Mormons-doing more,

recognised less?

Dear Sir, I refer to Chris Peteru’s highly unflat tering and heavily biased article title "Religion or Scam”, PIM, Aug., 1997.

Mr Peteru wrote the most derogative, and disrespectful material relating to one of the largest growing religion in the Pacific, the Mormons. He had completely endorsed the exaggerated opinions of a few Mormon-bashers to dictate his own feeling and contempt for the Mormon religion in Samoa.

I don’t resent people making condem nation against other religion for whatever reason provided they substantiate their argument with a depth of subtlety and logic. It seems that the whole intent of his article was to demean and denigrate the LDS church in Samoa.

Mr Peteru has completely ignored the tremendous history and contribution pro vided by the Mormon church to religion itself, and to the thousands of Samoans who have achieved remarkably in the areas of education, medical and social research .

The growth of the Mormon church in Samoa, as in other parts of the Pacific, had little to do with the “vigorous” missionary work, or the two year “stint”, which the writer has sarcastically tried to put.

Ironically, Mr Peteru failed to empha sise the growth in other contemporary churches such as the Assemblies of God who have managed to recruit Congregational and Catholic faithfuls in the past 10-15 years. However, with respect to the major churches in the Pacific, including Samoa, I must put the Mormon position in perspective It would appear that Mr Peteru had treated the Mormon church as though this denomination has just reached the shores of Samoa, and it is suddenly becoming a threat to other mainstream churches in Samoa. The missionaries who goes around knocking on people’s front door had been doing this for half a century or more, and I don’t see why this practice is suddenly becoming a threat to other churches in Samoa either.

Several quotes and statements in Mr Peteru’s article clearly indicate that he had little regard for the Mormon history by treating the church as some kind of a com

mercial venture or commodity. Sure the Mormon church had been able to build a foundation unequalled to any other church es in the Pacific but it’s the management of this structure that has made Mormons financially secure and stable.

The Mormon church is a major contrib utor to,government coffers forming part of the Samoan government’s revenue, but this is returned to the public in the way of edu cation and health provisions.

The growth in the Mormon membership in Samoa are the consequences of social attitude and I totally disagree that this increase is due to some petty get-rich scheme which the article is seemingly will ing to misinform.

I hate to think too that people have been given the impression that the Mormon foundation is resting on a gold and silver plate because that itself is a total miscon ception.

As mentioned in Mr Peteru’s article, money raising in traditional churches was and still is one of the key factors driving people to other churches. However, this isn’t just an issue about people exploring other religions.

Mr Peteru should also look at the social and class structure within the religious cir cles in Samoa. The cost of living is a major issue with many families unable to meet their financial commitment to their local minister. There is also peer pressure which compels one family to put in more than they should.

Sure, those who are deserting other churches to join Mormonism won’t neces sary tell you their life story or why they have deserted their previous religion. But perhaps the donation issue is a key point for discussion which could explain peo

ple’s decision to change religion.

Mormon members who donate by way of a tithe are not placed in a pressure posi tion to donate. If members donate their “10 percent’ tithing, this is usually done discreetly with the bishop or the ward clerk, but it doesn’t matter how much you put in. The important outcome for this is no else knows how much you’re putting in., Just you and the bishop’s clerks.

The structural boundaries within the Mormon church also ensures that no room is given for the abuse of church funds. The local bishop and stake president rarely have access to these funds, and if they do,

it is checked under strict protocol.

In other churches, many of the minis ters themselves have absolute access to these donations, and sometimes abused their ministerial position carelessly. There is also the increasing number of self appointed and so called “church ministers’ whose only motive is to create an empire for themselves. They exploit the naivety of the community and often get away without any feeling of remorse or regret.

You don’t see this practice exercised in the Mormon hierarchy. Mormon bishops are appointed and the likelihood of anyone seeking self-appointment is painstakingly impossible. And that’s what attracting out siders to join Mormonism.

The Mormon doctrine may be different but so is the hundred other religions in the world. And the Mormon teachings had never been prevented from anyone who needs to know nor has it been treated as a secret.

Joining Mormonism is not a numbers game either. There is certainly no fortune to be gained from becoming a Mormon. I

noticed Mr Peteru’s reference about the Mormon church having a share investment in Coca Cola in the USA. Now I don’t see Mr Peteru’s point (or disappointment) here when in fact major religions around the world, including Catholics and Uniting Churches, are involved in investments to boost returns on their funds.

They might as well because any church who doesn’t invest in a fool but I hope Mr Peteru is not implying that money launder ing is involved here. Any way is it that the creation of empty seats at Congregational or Methodist Sunday services had to be attributed to the 134 Mormon missionaries undergoing their two year service in Samoa?

If Methodist or Congregational num bers are on the decline as I’m led to believe, Mr Peteru should look at the real causes for this unfortunate decrease instead of taking a cheap shot at the achievements made by Mormons in Samoa.

The Rev Auvaa was quoted to have said that his Methodist church was completely

self-funded and “cannot compete” with the Mormons. Yet what many outsiders, including the Rev. Auvaa, failed to under stand is that any funds used for Mormon development or building construction in Samoa or elsewhere is considered on a global basis. Usually determined from the Mormon headquarters in Utah. And the formula is simple.

If what you raise in Samoa is insuffi cient, then the church will consider the fea sibility of the project and its significance to the Mormon members in that country.

And the lines of communication is clear.

Mormons rarely hold any notion that it is competing financially with the Methodists or the Catholics, etc.

The Mormon faith was originally con ceived in the United States and it seems quite natural for the Mormon headquarters in Utah to assist Mormon members in countries other than America.

There is no such thing as unlimited cash flow coming to Samoa from Utah as incorrectly claimed in the article. If the Methodist or Catholic faith are not gaining

sufficient financial support, they should direct their concerns to their masters in England and Rome. Their masters brought the religion to Samoa.

It would appear that the condemnation that is being levelled against Mormons in Samoa is indeed a very sad moment in Samoa’s Christian history.

I can imagine the Catholics, the Congregationalists and the Methodist Christians all cheering from the sideline if the local chiefs were successful in their endeavour to bum at stake Mr Lupe Lio.

Here we have the community taking the law into their own hand. And all for the wrong reasons. Yet, the decision by the local council to bum Mr Lio, if this is true, does bring back memories of the Nazi regime in their effort to hunt down every Jews, and their intent to create genocide and murder during the Second World War.

For me and in the face of hostility, I’d like to think of Mr Lio as a Samoan martyr.

Christians everywhere should marvel at his courage in standing up to his peers.

John Uri