As a reminder…this is what the Church confessed to doing…
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced charges against Ensign Peak Advisers Inc., a non-profit entity operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to manage the Church’s investments, for failing to file forms that would have disclosed the Church’s equity investments, and for instead filing forms for shell companies that obscured the Church’s portfolio and misstated Ensign Peak’s control over the Church’s investment decisions. The SEC also announced charges against the Church for causing these violations. To settle the charges, Ensign Peak agreed to pay a $4 million penalty and the Church agreed to pay a $1 million penalty.
In a new essay the leaders of the Church lay the blame for the scheme to hide funds and defraud the SEC firmly on The Lord.
All financial matters in the Church are ultimately subject to the Lord’s direction through His chosen leaders.
So there you have it, The Lord directed his leaders to come up with a complex and deliberate system of defrauding the SEC and misleading the membership as to the state of the Church’s finances.
Premise 1. Eyewitness testimony is notoriously unreliable.
Premise 2. The best evidence for the Book of Mormon is eyewitness testimony.
Conclusion. Therefore, the best evidence for the Book of Mormon is notoriously unreliable.
As a reminder…this is what the Church confessed to doing…
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced charges against Ensign Peak Advisers Inc., a non-profit entity operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to manage the Church’s investments, for failing to file forms that would have disclosed the Church’s equity investments, and for instead filing forms for shell companies that obscured the Church’s portfolio and misstated Ensign Peak’s control over the Church’s investment decisions. The SEC also announced charges against the Church for causing these violations. To settle the charges, Ensign Peak agreed to pay a $4 million penalty and the Church agreed to pay a $1 million penalty.
In a new essay the leaders of the Church lay the blame for the scheme to hide funds and defraud the SEC firmly on The Lord.
All financial matters in the Church are ultimately subject to the Lord’s direction through His chosen leaders.
So there you have it, The Lord directed his leaders to come up with a complex and deliberate system of defrauding the SEC and misleading the membership as to the state of the Church’s finances.
They do this all the time. Polygamy was God's commandment, the priesthood and temple ban was God's commandment the POX was God's commandment and many more. They reversed these when public pressure forced them to. Followed by a shoulder shrug and claiming they were following orders.
As a reminder…this is what the Church confessed to doing…
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced charges against Ensign Peak Advisers Inc., a non-profit entity operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to manage the Church’s investments, for failing to file forms that would have disclosed the Church’s equity investments, and for instead filing forms for shell companies that obscured the Church’s portfolio and misstated Ensign Peak’s control over the Church’s investment decisions. The SEC also announced charges against the Church for causing these violations. To settle the charges, Ensign Peak agreed to pay a $4 million penalty and the Church agreed to pay a $1 million penalty.
In a new essay the leaders of the Church lay the blame for the scheme to hide funds and defraud the SEC firmly on The Lord.
All financial matters in the Church are ultimately subject to the Lord’s direction through His chosen leaders.
So there you have it, The Lord directed his leaders to come up with a complex and deliberate system of defrauding the SEC and misleading the membership as to the state of the Church’s finances.
In that same essay we also find this;
In the 1960s, after a period of financial struggle due to international growth and an expansive building program, the Church strengthened its financial plan, limited expenses, and set aside a portion of the donations it received. This helped the Church repay its debts and gradually build a financial reserve.
Much of the Church’s current growth is occurring in regions of the world that are still developing economically. Members in economically disadvantaged areas demonstrate faith in Jesus Christ by giving tithes and offerings. These tithes and offerings are meaningful contributions that help to move the Lord’s work forward. Yet additional funds are needed to support the Church in those regions. Sustaining continued Church growth in these areas of the world requires substantial resources.
Today, the Church avoids debt and maintains financial reserves. These reserves are intended not only to meet current needs but also to accomplish the Church’s mission in the future, including during periods of economic difficulty.
Why the church is being lambasted by critics for doing so is somewhat puzzling. The Lord, I would think, would want to have his house a house of order. The work would not be able to continue and sustain itself AS IT IS if not for only the financial contributions of its members but also the "additional funds" referred to. The church has had problems in its past with debt vs. income. In fact, I would not hesitate to say that the church may have a certain degree of PTSD in the fact that with its worldwide operations and the many temples and educational systems, etc., it doesn't even want to come CLOSE to a debt vs. income problem ever again.
They are doing a pretty good job. And they've made course corrections along the way.
To get back to the topic, here's a comment someone made that reminds us of the real issue:
...The hyper focus on money has obfuscated the unique revelations uncovered in the SEC Order, that the senior leadership of the Church intentionally, and overtly, made the effort to hide information from membership and the public. They lied. They were dishonest. They feared membership would stop paying. Furthermore, they were dishonest while claiming what they were doing was the will of God.
What is abundantly clear from all my reading/watching/listening of apologetic material related to the subject is a frustratingly obvious neglect of the primary documents: The SEC Order. No one in the believing sphere is publicly discussing the details of the actual filing (please prove me wrong, I beg). Why!? It is only 9 pages long and relatively easy to follow. the SEC painted a concise picture for us laypeople to understand. Apologetic voices (please prove me wrong) are railing on those focusing on the SEC issue because they think we are just complaining about the money the Church holds and that all we want is our tithing back. I know I’m preaching to the choir, but I just had to get this out. The hypocrisy and ignorance is just too much.
I want to make it abundantly clear, for anybody, what the issue at hand is here:
...So there you have it, The Lord directed his leaders to come up with a complex and deliberate system of defrauding the SEC and misleading the membership as to the state of the Church’s finances.
Yes. This redittor gave a very helpful summary:
The easy points that should be common ground in my opinion would include:
- The first presidency and presiding bishopric gave direction to find ways to minimize public exposure to how much money they have invested.
- We may not know all of their (FP and PB) intentions on WHY they gave this direction. But concern about members finding out and reducing their tithing payments was one.
- They (FP and PB) actively managed this strategy over decades, directing the expansion of shell companies to continue to hide public disclosure of their full investment fund balances.
- They were given feedback from their auditing teams at least twice that the SEC will most likely not look kindly about this.
- They (FP and PB) put members in leadership positions in the shell companies and created a process where those leaders committed perjury (i.e., signing documents affirming knowledge they did NOT have).
- They ultimately complied with the law when their strategy was disclosed publicly.
- The fine was small compared to what other organizations have paid. The fine is rare for a religion.
- The amount of detail about the church's infractions given by the SEC is rare as well.
- Ultimate responsibility lays with the FP and PB. EPA has no authority to act autonomously.
- EPA is the church. It is 100% owned by the church. 100% directed by the church.
Those are pretty damning points regardless if you as a member don't believe it is that big of a deal.
They do this all the time. Polygamy was God's commandment, the priesthood and temple ban was God's commandment the POX was God's commandment and many more. They reversed these when public pressure forced them to. Followed by a shoulder shrug and claiming they were following orders.
It is never the Q15's fault. Not once in 150 years have they accepted the blame for the many screw-ups and reversals that have taken place. This behaviour is quite telling.
