What religious reason does the Mormon church have to build a multi-BILLION dollar mall in SLC?

Question

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_Creek_Center

http://www.salamandersociety.com/mall/

It is estimated that the LDS church has given $750,000,000 to charitable causes in the entire history of the church itself. Why do they want a mall, and why would they not use this money to help others than to gain financial profit?

I paid many thousands of dollars to the LDS church since my childhood in tihing, and it makes me mad to see that my money is being so poorly spent.

Anyone else think the Mormons are not a money-making cult? Give me a break.

Whoa, I didn't expect someone to say that nothing is wrong with a church investing in businesses for their own financial gain. Last time I checked, the Mormon church is one of the wealthiest organizations in the history of the world. AGAIN, WHY WOULD THEY NEED A MALL?

Oh my, you Mormons have backed me into a corner for sure! LMAO. Maybe you are right, we should not question why the church would spend up to 10 times the amount EVER SPENT ON CHARITY WORK IN THE HISTORY OF THE CHURCH ITSELF on a mall. You are right, it will feed homeless people and turn the rivers into wine. Give me a break...

Tonya in TX: Read the other article by the guys who will be doing the actual construction. They estimate 6-7 billion. Read my articles BEFORE you post your ignorance.

Answer 1

If you'd like, send me an email:

chuckroundhousekickATyahoo.com

I'll give you my feelings about that. I don't want to start sharing them publicly, say something I'll regret, offend some LDS, and get my account booted. I'll take the high road on this one (for once).

Answer 2

Tithing isn't being spent on this. Take it from someone who really knows. Tithing it used to build meetinghouses, and temples, not malls. The mall isn't going to be a multi-BILLION dollar project. Yes, it will probably take a billion, billion and a half if you push it, but not multi-billions.

I take it you haven't been to down-town SLC. If you had, you would know how run-down and really bad looking it has become. The church is trying to fix that. It is a business investment, just like other churches have done- maybe to a bigger scale, but still.

The church believes that in making downtown better, it will attract a different kind of people then it attracts right now. It will also help the area look better, run better, be more efficient and generate more money for the CITY itself. Retailers will make more, and everyone will win.

If you aren't happy with it, then DON'T PAY TITHING!!!!! Is it so hard to figure out? If you don't like it, then that's your own problem. Other churches in the area don't have a problem with it, so why should you? Give me a break!! We aren't stepping on your toes, or telling you what you should think, so why are you trying to do that with us? Get off your high horse and learn a thing or two about things before you say these kinds of things!

Answer 3

I'm LDS, and it's my understanding that tithing funds are NOT being used to build the City Creek Center. The church has other holdings, like BYU, Deseret Books, and the like that produce the funds necessary to do something like this. And who's to say that the money raised by building this mall won't be used for charitable things?

It is also my understanding that the reason why the church is building this is because during conference the anti's come out in full force and makes it very difficult for those attending to to get the the Conference Center with the spirit, therefore the church is building up the area around Temple Square so they can (as owners of the area) have a larger area to "cord off" and keep the anti's away.

I do not believe that the church is in it for the money, if they were then why even pretend to be charitalbe, let alone to the tune of 3/4 of a BILLION dollars?

UPDATE: I scanned the wikipedia article and in the very first line it says the estimated cost will be $1 billion, NOT MULTI-billion as you state. Further down it says it may be as much as $1.5 billion, but that's still not MULTI-billion. At least read your own source.

Answer 4

i think of you have become latter days and final days mixed up. particular those are the latter days, while in comparison with the Biblical circumstances. those might or won't be the final days. no person particularly knows while the final days would be. they're development the mall to assist the city and the persons in the city. Downtown Salt Lake city has been declining in inhabitants and in company for it sluggish. The mall is meant to assist deliver lower back human beings and company into Salt Lake city. From what I heard not one of the money to construct the mall is getting used with tithing money. that is getting used with money invested from different company shops. that's the job of a church to assist its community and to assist the persons in the community. that is precisely what the LDS church is doing by ability of creating the mall.

Answer 5

There is not religious reason for building a mall. Who says there should be. There is the spiritual side of the Church but there is also a business side. The Corporation is suppose to make money.

The Church uses profit from investments to help people. Do you think it is wise financial sense to just let money sit in a bank that gets 1% interest or even 5% for a CD?

How do you know that this mall will be a financial disaster. You listed a source that expressed their OPINION. Sorry but big deal about their opinion. What makes you think your tithing is being poorly spent? Besides, tithing is for the building of church buildings and Temples!

We are not a "money-making cult." WE ARE NOT A CULT!

EDIT: Hey "Oppna" whatever "research" you did was a waste of time and you didn't use legitimate sources. YOU ARE TOTALLY WRONG!

Answer 6

As people have already stated, no tithing money is being spent, so your whole argument now has no standing. It says so in the article YOU listed. And, one of the reasons the Church is doing it is to make sure the area around Temple Square stays nice looking, and what better way to do that then to own all the buildings surrounding it?

Answer 7

I'll go out on a limb here and speculate that the church did this for the obvious reason: Income.

While we don't necessarily like rich religious leaders, I don't think one particular individual will reap the rewards from this. It was a business decision, and the church's structure is basically like IBM or GM (but does a better job of profiting).

Perhaps this will lead to a new revelation about cutting tithing in half, as per Reganesque trickle down economics.

Answer 8

No tithing money is being used. Ever since the Church got on it's financial feet, it has developed businesses and investments to insure that it doesn't get to near bankruptcy again. We're taught to be self-sufficient, why should the Church be any different?

Edit: Also downtown SLC could use a little renovation and TLC. That's not a project the city or any other private organization would engage in. And think of how many jobs it will provide and the boost to the economy.

Edit2: I'm curious where you got the $750 million figure.

Answer 9

Last I checked, anyone with sense doesn't simply let money sit around.... They invest it.

That may be the point of the money that is (maybe?) going into the mall.

Some may feel that it's a way for the already too-wealthy church to line more pockets, or line the same pockets even thicker....

Others see it as a wise way to mulitply what has been provided, as a way to do even more good... Try reading Matthew 25- the parable of the talents for clarification on this interpretation.

Answer 10

Everybody keeps saying it's just their UNDERSTANDING..not their knowledge...Most likely because they don't know where their tithing money is being spent...

It's not like the Mormons are the first ones to make a buck off of religion...I mean..seriously...
What was it I heard? "Saint's can run a racket better than any Gentile??"
There isn't a single religious reason for it..It's business...Clearly they want to promote themselves by being the ones behind Salt Lake City's beautification.. Why do you think they bought up that street in front of temple square?

I was going to argue here, but then I realized..I don't give a Flying Spaghetti Monster what the church does with it's member's money...
If LDS Inc. wants a mall more power to them.. Downtown Salt Lake City is getting old and run down..Everything is going to the Gateway or Jordan Lading or pretty much ANYWHERE else...
It's no skin off my tookus..I stopped paying the church YEARS ago...

Answer 11

Just the two cents I'll add - downtown Salt Lake has been in serious trouble for some time now. Becoming very run down, and slummy.

I think there is a huge religious/spiritual interest in keeping the "headquarters of the church" nice - the kind of place people feel safe to visit and learn about our beliefs.

I would expect the same efforts out of any church on their own headquarters wherever they may be.