Solution for Baby Boomer Medicare Crisis Found!

[MikeWaters]

Originally Posted by BYU71

As far as the LDS thing goes. Church comes first. If you are active in the church, how much time do you have for the community.

When I read the NT, I don't read about interminable meetings, and records, and statistics.

I read about Jesus among the poor and downtrodden.

Perhaps there is a lesson there.

[BYU71]

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

When I read the NT, I don't read about interminable meetings, and records, and statistics.

I read about Jesus among the poor and downtrodden.

Perhaps there is a lesson there.

Probably something to do with right brain, left brain. When I read the New Testament I read the Parable of the talents.

[Indy Coug]

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

When I read the NT, I don't read about interminable meetings, and records, and statistics.

I read about Jesus among the poor and downtrodden.

Perhaps there is a lesson there.

Jesus' church crumbled in just a few years after his death. Perhaps there is a lesson there.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Originally Posted by Indy Coug

Jesus' church crumbled in just a few years after his death. Perhaps there is a lesson there.

And that would be what? Jesus screwed up? He was an amateur? Poor organizational skills?

[Indy Coug]

Originally Posted by Jeff Lebowski

And that would be what? Jesus screwed up? He was an amateur? Poor organizational skills?

Communication, organization, accountability are much better now than then. That's almost entirely due to technology advances. I would also suggest that the restored church and it being more centralized early on than the primitive church assisted in its longevity.

[Archaea]

Originally Posted by Indy Coug

Communication, organization, accountability are much better now than then. That's almost entirely due to technology advances. I would also suggest that the restored church and it being more centralized early on than the primitive church assisted in its longevity.

Good points.

Centralization is the key to survival of such an organization. Otherwise you risk crumbling or splintering. The Catholic Church survived by centralization and becoming part of the government. Until then, the Church was greatly fragmented.

[BigFatMeanie]

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

It would also be interesting to see how much service the average LDS congregation gives to the local community versus other churches.

My experience is that it is much less.

You have to consider, on the liberals vs. conservative argument, about the fact that the average liberal is very much more poor. People barely able to feed, shelter and clothe themselves aren't voting GOP for the most part.

On Mormons helping out or giving in the community, my experience is the opposite of yours:

- D.I. is the single biggest thrift/charitable/employment of less-capable organization in Utah and it is run by the LDS.
- The "Scouting for Food" event in Utah is the single biggest donator to the Utah Food Bank. 99% of all Scout Troops in Utah are chartered and staffed by the LDS church through volunteer labor.
- The church's welfare program is the single biggest supplier of commodity and perishable items to the various utah soup kitchens. It's staffed and run through all LDS volunteer labor.

In my experience, the non-LDS congregations do an excellent job of actually handing out the food and providing the disbursement location (e.g. ladling the soup at St. Vincent De Pauls, handing out sandwiches at the Salvation Army) but the LDS congregations drive the charitable machinery of the state and provide the raw materials for input into to that machinery. Charitable operations run by non-LDS congregations in Utah may be more visible but I guarantee you if we talked to their leaders they would openly acknowledge that they couldn't do it without the support/backing that the LDS church provides.

I guess where you live, the non-LDS congregations are completely kick ass? Or perhaps the LDS congregations where you live are just lazy?

[YOhio]

This looks like an interesting book.

Who Really Cares: The Surprising Truth About Compassionate Conservatism by Arthur Brooks a professor of public administration at Syracuse.
http://philanthropy.com/free/article...4/04001101.htm

Arthur C. Brooks finds that religious conservatives are far more charitable than secular liberals, and that those who support the idea that government should redistribute income are among the least likely to dig into their own wallets to help others.

...

"If liberals persist in their antipathy to religion," Mr. Brooks writes, "the Democrats will become not only the party of secularism, but also the party of uncharity."

...

He writes that religious people are more likely than the nonreligious to volunteer for secular charitable activities, give blood, and return money when they are accidentally given too much change.
"There is not one measurably significant way I have ever found in which religious people are not more charitable than nonreligious people," Mr. Brooks says. "The fact is, if it weren't for religious people in your community, the PTA would shut down."

...

At the outset of his research, Mr. Brooks had assumed that those who favor a large role for government would be most likely to give to charity. But in fact, the opposite is true.

...

"In essence, for many Americans, political opinions are a substitute for personal checks," Mr. Brooks writes.

[MikeWaters]

I was thinking I would be willing to adopt one of these ladies for the occasional Indian meal.

I think that would be a fair trade.