Just wondering.

Yes, probably. The LDS Church is known as the "American Religion". It started in America. It teaches that America is a very special place. It teaches that Christianity, which started in the Middle East, was lost for centuries, until it was restored in America.

The LDS is also very money centered. It is one of the richest churches on the planet. The USA is the richest country on earth. They both project an image of wealth. If the USA projects an image of mishandling wealth and/or being corrupted by wealth, this could bad for the Church's image.

Behindcurtain wrote in part:

"If the USA projects an image of mishandling wealth and/or being corrupted by wealth, this could bad for the Church's image."

The pending trade war with Canada, Mexico, China, and probably western Europe, could hurt something more precious to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints than its public image; namely, the profit the church makes from its financial investments.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/03/2025 06:26AM by blindguy.

The USA has had a bad image for decades.

Is it getting worse as we speak?

I’m thinking so.

TG

I doubt it will have any effect on recruiting. If somebody believes the BOM story, they'll believe anything they're told.

Can't speak for other countries but personal experience in England during the 60s tells me that America as the new center of all religious truth was always a stumbling block for many. This even with the vast residue of goodwill towards the United States left over from WW2. That goodwill has been squandered for the most part and what it has been replaced with is not favorable for the church.

Oh, to be sure. I was on a mission it Italy when the war in Vietnam was in full swing. People would often stand at the front door and lecture us about the war, before dismissing us.

I have mixed feeling on this. I was in Brazil at the height of the Vietnam war, which was extremely unpopular in Brazil (more on that at the end of this post). There were anti-American street riots. We never felt in danger from the demonstrators, and several times after the demonstration broke up, college students invited us to join them for lunch. One time we took them up on it.

I got no sense of personal animosity toward us. It was our government they hated. I was actually more afraid of the military dictatorship at the time. The movie that is out right now "I'm Still Here" deals with that period in Brazil. I met a couple people who had been tortured.

Anyway, real hostility toward the American government, partly over Vietnam, partly because of American tolerance/support of the military dictatorship, did not seem to hurt our acceptance, nor acceptance of the LDS Church. And we were still dealing with the Priesthood ban in a nation chock-a-block with mixed race residents. We even grew in spite of that.

So, I honestly don't know if the now-forming US image will hurt the LDS Church. My gut reaction is that it will, but that was my gut reaction in 1968 too.


A vignette about the Brazilian reaction to the Vietnam War:

When I was in Brazil, an unforgettable anti-war pop song came out. Its impact and popularity in Brazil was comparable to the song "For What It's Worth" (aka There's Something Happening Here) in the US. It was quite remarkable. I brought back several LP records from Brazil, but only one 45. In fact, I think the only 45 I ever bought anywhere. I instantly knew this was going to be one of those iconic hits.

In 2004 I was rummaging through the then relatively new YouTube site, and decided to see if they had that song. They did, a recording of an MTV Unplugged session. The original had an actual machine gun recorded for the opening and closing fade of the song. That gets your attention. This version did not have that.

The basic storyline is a carefree American kid gets drafted, and has to trade his guitar for an instrument that does only one note, rat-a-tat-tat. He gets killed and shipped back home. No heart in his chest, but he got two medals. Pretty simple story.

This version is subtitled. If you can read Spanish, you should be able to follow the Portuguese pretty well. In 2004, the song would have been 36 years old, older than most (all?) of the people in the audience. Watch the audience. The song still had the power to move people, as does For What It's Worth.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmkw5VW3II8

My reaction to the above is hurt or damage will only affect at a micro or individual level, partly bc countries strive to attract tourists; with internet availability of information regarding how hospitality, the tourist businesses don't want an unfavorable news published or circulated.

just my .02!