The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has released a set of suggestions for members to help improve refugee communities, and it has sparked a conversation on social justice and religious aid.
The list promotes everything from “teaching a new skill” to “sharing a meal” and encourages overall community support. Mary Beth Vogel, a U research associate professor, said these values are not uncommon. Vogel has worked with low-income families and has found the common value most religions share is helping those in need.
For example, Vogel sees the recent floods in Hildale, Utah as how needs during a crisis can trump religious affiliation. Hildale, an area with a large polygamous, Fundamental Latter-day Saints (FLDS) community, is not officially affiliated with the LDS church because of discrepancies in certain beliefs. However, when the floods occurred, members of the LDS church and other religious sects came to the rescue.
Outside of crises, social justice and basic humanity are not practiced as widely in worship. Christina Gringeri, director of Initiative for Transformative Social Work, has studied the ordination process for women in the Roman Catholic and LDS churches. In an emailed statement, Gringeri said gender expectations make it difficult to reach equality in faith.
“It is important to recognize that global religious institutions are very influential on civil societies,” Gringeri said. “When these institutions justify differential gender expectations and treatment, they sanction such treatment and expectations in civil society.”
Due to media coverage, extremist religious group behaviors have come to represent the entire sect. For example, people often see all Muslims as dangerous, or Mormons as fundamentalists. Vogel sees this as using “teachings out of context, inappropriately” and stresses this practice has little to do with the moral ideals of those religions.
Despite the differences, Vogel believes a certain set of social justice principles — helping the poor, ensuring just wages, caring for children — underlie all major religions, and that those are what hold people together across faiths.
The full list the LDS Church released can be found on mormonchannel.org under “40 Ways to Help Refugees in Your Community.”
@sarahnlegg