Growing an Ideology: How the Mormons Do It - Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), Ideology, Socialization Structure, Church Expansion, Religious Capital and Beliefs, Insurgencies

This excellent report has been professionally converted for accurate flowing-text e-book format reproduction. This thesis seeks to understand how ideology-based organizations grow, for understanding ideological promulgation is imperative to understanding conflicts arising from differing ideological principles. We assert that the philosophical framework that drives the ideology of an organization plays a secondary role in that group's expansion. Cultural socialization plays a much more dominant role in an ideology-based organization's growth or decline than the nature of the doctrine per se, or even adherence to the ideology. In other words, ideological organizations grow and contract based on this socialization framework, and not necessarily on the ideas they espouse. This stands in contrast to the notion that states can successfully wage "ideological" warfare-or fight for "hearts and minds" using a psychological, philosophical, or an idea-based approach alone. For missionaries of ideologies, it also means that churning out believers is difficult through preaching alone. A more effective approach is one that establishes an effective socialization program. We approach this study by examining growth in one of the world's most rapidly expanding ideology-based organizations: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS). While the LDS is, at its core, a religious organization, it also stands as an ideology-based organization, providing prescriptive counsel to its members. The result is not only a religious organization, but a group which doctrinally espouses or prescribes specific economic, political, and moral behavior. While not all religious movements are ideological in nature, the all-encompassing character of the LDS serves as a prime example of a modern and successful ideological organization.

CHAPTER I * INTRODUCTION * A. BACKGROUND * B. PURPOSE * C. METHODOLOGY * D. OVERVIEW * CHAPTER II * CHURCH ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE * A. INTRODUCTION * B. LDS GROWTH * C. THE CHURCH AS AN IDEOLOGICAL ORGANIZATION * D. ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURES * 1. Senior Leadership * 2. Middle Management * 3. The Core * E. ORGANIZATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS * F. STRUCTURAL EFFECTIVENESS * G. CONCLUSION * CHAPTER III * DETERMINANTS OF CHURCH GROWTH * A. INTRODUCTION * B. THEORIES ON THE GROWTH AND DECLINE OF RELIGIONS * C. MORMON GROWTH * D. MODELING GROWTH * E. A THEORETICAL MODEL OF CHURCH EXPANSION * F. RELIGIOUS SOCIALIZATION * G. SOCIAL AND RELIGIOUS CAPITAL * H. IDEOLOGY AND RELIGIOUS BELIEFS * I. CONCLUSION * CHAPTER IV * GROWING AN INSURGENCY * A. INTRODUCTION * B. RELIGIOUS AND POLITICAL IDEOLOGY * C. SOCIALIZING INSURGENCIES * D. AN INEFFECTIVE APPROACH * E. THE LDS TEMPLATE: AN INSURGENCY MODEL * 1. Promote Socialization First, Not the Ideology * 2. Curtail the Free-Rider Problem by Increasing Commitment * 3. It Is Not about Winning Hearts and Minds * CHAPTER V * CONCLUSION