The pride cycle

Elder Ballard talks about the pride cycle. I remember learning about this in Sunday school. When we are righteous, we are blessed. When we are blessed, it is with monetary wealth. When we have wealth, we become prideful, then we are punished. Then we repent and are righteous. Then it begins again.

This whole concept is based on a faulty premise that baffles the rest of christianity, a principle that is central to mormon doctrine. Monetary blessings come from righteousness in mormon theology. In the rest of christianity, money is the root of all evil, and Jesus says a rich man has a snowball's chance in hell of getting into heaven.

But in mormonism, it is all different, based, perhaps, on the fact that the founding prophet Joseph Smith was raised a poor boy and always after money. That is completely understandable. I was raised hungry, and what I want in life is stability, a job that pays me money, a bed to sleep in instead of the floor.

Joseph Smith, however, took it a little bit further and made money his goal. He lived off the finances of the church, like Brigham young did after him. Even tho the book of mormon says that Prophets, like King Benjamin, should NOT live off the people. Smith took advantage of the people, lived very well in Navuoo, took advantage of others with the Kirtland bank. Smith didn't even pay for the printing of the Book of Mormon: Martin Harris did that.

Money DOES NOT mean you are blessed of god. Being poor does not mean god is punishing you. However, looking at the make up of the first presidency and the twelve apostles, it is clear that those righteous enough to lead the church are wealthy and white and successful and from Utah. Well, except for Uchdorf, who is white and wealthy and successful and from Germany. What diversity.