Mormonism and Communism: two peas in a pod?

[_Buffalo]

“We believe in a moral code. Communism denies innate right or wrong. As W. Cleon Skousen has said in his timely book, The Naked Communist: The communist ‘has convinced himself that nothing is evil which answers the call of expediency.’ This is a most damnable doctrine. People who truly accept such a philosophy have neither conscience nor honor. Force, trickery, lies, broken promises are wholly justified.”

- Prophet Ezra Taft Benson, Conference Report, April 1960, p. 9

[_Blixa]

Nope. You are taking Cleon Skousen's word as defining communism?

[_Buffalo]

Nope. You are taking Cleon Skousen's word as defining communism?

For the sake of argument, yes.

[_Blixa]

Nope. You are taking Cleon Skousen's word as defining communism?

For the sake of argument, yes.

Well, have fun with that "argument."

[_Buffalo]

Well, have fun with that "argument."

My point, obviously, was that you can find plenty of examples of that sort of Machiavellian philosophy from early church leaders.

[_lostindc]

If you look at how LDS members act in the U.S. one can easily conclude that Mormonism fully supports top heavy capitalism.

[_Quasimodo]

Brigham Young's United Order of Enoch was an early attempt at communism.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Order#The_United_Order_as_practiced_by_The_Church_of_Jesus_Christ_of_Latter-day_Saints

[_Buffalo]

I'm not talking about collectivism, but flexible morals based on expediency.

"The communist ‘has convinced himself that nothing is evil which answers the call of expediency."

[_MrStakhanovite]

Every communist must regard social phenomena as processes which occur in accordance with definite laws. The laws of social development have been fully established by scientific communism on the basis of the theory of historical materialism which we owe to our great teachers Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. This theory explains that social development is not brought about by any kind of supernatural forces…[The] same theory has demonstrated that the very idea of God and of supernatural powers arises at a definite stage in human history, and at another definite stage begins to disappear as a childish notion which finds no confirmation in practical life and in the struggle between man and nature.

Nikolai Bukharin, The ABC of Communism, Ann Arbor Paperbacks/University of Michigan Press ,1966. Pages 247-248


Communism as a political and philosophical doctrine, is mutually exclusive from the LDS Church. Machiavellian style politics is part of the standard human currency, you can find it anywhere you find humans. The only thing that the LDS Church and Communism have in common is that they have their true believers who feel that the ends will justify any means.

[_Quasimodo]

I'm not talking about collectivism, but flexible morals based on expediency.

"The communist ‘has convinced himself that nothing is evil which answers the call of expediency."

Sorry, Buff, if I missed your point. Chalk it up to old age. Thinking about it, though, Brigham's motives in collectivism were likely a way to consolidate assets under his control. Maybe we could call that "flexible morals" (I'm grasping at straws :) ).