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By Rosemary Pollock
Why LDS Welfare Program Won't Take Government Money
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH -- Catholic Community Services along with
members of Interfaith Works and The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints may join together for the common goal of welfare
services in local areas, but they will not be partners in President
George Bush's offer to channel government funds through religious
charities. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints'
unwavering answer is thanks, but no thanks.
"We're neutral. That's not saying we think it's wrong for every
organization, but we just don't need it," said Dale Bills, spokesman
for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. "There is
nothing the government can provide that the church doesn't already
have, " said Garth Mangum, author of "The Mormon's War on Poverty,"
and economics professor emeritus at the University of Utah.
Members of Interfaith Works, a support network of Ogden's major
ecclesiastical organizations, recently toured the Ogden Cannery,
owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Impressed
by what they saw, the two dozen Interfaith Works members toured both
the cannery and the Ogden LDS Bishop's Storehouse.
"This is a very good relief project that's for sure," said Polly
Harrington, a representative from the United Church of Christ. "Our
church sends things all over the world, too, but not from a specific
place set up for that. I'm not sure any other church has as big of a
set-up like this."
"Catholic service operations, along with other faith based
organizations, are determined by government contracts," said Ron
Pierre, director of Catholic Family Services of Utah. "We are in
constant need of funding, so we are driven by the need to go out and
obtain funding just like any nonprofit," Pierre said.
Accountability to and dependence on the government in exchange for
money is another reason The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints has for rejecting President Bush's offer. "The church doesn't
want the government telling it how to do what the church sees as the
church's job," Magnum added.
According to recently released statistics from the year 2000, The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint volunteers donated an
equivalent of 408,588 days of labor to relief programs. Since 1986,
relief supplies have been shipped to 123 major disaster areas. Since
1985, donations to humanitarian programs have been accepted for $60.8
million and $291 million in material assistance has been given in 147
countries.
The White House agrees that the government funding isn't for
everyone. "Charitable choice ought to be open to all qualified
community-serving groups, but not all groups ought to participate.
Faith leaders, organizations, and communities that perceive the slope
as secularizing and slippery ought simply to opt out," said John
Dilulio, director of the new White House Office of Faith-Based and
Community Initiatives.
Sources:
LDS Church runs a tight ship with its welfare program
Ogden UT Standard-Examiner 14Apr01 N1
By Christy Karras: The Associated Press
Call it unique compassionate conservatism
Other faiths impressed with church's Ogden Cannery
Ogden UT Standard-Examiner 14Apr01 N1
By JaNae Francis: Standard-Examiner staff
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