We know that Mormons place a lot of emphasis on blessings. According to commonly accepted church lore, if you follow the rules of Mormonism scrupulously, you will be the recipient of a multitude of God's blessings. Tithe ten percent of your income, and the windows of heaven will open to you. People who do not heed these imperatives are warned that if they leave Mormonism they will fail.

To the unbiased, the world is obviously an unjust place. Yet several decades of research have established that our need to believe otherwise runs deep. When people can alleviate suffering, they choose to do so. But when they are helpless to relieve suffering, they start to blame the victim.

Writer Nicholas Hune-Brown, citing the research of social psychologist Melvin Lerner, states that people who believe in a just world are far more likely to oppose affirmative action policies intended to help women and minorities. In Mormonism, we see this applied to the effort to deny women the priesthood and gays their full civil rights.

"People who strongly believe in a just world have been shown to be prone to blame sexual assault victims, more willing to malign people suffering from minor illnesses, less compassionate towards victims of spousal abuse. A 1975 study found [that belief in a just world] correlated with a tilt towards authoritarianism, an admiration for political leaders, and contempt for the underprivileged."

Blaming sexual assault victims -- you need look no further than Spencer Kimball's book, "The Miracle of Forgiveness."

"It’s a way of maintaining the vital illusion that we, the healthy and prosperous, are not just lucky, but somehow deserving."

Traditional Christianity acknowledges that the world is a profoundly unjust place. Therefore, it encourages compassion toward the suffering. Mormonism has often placed this traditional Christian principle on its head.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/oliver-burkeman-column/2015/feb/03/believing-that-life-is-fair-might-make-you-a-terrible-person?CMP=fb_gu

http://penguinrandomhouse.ca/hazlitt/blog/monstrous-cruelty-just-world



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/03/2015 07:45PM by summer.

Wait... on affirmative action: There's a world of difference between ALLOWING people the privilege of seeking any employment they choose, and FORCING the employer to hire anyone. I know that might seem fair at the time, especially if the employer is discriminating, but THAT IS HIS PRIVILEGE. If we lose that freedom, then we are no longer in control of our own lives. Other people choose what they want us to do according to somebody's idea of "good." (who made them god?)

Allowing gays etc. full civil rights (infringes on nobody's rights) is a different ball of wax from ensuring their employment (does infringe on rights). If this survey is lumping them together, that is misleading and irresponsible.

There was a time when affirmative action was absolutely needed because employers were NOT hiring fairly without regard to gender or skin color. In some instances it is still needed (I'm thinking for instance of the racial composition of the police force in Ferguson, Missouri.)

So... you believe that if people are doing something that the majority deems wrong, they should be forced to stop? This means that the penalty for disobedience is jail, or ulitmately death, since that's what it comes down to if anyone insists on disobeying. This is what you believe?

I have no idea what you are talking about.

I'm with summer. I have no idea what you're talking about.

Oh dear God. Another libertarian.

alyssum Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> So... you believe that if people are doing
> something that the majority deems wrong, they
> should be forced to stop? This means that the
> penalty for disobedience is jail, or ulitmately
> death, since that's what it comes down to if
> anyone insists on disobeying. This is what you
> believe?

It's got nothing to do with what "the majority deems wrong." And it's got everything to do with what our constitution prohibits and requires.

NOT hiring "minorities," for example, was for a very long time what the "majority deemed right." When affirmative action laws were put in place, they were only supported by a minority of the people, not the majority. They were put place because the majority was violating constitutional precepts based on personal bias and prejudice. And yes, if you refuse to follow the law voluntarily, you can and should face consequences (including jail, but not death) if you continue to refuse.

What "affirmative action" largely accomplished was to get minorities into harshly segregated jobs -- once they were there, and given a fair shake, those formerly doing the segregating usually figured out that they were just as good as any other employee, they lost much of their bias, and "affirmative action" was no longer needed. That hasn't happened *everywhere* of course, but in much of America it has. The laws served their purpose -- getting groups to stop discriminating, and to realize their discrimination was both stupid and unconstitutional.

As for a "just world" -- the world is only as "just" as we make it. No magical man in the sky is overseeing things to tilt the scales towards it being "just."



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/05/2015 12:09PM by ificouldhietokolob.

Your last line is exceptional.

Our mormon relatives only ever tell us about their wondrous successes. When we tried to have a normal honest relationship with them, they just blamed anything that was not absolutely perfect in our lives (including a child's medical condition)on the fact that we had left the cult.

Mormons believe anyone who is born in reduced circumstances "chose" their lot in life because they were unworthy in the preexistence and needed to learn lessons by suffering.

After high profile Mormons were born with birth defects, the morg adjusted this doctrine slightly but overall it stands. The most valiant in the preexistence are born vibrant, healthy, financially stable and of course white BIC Mormons. Everyone else must suffer to achieve status in the church and favor with God. This justifies Mormon attitudes of blaming the victim because every negative event is something they chose to suffer and need for their eternal progression.

What Cheryl says. This is the doctrine I was raised with,the linking of health and wealth with "choices we made in the "Pre-existence."

Nice post.

I've long found this nauseating:

"It’s a way of maintaining the vital illusion that we, the healthy and prosperous, are not just lucky, but somehow deserving."

It is beyond me to understand how anyone can fail to notice that the world is far far far from just.

Book recommend:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0375703470/ref=redir_mdp_mobile/188-3492061-9302955

Thanks summer. I love a new slant on things.

I am so tired of people who were just benefited from excellent circumstances thinking they were deserving rather than lucky. I get so angry when I see some rich advantaged person on national television thank God for his special blessing on them.

The world is tough and survival of the fittest is still a large part of the modus operandi and I suppose always will be. Luckily there are those who have heart and your summation does seem to point out that heart comes out of realizing the world is not just, and that disadvantage seems to be a victim of perpetual motion for many. And the worst of this is special Mormon arrogance we all know they believe as Heavenly Father's special kids.

I also think that is why we cheer for the underdog who manages to break the cycle and then immediately watch to see them fall.

Life is hard, even when its going well.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/05/2015 10:27AM by blueorchid.

I'd recommend Jared Diamond's "Guns, Germs, and Steel" on this topic, too. It opened my eyes to the fact that so much of my privelege in life comes from lucky circumstances. I DON'T somehow deserve all the advantages I've inherited. I've simply become the beneficiaries of lucky distant ancestors, who had access to better starting resources than others. He simply talks about history and anthropology, and it becomes so, so clear that the world is not a "just" place.

It may be time to get that book off of my "someday" list and crack it open. :) I know that many board members have recommended it over the years.

The universe doesn't care about us. Most of we who post here simply got lucky being born in this time and likely in a "first world" country. The things that can be done to better our own well being are all practical things, and limited by many factors. The just world hypothesis is like the "chosen people" idea. Faulty, harmful and completely wrong.