Entitlement

What Does the Book of Mormon Say About Inequality? Series

The Book of Mormon contains some surprising insights concerning economic inequality.  This series explores several topics addressed by the LDS scripture and its insights for today.

This article part of a chapter on the teachings of the Book of Mormon concerning inequality, organized in order to deconstruct the prosperity gospel and other modern bad ideas.  If you haven't already, take a look at the introduction to this chapter which explains what I mean by 'prosperity gospel', otherwise enjoy and feel free to join in the discussion.


The term 'entitlement' refers to the belief that one is inherently deserving of special treatment.  In relation to poverty alleviation today there is the worry that people who receive aid from the government or from charitable organizations can begin to feel that they are entitled to those benefits, and act accordingly.  In the Christian world specifically there is the worry that this sense of entitlement is spiritually degrading, and therefore should be avoided.

The potential Book of Mormon commentary on the modern concept of 'entitlement' is similar to that of the last article on Self-Reliance - the concept does not appear in the book, but there are similar principles that deserve to be addressed here; however, when misapplied for the purpose of withholding resources from the poor then judging people in this way is a priestcraft.


Pride, Envy, and Hearts Set on Riches


While the word 'entitlement' does not appear in the Book of Mormon, there are a few concepts which are similar.
 

As we addressed in the chapter on the Historical Narrative of the Book of Mormon, during times of extreme wealth inequality there are several negative traits which the people begin to exhibit.

They become prideful - where some see themselves as better than others.  This negative emotion hardens what are normally kind hearts knit in unity, and pits neighbor against neighbor, class against class.  The book specifically rails on the pride of the rich, particularly when this pride leads to the persecution of the poor, or withholding needed resources from them.  However, as several instances of pride cycles mention the general pride of the populace, we can assume that the poor in many circumstances also joined in the pride, and its consequent social problems.

Another negative emotion common in episodes of serious inequality is envy.  The prophets in the book harshly criticize the 'envyings, strifes, and malice' of the people, recognizing that such emotions lead to damaging social problems.  However, while it is probable that the poor in these episodes were guilty of envy, it is the rich that are consistently called out for such problems in the Book of Mormon, suggesting that the problem was more endemic among the rich rather than the poor.  Thus, the envy spoken of in the book probably means the envying of the rich for the resources given to the poor.  We discussed this in more detail in A Note on Envy.

Finally, another characteristic related to entitlement in the Book of Mormon is the tendency for the people in the book to 'set their hearts upon riches'.  This occurs again during serious economic inequality, including Mosiah 11-12, Alma 4-5, Alma 45, 3 Nephi 6, Helaman 4,6-7, and Helaman 13.  These chapters indicate that loving riches, and selfishly seeking after them, is a serious iniquity, and incidentally a very common one when there is economic inequality.  Loving riches is particularly egregious when it leads to persecuting and robbing others.  For example, Alma 17:

Alma 17:4 And assuredly it was great, for they had undertaken to preach the word of God to a wild and a hardened and a ferocious people; a people who delighted in murdering the Nephites, and robbing and plundering them; and their hearts were set upon riches, or upon gold and silver, and precious stones; yet they sought to obtain these things by murdering and plundering, that they might not labor for them with their own hands.

So clearly setting your hearts on riches is bad, and one should certainly not let that feeling lead to stealing from others.  Like the other characteristics, it is the rich that are singled out for their love of riches.

I should point out that any love of riches is bad in the Book of Mormon - whether it was earned with your own hands or not.  Furthermore, riches are viewed in the book as belonging entirely to God, so if entitlement was a concept used the book, then there would certainly be a worry that the rich could feel entitled to their wealth, just as there would be a worry that the poor could feel entitled to assistance given to them.  Afterall, King Benjamin taught:

Mosiah 4:19 For behold, are we not all beggars? Do we not all depend upon the same Being, even God, for all the substance which we have, for both food and raiment, and for gold, and for silver, and for all the riches which we have of every kind? ...
22 And if ye judge the man who putteth up his petition to you for your substance that he perish not, and condemn him, how much more just will be your condemnation for withholding your substance, which doth not belong to you but to God, to whom also your life belongeth; and yet ye put up no petition, nor repent of the thing which thou hast done.

So pride, envy, and loving riches all relate to the modern concept of 'entitlement', and they are certainly criticized heavily in the Book of Mormon.  But there is an important distinction between the book and today, and that is that the book does not characterize the poor as having these qualities.

Never are the poor singled out - not in all of the dozens of instances of inequality, pride, etc.  Sometimes the whole society is called to repentance, and other times it is just the rich that are rebuked.

Furthermore, there does not appear to be any connection between giving to the poor and the development of pride, envy, and love of riches.  In fact it is quite the opposite.  Giving to the poor is the antidote for the entitlement-related problems discussed above, while the rich having more than the poor is the source of the problem.


Charity is the Cure of Entitlement

Although pride, envy, and the love of riches - which I believe we can sum up as the center of entitlement - are serious in the Book of Mormon, there is never a suggestion that perhaps the poor should be given less in order to protect them from feeling entitled.  This is because the real sources of these feelings is inequality, and the real culprit of these feelings are the rich.  This is why the cure for entitlement is charity.


King Benjamin sums it up best in the rest of Mosiah 4:

16 And also, ye yourselves will succor those that stand in need of your succor; ye will administer of your substance unto him that standeth in need; and ye will not suffer that the beggar putteth up his petition to you in vain, and turn him out to perish.

17 Perhaps thou shalt say: The man has brought upon himself his misery; therefore I will stay my hand, and will not give unto him of my food, nor impart unto him of my substance that he may not suffer, for his punishments are just—

18 But I say unto you, O man, whosoever doeth this the same hath great cause to repent; and except he repenteth of that which he hath done he perisheth forever, and hath no interest in the kingdom of God.

19 For behold, are we not all beggars? Do we not all depend upon the same Being, even God, for all the substance which we have, for both food and raiment, and for gold, and for silver, and for all the riches which we have of every kind?

20 And behold, even at this time, ye have been calling on his name, and begging for a remission of your sins. And has he suffered that ye have begged in vain? Nay; he has poured out his Spirit upon you, and has caused that your hearts should be filled with joy, and has caused that your mouths should be stopped that ye could not find utterance, so exceedingly great was your joy.

21 And now, if God, who has created you, on whom you are dependent for your lives and for all that ye have and are, doth grant unto you whatsoever ye ask that is right, in faith, believing that ye shall receive, O then, how ye ought to impart of the substance that ye have one to another.

22 And if ye judge the man who putteth up his petition to you for your substance that he perish not, and condemn him, how much more just will be your condemnation for withholding your substance, which doth not belong to you but to God, to whom also your life belongeth; and yet ye put up no petition, nor repent of the thing which thou hast done.

23 I say unto you, wo be unto that man, for his substance shall perish with him; and now, I say these things unto those who are rich as pertaining to the things of this world.

24 And again, I say unto the poor, ye who have not and yet have sufficient, that ye remain from day to day; I mean all you who deny the beggar, because ye have not; I would that ye say in your hearts that: I give not because I have not, but if I had I would give.

25 And now, if ye say this in your hearts ye remain guiltless, otherwise ye are condemned; and your condemnation is just for ye covet that which ye have not received.

26 And now, for the sake of these things which I have spoken unto you—that is, for the sake of retaining a remission of your sins from day to day, that ye may walk guiltless before God—I would that ye should impart of your substance to the poor, every man according to that which he hath, such as feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and administering to their relief, both spiritually and temporally, according to their wants.

There are several items here that are important to point out.

• Charity to the poor is a required aspect of the Gospel; one cannot retain a remission of sins without it
• Resources should not be withheld from the poor because you judge them to be unworthy; this is never okay
• The poor are also instructed to give; just because one has less, doesn't mean they should not also give.  The only exception is if they literally have nothing to give, in which case they are instructed to give in their hearts.

If this formula is followed then entitlement, pride, envy, and the love of riches are all eliminated.  The rich do not feel entitled to their wealth because they recognize that it belongs to God, and it is morally requisite to help the poor, regardless of the circumstance of the poor.  The poor do not feel entitled to the assistance given them because they also give to others, or at least have the heart to give.

Withholding resources from the poor is seriously condemned in the Book of Mormon (see Alma 5 and Helaman 4), and it is not a solution for entitlement.  To use a gospel principle, like envy or entitlement, as a reason to withhold resources to the poor is priestcraft (twisted a gospel topic to enrich oneself).

The only solution to entitlement, and its related problems, that works is charity and love.  Withholding resources only serves to widen inequality, fester pride, envy, and the love of riches, and to give a sense of entitlement to the rich, and allow them the delusion that their wealth is their own and religiously just.

And such a thought, with the persecution and pride resulting from it, sum up the worst iniquities in the Book of Mormon.