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Brigham Young and tithing


Duncan

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This guy in our class today said that the only reason that tithing is around in our Church today is because when the Saints were in Utah they were buying goods from outside Utah and that was revenue that Pres. Young wanted to get and so he started tithing them. I have never ever heard of this before, does anyone know?

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This guy in our class today said that the only reason that tithing is around in our Church today is because when the Saints were in Utah they were buying goods from outside Utah and that was revenue that Pres. Young wanted to get and so he started tithing them. I have never ever heard of this before, does anyone know?

What class is this?

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I think so too but I was flummoxed for an answer after he said what he said on account of I had never heard anything like that before!

Brigham Young did attempt to restrict commerce with outside people and businesses for a period of time--even under threat of disfellowship. This only pertained to a narrow time period though and it simply didn't work over time. I don't think I'm familiar with a "tithing" tactic. People paid tithing or they didnt--on local or export income.

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Brigham Young did attempt to restrict commerce with outside people and businesses for a period of time--even under threat of disfellowship. This only pertained to a narrow time period though and it simply didn't work over time. I don't think I'm familiar with a "tithing" tactic. People paid tithing or they didnt--on local or export income.

So he was partially correct, well I'll be!

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So he was partially minimally correct, well I'll be!

This is a better representation of the situation.

"Money" (in the sense of a medium of exchange) has often (or even always in some cases) been a problem for people in outlying areas. It created the Panic of 1837 across USmerica, it was a serious issue in Utah from 1847 to 1890 or later. Many countries have resorted to currency controls (which never work, and usually make the problem worse). Most of Europe, in the mid-to-late 60s tried it, with predictable results.

Brother Brigham faced this issue and took a left-of-center approach: he tried minimal currency controls (using influence, not the lethal power of government) to keep money (paper and, more importantly, specie) in the local economy. It didn't work for him, either, although it was not a disaster, since people were free to spend their money as they saw fit, even outside the territory.

However, it was never as serious an issue with him as it has been for nations and countries. He did not, for instance, try to keep people from buying goods and services from local, non-LDS merchants, as long as they were not hostile to the LDS Church and people. For instance, he encouraged people to trade with Samuel Auerbach when the Jewish Utahn was very near bankruptcy. He spent a considerable sum himself, and the Auerbach department store in Salt lake City was a major fixture until a very bad management decision in the 1970~80s saw its disappearance. (They decided they did not need to open branch stores, that everything could be handled by home delivery. If they could have held on for another decade, they've have been right at home in the eCommerce era. Alas for them, it did not happen that way.)

He did endeavor to have the Saints keep their trade away from people who were antagonistic to LDS interests, in essence he advocated boycotts of these businesses. Had he been successful, I believe there would have been far less strife in Utah, especially in the 1880s, after he had died. But that is another subject entirely.

Lehi

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Gospel Doctrine, I had an hour and he waxed on and on and on and on

Our (excellent) Gospel Doctrine teacher started off the lesson by saying that we weren't going to discuss the regular "Tithing/Sealing Power" lesson on Malachi that gets "regurgitated" every four years, but instead we would focus on the other stuff that is happening in Malachi like the blemished sacrifices and preparing for the second coming.

It was an awesome lesson.

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Our (excellent) Gospel Doctrine teacher started off the lesson by saying that we weren't going to discuss the regular "Tithing/Sealing Power" lesson on Malachi that gets "regurgitated" every four years, but instead we would focus on the other stuff that is happening in Malachi like the blemished sacrifices and preparing for the second coming.

It was an awesome lesson.

That does sounnd awesome. Too often people turn their brains off when they think a lesson is going to be one they've already had a hundred times. Being able to focus on a different aspect of the scriptures that they had never thought about before can help to awaken us again.

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Sounds like both teachers may have missed an opportunity to teach and convert the class members to the the principle of tithing. Instead, it appears as if the objective of the lesson was lost.

Oh well...

Six

I tried to get something different in their heads but brother XYZ kept going and I couldn't get in to say anything!

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That does sounnd awesome. Too often people turn their brains off when they think a lesson is going to be one they've already had a hundred times. Being able to focus on a different aspect of the scriptures that they had never thought about before can help to awaken us again.

I treid to teach something new on tithing but some wouldn't have it,others did appreciate it. I put this quotation on my facebook update to send a message to my fellow wards members;, ?"I have tried for a number of years to get the minds of the Saints prepared to receive the things of God; but we frequently see some of them, after suffering all they have for the work of God, will fly to pieces like glass as soon as anything comes that is contrary to their traditions"- History of the Church 6:184-185-Joseph Smith

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This guy in our class today said that the only reason that tithing is around in our Church today is because when the Saints were in Utah they were buying goods from outside Utah and that was revenue that Pres. Young wanted to get and so he started tithing them. I have never ever heard of this before, does anyone know?

Of course, you could have pointed out that the reason we have tithing "in our Church today" is because it is how the Church gets income. Regardless of how or why it may have been implemented in the past, it's obvious that the modern corporate structure of the Church is pretty dang dependent on tithing.

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That does sounnd awesome. Too often people turn their brains off when they think a lesson is going to be one they've already had a hundred times. Being able to focus on a different aspect of the scriptures that they had never thought about before can help to awaken us again.

An even more awesome lesson is one that is on the assigned topic and manages to capture class members' attention and interest, even though the topic is one they initially thought themselves "full bottle" on. I try hard to avoid satisfying people's curiosity at the expense of their learning.

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An even more awesome lesson is one that is on the assigned topic and manages to capture class members' attention and interest, even though the topic is one they initially thought themselves "full bottle" on. I try hard to avoid satisfying people's curiosity at the expense of their learning.

You assumed that i meant you can't get people's attention without doing an unassigned topic. As a teacher at church right now, i know that nothing is further from the truth.

I'm glad you try hard to avoid satisfying people's curiosity at the expense of their learning. Maybe you could also try hard not to sound so self-righteous. :P

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You assumed that i meant you can't get people's attention without doing an unassigned topic. As a teacher at church right now, i know that nothing is further from the truth.

I'm glad you try hard to avoid satisfying people's curiosity at the expense of their learning. Maybe you could also try hard not to sound so self-righteous. :P

Oh Bluebell. You always make me smile! ;)

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You assumed that i meant you can't get people's attention without doing an unassigned topic. As a teacher at church right now, i know that nothing is further from the truth.

I'm glad you try hard to avoid satisfying people's curiosity at the expense of their learning. Maybe you could also try hard not to sound so self-righteous. :P

Point taken ;)

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