{"id":44607,"date":"2017-10-16T23:45:12","date_gmt":"2017-10-17T05:45:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?p=44607"},"modified":"2017-10-19T07:56:17","modified_gmt":"2017-10-19T13:56:17","slug":"mormon-hierarchy-wealth-corporate-power","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/10\/mormon-hierarchy-wealth-corporate-power.html","title":{"rendered":"‘The Mormon Hierarchy: Wealth & Corporate Power’"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Wealth and Corporate Power\"<\/a>
The cover of Dr. Quinn\u2019s new book (from Amazon.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I listened late tonight (Monday night)\u00a0to an interview with historian D. Michael Quinn, on the Mormon News Report<\/em>. \u00a0I highly recommend the interview. \u00a0(It begins at just about precisely the 45-minute mark of the podcast.)<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the past, I\u2019ve been critical of some of Mike Quinn\u2019s writing, and I\u2019ve published things that were critical of his some of his work. \u00a0But I\u2019ve also liked a lot of what he\u2019s done \u2014 especially his early articles \u2014 and I\u2019ve said so. \u00a0Back in the day, I thought he was one of the most interesting and insightful historians working on Mormonism<\/a>. \u00a0A lot of water has passed under the bridge since then, of course \u2014 to coin a wholly original new phrase \u2014 and, to put it mildly, Mike Quinn is no fan of mine<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

This interview, though, which focuses on his new book\u00a0The Mormon Hierarchy: Wealth and Corporate Power<\/a>, is well worth the half-hour or so that it will take out of your life.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

As just about anybody who recognizes\u00a0the name of D. Michael Quinn also knows, he was excommunicated from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints<\/a> in September 1993. \u00a0That has made him a martyr and a hero to more than a few critics. \u00a0But how, I wonder, will they react to what he\u2019s saying on this<\/em> topic? \u00a0Detractors of Mormonism\u00a0who might have been expecting his new book to be hostile to the Church and its leaders will, I think, be deeply\u00a0disappointed. \u00a0(Very possibly, they\u2019ll simply pretend that he\u2019s said nothing at all.)<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

In this interview<\/a>, Dr. Quinn expresses frank admiration for\u00a0the Church\u2019s management of its finances, which he sees as essential to the global expansion of Mormonism. \u00a0Moreover, although some enemies of the Church have been denouncing it for un-Christian corporate greed and, as is sometimes said, for giving only 40 million dollars to \u201ccharity\u201d each year out of 15 billion in annual \u201cprofits\u201d \u2014 see, on this, my recent blog entry \u201cA church run by greedy and rapacious robber barons?\u201d<\/a> \u2014\u00a0Dr. Quinn points out that this claim grossly distorts the reality: \u00a0Those 40 million dollars represent only the cash<\/em> that the Church devotes to humanitarian efforts. \u00a0The food and clothing and medicines and other goods that it gives, as well as the service that it coordinates and sponsors and provides \u2014 in other words, its non-cash humanitarian and welfare assistance \u2014\u00a0represent\u00a0contributions many times<\/em> the size of that $40m cash sum.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.theculturalhallpodcast.com\/2017\/10\/16\/mormon-news-report-podcast-episode-15-week-of-october-16-2017\/<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dr. Quinn believes that the Church should renew its longtime practice of publishing basic information about its annual finances. \u00a0Not, though, because he believes that there are dirty secrets to be revealed. \u00a0Quite the contrary, he says \u2014 and I\u2019m inclined to agree with him \u2014 that doing so would be \u201cfaith-promoting.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not sure why we don\u2019t publish at least a simple annual financial report. \u00a0I can think of one reason, which may or may not play a role: \u00a0There are critics who would obsessively comb through the figures, complaining that more money should go to x<\/em> and that less money should go to y<\/em>, second-guessing Church leadership at every turn, and I can easily imagine that some leaders just don\u2019t want to deal with such nonsense.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

But I am, on the whole, in favor of more openness and greater transparency. \u00a0We have nothing to hide. \u00a0I favor such a policy for our history, and I favor it for our finances.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Two parallels:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

An acquaintance, a close friend to a close friend of mine, was in the Church\u2019s leadership in the Philippines during a recent period\u00a0of severe natural disasters there. \u00a0The Church moved in to help in very big ways. \u00a0As he put it, if the general Church membership had been aware of what the Church was doing in the Philippines during that trying time, they would have been enormously proud.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Analogously, for a number of years I had easy access to the marvelous unpublished journals of George Q. Cannon, a member of the Twelve and a counselor in the First Presidency to Brigham Young, John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, and Lorenzo Snow. \u00a0Those journals have been kept under wraps. \u00a0But I have no idea why. \u00a0Not only is there nothing sordid or discrediting in them, they\u2019re . . . well, faith-promoting<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 I listened late tonight (Monday night)\u00a0to an interview with historian D. Michael Quinn, on the Mormon News Report. \u00a0I highly recommend the interview. \u00a0(It begins at just about precisely the 45-minute mark of the podcast.) \u00a0 In the past, I\u2019ve been critical of some of Mike Quinn\u2019s writing, and I\u2019ve published things that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":44608,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44607","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n'The Mormon Hierarchy: Wealth & Corporate Power'<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"    I listened late tonight (Monday night)\u00a0to an interview with historian D. Michael Quinn, on the Mormon News Report. \u00a0I highly recommend the\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/10\/mormon-hierarchy-wealth-corporate-power.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"'The Mormon Hierarchy: Wealth & Corporate Power'\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"    I listened late tonight (Monday night)\u00a0to an interview with historian D. Michael Quinn, on the Mormon News Report. \u00a0I highly recommend the\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/10\/mormon-hierarchy-wealth-corporate-power.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sic et Non\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-10-17T05:45:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-10-19T13:56:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2017\/10\/51CNjGncVeL.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"338\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dan Peterson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dan Peterson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/10\/mormon-hierarchy-wealth-corporate-power.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/10\/mormon-hierarchy-wealth-corporate-power.html\",\"name\":\"'The Mormon Hierarchy: Wealth & Corporate Power'\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-10-17T05:45:12+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-10-19T13:56:17+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045\"},\"description\":\"    I listened late tonight (Monday night)\u00a0to an interview with historian D. Michael Quinn, on the Mormon News Report. \u00a0I highly recommend the\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/10\/mormon-hierarchy-wealth-corporate-power.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/10\/mormon-hierarchy-wealth-corporate-power.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/10\/mormon-hierarchy-wealth-corporate-power.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"‘The Mormon Hierarchy: Wealth & Corporate Power’\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/\",\"name\":\"Sic et Non\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045\",\"name\":\"Dan Peterson\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dan Peterson\"},\"description\":\"\\\"Life was very unsatisfying until I discovered Dan's blog, which gave me a reason to live.\\\" (gemli, 7 November 2019)\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/author\/danpeterson\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"'The Mormon Hierarchy: Wealth & Corporate Power'","description":"    I listened late tonight (Monday night)\u00a0to an interview with historian D. Michael Quinn, on the Mormon News Report. \u00a0I highly recommend the","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/10\/mormon-hierarchy-wealth-corporate-power.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"'The Mormon Hierarchy: Wealth & Corporate Power'","og_description":"    I listened late tonight (Monday night)\u00a0to an interview with historian D. Michael Quinn, on the Mormon News Report. \u00a0I highly recommend the","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/10\/mormon-hierarchy-wealth-corporate-power.html","og_site_name":"Sic et Non","article_published_time":"2017-10-17T05:45:12+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-10-19T13:56:17+00:00","og_image":[{"width":338,"height":500,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2017\/10\/51CNjGncVeL.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Dan Peterson","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dan Peterson","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/10\/mormon-hierarchy-wealth-corporate-power.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/10\/mormon-hierarchy-wealth-corporate-power.html","name":"'The Mormon Hierarchy: Wealth & Corporate Power'","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website"},"datePublished":"2017-10-17T05:45:12+00:00","dateModified":"2017-10-19T13:56:17+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045"},"description":"    I listened late tonight (Monday night)\u00a0to an interview with historian D. Michael Quinn, on the Mormon News Report. \u00a0I highly recommend the","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/10\/mormon-hierarchy-wealth-corporate-power.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/10\/mormon-hierarchy-wealth-corporate-power.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/10\/mormon-hierarchy-wealth-corporate-power.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"‘The Mormon Hierarchy: Wealth & Corporate Power’"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/","name":"Sic et Non","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045","name":"Dan Peterson","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Dan Peterson"},"description":"\"Life was very unsatisfying until I discovered Dan's blog, which gave me a reason to live.\" (gemli, 7 November 2019)","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/author\/danpeterson"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44607","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1019"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44607"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44607\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44608"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44607"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44607"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44607"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}