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The vast but little-known fund of the Mormon Church

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Re: The vast but little-known fund of the Mormon Church

#31

Post by 2ion »

weare138 wrote: post #25
x1oqw wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It always surprises me that wealthy churches pretend to take Christ seriously, when Jesus was not very fond of amassing money. I get why the churches do it (of course they don't believe in Christ), but why do the exploited masses believe them?

"It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God." -Jesus Matthew 19:24

"It is easier for a rich man to enter Heaven seated comfortably on the back of a camel than it is for a poor man to pass through the eye of a needle."

- Supply Side Jesus, https://imgur.com/gallery/bCqRp

Re: The vast but little-known fund of the Mormon Church

#32

Post by tomrod »

DyslexicAtheist wrote: post #18
tomrod wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Former Mormon here. I'm scratching my head at what is construed as a Spaceship?

> In the distant future of The Expanse, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has commissioned the construction of the Nauvoo – a giant spaceship that will carry their “best and brightest” Mormons to a new planet with a new sun. This rich slice of universe-building accompanied the introduction of Fred Johnson, Director of Operations at Tycho Station and the man overseeing the construction of the Nauvoo. htt…

AH! I love the Expanse but didn't make that connection (spaceships are not part of the current common theology). Much obliged.

Re: The vast but little-known fund of the Mormon Church

#33

Post by mxmmml »

DyslexicAtheist wrote: post #18
tomrod wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Former Mormon here. I'm scratching my head at what is construed as a Spaceship?

> In the distant future of The Expanse, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has commissioned the construction of the Nauvoo – a giant spaceship that will carry their “best and brightest” Mormons to a new planet with a new sun. This rich slice of universe-building accompanied the introduction of Fred Johnson, Director of Operations at Tycho Station and the man overseeing the construction of the Nauvoo. htt…

Stating the obvious for those who don't follow the link: "The Expanse" is a fictional movie with no basis in reality in that church's doctrine: "In The Expanse, the story of what happens to the Mormon church (and other organized religions) will be trickled out with other back-story elements to fill the 200-year gap between the show’s setting and the present- which the showrunners seem desperate to bridge with (They have flying drones and video messaging!). The brief scene between Fred Johnson and a Mormon administrator weighs heavy on the show’s plot but is slipped in between the three main storylines of the Earth-based United Nations, Detective Miller’s case on Ceres Station and the rag-tag crew currently ship-hopping around the asteroid belt." etc etc etc

Re: The vast but little-known fund of the Mormon Church

#34

Post by cultus »

blacklion wrote: post #17

I've found why anybody outside the church should care: «If the whistleblower’s claim is successful, that person could receive up to 30% of the proceeds collected by the IRS.» Meh.

They are stealing from everyone. Churches do not pay taxes. This is supposed to be contingent on not engaging in politics and actually acting like a non-profit.

Re: The vast but little-known fund of the Mormon Church

#36

Post by camhart »

x1oqw wrote: post #19
tomrod wrote: post #9

That is just what is uncovered in the investment market with one subsidiary. They also own 2% of Florida[0], huge land tracts in Argentina, Oklahoma and elsewhere, and attractive urban real estate in most major metropolises including apartment complexes in PA. They centralize donation collection of tithes and good will offerings such that about 8% stays back at congregations (based on personal observation as the fina…

It always surprises me that wealthy churches pretend to take Christ seriously, when Jesus was not very fond of amassing money. I get why the churches do it (of course they don't believe in Christ), but why do the exploited masses believe them?

The concept of tithing is absolutely taught in the Bible. If you believe Christ to be the God of the Old Testament then He absolutely taught it.

You seem to be under the impression all religious people who give tithing are merely being exploited. I can promise you are wrong there.

The mentality of "I've had no such experience with God so everyone who claims they have is a kook" is quite ignorant. Perhaps you could learn something from those who have.

Re: The vast but little-known fund of the Mormon Church

#37

Post by mattigames »

From a business perspective a religion is one of the best things you can start, it's free of taxes on most countries, it autoscales after convincing the first few people because it's now their (unpaid) job to convince even more; the demand is always there because most people have a biological innate fear of death/non-existence and just like with movies people crave a "happy ending", call it paradise, heaven or else; the best part is that the children of your believers are bound to be converted to your religion so there will be no lack of money donators on the long term, and is pretty easy to teach believers to denounce anyone that tries to convince them of leaving your religion as intolerant.

Re: The vast but little-known fund of the Mormon Church

#38

Post by tomrod »

Ididntdothis wrote: post #35

Seems most churches are basically real estate companies. The same is said about the Catholic Church and Scientology. Even if they lost all of their members they could keep going forever.

This seems true regarding most old-school power brokers. Isn't the UK monarchy funded by the UK government renting land?

Re: The vast but little-known fund of the Mormon Church

#39

Post by cultus »

I cannot fathom why churches are automatically tax exempt. Regular nonprofits have to jump through all kinds of hoops to prevent these kind of shenanigans. We are supposed to have a secular government. How is it that we single out this one class of institution for special treatment?

Re: The vast but little-known fund of the Mormon Church

#40

Post by DyslexicAtheist »

mxmmml wrote: post #33
DyslexicAtheist wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> In the distant future of The Expanse, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has commissioned the construction of the Nauvoo – a giant spaceship that will carry their “best and brightest” Mormons to a new planet with a new sun. This rich slice of universe-building accompanied the introduction of Fred Johnson, Director of Operations at Tycho Station and the man overseeing the construction of the Nauvoo. htt…

Stating the obvious for those who don't follow the link: "The Expanse" is a fictional movie with no basis in reality in that church's doctrine: "In The Expanse, the story of what happens to the Mormon church (and other organized religions) will be trickled out with other back-story elements to fill the 200-year gap between the show’s setting and the present- which the showrunners seem desperate to bridge with (They h…

> "The Expanse" is a fictional movie with no basis in reality

neither is the Mormon church nor any other religion for that matter

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