Study: Liberal Anti-Mormonism On The Rise

Study: Liberal Anti-Mormonism On The Rise

Posted by 12th_Man (#3) 340 days ago (http://www.buzzfeed.com)

Americans' aversion to voting for Mormons has spiked since Mitt Romney's first presidential bid in 2007 — and that the people most wary of Mormon candidates are not Evangelicals, but rather political liberals and non-religious voters, according to new research from a leading scholar of anti-Mormon attitudes. Continued...

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Written by Pernicious (#1)
340 days ago

Facts regarding the LDS Humanitarian Program

Once a month, faithful members of the Church fast, typically skipping two meals. The cost of the meals (or more if the individual can afford it) is given to care for the poor. Because of this practice, the Utah government welfare spending is very low. Members of other faiths also benefit through LDS charity work.

The Church owns 400 welfare farms and 220 canneries/welfare storehouses to care for the poor. Members volunteer their time to staff these facilities. In 2003, over half a million man-hours were donated. One Church farm in Florida, the world's largest beef ranch, is over 312,000 acres.

The Church also has an extensive program to help the unemployed. In 2003, Church employment centers helped 85,000 people in the United States and Canada find employment. About the same number of jobs were found for members of the Church in foreign countries.

LDS Family Services, a Church organization, has 64 offices to provide adoption, foster care, and counseling services.

46 Church-operated thrift stores function in part to provide employment for the disadvantaged/disabled.

The LDS Church has sponsored Boy Scout troops since 1913. About 23% of all Scout troops in the U.S. are LDS-sponsored.

The Church has sent relief to victims of over 150 disasters since 1986 alone. Aid is provided regardless of any consideration, including religion, ethnicity, and nationality, and is valued in the tens of millions of dollars annually. In the last 20 years, 200 million pounds of food, clothing, and medicine were donated in 147 countries, almost all to members of other faiths. Aid is often made to countries where Mormon missionaries are banned by law. The LDS Church is able to send relief quickly because there is no need to wait for donations or purchase supplies. Church members donate regularly, and supplies are stored at Salt Lake and elsewhere, ready for distribution. The LDS Church also works with and donates extensively to other, non-LDS charities. While the Church's specific humanitarian programs are too numerous to list here, here are a few highlights:

In 2001 the Church established what it calls the “Perpetual Education Fund.” Low-rate college loans are made to impoverished students in the developing world, students that could not otherwise obtain a good education. Over 10,000 loans have been made to date, and the project is expanding.

The Church played an important role in the 2004 Asian-tsunami relief efforts. After working to address the population's immediate needs, the Church began working towards long-term progress, including livelihood restoration, health-care improvement (including operating-room construction, medical-equipment supply, and trauma counseling), and the reconstruction of community buildings (including homes, hospitals, schools, and mosques). In all, millions of dollars have been invested in this type of long-term aid.

The Church has an extensive vision program in the developing world, where local health-care professionals are provided with the necessary training and equipment to treat vision problems. Under this program, 20,000 individuals have received eye treatment at a cost of one million dollars.

Because world-wide only one percent of all who need wheelchairs have access to one, the Church has distributed over 100,000 chairs to the disabled in developing nations at a cost of $6.8 million.

The Church has helped 1.8 million people in over 1,000 communities gain access to clean water at an average cost of only $2.50 per person. This service has included digging wells, providing water storage and delivery systems, and installing water purification systems. Mostly local labor was used, and local community leaders were trained in how to maintain the new facilities.

At a cost of $3.5 million, the Church has sent doctors to developing nations to train local health-care professionals in neonatal resuscitation. Neonatal deaths due to breathing problems cost one million infant lives a year.

Working with international partners (the American Red Cross, the United Nations Foundation, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, United Nations Children’s Fund, World Health Organization, and International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies), the Church donated $3 million to work towards providing measles vaccinations for 200 million children in 40 African countries.

Church members donated 10,000 days of labor to assist Hurricane Katrina victims.

The Church offers small-business loans to the impoverished in developing countries.

So what's a typical year like? Take 2004...“In 2004, the Church provided $31.1 million (USD) in cash and materials in response to the hurricanes in Florida and the Caribbean, tsunamis in South Asia, war in Iraq, flooding in Colombia, and 110 other disasters.”

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Written by 12th_Man (#3)
340 days ago

Yep. Thanks for posting that Pern.

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Written by Pernicious (#1)
340 days ago

My pleasure. Permitting progressives to judge the Mormon faith is analogous to having Louis Braille judge an art exhibit.

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Written by Mortis (#2)
340 days ago

`Nice Pern....`

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Written by Fender Stratocaster (#10)
340 days ago

"46 Church-operated thrift stores function in part to provide employment for the disadvantaged/disabled."

I've made service calls to the Boise, Idaho branch of Deseret Industries. Makes St. Vincent de Paul and Good Will look like amateur operations. The facility was massive and ran like a well oiled machine. The complete opposite end of the spectrum, by the way, or any Government run, or union run organization.

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