Wealth and the Rich

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.

At the beginning of this chapter, I introduced the pseudo-Christian concept of the 'prosperity gospel' and other related ideas, which assert, among other things, that wealth is a reward for righteous living, and furthermore that wealth is a worthy and righteous pursuit.  The Book of Mormon not only challenges these assertions, but paints a worldview of wealth and the rich which may surprise you (unless you have studied Jesus in the New Testament, then it is not so surprising).

'Wo Unto the Rich'

As this subheading suggests, Book of Mormon teachings are at times not kind to those who are rich - in fact, there is never a time when the rich are shown in a positive light.  Among the clearest examples of this is 2 Nephi 9:

"30 But wo unto the rich, who are rich as to the things of the world.  For because they are rich they despise the poor, and they persecute the meek, and their hearts are upon their treasures; wherefore, their treasure is their god.  And behold, their treasure shall perish with them also."   ...

"42 And whoso knocketh, to him will he open; and the wise, and the learned, and they that are rich, who are puffed up because of their learning, and their wisdom, and their riches - yea, they are they whom he despiseth; and save they shall cast these things away, and consider themselves fools before God, and come down in the depths of humility, he will not open unto them."

So why does Jacob in this chapter say 'wo unto the rich', and that the rich are whom God 'despiseth'?

First, because their hearts are upon their treasures, instead of on God, and obviously not on their fellow human beings around them.

This is a serious sin - specifically an iniquity - in the eyes of a God whose first commandment is to have no other gods before Him.  In this case, the consequence for breaking this first commandment is that the individual no longer trusts the Lord, and so He does not 'open up to them' - in other words He does not give them the things in life that actually have value: knowledge, peace, and joy that comes only from serving others.

The second reason that the rich are despised by God is because it is the rich who come to despise the poor and persecute the meek.

Despising and persecuting the poor come in two main forms in Book of Mormon history, withholding resources from the poor, and attacking their character.

During the pride cycle of Helaman 3 and 4, the wickedness of the people is identified in 4:12:

4:12  And it was because of the pride of their hearts, because of their exceeding riches, yea, it was because of their oppression to the poor, withholding their food from the hungry, withholding their clothing from the naked...

 Another example, Alma's address to Zarahemla following the pride cycle of Alma 4:

5:55 Yea, and will you persist in turning your backs upon the poor, and the needy, and in withholding your substance from them?

Persecutions and character attacks on the poor can be found throughout the Book of Mormon, but is best evidenced by the Zoramites of Alma 31-35, who establish a society separate from the Nephites entirely built on attacking and taking advantage of the poor.  Their religion claims that its members were wonderful and elect, but the poor are barred from entering because they are too dirty.  The distinction between the two groups is just religious fabrication - a sin compounded by the fact that it is the poor who had been manipulated into building the very synagogues the priestcrafts are preached in.

And why do the rich come to 'despise the poor'?

Proximately because of pride.  The rich compare themselves to poor, in an attempt to buoy their own self esteem, and in the comparison come to despise them, to see and hate their differences and faults.

Ultimately, though, whether cognizant of this process or not, the rich hate the poor because the Gospel requires the rich to give of their substance to the poor, as Jacob says so that the poor "may be rich like unto you" (Jacob 2:17), and the thought of losing wealth to other people causes the rich to hate the beneficiaries of such a gospel message.  This is the heart of the word envy, which we have dedicated an article towards.

This pride, hate, and envy boil to the point of identifying character flaws, justifying inequality, and finally, twisting the requirements of the gospel so that there is no longer an obligation to economically tend to the poor.  This process is at the heart of everything that is wrong with priestcrafts.

Wealth as Spiritually Precarious 

In addition to critiquing the rich for their iniquities, the Book of Mormon also identifies the source of their wickedness - the wealth itself.  Consider Helaman 12:

"2 Yea, and we may see at the very time when [God] doth prosper his people, yea, in the increase of their fields, their flocks and their herds, and in gold, and in silver, and in all manner of precious things of every kind and art... yea, and in fine, doing all things for the welfare and happiness of his people; yea, then is the time that they do harden their hearts, and do forget the Lord their God, and do trample under their feet the Holy One - yea, and this because of their ease, and their exceedingly great prosperity.

"3 And thus we see that except the Lord doth chasten his people with many afflictions, yea, except he doth visit them with death and with terror, and with famine and with all manner of pestilence, they will not remember him.

"4 O how foolish, and how vain, and how evil, and devilish, and how quick to do iniquity, and how slow to do good, are the children of men..."

Before we discuss the merits of this passage it is useful to point out that this is Mormon speaking, and having seen the complete destruction of his people he is speaking negatively, allegorically, and with some exaggeration.

The Lord does not actually bring terror, and death, and famine to people just because they don't remember him - those things are a natural part of life.  Similarly, the Lord also doesn't "do all things for the welfare and happiness of his people", but it is clear from the rest of the Book of Mormon that we have to do quite a lot for our own welfare - and not everything is provided for us.  Finally, we have already shown in the What is Prosperity and Economics of Wealth that wealth and prosperity is more complicated than simply 'it came from God'.

Instead, the Lord assists his people in making choices that will lead to welfare and happiness.  He comforts those who in tragedy turn to him.  He cares for the welfare of His people, and provides for their needs - but He does so through social means by commanding his people to give, and inspiring leaders to establish laws promoting 'equity and justice', rather than a direct bestowal of wealth.  The passage is an exaggeration to illustrate a point.

And that point is that wealth is dangerous.  Having wealth makes life much easier, and this ease can lead people to turn away from God.  Having turned away from God one also naturally turns away from compassion and humility, leading to the character flaws of the rich described in the first section.

On the other hand, daily challenges and tragedies alike can lead one to turn to God, and thus cultivate compassion and humility, among other traits.  Ultimately, material struggles are often the very conditions which best promote humility and gospel acceptance, like the poor of the Zoramites who were the only ones humble enough to listen to Alma's message.

Would the God of the Book of Mormon curse an individual with the spiritual precariousness of wealth?  To be sure, he is concerned about the economic welfare of his people, but as we previously discussed he addresses the economic welfare of individuals through social wealth and commandments to share resources.  In this way, He can allow wealth, while still cultivating humility and charity.

But would this God directly grant an individual riches, and see His children embody the very petty selfishness and iniquity which He despises most?  No, it does not seem that He would.