Law of Consecration

The law of consecration is one of the the less-understood LDS doctrines, and one that doesn't get a whole lot of attention, save once every so often in Sunday School.  I, myself, haven't really done a lot of studying on the subject, and haven't even bothered to do so for this post, but to summarize:  the law of consecration, or the United Order, is something that Joseph Smith tried to implement in early days of the church, in which the members gave all of their earnings to the church, and in turn, every member was given according to his or her need.  The practice was discontinued, but is supposed to return when all of the members are ready for this higher law.  I think that the doctrine is often misrepresented, and I struggle with my own understanding of it.

I remember very clearly something a religion teacher taught during a class at the LDS Institute at the University of Utah, some time ago when I was a starving college student.  By way of comforting those of us who were uncomfortable with the doctrine, the teacher pointed out how the great wealth of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, which wealth has not gone unnoticed by the world.  (Unless I am mistaken, tithing [10% of income or increase] is the primary source of the church's wealth, followed by other types of charitable donations.  The church uses tithing to pay for church buildings, including temples, and all of the things that go into running a world-wide organization.  Tithing funds are regarded as sacred, and the church makes every effort to use this money wisely.)  The teacher went on to say, if the church is doing so well with 10%, imagine how well it would do with 100%?  For, not only would we be sharing in the wealth of ordinary folks, we'd be sharing with the likes of Jon Hunstman, Sr.

At the time, I reveled a bit in the idea that I might be better off under the law of consecration. Like I said, I was poor.  But now, I think of what that teacher taught, and I am dismayed by the greed of those of us in the class whose belief in the law of consecration was founded on the idea that we'd be able to get our hands on John Huntsman's money.  Is this not what government leaders propose every time they demand that the "rich" pay their "fair share"?

In his famous talk on pride, the prophet Ezra Taft Benson said, "Most of us consider pride to be a sin of those on the top, such as the rich and the learned, looking down at the rest of us. There is, however, a far more common ailment among us—and that is pride from the bottom looking up."  Back in college, was I not an example of "pride looking up"?  In that same talk, President Benson warned that, "When pride has a hold on our hearts, we lose our independence of the world and deliver our freedoms to the bondage of men’s judgment."  Perhaps he was not talking about the United States' progressive tax policies, but I believe that "we, the people" are doing exactly that.