I cannot count, on all my fingers and toes, how many times I’ve been asked some version of the following:

Why do Mormons–who are admonished to be charitable to those who are less fortunate–all seem to vote against the political party in the US (Democrat) that stands for that very ideal?

Harry Reid–the LDS Senator from Nevada–was quoted in the SL Tribune last week wondering this same thing. (This is not an entirely fair question, given the amount of money that LDS Church members donate regularly through fast offerings and other channels that are distributed worldwide to people in need (irrespective of religious beliefs), but I’ll admit that it does appear a bit confusing.)

David Sundwall, an LDS blogger offers this:

“Of course [Mormons] believe in virtues such as service, charity, and sacrifice. But [...] we are taught to not wait for the government to tax and act in our place. In fact we are not performing our charitable duty unless we give and do of our own time and talents.” (Full post here)

Translated into Atlas Shrugged language: Charity taken at gun point is not charity.

What does this mean? It means that LDS folks–and many libertarians, too–are not against helping the poor, the needy, or the misfortunate. Far from it. What people like myself dispute is a) the mechanism for helping them and b) the true motive behind the help.

I believe that charity should be done out of love and kindness. I believe it should be personal and individual in nature–meaning that it’s done to benefit a specific cause. Most importantly, I believe it cannot, by definition, be compulsory. In LDS theology–or any other Bible-based theology–the blessings and benefits of charity, both to the giver and receiver, depend on this being the case.

To a welfare-state cynic like myself, Sundwall’s comment about “outsourcing” charity to government bureaucrats is an apt description of how welfare programs are born: Individuals attempt to assuage their guilt over their own wealth by forcing other people to help. There is no love, no kindness, no personal knowledge of the receiver, and certainly no voluntary giving–just force.