They've been taught all their lives to just believe if they feel it, so they never check out the authenticity of claims (either of the product itself or rates of sales).
RM's have been door-to-door salesmen and think they can sell anything.
Mormon wives are discouraged from having a job outside the home and yet families could use a second income.
They build up a lot of trust in their Mormon friend circle so will go along to please their friends (which later leads to pissing-off the rest of their friends)
Cuz the women aren't supposed to work outside the home, and MLMs seem like "non-jobs" and therefore acceptable. Plus, they are all desperately broke due to tithing, too many kids and the pressure to support missionaries etc., so they try to "have faith" that the Lawd will make up the difference and open the windows of heaven to increase their income thru an MLM.
The selling thing that always surprises me are the newly returned RM's who go down south during the summer and sell pest control. Some of them seem to do really well and make big money.
I guess there's lots of bugs there and I wonder if they are just underselling the normal bug guys to make that money.
Part of the answer is that their fellow church friends are pushing the schemes, say the bishop or his counselor, and if they say the deal is too good to pass, why those people would not lie to them.
Because church members are taught that good feelings = truth. Furthermore, we/they are/were not taught any method for distinguishing between supernatural inspired emotions and normal no supernatural emotions. Therefore, you get told you can make lots of money, it's easy to imagine, that gives you a good feeling, that feeling feels exactly like inspiration.
What gets me is how when one MLM tanks, the idiots glom onto the next one. Maybe it's like automatically revering the next prophet. Yes, I do find them stupid. Hi Mom!
I feel they are always looking to get rich without working for it. Let the people under them do the work, then gain from them. Never seen one work yet. When I lived in Utah, a neighbor came over and told me about how great some program he was invested in. said I should borrow on my house value (my house was paid for)so I could get rich. About 6 months later, lost his house, his life was a mess. They an't no free lunch,,
Exactly. My ex-husband was into every MLM scheme for this reason as he didn't want to actually work, yet be able to get rich. Shortly after I divorced him, he and his mom lost the house in foreclosure because they didn't make the bankruptcy court payments.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/22/2015 12:10AM by adoylelb.
I had a friend try to get me involved in an MLM. I liked the product but told her I didn't like MLMs. She looked me right in the eye and said, "The Church is an MLM." I stared back, dumbfounded. I hadn't thought of it that way but she was right. She didn't know I was leaving the church, and her comment, meant to convince me that MLMs were OK, backfired. :-)
Ex-Sister Sinful Shoulders Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > They respond to TESTIMONIALS, and some of them > ignore personal boundaries and social cues. > > Righteousness = prosperity. > > Many of them exploit their ready made circle-ward, > stake, community... going after the most gullible > and vulnerable. > > They can't or don't know how to say NO to church > members, particularly leaders, or to family > (anyone in a higher income class in particular). > > Their religion is based on fantasy/getting rich > quickly is a fantasy also.
One of my TBM relatives went to a MLM party. She told me that it was just like testimony meeting. Everyone stood up and bore their testimony to the truthfulness of the product, and how it would change your life. She was a bit put off by that.
My exit from the morg started when I heard a member of the bishopric testify to the truthfulness of the gospel.
The week prior, he also testified that the healing magnets he was selling were also true, but I had concluded they were a scam. The light went on in my head that the same kind of thinking was used for both the church and other scams.
Helped that I had been studying the scientific method in my training for epidemiology. Always amazed me that so many members trained in the sciences never see the problem with faith. If you used the church method for discovering truth in science of the courtroom, you would be considered a fraud. But somehow in religion, you can choose in advance what you want to believe, ignore all evidence to the contrary, and you are admired.
Free Man Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > My exit from the morg started when I heard a > member of the bishopric testify to the > truthfulness of the gospel. > > The week prior, he also testified that the healing > magnets he was selling were also true, but I had > concluded they were a scam. The light went on > in my head that the same kind of thinking was used > for both the church and other scams. > > Helped that I had been studying the scientific > method in my training for epidemiology. Always > amazed me that so many members trained in the > sciences never see the problem with faith. If > you used the church method for discovering truth > in science of the courtroom, you would be > considered a fraud. But somehow in religion, > you can choose in advance what you want to > believe, ignore all evidence to the contrary, and > you are admired.
The problem is, religions have to be "respected" for some reason. A shame they can't be treated with the same disdain given to any other kind of fraudulent and/or unfounded claim.
Many mormons literally believe that if they pay tithing they are entitled to riches (this world or the next).
Generally, the more money you have the more esteem you have in the Mormon community (just like all communities). I know a guy who took money from a company just so he could have a boat and take the YM/YM on summer trips and pretend to be the righteous rich guy. This leads people to want to get money any way they can so they can prove to the world how wonderful they are.
It is sad that the Mormon church is so ego driven. No one should have to prove anything, especially related to money to get to heaven, but that's not how it is in Mormon world.
I think it has something to do with faith. They have faith that they if they pray, they will get the answers they need. This means they do not need to do due diligence.
I think it's because in the Ward setting, you have potential for a decent downline.. Having sold Tupperware- there should be no plastic ware jokes..it was/is a great product.
There's a thing called affinity fraud, where humans tend to believe memebers of their own group without thinking critically.
Utah has more MLMs registered than any other state, partly because Utah has the best laws for running them. Utah specifically passed MLM friendly laws some time ago.