On Monday February 10th 2020, the Wall Street Journal, released a exclusive interview with Mormon Leaders regarding the Faith’s amassed 100 Billion Plus in investments.
We examine 6 sound bites from the WSJ podcast and examine whether the LDS Church is being honest about its wealth and why it avoided publishing the amount it had accumulated.
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Bill, I loved this podcast.
One big thing you didn’t exploit. You touched on it a little bit. Why would the church need to build additional temples is they were to lose members? Why would the church need to maintain a missionary force / budget of they lose the missionaries they need for the program to be viable? Less members, less missionaries, less overhead expenses… You would think… So less of a need for a 100+ billion fund right?
Not to mention.. Ensign Peak advisory use one ONE fund of potential many!
Tax exempt? One word…. Bullshit!
One more thing… How do I know when and where online to find your live broadcasts?
Bill,
I tried calling in and didn’t make it through.
One of my questions was not answered even though I left in the comments. Funny enough you addressed the Elder Holland is a liar comment, which I think is unsavory, but you make a strong point and he should be held accountable for the misleading statements he makes… I’m still going to cut him slack, but I think it’s very fair that we be cautious about our leading us in the way of truth and salvation.
That said, the question I was most interested in you commenting on was the benefit to the economy in general by having funds in the stock market in perpetuity which corporations can dispose of to operate and provide goods and services… of which we all enjoy and benefit that would perhaps be more difficult to accomplish without such investments.
Not sure how you missed that question as I asked it several times and tried to call in to make sure that question was addressed and wasn’t.
Lastly, when you label Elder Holland a liar it feels like a gross exaggeration. Yes, Elder Holland lied on those occasions, and I thank you for making us aware of his deceitful tactics and that we be cautious in being overly trusting going forward. May God continue to bless the work that you do… you too are doing a great service to Mormonism in helping it stay honest. Thank you.
I feel ignored. Thanks Bill.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has cut the budget of the local branch by half this year.
The facility management group will no longer provide more than one paper towel per week to clean the chapel.
Why?
There are enough funds to provide, but the church leadership seems unwilling to use funds to cover even the basics. Deceitful? Stingy?
I got a chill down my spine when he told the reporter to please respect their beliefs. It felt like a sickly sweet cult leader’s request that you know will have serious consequences if not headed. The whole interview screamed cult.
Also, I wouldn’t be surprised if Roger Clarke got into serious trouble for his statement.
What is it called when someone lies on multiple occasions? Why not label Holland a liar if he’s lied many times? How is that a gross exaggeration?
I think one big thing that is missed is on the current tithing slip (Whether online or at the local branch), one is given the option to donate to different categories (Tithing, Fast Offerings, General Missionary, designated Ward Missionary, Humanitarian Aid, and Other (which includes Temple Construction and/or Book of Mormon).
So if these are complete separate lines and accounts that one can contribute to, it is a lie when leaders say they use tithing funds for the building up of temples and for missionary work when those are completely separate accounts. So the damn corporation is bleeding so much more from it’s sheep then from just tithing.
Also, I call and smell BS when at the bottom the corporation includes the disclaimer “Though reasonable efforts will be made to use donations as designated, all donations become the Church’s property and will be used at the Church’s sole discretion to further the Church’s overall mission.” What a bunch of crap! Sorry, for the vent. Just hate being lied to and the deception. Hate that we’re asked to devote our time, talents, and lives to a lying, deceitful, dishonest corporation.
Excellent review of the the WSJ interview, but I believe that you missed an important point about Roger Clark’s sacred comment. He states “we treat them as sacred, we don’t flaunt them for public review and CRITIQUE.” I suggest that Clark point blank admits that they know that criticism would be rampant both inside and out of the Church if the size of the funds were public.
In case anyone is wondering why this so-called ‘church’ has amassed $124 billion…
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/jan/30/from-book-to-boom-how-the-mormons-plan-a-city-for-500000-in-florida