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Commentary: What would King Benjamin do? A question for Mormon members of Congress

The Salt Lake Temple is seen in a long exposure night shot at Temple Square, Sunday March 23, 2008. Jeremy Harmon/The Salt Lake Tribune

Mormon Republican members of the House and Senate unanimously voted to support President Trump’s tax bill — in spite of the fact that the bill is designed to enrich the rich and impoverish the poor, doing precisely the opposite of what Christ taught — to care for “the least” among us, which is central not only to the Bible, but to modern scriptures and prophets. And yet this tax bill is weighted heavily in favor not of “the least” but rather of “the most” — those with the most wealth, the most possessions and the most power.

The Book of Mormon prophet, King Benjamin, admonishes:

“I would that ye should impart of your substance to the poor, every man according to that which he hath, such as feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and administering to their relief, both spiritually and temporally, according to their wants.”

But according to the New York Times,

“The tax plan that the Trump administration outlined ... is potentially a huge windfall for the wealthiest Americans. It would not directly benefit the bottom third of the population. [Instead it benefits] the small share of the population that owns the vast majority of corporate equity. ... The plan would also benefit Mr. Trump and other affluent Americans by eliminating the estate tax.”

Over time the bill will give an additional $1.5 trillion in benefits to the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans, benefits paid for by $1.5 trillion in taxes on the poor and the lower and middle classes. Fackcheck.org estimates that by 2027, “Ninety percent of the top 1 percent — [essentially millionaires] — would get a tax cut, averaging $234,050.” This at a time when the gap between the rich and the poor is higher than it has been for a century.

Consider the warning of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1875:

“One of the great evils with which our own nation is menaced at the present time is the ... growth of wealth of a comparatively few individuals. The very liberties for which our fathers contended so steadfastly and courageously ... are endangered by the monstrous power which this accumulation of wealth gives to a few individuals and a few powerful corporations. ... If this evil should not be checked, and measures not be taken to prevent the continued enormous growth of riches among the class already rich, and the painful increase of destitution and want among the poor, the nation is liable to be overtaken by disaster.”

That disaster seems inevitable given the present gross economic inequity among Americans, wherein the top 1 percent have more wealth than the bottom 90 percent. Perhaps recognizing the dangers of economic inequity, in 2009, the Mormon Church added a fourth mission to its divine mandate — “To care for the poor and needy.”

Not only does the tax bill not reflect this core Christian principle, it is deliberately designed to increase the poor and needy among us, including through huge cuts over the next decade to Medicare ($1 trillion) and Medicaid ($.5 trillion) and elimination of the health care mandate, thereby guaranteeing enormous increases in sickness, suffering and death, especially among the most vulnerable members of society.

The bill that has made it through the House and the Senate, with no time either to understand or consider its details, is based on a fantasy: that enriching the rich will cause them to use their wealth to bless those of lesser means. We all stand condemned before the 25th chapter of Matthew, Christ’s great parable of the sheep and the goats. But few of us have the power to minister to the least members of our society to the degree that members of Congress have. As they begin work in trying to reconcile this flawed piece of legislation, Mormon senators and representatives should do everything in their power to make sure it blesses those most in need — the poor, the sick, the homeless, the destitute, the disabled, the uninsured, the least — those King Benjamin spoke of as most needing our help, those Mother Theresa identified as, “Jesus in disguise.”

Robert A. Rees, Ph.D., is director of Mormon studies at Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, Calif.