Same Jesus, extra book: what members share with other Christians and where they part

The Deseret News reported in August 2018 that Marriott International, having bought Starwood two years earlier, was extending the practice to the acquired brands and expected to have the books in 300,000 Starwood rooms by year end. Hilton and IHG leave the Bible question to local managers; Hyatt has no policy and provides texts on request. Marriott's franchise and licensing agreements require both books in every room. The company's statement was practical rather than devotional: "There are many guests who are not digitally connected who appreciate having one or both of these books available." Bill Marriott, chief executive from 1972 to 2012, wrote in May 2017 that the company's five core values "were founded because of my parents' faith in the gospel". Nobody at Marriott, so far as the record shows, has claimed a conversion from the drawer. The point is the pairing.

Start with what members would say they share. The Church teaches that "Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world and the Son of Heavenly Father", that he "suffered and was crucified for the sins of the world", and that his resurrection "prepared the way for every person to overcome physical death". Its Gospel Topics page on the subject states that members "have always worshipped God the Eternal Father in the name of Jesus Christ". Joseph Smith's own summary, quoted there, was that the fundamental principles of the religion are the testimony of the apostles and prophets concerning Jesus Christ. The Bible is scripture, and the Church's honesty teaching cites the Ten Commandments directly, "thou shalt not steal" and "thou shalt not bear false witness". A Protestant visitor to a Sunday meeting will recognize most of the hour. The differences are real, and members do not hide them, but they are additions rather than a different Jesus.

Four differences account for nearly all the friction, and the Church states each of them itself.

• A second book. The Book of Mormon, first printed in Palmyra, New York, on March 26, 1830, in a run of about 5,000 copies, is held by the Church to be "another witness of Jesus Christ" that "confirms the truths found in the Holy Bible". Its central event is Christ's visit to the Americas after his resurrection, told in 3 Nephi. The Church counts almost 4,000 references to him in more than 6,000 verses, and the text exists in at least 112 languages.
• Living prophets. Members sustain the president of the Church as "prophet, seer, and revelator", and the counselors in the First Presidency and the Twelve Apostles under the same title. The Church teaches that revelation did not end with the Bible; the Doctrine and Covenants is described as a book of revelations "in our day".
• The Godhead. Three separate beings, one in purpose, rather than one substance. The explainer on the Godhead covers it.
• Apostasy and restoration. The Church teaches that priesthood authority was lost after the apostles and restored through Joseph Smith, which is the claim behind the word "restored" in its self-description.

Pew's survey of 1,019 members, published in January 2012, shows how firmly the additions are held: 91 percent said the Book of Mormon was written by ancient prophets and translated by Joseph Smith, and 94 percent said the president of the Church is a prophet of God. A member who tells you she follows the teachings of Jesus Christ means the Gospels, 3 Nephi and the most recent address from the president of the Church in the same breath.

Two teachings drawn from all of that reach the workplace directly. The thirteenth Article of Faith opens "We believe in being honest", and the Church's teaching page defines the word as "sincere, truthful, and without deceit at all times", naming lying, stealing, cheating and withholding fair work as the failures. The consequence it names is internal: the dishonest person will "lose the guidance of the Holy Ghost". The Sabbath teaching rests on a verse in the Doctrine and Covenants that calls the day one "appointed unto you to rest from your labors", and in its current form on a question from President Russell M. Nelson: "What sign do I want to give to God?" The Church's page does not list forbidden activities. It asks members to attend the sacrament meeting, to serve and to keep the day for family, and leaves shopping and work to conscience. That is worth knowing, because it means Sunday policy varies between members and between companies, and the variance is not hypocrisy. A member who takes a Sunday shift at a hospital and one who will not open email that day are both inside the teaching as written. Honesty gets the firmer wording of the two, and the Church's page treats it as a condition of keeping the guidance members prize most, which is why a Latter-day Saint colleague will often describe a lie as costing something other than trust.

The Church's Sabbath page does not list forbidden activities. It asks a question.

Larry H. Miller bought half the Utah Jazz on May 10, 1985, for $8 million and the rest on June 16, 1986. Wikipedia records that he attended almost every game with one standing exception, those "held on Sundays, in order to observe the sabbath", and that from late 1978, three years after returning to activity in the Church, he had his wife pay tithing on the family's gross income. Clayton Christensen's refusal to play an Oxford basketball final on a Sunday, covered in the testimony explainer on this site, became the Church's standard example once Thomas S. Monson told it in general conference. Marriott took the honesty and conscience strand into policy: the chain removed pornographic films from its rooms, and Bill Marriott said in March 2012, "It was the right thing to do." He also drew a line most members would recognize, telling the same interviewer that the Church "is totally hands-off, politically".

David Neeleman's version is the one to remember if you work with members. He told the Deseret News in 2006 that because customers, employees, partners and competitors know what he is, he works harder at being fair and honest, and added: "I think we should be honored to be held to a higher standard." That is the mechanism. The Book of Mormon in the drawer and the name on the meetinghouse make the member's faith public, and a public faith with an honesty clause is a reputation that can be lost in one bad deal. Members know it. Pew found 79 percent pay a tenth of their income to the Church; a person who does that every month has, at minimum, practised keeping a costly promise nobody at work can see. The record is thin on whether any of this shows up in audited numbers, and this site will not pretend otherwise. It shows up in the drawer.