsel given to Newell K. Whitney. In DC 104, The Lord informed Joseph that the community’s economic resources must be utilized and distributed in “mine own way.” That way was consecration and redistribution. Then, he says,
“…this is the way that I, the Lord, have decreed to provide for my saints, that the poor shall be exalted, in that the rich are made low.”[6]
The “humbling” of the rich involved something far more than emotional and psychological alteration of the rich. I was about lowering them, lowering their wealth, lowering their power and influence purchased through their wealth. And it was about exalting the poor. Raising their wealth, raising their power and influence restricted by their poverty. All this is entirely in keeping with the intuition Mary had about the work that God intended to do through her son, Jesus.
“He hath shewed strength with his arm;
he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He hath put down the mighty from their seats,
and exalted them of low degree.
He hath filled the hungry with good things;
and the rich he hath sent empty away.”[7]
The counsel given to Newell K Whitney evidences the Lord’s assumption that the rich need humbling and that they must be economically lowered. There is an assumption that the status, influence, and dominance of the rich must be diminished if not broken—indeed, one senses in these passages an intensity, almost aggression about humbling and making low the rich.” There is an assumption that the inordinate status, influence, and dominance of the rich is a threat to a well-functioning and enduring society. To be sure, American is currently passing through an era when the danger that the wealthy and the influence that their wealth buys is clear and self-evident. Many a societal ill found in America could be solved by following the direction given in the Doctrine and Covenants to “humble the rich” and “making them low.”
As we have said, there is an assumption in this passage and on the part of the Lord that the rich need humbling. I have said this before. I will repeat myself here. With the possible exception of maybe two passages, often misinterpreted, scripture does not record any instance of God leveling criticism against the poor. Rather, God and those who represent Him advocate for the poor hundreds of times in scripture. The poor are never portrayed as violators but as violated. They are not spoken of as those who victimize. They are always the victimized. They are never told to work harder or longer or smarter. The wealthy are told to work harder, longer, and smarter in caring for and lifting the poor There is simply no way around these scripture realities—however inconvenient it may be to those taken in by our twisted economic system and its justifying propaganda.
At the same time, scripture does not record any instance of God advocating for the wealthy. Indeed, 99.9% of the time when scripture mentions the wealthy it is with an explicit or implied “woe” somewhere nearby. We could fill a book with examples of God “woeing” the wealthy, while we can hardly find 25 words in which he “woes” the poor.[8]
These scriptural attitudes and habits are the exact opposite of current attitudes and habits toward the poor found in American society, where the poor are blamed and “woed,” while the rich are exalted and wooed. This is but one of many evidences of how utterly unbiblical and ungodly—ungod-like—American society is. It is indeed tragic that so many who join in the “woeing” of the poor claim to follow God’s word, whether it comes from the Bible or the Doctrine and Covenants.
Separating lying propaganda from divine law and principle, we find that administering to (not simply caring for) the poor by “humbling the rich and proud”—“proud” being, in scripture a near synonym of “rich,” the rich being thought of as proud almost by definition[9]—is not only a benefit to the poor. It also benefits the rich who “fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.”[10]
So, that’s number two. Just as the Lord sees that the poor need help out of their economic deficiencies, He sees that the wealthy need help out of the spiritual deficiency: the pride, that their wealth almost universally creates. Therefore, he humbles the wealthy by requiring that their wealth be dedicated to lifting up the poor. In addition, the Lord’s counsel is good for society at large. As the wealth of the rich is deduced, so too is the power and influence they buy with their wealth. Few things offer better proof of the Lord’s wisdom, justness, and interest in all His children than this inspired counsel found in DC 84.112.
Conclusion
In the winter of 1830-31, after reading of and being inspired by Enoch’s establishment of Zion, and being moved upon by the Holy Spirit, Joseph Smith’s understanding of his calling underwent a huge and radical transformation.[11] No longer did he simply think in terms of establishing another religion, church, or institution. He began to think of his calling in terms of establishing a whole new type of society. This society was not to be a small, insular, and exclusive society. It was, like the stone cut out of the mountain,[12] to fill the entire world. Joseph and the movement he led were called to transform and improve the human condition the world over.
Under the Lord’s tutelage, Joseph began to understand that the world’s economic systems were a principal impediment to improving the human condition. Indeed, much of the blame for the sorry state of this world rested on the world’s economic systems. They were twisted and perverted, permeated with false values and destructive behaviors. A new economic system was needed in the world if it was to be transformed and improved as God intended and demanded it be—as it must be to abide His presence. At the heart of the Lord’s economic system was an awareness of the economic deficiencies under which the poor suffered and the spiritual deficiencies under with the rich suffered. These deficiencies were, in fact, interrelated and codependent. The economic instruction found in DC 84.112 along with much other economic counsel given in the middle third of the Doctrine and Covenants was intended to address and heal these deficiencies.
In a moment of inspiration soon after Joseph’s economic/ Zionist epiphany, the Lord informed—or is it “warned”?— “the poor have complained before me, and the rich have I made, and all flesh is mine, and I am no respecter of persons.”[13] With this warning ringing in his ears, Joseph immediately began to newly conceive the rich and poor. Much of the middle third of the Doctrine and Covenants is taken up with instruction concerning a new economic system that would benefit both rich and poor and so transform and improve the world.
DC 84.112 is part of that extended instruction on economy that makes up the approximate middle third of the Doctrine and Covenants. Here, the Lord directs that society make a more concerted effort of caring for the poor. Society’s leaders are to actively identify the poor, inventory their financial deficiencies, and provide means to eliminate these deficiencies. The principal means for eliminating the deficiencies under which the poor suffer is the redistribution of wealth.
True to the Lord’s early warning, there was no “respect of persons” (the poor over the rich) in this redistribution of wealth from the rich to the poor. Both groups benefited. The Lord’s desired economic system could eliminate deficiencies found in both groups—economic deficiencies found among the poor, and spiritual deficiencies found among the rich. As is the case throughout scripture, there was an assumption that the financially rich were rich in pride and required humbling as much as the poor were humiliated and required help to be lifted out of poverty. However, in addition to altering the inner character of the rich, the Lord wanted and intended to reduce their unequal wealth, alter they social status, and reduce the excessive power and influence that purchased their wealth.
It is, in my view, a gross misreading of the text to understand the economic principles found in the middle third of the Doctrine and Covenants as applying only to “the Church,” or as containing principles exclusively intended for an exclusive “Zion.” The economic principles would, of necessity, initially be adopted and applied among a small group. But the Lord intended that, increasingly, larger and larger populations adopt and apply those principles because of the example of the first adopters and appliers and the superior society that those principles created. It was the Lord’s hopes and intentions that the economic principles would expand the world over.
As ancient Israel and Christianity, the initial latter-day group failed miserably in adopting and applying the Lord’s eternal economic principles. There is no telling how negative an impact this failure has had on the world. Those of us who lay claim to the heritage of this initial latter-day group have done no better. Indeed, we, as a group, actively resist such principles as we succumb to the false values and principles of the world’s economic systems—values and principles that are incessantly justified and propagated by an immense, sophisticated, and uncompromising propaganda machine.
Just like all those that have proceeded (Egypt, Babylon, Rome, et al.), the world’s current twisted economic systems are on life-support, gasping for their last breath of air. It is high time that we who claim to believe that the Doctrine and Covenants contains the word of God—a warning to a dying world—put our money where our mouth is. It is time for us to individually live by the Lord’s economic principles. But this is not enough. We must advocate within our larger society for the Lord’s economic system; one in which the lifting up of the poor and the making low of the rich are given the highest priority and engage our most diligent efforts. This is true discipleship. Such values and practices are foundational to the endurance of human society in this world. Such values are necessary if we hope to abide in a more eternal and enduring society beyond those of this world.
“For verily I say unto you, the time has come, and is now at hand; and behold, and lo, it must needs be that there be an organization of my people, in regulating and establishing the affairs of the storehouse for the poor of my people, both in this place and in the land of Zion—for a permanent and everlasting establishment and order unto my church, to advance the cause, which ye have espoused, to the salvation of man, and to the glory of your Father who is in heaven; that you may be equal in the bonds of heavenly things, yea, and earthly things also, for the obtaining of heavenly things. For if ye are not equal in earthly things ye cannot be equal in obtaining heavenly things; for if you will that I give unto you a place in the celestial world, you must prepare yourselves by doing the things which I have commanded you and required of you.”[14]
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
[1] Isaiah 55.8-9
[2] See Matthew 5.13
[3] Moses 7.18
[4] 4 Nephi 1.2-3
[5] DC 51.15
[6] DC 104.16
[7] Luke 1.51-53
[8] Scripture is as clear as clear can be. Wealth breeds pride. This reality is widespread enough to be called universally true. It makes no difference that there might be the occasional exception—these exceptions being more exceptional than is often claimed. The Lord’s solution to the damning pride of the wealthy is to reduce the wealthy’s riches. This is not socialism or communism or any other ism. Rather, it is a ness. It is righteousness, holiness, godliness.
[9] The exceptions to this are just that, exceptions. Historically and globally speaking, they are so rare as to warrant little consideration.
[10] 1 Timothy 6.9
[11] See my meditation on DC 37.
[12] See Daniel 2.35, 44-45
[13] DC 38.16
[14] DC 78.3-7
introduction
This passage is one that I include in my list of scriptures that describe a just society. Some might question my inclusion of this passage in such a list. They may reason that this passage addresses behavior and intentions that relate only to those of the LDS faith and that it has no bearing or application to the world at large and how it manages its financial resources. I reject this reasoning. It is too puny a vision. God thinks big, as the prophet Isaiah reminded us over two millennia ago.
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,
saith the LORD.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways,
and my thoughts than your thoughts.”[1]
In this homily I hope to expand our vision of the counsel given to Bishop Newell K. Witney in 1832.
god’s call to serve
As I have suggested in numerous scripture-based homilies, meditations, and questionaries, God gave the small and insignificant nation of ancient Israel laws, imbedded with principles, by which a secure, just, and enduring society could be established. In doing so, God did more than provide laws and principles for the insular nation. God called Israel to be His servant to be an example to the world by keeping His just laws and forming a “more perfect union.”
Through Israel’s “evangelical” example, God hoped to transform and improve the entire world. Unfortunately, Israel did not live up to its calling. It did not keep God’s laws for a just society and so the world was left without an example. This is not my own estimation of Israel’s failed response to God and His call, but that of the Hebrew prophets.
I have also suggested in numerous scripture-based homilies, meditations, and questionaries that I believe that Jesus of Nazareth, through his words and actions during his ministry and through his disciples, intended to transform and improve the world—remake it into the image of the kingdom of God. Unfortunately, through the apostacy of “Christianity”—to be seen not so much in the corruption of doctrine as in the corruption of behavior in yielding to the twisted and unjust values of this world—this hope was shattered. Once more, the world was left without a servant and without an example of a just society. The salt lost its savor, and Christianity found itself trodden under the feet of violent marching armies for centuries.[2]
Finally, as I have suggested in numerous scripture-based homilies, meditations, and questionaries, I believe that God intended to transform and improve the world through an insignificant Joseph Smith, the principles that He taught him, and the small institutions that He established through him. The jury is still out on the effectiveness of this latter movement. The signs are not particularly encouraging as this movement seems to have succumbed to the same worldly temptations and twisted values as the earlier evangelists—ancient Israel and emergent Christianity. If so, they are liable to suffer the same tragic ends.
It is a sad reality that all these efforts to transform and improve the world have seemingly been for naught—not for the lack of divine inspiration, but for the failure of the called servants and the lack of human response. The world does not seem much changed from what it has been from the dawn of history. Still, that does not mean that we give up the hope of transforming and improving the world that we have inherited.
The instruction found in DC 84.112 is an example of God’s efforts to transform and improve the entire world through the example of an insignificant and small portion of the world’s population. This instruction contains principles that are to be applied to the entire world, not only to a small enclave of humanity formerly known as Mormon. Neither Joseph Smith nor God were so myopic as to have anything in mind other than worldwide transformation and improvement.
So, what divine principles are found in this passage that might bring about the transformation and improvement of the world and form a cornerstone of a just and enduring society? Here are the principal ones that I identify in this passage.
searching after the poor
Newel K. Whitney was to “travel round about and among all the churches, searching after the poor to administer to their wants.” At that time, the churches were scattered several miles apart. Roads were not great. During parts of the year, they were nearly impassable. The horse was the best and most swift means of travel, the horse-drawn wagon the principal means of transporting goods.
This is all preamble to our first point: fulfilling this divine direction required much time and energy. The Lord required leaders of the church to make whatever efforts were necessary to 1) identify the poor, and 2) supply the economic deficiencies of the poor. In fulfilling this divine mandate, the church not only cared for the poor, but served as example to the world. This is what just societies that are consistent with the character of God look like. Just societies actively and energetically and untiringly 1) identify the poor, and 2) supply their economic deficiencies, whatever difficulties that effort might entail. Looking after the poor is not to be a passive activity. Nor is it an afterthought. Identifying the poor and supplying their economic deficiencies is a high priority for God and is to be a high priority for those in governance and leadership.
The goal is not merely to meet temporary needs. The goal is to eliminate poverty entirely.
“And the Lord called his people ZION, because they were of one heart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness; and there was no poor among them.”[3]
“… The people were all converted unto the Lord, upon all the face of the land, both Nephites and Lamanites, and there were no contentions and disputations among them, and every man did deal justly one with another. And they had all things common among them; therefore there were not rich and poor, bond and free, but they were all made free, and partakers of the heavenly gift.” [4]
So, God, I contend, called a little group that would come to be known as Mormons to obey God in actively eliminating poverty among them through consecration. In engaging in this righteous work inside their group, they were to serve as examples to the outside world. Outside this movement, these called evangelists were to advocate for laws and policies that were consistent with the divine revelation and that would eliminate poverty in the broader society. These servants to the world were not called for their own glory. Yes, they were, by God’s own testimony, granted the “privilege of organizing themselves according to my laws.”[5] But in being so granted, they were under obligation to stand as an example, a city on a hill, to the rest of the world in hopes that the world would be transformed and improved until there were no poor anywhere on the globe.
So, that’s principle number one. Just societies actively and diligently identify those who are economically deficient and help supply the deficiencies of the poor. In today’s world, these deficiencies would include such things as food, housing, healthcare, education, and, where practical and realistic, jobs. Societies broaden these efforts, whatever the cost and effort, with the goal of eliminating the scourge of poverty from the planet.
humbling the rich
The question now arises: By what means are the deficiencies of the poor to be supplied? Here is the Lord’s plan for supplying the deficiencies of the poor. The Lord directed Newel K. Whitney to “administer to their wants by humbling the rich and the proud.”
Now, as we have so often remarked, modern religious thought too often domesticates the idea of humility, turning it into a pleasant, almost cute and cuddly little character trait. But, in calling for the “humbling” of the rich and proud, God isn’t simply talking about shaping an inner trait in the rich. In this passage the Lord uses the verb, “to humble,” in its participial form. The verb means “to lower in power, dominance, independence, importance, status, or prestige.” The Lord intends to utilize the wealth of the rich to change both the life of the poor and the life of the rich. He intends to raise the poor and lower the rich.
Lest I be accused of making stuff up, I would have the reader consider counsel given to Joseph Smith a little more than a year after the counsel given to Newell K. Whitney. In DC 104, The Lord informed Joseph that the community’s economic resources must be utilized and distributed in “mine own way.” That way was consecration and redistribution. Then, he says,
“…this is the way that I, the Lord, have decreed to provide for my saints, that the poor shall be exalted, in that the rich are made low.”[6]
The “humbling” of the rich involved something far more than emotional and psychological alteration of the rich. I was about lowering them, lowering their wealth, lowering their power and influence purchased through their wealth. And it was about exalting the poor. Raising their wealth, raising their power and influence restricted by their poverty. All this is entirely in keeping with the intuition Mary had about the work that God intended to do through her son, Jesus.
“He hath shewed strength with his arm;
he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He hath put down the mighty from their seats,
and exalted them of low degree.
He hath filled the hungry with good things;
and the rich he hath sent empty away.”[7]
The counsel given to Newell K Whitney evidences the Lord’s assumption that the rich need humbling and that they must be economically lowered. There is an assumption that the status, influence, and dominance of the rich must be diminished if not broken—indeed, one senses in these passages an intensity, almost aggression about humbling and making low the rich.” There is an assumption that the inordinate status, influence, and dominance of the rich is a threat to a well-functioning and enduring society. To be sure, American is currently passing through an era when the danger that the wealthy and the influence that their wealth buys is clear and self-evident. Many a societal ill found in America could be solved by following the direction given in the Doctrine and Covenants to “humble the rich” and “making them low.”
As we have said, there is an assumption in this passage and on the part of the Lord that the rich need humbling. I have said this before. I will repeat myself here. With the possible exception of maybe two passages, often misinterpreted, scripture does not record any instance of God leveling criticism against the poor. Rather, God and those who represent Him advocate for the poor hundreds of times in scripture. The poor are never portrayed as violators but as violated. They are not spoken of as those who victimize. They are always the victimized. They are never told to work harder or longer or smarter. The wealthy are told to work harder, longer, and smarter in caring for and lifting the poor There is simply no way around these scripture realities—however inconvenient it may be to those taken in by our twisted economic system and its justifying propaganda.
At the same time, scripture does not record any instance of God advocating for the wealthy. Indeed, 99.9% of the time when scripture mentions the wealthy it is with an explicit or implied “woe” somewhere nearby. We could fill a book with examples of God “woeing” the wealthy, while we can hardly find 25 words in which he “woes” the poor.[8]
These scriptural attitudes and habits are the exact opposite of current attitudes and habits toward the poor found in American society, where the poor are blamed and “woed,” while the rich are exalted and wooed. This is but one of many evidences of how utterly unbiblical and ungodly—ungod-like—American society is. It is indeed tragic that so many who join in the “woeing” of the poor claim to follow God’s word, whether it comes from the Bible or the Doctrine and Covenants.
Separating lying propaganda from divine law and principle, we find that administering to (not simply caring for) the poor by “humbling the rich and proud”—“proud” being, in scripture a near synonym of “rich,” the rich being thought of as proud almost by definition[9]—is not only a benefit to the poor. It also benefits the rich who “fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.”[10]
So, that’s number two. Just as the Lord sees that the poor need help out of their economic deficiencies, He sees that the wealthy need help out of the spiritual deficiency: the pride, that their wealth almost universally creates. Therefore, he humbles the wealthy by requiring that their wealth be dedicated to lifting up the poor. In addition, the Lord’s counsel is good for society at large. As the wealth of the rich is deduced, so too is the power and influence they buy with their wealth. Few things offer better proof of the Lord’s wisdom, justness, and interest in all His children than this inspired counsel found in DC 84.112.
Conclusion
In the winter of 1830-31, after reading of and being inspired by Enoch’s establishment of Zion, and being moved upon by the Holy Spirit, Joseph Smith’s understanding of his calling underwent a huge and radical transformation.[11] No longer did he simply think in terms of establishing another religion, church, or institution. He began to think of his calling in terms of establishing a whole new type of society. This society was not to be a small, insular, and exclusive society. It was, like the stone cut out of the mountain,[12] to fill the entire world. Joseph and the movement he led were called to transform and improve the human condition the world over.
Under the Lord’s tutelage, Joseph began to understand that the world’s economic systems were a principal impediment to improving the human condition. Indeed, much of the blame for the sorry state of this world rested on the world’s economic systems. They were twisted and perverted, permeated with false values and destructive behaviors. A new economic system was needed in the world if it was to be transformed and improved as God intended and demanded it be—as it must be to abide His presence. At the heart of the Lord’s economic system was an awareness of the economic deficiencies under which the poor suffered and the spiritual deficiencies under with the rich suffered. These deficiencies were, in fact, interrelated and codependent. The economic instruction found in DC 84.112 along with much other economic counsel given in the middle third of the Doctrine and Covenants was intended to address and heal these deficiencies.
In a moment of inspiration soon after Joseph’s economic/ Zionist epiphany, the Lord informed—or is it “warned”?— “the poor have complained before me, and the rich have I made, and all flesh is mine, and I am no respecter of persons.”[13] With this warning ringing in his ears, Joseph immediately began to newly conceive the rich and poor. Much of the middle third of the Doctrine and Covenants is taken up with instruction concerning a new economic system that would benefit both rich and poor and so transform and improve the world.
DC 84.112 is part of that extended instruction on economy that makes up the approximate middle third of the Doctrine and Covenants. Here, the Lord directs that society make a more concerted effort of caring for the poor. Society’s leaders are to actively identify the poor, inventory their financial deficiencies, and provide means to eliminate these deficiencies. The principal means for eliminating the deficiencies under which the poor suffer is the redistribution of wealth.
True to the Lord’s early warning, there was no “respect of persons” (the poor over the rich) in this redistribution of wealth from the rich to the poor. Both groups benefited. The Lord’s desired economic system could eliminate deficiencies found in both groups—economic deficiencies found among the poor, and spiritual deficiencies found among the rich. As is the case throughout scripture, there was an assumption that the financially rich were rich in pride and required humbling as much as the poor were humiliated and required help to be lifted out of poverty. However, in addition to altering the inner character of the rich, the Lord wanted and intended to reduce their unequal wealth, alter they social status, and reduce the excessive power and influence that purchased their wealth.
It is, in my view, a gross misreading of the text to understand the economic principles found in the middle third of the Doctrine and Covenants as applying only to “the Church,” or as containing principles exclusively intended for an exclusive “Zion.” The economic principles would, of necessity, initially be adopted and applied among a small group. But the Lord intended that, increasingly, larger and larger populations adopt and apply those principles because of the example of the first adopters and appliers and the superior society that those principles created. It was the Lord’s hopes and intentions that the economic principles would expand the world over.
As ancient Israel and Christianity, the initial latter-day group failed miserably in adopting and applying the Lord’s eternal economic principles. There is no telling how negative an impact this failure has had on the world. Those of us who lay claim to the heritage of this initial latter-day group have done no better. Indeed, we, as a group, actively resist such principles as we succumb to the false values and principles of the world’s economic systems—values and principles that are incessantly justified and propagated by an immense, sophisticated, and uncompromising propaganda machine.
Just like all those that have proceeded (Egypt, Babylon, Rome, et al.), the world’s current twisted economic systems are on life-support, gasping for their last breath of air. It is high time that we who claim to believe that the Doctrine and Covenants contains the word of God—a warning to a dying world—put our money where our mouth is. It is time for us to individually live by the Lord’s economic principles. But this is not enough. We must advocate within our larger society for the Lord’s economic system; one in which the lifting up of the poor and the making low of the rich are given the highest priority and engage our most diligent efforts. This is true discipleship. Such values and practices are foundational to the endurance of human society in this world. Such values are necessary if we hope to abide in a more eternal and enduring society beyond those of this world.
“For verily I say unto you, the time has come, and is now at hand; and behold, and lo, it must needs be that there be an organization of my people, in regulating and establishing the affairs of the storehouse for the poor of my people, both in this place and in the land of Zion—for a permanent and everlasting establishment and order unto my church, to advance the cause, which ye have espoused, to the salvation of man, and to the glory of your Father who is in heaven; that you may be equal in the bonds of heavenly things, yea, and earthly things also, for the obtaining of heavenly things. For if ye are not equal in earthly things ye cannot be equal in obtaining heavenly things; for if you will that I give unto you a place in the celestial world, you must prepare yourselves by doing the things which I have commanded you and required of you.”[14]
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
[1] Isaiah 55.8-9
[2] See Matthew 5.13
[3] Moses 7.18
[4] 4 Nephi 1.2-3
[5] DC 51.15
[6] DC 104.16
[7] Luke 1.51-53
[8] Scripture is as clear as clear can be. Wealth breeds pride. This reality is widespread enough to be called universally true. It makes no difference that there might be the occasional exception—these exceptions being more exceptional than is often claimed. The Lord’s solution to the damning pride of the wealthy is to reduce the wealthy’s riches. This is not socialism or communism or any other ism. Rather, it is a ness. It is righteousness, holiness, godliness.
[9] The exceptions to this are just that, exceptions. Historically and globally speaking, they are so rare as to warrant little consideration.
[10] 1 Timothy 6.9
[11] See my meditation on DC 37.
[12] See Daniel 2.35, 44-45
[13] DC 38.16
[14] DC 78.3-7
old testament based just society posts
prosperity and the just society (part 2); the nature of prosperity in the old testament |
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genesis 4.9... am i my brother's keeper? |
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genesis 4.9... am i, an american, my brother's keeper? |
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genesis 29-30... critiquing the myth of innocence (part 1): the dysfunction of jacob's family |
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exodus 2.11-12... awake and arise: moses, a "woke" man, yahweh, a "woke" god, and israel, a nation called to "wokeness" |
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exodus 13.3-10... the righteousness of being woke: resisting the un-biblical anti-woke heresy (part 1) |
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leviticus 19.9-10... the mad and ungodly dash for profit: of the margins of fields, profit margins, and marginalized people |
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leviticus 19.9-10... profit, wealth distribution, and the poor |
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leviticus 19.35-37... biblical weights and measures, modern profit margins, and what they portend for modern society |
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deuteronomy 4.9... the righteousness of being woke: resisting the un-biblical anti-woke heresy (part 1) |
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deuteronomy 6.20-23... the righteousness of being woke: resisting the un-biblical anti-woke heresy (part 1) |
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biblical economics 101 |
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2 samuel 8.4-20 & matthew 16.13-26... the more things change, the more they stay the same |
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2 kings 14.24... jereboam's boom |
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psalm 1 and 2... forbidding and resisting the governance of the ungodly |
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psalm 12.5-8... you can take it to the bank, god will recompence the poor |
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isaiah 1.16-20... healing our brokenness inadequately (part 8): three strikes and you’re out
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isaiah 1.21-23... america's love affair with criminality
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isaiah 32.1-8... deviant |
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isaiah 56.10-12... the dereliction of duty: of watchmen, sheepdogs, and shepherds |
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jeremiah 6.14 (homily) healing our brokenness inadequately (part 1):
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jeremiah 6.14 (homily) healing our brokenness inadequately (part 2): billionaire’s row
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jeremiah 6.14 (homily) healing our brokenness inadequately (part 3):
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jeremiah 6.14 (homily) healing our brokenness inadequately (part 4):
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jeremiah 6.14 (homily) healing our brokenness inadequately (part 5):
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jeremiah 6.14 (homily) healing our brokenness inadequately (part 6):
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jeremiah 6.14 (homily) healing our brokenness inadequately (part 7):
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jeremiah 6.14 (homily) healing our brokenness inadequately (part 8):
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jeremiah 6.14 (homily) healing our brokenness inadequately (part 9):
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jeremiah 6.14 (homily) healing our brokenness inadequately (part 10): cannibalism, american style |
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jeremiah 6.14 (homily) healing our brokenness inadequately (part 11): drinking and bribery, partners in crime |
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jeremiah 6.14 (homily) healing our brokenness inadequately (part 12): mythology of america’s capitalistic sorcerers:
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ezekiel 16.48-50... materialism and greed: the true sin of sodomy |
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amos 1.3-2.3 (& dc 98.14-17) (a homily on just society and our mad state of rebellion) "healing our brokenness inadequately (part 7): the hebrew prophet, amos,crimes against humanity, and the renunciation of war" |
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amos 5.10-12... prophetic imagination: imagining justice |
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amos 8.4-6... fraudulently selling bad product at inflated prices (part 1) |
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amos 8.4-6... fraudulently selling bad product at inflated prices (part 2) |
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amos 8.4-6 (& isaiah 10.1-2) (a homily on just society and our mad state of rebellion) "healing our brokenness inadequately (part 1):
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micah 2.1-3... dispossession and homelessness: a societal choice |
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malachi 3.5... the company we keep
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new testament based just society posts
matthew 2.1-18... rachel weeping for her children: a christmas story |
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matthew 5.13-16... salt that hath lost its savor |
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matthew 5.38-42... creative resistance and hopeful evangelizing |
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matthew 16.13-23... so shall it not be among you: the nature of true greatness and real power (part 1): apostolic confession and rebuke |
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matthew 16.24-26... so shall it not be among you: the nature of true greatness and real power (part 2): take up his cross |
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matthew 21.1-9... so shall it not be among you: the nature of true greatness and real power (part 7): meek and sitting on an ass |
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matthew 16.13-26 & 2 samuel 8.4-20... the more things change, the more they stay the same |
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mark 9.33-37... so shall it not be among you: the nature of true greatness and real power (part 4): what was it that ye disputed? |
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mark 10.35-45... so shall it not be among you: the nature of true greatness and real power (part 6): even the son of man came not to be ministered to, but to minister
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luke 1.46-55... jesus' surprising reversals (part 1): a mother's intuition: of the mighty and rich, the low and the hungry |
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luke 4.23-30... jesus' surprising reversals (part 2): a prophet's inspiration: of sidonians, syrians, and israelite widows and lepers |
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luke 5.27-32... jesus' surprising reversals (part 3), turning sinners into role models and heroes |
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luke 6.20-26... jesus' surprising reversals (part 4): the reversal of beatitude |
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luke 7.36-50... jesus' surprising reversals (part 5): to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little |
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luke 9.28-36, 44-46... so shall it not be among you: the nature of true greatness and real power (part 3): let these sayings sink down into your ears
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luke 9.51-56... so shall it not be among you: the nature of true greatness and real power (part 5): ye know not what manner of spirit ye are
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luke 22.19-20... the righteousness of being woke: resisting the un-biblical anti-woke heresy (part 1) |
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john 13.4-17... so shall it not be among you: the nature of true greatness and real power (part 8): ye also ought to wash one another's feet, for i have given you an example
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revelation 6.1-8... the four horsemen of the apocalypse (part 1): general observations |
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revelation 6.1-8... the four horsemen of the apocalypse (part 2): the white horse and its rider |
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revelation 6.1-8... the four horsemen of the apocalypse (part 3): the red horse and its rider |
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revelation 6.1-8... the four horsemen of the apocalypse (part 4): the black horse and its rider |
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revelation 6.1-8... the four horsemen of the apocalypse (part 5): the pale horse and its rider |
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revelation 13... my confessions and the revelator's beast |
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book of mormon based just society posts
1 nephi 2.19-23... prosperity and the just society (part 1): the "prosperity promise" as found in the book of mormon |
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1 nephi 8.26-27... the great and spacious building |
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mosiah 11 & 1 Kings 1-12... solomon and king noah, two peas in a pod: ‘neoliberalism’ and the redistribution of wealth |
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helaman 13... the slippery slope of materialism |
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doctrine and covenants and pgp based just society posts
dc 10.25... lies, stories, sins, signals, totems, and tribes
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dc 45.1-5... kristallnacht |
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dc 49.20... inequality is sin |
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dc 84.112... dual purposes: caring for the poor and humbling the rich |
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dc 101.43-51... selling out zion for profit |
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general just society posts
the "dark teachings" of the endowment |
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human sacrifice on the altar of the american god, economy |
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what the chapel doors say to me |
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2 samuel 8.4-20 & matthew 16.13-26... the idolatry of choosing human governance over the governance of God |
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american possession |
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just society series
jeremiah 6.14 homily series on just society and our mad state of rebellion: healing our brokenness inadequately
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homiletic series... so shall it not be among you: the nature of true greatness and real power
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homiletic series... revelation 6.1-8: the four horsemen of the apocalypse |
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homiletic series... the righteousness of being woke: resisting the un-biblical anti-woke heresy |
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