Erika Ralph- Blog 10

Erika Ralph

12/04/2012

Blog 10:  Globalization and the Church

Like most things in life (or rather all things) there is opposition:

For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so, my first-born in the wilderness, righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad. Wherefore, all things must needs be a compound in one; wherefore, if it should be one body it must needs remain as dead, having no life neither death, nor corruption nor incorruption, happiness nor misery, neither sense nor insensibility.[1]

Therefore, following Lehi’s words, globalization or “the spread of political, economic, and cultural dynamics among governments, groups, and individuals beyond the borders of any one particular country”[2] has both positive and negative impacts on several arenas of the human experience.  More specifically - and to continue with the theme of this introduction - globalization has clearly had positive and negative effects on the LDS church.   However, which impacts the LDS church more, the good or the bad?  Does the LDS church advocate for globalization?  Perhaps good does occasionally prevail.

            First, let us discuss the negative consequences of globalization on the LDS church, in order to end with the prevailing positive.  Yes, according to David Samuels, globalization does breach the boundaries of culture, governments, and economy.  Therefore, obvious negative impacts result, as there are several differences to overcome.  Sometimes, coming to a sense of sameness among all peoples, does not fit well when people believe and think differently.  For example, those of the LDS faith today do not necessarily embrace media culture in its entirety.  Take pornography, which is clearly becoming a globalized nation- and world-wide media trend.   Below is a table of how much revenue worldwide has been spent on pornography in 2012:[3]

Country	Revenue (Billions)
China	$27.40
South Korea	$25.73
Japan	$19.98
US	$13.33
Australia	$2.00
UK	$1.97
Italy	$1.40
Canada	$1.00
Philippines	$1.00
Taiwan	$1.00
Germany	$.64
Finland	$.60
Czech Republic	$.46
Russia	$.25
Netherlands	$.20
Brazil	$.10

This globalization of pornography has a clearly negative impact on the LDS church when considering that the church hosts addictive behavior programs to prevent pornography addiction, and when also considering these statements by Prophets and Apostles:

“The effect of this plague [pornography] can be, and unfortunately often is, spiritually fatal. Lucifer seeks to disrupt ‘the great plan of redemption,’ ‘the great plan of happiness.”[4] – President Boyd K. Packer

“We cannot afford to have those who exercise the Holy Priesthood, after the Order of the Son of God, waste their strength in pornography or spend their lives in cyberspace…”[5] Elder D. Todd Christofferson

Clearly the globalization of certain media trends, and even lifestyle trends, are not supported by the LDS church.   In a nutshell then, the LDS church does not necessarily condone the idea of globalization into all aspects of life, especially ones that attack the family or one’s own spirituality and connection with God.

However, on the other side of the coin, globalization has had a positive impact on the LDS church.  When considering church history, globalization has helped make it possibly for expansion of the LDS church.   The Enlightenment period was an exchange of dynamic religious ideals that would slowly become globalized across the United States and eventually, the world.  This made it perfectly possible to place Joseph Smith, the first prophet of the LDS church, in a perfect environment to begin the spread of truth at great paces over time and space.  New technologies of the industrial revolution, new transportation and the exchanging of dynamic economic and cultural ideas (or globalization) has been the avenue for the LDS religion.  Clearly, globalization for the LDS church has been a historical benefit and has had a positive impact.  This does not mean that negative implications do not matter rather; the positive implications of globalization and the “spread of truth” are greatly valued since the purpose of the LDS is to bring the truth to all.   If one document was to stand as an LDS perspective on globalization, let us consider the Wentworth letter that was written by Joseph Smith:

Our missionaries are going forth to different nations, and in Germany, Palestine, New Holland, Australia, the East Indies, and other places, the Standard of Truth has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear; till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done.[6]

On that note, clearly missionary work for the LDS church would not be possible if globalization on economic, political and cultural levels could not be achieved.  Consider China, which politically has shut itself out, halting the progress or globalization from other countries. Therefore, in China the exposure of certain technologies, cultural ideals, political standards, and religious beliefs has been halted somewhat.  While the halt to some of these advances might be beneficial, other advances (from the perspective of the LDS church) such as missionary work being blocked might be detrimental.

            As a final and more modern testament to the stance of the LDS church on globalization, the LDS church has grown in the past few decades by unprecedented amounts.  Which, could’ve been seriously slowed if there had been a halt on globalization.  Consider the following statement from the Encyclopedia of Mormonism:

From its inception, the Church has viewed missionary work as divinely mandated and thus has been committed to increasing its membership. Beginning with the six people who officially organized the Church in 1830, the membership exhibits a classic pattern of exponential growth.  Since 1860, the membership has grown at a relatively steady rate, doubling approximately every nineteen years. Growth was slower in the first half of the twentieth century, but picked up again after 1950. Membership stood at 7.76 million at the end of 1990.[7]

Globalization has helped the LDS church grow and bring other peoples “into the fold” as it is said.   And again, not to deny the negative impacts of globalization, the LDS church holds strong traditional and moral mandates to live by that sometimes suffer from the exposure to globalized ideas.  However, as a final testimony to the great consideration of the negative consequences of globalization while also understanding globalization’s benefits for the LDS church, President Gordon B. Hinckley stated, “I feel these differences are of minor importance in comparison with the great burden of our responsibility to teach the gospel of the Master and that alone.”[8]       

So with that said, the LDS church clearly holds globalization as having a positive impact for the spreading of truth, while also recognizing its “opposition.”

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[1] Book of Mormon: 2 Nephi 2:11, retrieved from http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/2-ne/2.11?lang=eng#10

[2] Samuels, D. J. (2013). Comparative politics. (2 ed., Vol. 1). New Jersey: Pearson Education.

[3] Topten reviews. (2012, January 15). Retrieved from http://internet-filter-review.toptenreviews.com/internet-pornography-statistics.html

[4] Packer, B. (2010, Oct). Cleansing the inner vessel. Retrieved from http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2010/10/cleansing-the-inner-vessel?lang=eng

[5] Christofferson, D. T. (2012, October). Brethren, we have work to do. Retrieved from http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2012/10/brethren-we-have-work-to-do?

[6] History of the Church, 4:535–41. The Wentworth Letter was originally published in Nauvoo in the Times and Seasons, 1 Mar. 1842, and it also appears in A Comprehensive History of the Church, 1:55.

[7] Heaton, T. (2008). Retrieved from http://eom.byu.edu/index.php/Vital_Statistics

[8] Hinckley, G. B. (1976, December). Selected remarks: Excerpts from “the expanding church” symposium. Retrieved from http://www.lds.org/ensign/1976/12/selected- remarks-excerpts-from-the-expanding-church-symposium?lang=eng