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How the Mormons Make Money

JazzSpazz said:
I'm going to go the other way, not paying tithing is robbing.


It's a commandment with a promise attached. What some of the other people have said about not knowing how, but things just working out when they paid their tithing willingly is true. The math does not make sense, but I have always had what I needed, when I needed it... not necessarily what I wanted. The Lord is asking us to prove this law out by paying tithing, and watching to see how he blesses you. I can vouch for the windows of heaven being poured out. It is not a pot of gold poured out, but it is help in many different ways and aspects of life.

C'mon, you can't say nobody saw this coming in regards to the robbed comment... and I'm surprised I didn't see something similar sooner.

This disagreement about tithing has more to do with God, the Nature of God, and belief in scripture than it does about tithing specifically.
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Interesting. I've never read the bible and really should (or any holy books for that matter, aside from the odd parts I remember from Sunday school). The only thing I would argue here is how do we know your money is going to God? It's a little dubious. You're not paying him directly. You're putting it in a brown envelope and giving it to men who use the money to build malls and protest gay marriage. Would God not prefer me give the money to a reputable charity that feeds kids, or something? Is that not the same as paying tithing but better? I guess we've got to ask ourselves what this God guy wants--as they're are a lot of people claiming he wants us to give our money to them and not to that other church down the street...

And I understand the Mormon church does a lot of good work. But how much of the 10% goes to these programs?
 
fallenchicken said:
I guess I get your point.
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No you kinda went nuts.

I mean that government taxes are complicated (kinds of taxes and brackets and blah). What about just a flat 10% tax (I guess it could go up or down but a flat tax for everyone)? Whether you make $1,000,000 or $1,000 you still pay 10%. That's was my point.
 
fallenchicken said:
Interesting. I've never read the bible and really should (or any holy books for that matter, aside from the odd parts I remember from Sunday school). The only thing I would argue here is how do we know your money is going to God? It's a little dubious. You're not paying him directly. You're putting it in a brown envelope and giving it to men who use the money to build malls and protest gay marriage. Would God not prefer me give the money to a reputable charity that feeds kids, or something? Is that not the same as paying tithing but better? I guess we've got to ask ourselves what this God guy wants--as they're are a lot of people claiming he wants us to give our money to them and not to that other church down the street...

And I understand the Mormon church does a lot of good work. But how much of the 10% goes to these programs?
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I know there's a breakdown out there. I don't think it matters. Don't get me wrong, if something came out with the Church misusing funds on a massive scale it would definitely be an issue for me. I just think the idea of tithing is more about obedience versus what happens to the money. Having said that I think the Church should be accountable. I think they are audited every six months or something by an independent agency.
 
CONAN said:
I know there's a breakdown out there. I don't think it matters. Don't get me wrong, if something came out with the Church misusing funds on a massive scale it would definitely be an issue for me. I just think the idea of tithing is more about obedience versus what happens to the money. Having said that I think the Church should be accountable. I think they are audited every six months or something by an independent agency.
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So you say obedience and I say faith .. but I've realized we're saying the same thing (with mine simply sounding better).

It's not as much about every dime going to something a secular thinker would deem best used .. it's about having faith that God, in all circumstances, will bless me, an dthe tithe, for my faith (or obedience) in Him. Let God sort out the rest.
 
CONAN said:
I know there's a breakdown out there. I don't think it matters. Don't get me wrong, if something came out with the Church misusing funds on a massive scale it would definitely be an issue for me. I just think the idea of tithing is more about obedience versus what happens to the money. Having said that I think the Church should be accountable. I think they are audited every six months or something by an independent agency.
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There are independent audits biannually. As for the being concerned about the LDS Church taking a stand on Gay Marriage--I am not aware of any practicing Mormon who believes Gay Marriage is the right path for this country. Civil Unions for homosexuals is different.
 
CONAN said:
No you kinda went nuts.

I mean that government taxes are complicated (kinds of taxes and brackets and blah). What about just a flat 10% tax (I guess it could go up or down but a flat tax for everyone)? Whether you make $1,000,000 or $1,000 you still pay 10%. That's was my point.
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Some wonder why we're a nation in debt.
 
fallenchicken said:
Interesting. I've never read the bible and really should (or any holy books for that matter, aside from the odd parts I remember from Sunday school). The only thing I would argue here is how do we know your money is going to God? It's a little dubious. You're not paying him directly. You're putting it in a brown envelope and giving it to men who use the money to build malls and protest gay marriage. Would God not prefer me give the money to a reputable charity that feeds kids, or something? Is that not the same as paying tithing but better? I guess we've got to ask ourselves what this God guy wants--as they're are a lot of people claiming he wants us to give our money to them and not to that other church down the street...

And I understand the Mormon church does a lot of good work. But how much of the 10% goes to these programs?
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The law of tithing is how the Lord funds His Church. Today all faithful members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints contribute one tenth of their income as tithing. Tithing funds are used for:

Constructing temples, chapels, and other buildings.
Providing operating funds for the Church.
Funding the missionary program (This does not include individual missionary expenses.)
Preparing materials used in Church classes and organizations.
Temple work, family history, and many other important Church functions.
Education.
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Notice none of the tithing money goes to helping others in a humanitarian way. Also note, and this is my understanding, "other buildings" are church related building for administration and not "mall like" structures.

Money for helping others locally, and humanitarian projects come from people donating fast offerings. As people fast for 2 meals or 24 hours, they donate the money that would have been spent on food for those meals to help others, and often they will be much more generous than the actual cost of the meals.
There are also many, many people that donate large amounts of money and property to the LDS Church. Not all of the property that the LDS Church owns is from them buying it up, it is from that land being donated. There are also other funds that people can donate money towards. They can help fund education for people in other countries where they cannot afford to pay for that education and cannot get loans on their own. As they pay back these low or no interest loans, the money can be used to help others. Donations can go specifically to missionaries, to Temple building, and many other things. I don't know for sure, but I have a feeling much of the money that went into downtown was from a few very rich donors and not from general donations.

For people worried about where the 10% goes, even though they don't and won't pay anything, I find that funny. At some point in life you are going to have to trust someone. I have dealt with donations on the small scale at one point, and I can say that in my experience the people handling the money are honest and trustworthy people, and that there are decent checks and audits put in place to keep those that aren't in line as well. If you think about the number of chapels, seminaries, temples, administration buildings, missionary buildings, mission upkeep and rents, and all of the other things covered by tithing... do you really think there is an extra 2 billion to put into a mall?
 
Qman said:
I am not aware of any practicing Mormon who believes Gay Marriage is the right path for this country. Civil Unions for homosexuals is different.
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Well, this is interesting. The Church has deemed homosexuality a sin, and maybe it is-- once again I don't have a direct line to this God guy. Though I know people (well I know one person, but I know there are people) who left the church, as in that was the final straw for them, after prop 8. I suppose they might not be considered practicing, and support of equal marriage--as it goes against church brass--is probably frowned upon (and maybe that's why you're not aware of any practicing Mormons who accepts gay marriage).

And you say civil unions for homosexuals is different, civil unions an acceptable opinion to have--perhaps because you yourself have the opinion that Civil Unions are acceptable. Though some would say that no, they aren't. Maybe in your own church. But that's an acceptable opinion to have, just not gay marriage.

Take a group people and put them in a room and see if you can get each and every one to agree with one sentiment. Even at a political convention. Especially when the issue is the rights of others. Now here there is a group of people in a room who all think the exact same, e.g. gay marriage being unacceptable. We can expand that out to the millions of practicing members of a church, who according to you all think gay marriage is the wrong path for this country.

In order to reach that point you would have to take out all individual thinking and let a few men do the thinking for everyone, to get everyone to agree. And perhaps this man or men would have to have like a... a... a god! On their side, yeah. Because if they had God on their side it would make it very hard to disagree with them.

But of course that's not what's happening. Just like how having a God on your side would never be used to get people to give you money.
 
Stoked said:
I agree that disagreeing with the church on positions does not always equal being against the church. However when they piss and moan about something that has no affect on them it is hard to see them as having anything more than a grudge against the church.

I do not pay tithing, I am not active and I do not live my life in a way that follows the Church's teachings. If a member chooses to pay thier 10% or hell even 30% what business of mine is that? That is between that person and the Church. If it is something they believe in then using words like "rob", "swindle", "extort" and others are nothing but someone trying to grind an ax in my opinion. Why not just say I do not agree or care for having to tithe %10 of my income to a religious entity and call it a day?
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How do you feel about internet scams targeting old people? They believe their money is going to let a Nigerian Prince pay them a million dollars, so why should anyone care about it? Bout the same thing as thinking 10% of your paycheck is going to make God make your life awesome.
 
Cyrone Torbin said:
How do you feel about internet scams targeting old people? They believe their money is going to let a Nigerian Prince pay them a million dollars, so why should anyone care about it? Bout the same thing as thinking 10% of your paycheck is going to make God make your life awesome.
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Seriously? This post is pathetic. Comparing internet scams to religious donations? Give me a break.

Serious question here: Why can't we believe in absolute truths? If sacrificing makes your life and those around it better, isn't it true? So why do you get all pissed off that someone is sacrificing for something, whatever that may be for?

And for you to insinuate that sacrificing and giving money to a church that has an extremely large welfare system, that donates millions every year to those who need it, that helps people get back on their feet to an internet scam is disgusting and pathetic. If you are against tithing, then you are against social security, the welfare system, the red cross, etc, etc, etc. At least when you give money to the Mormon Church, you know they are operating in the black, unlike the government forms of "welfare."

Could you imagine how sound the welfare system and social security would be in this country if it were run by the Mormon Church instead of the government?

Like I said earlier, instead of banging on The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we should be trying to emulate them.
 
Cyrone Torbin said:
How do you feel about internet scams targeting old people? They believe their money is going to let a Nigerian Prince pay them a million dollars, so why should anyone care about it? Bout the same thing as thinking 10% of your paycheck is going to make God make your life awesome.
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One of my favorite posters but this post really is pathetic.
 
fallenchicken said:
This is a convincing post.
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Just read your posts in this thread. I think I can condense and summarize like this;

You do not believe in God and find the idea of faith silly.

Because tithing isn't about what it does for you in this life or the next, it's about faith in things not seen. When I pay a tithe, I have complete confidence that God will do good with it .. it's just faith. So, I can absolutely agree how ridiculous that would sound to someone void of faith. Good on ya, I get it.
 
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