Believe it rather than sell it...

[_moksha]

Here is yet another repost from Beliefnet Bill that made an incredible amount of sense to me, so I will share it:

I'm tired of what might be called the cult of the Church.

It's easy to confuse the Gospel (the message) and the faith (the lifestyle) with the Church (an institution) but when it happens, an odd form of idolatry takes root. One may appreciate the role of the Church in preaching the Gospel and helping one maintain the faith, but the Church is not an object to be worshiped. One's attempt to keep the faith by understanding and applying the principles found in the Gospel should not be confused with attempts to administrate and expand the Church.

It is unhealthy to serve the Church, as if it were an Aztec god, to be fed and satiated with the blood, sweat and tears of the faithful. In this particular Little Shop of Horrors, people feed the beast with each other - in the form of baptisms and home-teaching stats. Ecclesiastical offices are sought after instead of the true treasures of Heaven: love, compassion, patience and peace.

If the Gospel were properly understood and the faith embraced as a lifestyle that rewards diligence, Mormons wouldn't have to sell it door to door like Amway. It would sell itself.

Every church I know of is selling shares of heaven. Do this, give that, take this dip, light that candle, say these magic words, sign on the dotted line and give me your credit card number - and you get to go to heaven.

I don't want to pull John Lennon into this, but "imagine there's no heaven." What if the focus were on this life? Would be radically different? Would we really be climbing all over each other to satisfy every desire? I'm not so sure. No doubt, there are people who bend the rules to get a roll in the hay or grab that extra dollar, but I see no difference between the rationalizing they do for that and the rationalizations of good Christians who have "fallen." When I look at all those televangelists who "fell" - including Jimmy Swaggart and Jim Bakker - I don't just think, "There's a Christian who was imperfect, who gave into temptation." I think, "There's someone who professed to believe something but, deep down inside, didn't - or at least suspended those convictions long enough to take a walk on the wild side."

It's what we really believe that matters, not what we say we believe or what we're pressured to say we believe. The thought invariably produces the act. For that reason, it would be a good idea to get a fix on what we do believe - here and now - before the future surprises us. I suspect that lots of people are surprised more often than not. I also suspect that the human condition is universal, even if the standard of living isn't. For all our differences, there are certain things that apply to all of us. This should be the Gospel, not some cultural nonsense and not some membership drive to create the biggest tent.

...

[_harmony]

True indeed, Moksha. But the corporate church, or even the church that sits in my bishop's office, does not see things that way. Numbers matter; people don't. Which isn't to say that Mormons aren't kind and giving as individuals. It's just that too often the institutional church puts itself first. When buying real estate is ahead of giving humanitarian aid on the agenda, the institution puts itself first. Buying real estate is a business decision, not a decision for the Lord's only church. Decisions like that shame me. That is not why I give to the church, and that certainly isn't how the scriptures say the Lord's money should be spent.

[_moksha]

I know from personal experience that the members can be very kind and giving. Their kindness makes me proud to be a Mormon.

[_harmony]

I know from personal experience that the members can be very kind and giving.

So can Baptists, Catholics, atheists, and Jews. Being kind and giving as individuals isn't what sets Mormons apart. If the institutional church was kind and giving, that would be a start.

The problem isn't the individual. The problem is the system. If the system was all it claims to be, we wouldn't need missionaries, for example. The missionary program would either be completely different or wouldn't exist at all. It's only because the church isn't what it claims to be that we have to send out the missionary force. If the church was all it claims to be, we wouldn't have discussions about the books being closed; the books would be open for everyone to see. We wouldn't be spending the widow's tithing on downtown malls or granite monuments to past prophets.

It is incredibly disheartening to know the good that could be done and yet isn't being done, because of the greed and dishonesty of some of our leaders. At the local level, good is being done on a daily basis; at the institutional level, I see little good being done, and that's so sad, knowing the problems in the world today. We could be an incredible force for good; instead we spend the Lord's money on real estate and granite monuments.

[_The Nehor]

True indeed, Moksha. But the corporate church, or even the church that sits in my bishop's office, does not see things that way. Numbers matter; people don't. Which isn't to say that Mormons aren't kind and giving as individuals. It's just that too often the institutional church puts itself first. When buying real estate is ahead of giving humanitarian aid on the agenda, the institution puts itself first. Buying real estate is a business decision, not a decision for the Lord's only church. Decisions like that shame me. That is not why I give to the church, and that certainly isn't how the scriptures say the Lord's money should be spent.

I'm not following. You speak of the Church not caring. Of course it doesn't care. It's an organization. If you're saying the leaders don't care that might mean something. However, in my life I have met many of them and the vast majority of them care about people. A lot. I have never had a Bishop or a Stake President that gave any indication they thought of me as a number. I've never spoken with a Seventy that fixated on units to the detriment of the people in those units.

[_haleray]

The missionaries wouldn’t need to go door to door, if members would be member missionaries, that is, members talk to their friends about the church, get them interested, then go to the missionaries.
Harmony, it is easy to blame an entity; the church; what are you doing, personally, to talk to people about the church? Also do have proof of the church buying real estate instead of doing humanitarian aid. Remember, they can do both at the same time.

[_Danna]

The missionaries wouldn’t need to go door to door, if members would be member missionaries, that is, members talk to their friends about the church, get them interested, then go to the missionaries.
Harmony, it is easy to blame an entity; the church; what are you doing, personally, to talk to people about the church? Also do have proof of the church buying real estate instead of doing humanitarian aid. Remember, they can do both at the same time.

Here is a possibly dodgy land deal that was recently discussed.

And here is a comparison of charitable works vs overall income:

Mormon Finances and Charity

...
Income
While the tithing amount is not disclosed, there have been several attempts to determine the world-wide collection of tithing by the Mormon Church. D. Michael Quinn (Mormon Hierarchy – Extensions of Power) and the Ostlings (Mormon America) both attempt to put a dollar value on tithing. The consensus between these and other authors is that it is between 4.5 and 6 Billion dollars per year. Other offerings are relatively minor by comparison and are generally used for charitable purposes. In addition, businesses that are in line with the core purpose of the Morg can be owned and operated on a tax exempt basis. Businesses that are not tax exempt can donate to the Morg without either entity paying tax on the donations. Below is a link to a partial list of Morg owned businesses.

http://www.exmormon.org/Mormon/mormon410.htm
Here is an older document about holdings.
http://www.algonet.se/~daba/LDS/cworth.htm

Quinn reported that the known holdings included 48 banks, 34 lumber companies, 60 newspapers and magazines, 55 mining firms, 55 railroads and 9 hotels. There is also the $16 Billion insurance company and a chain of radio and TV stations.

In addition there are a number of related businesses that are indirectly owned by the Morg, having been sold or turned over to key members or groups. Quinn reported that ranking General Authorities were partners, Officers and Directors of over 900 different businesses. It is estimated that the gross revenues of these businesses is in excess to 6 Billion dollars per year. The net income or cash which would make its way into the coffers of the Morg would likely be in the 10% – 12% range. Add here an additional $720,000 in cash.

Holdings
In addition to the $1.5 being spent on the SLC malls, the Morg holds 6,000 acres on the North Shore of Oahu from a purchase over 100 years ago. They more recently purchased 600 acres to be developed. This includes houses that will be sold and a luxury hotel. They hold over 300,000 acres of land in Florida close to Disney World and 95,000 acres in Alberta Canada. The Mormon Church owns in excess to 925,000 acres in North America. The appreciation of the property is probably the greatest hidden value in the Mormon Church.

The total was estimated at conservative $30 - 50 Billion 10 years ago. (Ostling, Quinn). This was using conservative land and asset valuation. A former stock broker of the Morg reported that approximately $200,000 was added to their investment portfolio each year.

The for profit real estate is very significant as well

The real estate division of the church conducts brisk dealings in land. Zion's Security Corporation, the church's commercial real estate arm, controls numerous office buildings in Salt Lake City, including regional headquarters for Kennecott Copper Company, J.C. Penney, Prudential Federal Savings and Loan, and many church facilities. It also owns the sprawling ZCMI (Zion's Cooperative Mercantile Institution) Mall in downtown Salt Lake as well as a controlling interest in the ZCMI store chain.

Since 1977 a sister corporation, Beneficial Development Corporation, has taken over development work for the church, and has established several industrial parks in association with private developers in Florida, Arizona, Los Angeles, Hawaii, and Utah.

http://www.algonet.se/~daba/LDS/cworth.htm

The current worth would be conservatively above $60 Billion, and if the current market value of holdings was added, it would likely be closer to $100 Billion.

Charity

Now a comparison of Morg charity and humanitarian aid. Ostling (Mormon America) compared the Morg to the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA). They had a similar number of reported members in 1997. At that time, the ELCA had $152 Million in assets that was primarily the pension fund for the employees. This is compared to the assets of the Morg as reported above. In 1997 the ELCA raised $11.8 Million for humanitarian aid and $3.64 Million for disaster relief for a total of 15.44 Million in cash donations for charity. In the 14 year period from 1984 – 1997 the Morg reported cash donations for non-Mormon charity at $30.7 Million, or an average of 2.19 Million per year. This translates to ELCA donating a little over 10% of its holdings in 1997 and the Mormon Church donating approximately .2% of its holdings. Most businesses in the US have higher percentage charitable contributions than does the Mormon Church.

[_Jason Bourne]

The figures above do not include fast offering assistance which I in other places on this board, have estimated conservatively to be 500 Million a year which is about 20,000 per ward/branch per year times about 26,000 units.

[_harmony]

The figures above do not include fast offering assistance which I in other places on this board, have estimated conservatively to be 500 Million a year which is about 20,000 per ward/branch per year times about 26,000 units.

$500 million a year, which we use to help ourselves. I have nothing against fast offerings. I've benefited from them myself from time to time. However, they cannot be confused with humanitarian aid.

We bank billions every year in tithing, billions that are not accounted for. That alone is the most suspicious thing about this church. Were I investigating this church today, that is the one thing that would always cause me second thoughts.

[_Trevor]

Thanks for sharing that wonderful message, moksha. That guy summed up precisely what I think is correct but fail to live up to.