what do Mormons believe?

I feel like Mormons have been in the media a lot the past little while.
A lot of people I know, are Mormon, but the majority of the world does not know or has not been informed about the Mormon religion.

I'd like to share an article with you that my father wrote for a column in Mexico - in response to an article in The Economist.

I hope this helps shed some light on the Mormons and our beliefs.

The Mormon Way of Business

By Russ Warner, President & CEO of ContentWatch Inc., makers of Net Nanny

An interesting article appeared this month in The Economist entitled "The Mormon way of Business."  The article focused on reasons why Mormons are successful and commented on a few better-known Mormon business people, such as current U.S. presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

The Economist commented that Mormons are "clean-cut and neatly dressed and that they have a passion for business" but that in the U.S., less than 2% of Americans are Mormons.  So what makes Mormons excel in business? 

First, if you're not familiar with the term "Mormon," it's the name given to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The Church was founded by Joseph Smith in 1830 in New York. The term Mormon is derived from our belief in a book of scripture called The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ. Mormons believe in God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost.

I am a Mormon and my ancestors joined this church five generations ago in the 1840's. My wife and four children are faithful members of the church as well.

Some people feel that Mormons are peculiar.  We don't drink alcohol, smoke, or take illicit drugs. We typically have large families and life-long, faithful marriages. We keep a supply of food and water on hand in case of emergency.  We attend church every Sunday and usually on weekdays.  We support state, local, and federal government.  We teach our children to abstain from sexual relations until married.

Mormons look for opportunities to serve in our community and world. To that end, there are over 56,000 full-time Mormon missionaries around the globe. I was a full-time missionary in Chihuahua, Mexico in the early 1980s.  And in addition to managing a small software company, I also serve part-time (unpaid) as an ordained Bishop with a Mormon congregation.

 

Some influential Mormon businessmen include the following: 

• Mitt Romney, presidential candidate, and founder ofBain Capital, a highly successful private-equity firm.  
• Jon Huntsman Senior founded Huntsman Corporation, an $11 billion chemical giant. 
• David Neeleman founded two airlines: JetBlue in America and Azul in Brazil. 
• Ralph Atkin founded SkyWest Airlines. 
• Eric Varvel is the boss of Credit Suisse’s investment bank. 
• Harris Simmons is the Chairman of  Zions Bancorporation, a regional bank. 
• Allan O’Bryant runs the Japanese division of Reinsurance Group of America.  
• J.W. Marriott runs the Marriott hotel empire founded by his father. 
• Harvard University's Clayton Christensen is one of the world’s leading management consultants. 
• Stephen R. Covey, author of “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People,” is a leading self-help guru.

Mormons believe in being honest and in working hard. We believe that we must faithfully support our family. We believe in treating others with respect.  We believe in getting as much education as possible and in life-long learning.  And because so many Mormons serve full-time missions around the world, many Mormons are bi-lingual.  These factors ultimately contribute to success in business. 

Mormons are successful due to clean living, hard work ethic, and a goal to be self-reliant. As such, young Mormons keep pouring into the business community. And Mormon university students are frequently recruited by large investment banks, accounting firms, and corporations due to their intelligence, reliability, and hard work ethic.

According to The Economist, "Modern Mormons have something in common with other industrious minorities, such as Parsees, who are prominent in corporate India, the overseas Chinese and Jews. But some of the answer may lie in the faith itself. Mormonism—the only global religion to have been invented in the past 200 years—is in some ways more business-friendly than its more ancient rivals."

Mormons revere order because we believe God is a God of order. We believe that men and women are capable of progressing after this life, and we work to become better people, at all times and in all places.

The Economist also said, "The [Mormon] church is probably the best-organized in the world and certainly the most cost-effective. The president and his 12 advisers sit at the top like the board of a multinational. Below them, the church depends on a throng of [un-paid] volunteers. Church members begin to perform in public at the age of three. They become “deacons” at 12 and are given more demanding [church] jobs as they grow older. The faithful are expected to give 10% of their pre-tax income to the church."

I also believe one of the most important preparatory rites of passage for Mormon men and women is serving as a volunteer missionary at the age of 19 (for men) or 21 (for women).  During that time, Mormons work ten hours a day, six days a week in proselytizing and teaching. Few other groups in the world experience anything as demanding at that young age. Perhaps one exception are the Israelis, "who spend years in the military, and who also have an outstanding record as entrepreneurs."

In summary, Mormons believe that all men and women should be hard-working, honest contributors, highly educated, and supporters of our families, our communities, and to  society in general.  Anyone with such beliefs will likely find success as well.