Comments about ‘Utahns top nation in voluntarism; contributions of Utah volunteers valued at nearly $4 billion’

An article you'll only read in the Deseret News.

Very impressive.

Congrats to Utah.

Let me preface my comments by saying that I am not an LDS church member.

And all forms of volunteering is commendable.

But from my point of view, I see great value in helping the poor and hungry.

I would put the hours spent for the purpose of increasing Church Membership into a different category.

And I understand how some can feel that there is no greater goal.

I also understand that many of the volunteer hours cited in this article ARE spent helping the less fortunate.

I just see a difference.

From a state full of non-Christians, i find this article interesting. :)

Wow! What a concept! Not being forced to give to charities (government welfare entitlements)! No fraud, no corruption, no cheating, no abuses. Compare this with government enforced massive "charity" programs that only creates a permanent welfare class and given the constant abuses of the later system more and more people prefer private charities. And still the left can only complain about these wonderful people who volunteer their charity donations of time and money! Which would you rather do: waste your time and money or make it count where it needs to go?

By their fruits shall ye know them.

The term Christian is a label zealously claimed by many to be theirs only thus excluding anyone who does not conform to their way of thinking or version of Christianity. Despite being labeled as non-Christians, most Utahns quietly go about doing good and showing the world by their fruits that they are indeed Christians in deeds, if not in words only.

Is that including callings in church?

kami and joeblow, no it does not include callings in church. It does not include missionary service. But evenso if it does, accepting a calling to do charitable work is still voluntary. It is charitable time donated for the benefit of humanity.

Why does that matter, Kami?

Hippo says "an article you'll only read in the DN" Yeah, thank heaven for that!
I guess if your state ranks 40 to 50 then you probably won't publish it.
But it's interesting how many from other states, FL, AZ VA have read it so far this morning and found it to be a positive thing.
Interesting that you were the first to comment Clark. I'll bet Toole could use some more voluntarism ;)

"no it does not include callings in church. iT does not include missionary service"

That was not made clear in the article. Can you elaborate on how you know?

"accepting a calling to do charitable work is still voluntary"

I am not disputing that.

But, for example, I see someone serving at Temple Square as doing the work of the LDS church and would disagree that it is for the "benefit of humanity".

But I do understand how you may classify it that way.

Does it include driving drunken friends home after a night of drinking at bars?

The Church of Jesus Christ does not record or report volunteer numbers. Churches are exempt from filing form 990. The volunteer numbers (hours and dollars) are required to be reported on non church charity filed form 990s as required by IRS regulation. Since the Church does not file form 990 there is no way to determine the hours donated to service within the confines of the church. The authors of the study would have no reasonable means to determine the Churches hours. You are right missionary work at Temple Square would not be considered "for the benefit of humanity." But other callings and vounteer work by the churches auxiliaries, such as providing meals to the homeless, outside of other charities would count for humanitarian purposes. Many other examples can be listed that do not make their way into the numbers. Lets ask the posters to this line, to list some they have participated in.

The local LDS humanitarian centers in Utah have a sign in paper with number of hours volunteered at that center. Volunteer work at the canneries is also recorded. I don't know if it is used in hours donated in the community. It is probably for internal record keeping.

Utah is #1 in volunteer hours.
Utah is #1 in equality of wealth.

So why exactly are those guys protesting in Pioneer Park?

My bad, this information came from the Census Bureau and Bureau of Labor Statistics data. So who knows what is includded by individuals in the census report.

It is always great to hear news that is positive. I'm glad the D-News doesn't espouse the good news is no news approach, there is more than enough bad news for me to read already.

Accentuate and encourage the positive. What a great quote "By helping those in our community, we learn more about ourselves our capacity to love and our capacity to engage in the lives of others."

"To a large degree, voluntarism is a way of life for many Utahns and their families." Now we can press on and see if we can improve on thiyear for next year.

Terrible article!!! This writer reaks with an anti-mormon bias. Everybody that reads this article knows that the #1 ranking is due to the lay ministry of the LDS Church. However, there is not an ounce of credit that goes to the members of the LDS faith.

What an excellent accomplishment and nothing can take that away from Utahans.

The public knows the positive side of the LDS work ethic. (Jewish) Ben Stein just lauded the virtues of "members of the Church of the Latter-day Saints", (someone warned him of the PC way to refer to my Mormon heritage...), on Fox's Cavuto yesterday. He was promoting his book about hard work and ethical living, citing the Beehive State as the best example in our nation of low unemployment.

But don't lose sight of other polls and problems. You are #1 in suicides and attempts, and #1 for 20+ years in marketing scams. So take the good with the bad, and keep on keepin' on.

Keeping it in perspective is helpful. High volunteerism has nothing to do with Biblical "fruit", as suggested here. Good deeds never trump correct doctrines, no matter how many mantras of that are claimed. I can take you to our Muslim community and their youth are yanked out of our public schools, Utah included, because of the hideous campus culture. As wonderful as BYU is/was (I attended 2 years), I'll show you better examples of modesty in Yemen.

Keep stuff straight.

Don't know why anybody needs "credit" for doing good things for people. Who is keeping score and why? If it needs doing, get busy and do it. Folks in Pioneer Park and other gathering places for protesters should spend at least part of that time cleaning the parks, working in homeless shelters and soup kitchens, and doing other acts of service. I think your message would be more receptive if you did. I have trouble commiserating with those who shout, complain and trash the city parks.