Skip to content
Main Street Plaza

A Community for Anyone Interested in Mormonism.

Main Street Plaza

A Community for Anyone Interested in Mormonism.

WWJD vs. WWJSD

profxm, November 12, 2010January 15, 2011

Have you ever wondered what the difference would be between “WhatWouldJesus Do” (WWJD) and “What Would Joseph Smith Do” (WWJSD)? If we can assume that the modern LDS Church reflects Joseph Smith’s views, apparently what Joseph Smith would do is tell poor Haitians in Leogane, Haiti that they CAN’T take shelter in the local Mormon Church during a hurricane despite the fact that most of the 1,500 residents in the town were living in temporary tents since they lost their homes in the massive earthquake in January. According to this article, the chapel can hold 200 people and is a modern structure that is quite sturdy. But only Mormons were allowed – 36 of them. And what was given to the actual members? Nothing. They slept on the floor, without any food or water.

What’s the hang-up when it comes making these decisions? Apparently it’s Mormon bureaucracy:

“It’s not simple,” said Matthieu Chrisner, adviser to the bishop, the leader of the local congregation. Letting people take shelter here “is a very complex decision, and a lot of people would have to agree. It’s a chain of authority that reaches the headquarters in the Central Caribbean.”
If I had a group of children right now who needed a shelter?
“For now, we can have members of this church and their parents,” he replied.
If they were disabled?
“I would have to ask at another level,” Chrisner said. “There is a committee. Really, it’s a committee inside of some other committees. It goes through the bishop, then a committee process … then, there’s no way to know if it’s longer or shorter. I can’t tell you how long it would take for an answer.”
Charity Christians Empathy Mission Field

Post navigation

Previous post
Next post

Related Posts

Film

Heretic Review: If only…

November 12, 2024November 12, 2024

I went to see Heretic on Sunday, along with some fellow heretics. A group that included one non- and five ex-Mormons, two of whom were returned LDS missionaries. We were not disappointed. The critics were a little. Manohla Dargis of the New York Times wrote: “Even as the movie dribbles…

Read More

The Church vs. The Gospel

January 18, 2013January 18, 2013

When I began questioning mormonism, my Dad explained that there was a difference between the church and the gospel.  The church was made of people who were human, and the gospel was the kernel of truth within the church. He said that the mormon faith was the closest to being…

Read More

Mormon Moment Series on poetrysansonions.blogspot.com

October 7, 2012

Ahhhhh! The smell of fresh, juicy, slightly wrong Mormon blog posts. It must be Sunday! I have been doing a series of posts related to Mormon and Post-Mormon issues that seem to be *hot* this year. With more and more people interested in Mormons, and now the change in rules…

Read More

Comments (8)

  1. Hellmut says:
    November 12, 2010 at 8:22 am

    Yes, and if an ox falls into the well on the sabbath, we will have to ask a committee inside a committee before we pull it out.

  2. Urban Koda says:
    November 12, 2010 at 9:07 am

    As much as it pains me to defend Joseph Smith, I tend to think he’d have been more than willing to invite anyone inside. Rationale could vary, but I still think he’s have them come in.

    I’d say this is more a product of WWLDSID (What would LDS Inc Do) and has probably come about only in the last couple of decades.

  3. Goldarn says:
    November 12, 2010 at 11:43 am

    Gotta agree with Urban Koda: Joseph Smith may have been a conniving adulterous sneak, but IMO history has showed him to be generally hospitable, especially when he could show off how wonderful everyone should think he was. 🙂

    Rules upon rules upon rules is a product of corporations and bureaucracies and a hierarchy of “leaders” who like to throw their weight around.

  4. chanson says:
    November 12, 2010 at 1:53 pm

    Here, joining the dogpile. 😉

    If we can assume that the modern LDS Church reflects Joseph Smiths views

    A questionable assumption, at best. JS and LDS Inc. may both have their faults, but it’s not the same set of faults. 😉

  5. kuri says:
    November 12, 2010 at 2:08 pm

    Of course, it still says a lot about the church that local leaders would think that they’re not allowed to help people in emergencies without going all the way up to the Area Presidency or whatever its called now, but I suspect — I hope anyway — that this is the result of confusion on the part of the local guys and not some sort of official policy. I don’t think that this is actually how Church Headquarters wants its people to respond in an emergency.

  6. Carla says:
    November 12, 2010 at 3:12 pm

    This is the kind of thing that makes me think, “is this a religion with members or a corporation with ’employees’?”

  7. Seth R. says:
    November 13, 2010 at 7:46 am

    LDS Newsroom has already posted an article claiming that while many other LDS chapels were being used for shelter, that particular chapel had been set aside for use by a government organization. That’s why people were turned away.

    The reporter jumped the gun on this story and published before having all the facts.

  8. profxm says:
    November 13, 2010 at 7:49 am

    Here’s the article Seth is referring to:
    http://beta-newsroom.lds.org/article/context-on-aol-story-regarding-haiti-chape

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Mormon Alumni Association Books

Latest Comments:

  1. Cara B. Klein on My conspiracy theory #2April 26, 2025

    Wow, I had never thought about it in that way before You have really opened my eyes to a new…

  2. chanson on LDS vs LGBTQ:  Nathan Kitchen sheds false binariesApril 16, 2025

    The haiku at the end is lovely. Sounds like a great book!

  3. Donna Banta on LDS vs LGBTQ:  Nathan Kitchen sheds false binariesApril 14, 2025

    I imagine anyone who has tried to change the church from within will identify with Kitchen's story. I especially like…

  4. Johnny Townsend on LDS vs LGBTQ:  Nathan Kitchen sheds false binariesApril 14, 2025

    This was a painful review to read. For many years, I held the same hope, that the LDS church would…

  5. LDS vs LGBTQ:  Nathan Kitchen sheds false binaries – Main Street Plaza on It’s Time to Vote for the 2024 Brodie Awards!!!April 14, 2025

    […] sincere acceptance is not a priority. Fortunately, this is what he exemplifies in his memoir, the Brodie-nominated Boughs of…

8: The Mormon Proposition Acceptance of Gays Add new tag Affirmation angry exmormon awards Book Reviews BYU comments Conformity Dallin H. Oaks DAMU disaffected mormon underground Dustin Lance Black Ex-Mormon Exclusion policy Excommunicated exmormon faith Family feminism Gay Gay Love Gay Marriage Gay Relationships General Conference Happiness Homosexual Homosexuality LDS LGBT LGBTQ Link Bomb missionaries Modesty Mormon Mormon Alumni Association Mormonism motherhood peace politics Polygamy priesthood ban Sunstone temple

Awards

William Law X-Mormon of the Year:

  • 2023: Adam Steed
  • 2022: David Archuleta
  • 2021: Jeff T. Green
  • 2020: Jacinda Ardern
  • 2019: David Nielsen
  • 2018: Sam Young
  • 2017: Savannah
  • 2016: Jeremy Runnells
  • 2015: John Dehlin
  • 2014: Kate Kelly
  • 2013: J. Seth Anderson and Michael Ferguson
  • 2012: David Tweede
  • 2011: Joanna Brooks
  • 2010: Monica Bielanko
  • 2009: Walter Kirn

Other Cool Sites!

WasMormon.org
©2025 Main Street Plaza | WordPress Theme by SuperbThemes