This is so real and now I need to lie down. I honestly loved the I’m a Mormon campaign. It was diverse and inclusive! It really shows how much the hobby causes of individual general authorities affect the “revelation” of the church.
I HATED the I'm a Mormon campaign. It highlighted extrarodinay Mormons doing extraordinary things. But what about those of us who were "obedient" (to Benson's decree) and just became stay at home moms who didn't take time to explore our own desires and interests? Again, a showing of hobby causes, and I fell into Ezra Taft Benson's.
The more I see the more I feel like this is a church that is just not truly about Jesus. It is a business that relies heavily on marketing, branding, data, and public opinion. And it is willing to advertise in a way that is emotionally manipulative. I don’t fault businesses for doing these things, it is how they grow and provide a product. But consumers know at the end of the day that they are dealing with a business. For me, the insidious part is members and leaders insisting all day every day that the LDS church = Jesus’s church and he runs the show. I think it’s more correct to say it is a business that uses Jesus‘s trademark for free and is willing to throw him under the bus when necessary in order to grow its customer base.
Rebranding the Gulf of Mexico to “America” reminded me of the church’s rebranding of Mormon to using the full name. It’s a power play. Forcing people to change the name is all about control.
UGGGH… it is a business that I have helped build with my unpaid labor throughout the years. All those Saturdays cleaning the church for “my” benefit only to learn it wasn’t for my benefit at all :(
I am in my 50’s and when young was “strongly encouraged “ to quit my education pursuits, have tons of children, and revel in my husband’s priesthood authority.
Otherwise God viewed our marital union as a selfish one. I am always and still, a less-than member because I am female.
I hate how the church condemned and helped me destroy myself and my true passions and interests.
Now I don’t care what the church does. I want nothing to do with them. They never had my best interests in mind. Only theirs and the organization’s.
The damage of their message was and still is the same- keeping women small and in a cage. I’m glad you got out and I hope you continue on your healing journey.
YES^^ I noticed that too! That Mormon women leaders had degrees, careers, and many other leadership roles.
Which led me to the/my conclusion that male leaders in the Mormon church consider women intellectually inferior and women can only mentally handle staying at home, making babies, and cleaning the house and ward buildings
Same! I missed out on self growth and development and any sort of career in order to stay home and have kids. I thought I was being righteous…until now I see all these other women who had both - especially all the women in the general presidencies of the church! I stayed home like Ezra Taft Benson told me to and here they are at the top of their game, rewarded for disobedience (ha) to that decree while I wallow around trying to find myself.
Your insight about these influencers being positioned to retain rather than attract is so spot on. I recently asked my sisters what they thought about influencers promoting the new garments, and it was *crickets* except for one SIL who insisted these women were acting independently, trying to “cash in” on affiliate marketing for new tank tops, etc. because the church would NEVER do that. I was not convinced. It’s too coordinated and too ubiquitous to be random.
Thank you Karey! It’s hard for people to admit that their church and belief might be a lot of marketing, but there wouldn’t be an entire PR and Law Firm dedicated to protecting the brand if it wasn’t.
You make some interesting and thoughtful points, that to some extent make sense to me. My overarching question when people are angry about the financial decisions in the church is, who do you see as profiting by these funds? I can totally see how people would disagree about where and how to spend tithes and donations, but as opposed to a typical business, I don't see anyone's pockets being lined. There's no extravagant lives or personal gain at the top. This is a genuine question for you, not a criticism.
I appreciate thoughtful questions and while I don’t know if I can fully answer that, I can give you my thoughts. I apologize it’s a bit long.
First, the purpose of my post was to highlight the strategic, but covert rebranding going on right now, at the expense of members’ free labor (and minds). The point of my post isn’t about whether the church’s pockets are being lined- but rather, that a church with that much money, continues to exploit its members by telling them they need their money and time. It’s the fact that they spend that money on marketing, manipulating and controlling their members and by doing so, they continue to benefit as a system/structure from that unpaid free labor and psychological influence over millions of people. While continuing to amass wealth.
This is less a criticism of how the church spends their money but more about the method and purpose behind it.
I don’t care if the church spends money on a mall, or another useless temple, or whether they sent humanitarian aid to refugees. I’m not angry about it. Sincerely. But we don’t know how the church spends its tithes or massive wealth because there is no financial transparency. So we actually don’t know if anyone’s pockets are being lined or not. Right?
But we do know this system IS benefitting off its members.
Here’s what else we know:
1- That it has amassed more wealth than they would possibly need to fund the whole organization for 50 years, but it still makes tithing compulsory— even for people who can’t afford food.
2- The church uses money to influence their members through marketing campaigns designed to promote ideologies and image consistent with white supremacy. All under the spin that they are listening to members needs.
(How can you justify that, seeing point #1)
3- The church uses their beliefs to influence members to continue to work for free— often at great cost to their families, whether time, money, energy, emotional energy etc. They could easily change this to paid clergy, stipend positions, etc.
As a personal value, I will always critique systems that are based in patriarchal hierarchy and not inclusive of all people. So that’s my biggest motivator in writing about these things.
This is so real and now I need to lie down. I honestly loved the I’m a Mormon campaign. It was diverse and inclusive! It really shows how much the hobby causes of individual general authorities affect the “revelation” of the church.
It’s almost like it’s led by… a man instead of a benevolent god. (Said with knowing sarcasm, *sigh*)
I HATED the I'm a Mormon campaign. It highlighted extrarodinay Mormons doing extraordinary things. But what about those of us who were "obedient" (to Benson's decree) and just became stay at home moms who didn't take time to explore our own desires and interests? Again, a showing of hobby causes, and I fell into Ezra Taft Benson's.
The more I see the more I feel like this is a church that is just not truly about Jesus. It is a business that relies heavily on marketing, branding, data, and public opinion. And it is willing to advertise in a way that is emotionally manipulative. I don’t fault businesses for doing these things, it is how they grow and provide a product. But consumers know at the end of the day that they are dealing with a business. For me, the insidious part is members and leaders insisting all day every day that the LDS church = Jesus’s church and he runs the show. I think it’s more correct to say it is a business that uses Jesus‘s trademark for free and is willing to throw him under the bus when necessary in order to grow its customer base.
Ooo yes, Jesus™️ is so right! And the church has used an emotionally manipulative marketing strategy for decades. It’s called HeartSell™️
Rebranding the Gulf of Mexico to “America” reminded me of the church’s rebranding of Mormon to using the full name. It’s a power play. Forcing people to change the name is all about control.
Wow that’s so true! Definitely about projecting image and power
UGGGH… it is a business that I have helped build with my unpaid labor throughout the years. All those Saturdays cleaning the church for “my” benefit only to learn it wasn’t for my benefit at all :(
I’m so sorry, the feelings are so real! It definitely wasn’t your fault. It is shameful that this organization exploits people this way.
Spot on article-
I am in my 50’s and when young was “strongly encouraged “ to quit my education pursuits, have tons of children, and revel in my husband’s priesthood authority.
Otherwise God viewed our marital union as a selfish one. I am always and still, a less-than member because I am female.
I hate how the church condemned and helped me destroy myself and my true passions and interests.
Now I don’t care what the church does. I want nothing to do with them. They never had my best interests in mind. Only theirs and the organization’s.
The damage of their message was and still is the same- keeping women small and in a cage. I’m glad you got out and I hope you continue on your healing journey.
YES^^ I noticed that too! That Mormon women leaders had degrees, careers, and many other leadership roles.
Which led me to the/my conclusion that male leaders in the Mormon church consider women intellectually inferior and women can only mentally handle staying at home, making babies, and cleaning the house and ward buildings
Same! I missed out on self growth and development and any sort of career in order to stay home and have kids. I thought I was being righteous…until now I see all these other women who had both - especially all the women in the general presidencies of the church! I stayed home like Ezra Taft Benson told me to and here they are at the top of their game, rewarded for disobedience (ha) to that decree while I wallow around trying to find myself.
Your insight about these influencers being positioned to retain rather than attract is so spot on. I recently asked my sisters what they thought about influencers promoting the new garments, and it was *crickets* except for one SIL who insisted these women were acting independently, trying to “cash in” on affiliate marketing for new tank tops, etc. because the church would NEVER do that. I was not convinced. It’s too coordinated and too ubiquitous to be random.
Thank you Karey! It’s hard for people to admit that their church and belief might be a lot of marketing, but there wouldn’t be an entire PR and Law Firm dedicated to protecting the brand if it wasn’t.
You make some interesting and thoughtful points, that to some extent make sense to me. My overarching question when people are angry about the financial decisions in the church is, who do you see as profiting by these funds? I can totally see how people would disagree about where and how to spend tithes and donations, but as opposed to a typical business, I don't see anyone's pockets being lined. There's no extravagant lives or personal gain at the top. This is a genuine question for you, not a criticism.
I appreciate thoughtful questions and while I don’t know if I can fully answer that, I can give you my thoughts. I apologize it’s a bit long.
First, the purpose of my post was to highlight the strategic, but covert rebranding going on right now, at the expense of members’ free labor (and minds). The point of my post isn’t about whether the church’s pockets are being lined- but rather, that a church with that much money, continues to exploit its members by telling them they need their money and time. It’s the fact that they spend that money on marketing, manipulating and controlling their members and by doing so, they continue to benefit as a system/structure from that unpaid free labor and psychological influence over millions of people. While continuing to amass wealth.
This is less a criticism of how the church spends their money but more about the method and purpose behind it.
I don’t care if the church spends money on a mall, or another useless temple, or whether they sent humanitarian aid to refugees. I’m not angry about it. Sincerely. But we don’t know how the church spends its tithes or massive wealth because there is no financial transparency. So we actually don’t know if anyone’s pockets are being lined or not. Right?
But we do know this system IS benefitting off its members.
Here’s what else we know:
1- That it has amassed more wealth than they would possibly need to fund the whole organization for 50 years, but it still makes tithing compulsory— even for people who can’t afford food.
2- The church uses money to influence their members through marketing campaigns designed to promote ideologies and image consistent with white supremacy. All under the spin that they are listening to members needs.
(How can you justify that, seeing point #1)
3- The church uses their beliefs to influence members to continue to work for free— often at great cost to their families, whether time, money, energy, emotional energy etc. They could easily change this to paid clergy, stipend positions, etc.
As a personal value, I will always critique systems that are based in patriarchal hierarchy and not inclusive of all people. So that’s my biggest motivator in writing about these things.