Did you know that since 1985, the LDS (Mormon) Church has spent $201 million in Humanitarian/Charitable Aid?

Question

http://lds.org/ldsnewsroom/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=d10511154963d010VgnVCM1000004e94610aRCRD

And did you also know that from now until 2011, the LDS (Mormon) Church will also be spending $1.2 Billion to put a new shopping mall with a skywalk in downtown Salt Lake City?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_Creek_Center

I think some of you saw this as an attack. That was not the intention. I didn't state my opinion on the matter at all.

By the way Chris, if you actually read the Wikipedia article, it links back to about five different sources, two of which come directly from the Church, and one of which comes from KSL, which is owned by the Church.

Answer 1

Your first statement is absolutely true and will continue. But you quote Wikipedia as your source for the 2nd statement? At least you used the actual website for the first statement. Don't believe everything you read online, ESPECIALLY if you read it in Wikipedia!!!

Answer 2

Not many saw what you were trying to do, or what point you were trying to make (even if it isn't true or on point), except Feral.

As another answerer statedd, the figure you provide isn't actual close to what the church has provided in humanitarian or other charitable outlets. You can't quantify the time and work that is going on to assist the needy around the world. I have traveled a lot of places and seen some crazy stuff, like the church sending scientists as missionaries to Cambodia to help the country better raise chickens and crops to feed it's people. Anyway, that doesn't matter, because the church doesn't brag about it's aid to the world, which is how it should be.

The church does take care of it's own, and people often turn to the church as opposed to government welfare, so I think many anti-mormons should be glad about that, because you're not feeding people you disagree with (which would be a sad statement if it were true).

Tithing is set aside for only specific things, including building churches, temples, schools. It also goes to provide for study materials and books for the churches, for funds to bring wards together/keep them strong, etc. There also receive other donations for other things.

Now, as someone else stated, the church is not using the members tithes to build the city center that you discuss, although I don't think it would be a big deal if they did. It is for the benefit of all who visit and live for Utah to have a safe, clean and beautiful place to be. The church invests wisely and uses it's money wisely. They have no debt.

Governments have studied the welfare and other systems of he Mormon church as models of a well oiled machine and a model of a well thought out system. I don't think you will find many (of course there are those who disfavor the Mormons) that will say Mormons are charitable and active in their communities. They don't build overly lavish churches, but use their money wisely.

I think you could have laid out your point a little better, or maybe even made a point that was accurate, but I suppose we are all entitled to our opinions. I'm grateful to be associated with an organization that is held so highly throughout the world for all it does to make the world a better place.

God bless.

Answer 3

If You were a member, you would have remembered that some church buildings have 3-4 wards that meet at these church buildings every sunday. When was the last time you got the numbers of how many church buildings we have. There are on the average 500 members active and inactive in each ward. The mormoninformation board link by Valentina has a few flaws. It has the number of excommunications which I find hard to find, since it doesn't give a source for these numbers. The number of deaths etc are an estimate with no source for the numbers.

Answer 4

It should also be mentioned the many, many hours put in by people volunteering their time to help out with humanitarian efforts (I served a welfare service mission for the Church, and during that time had the opportunity to tour Welfare Square in Salt Lake City - it's mindboggling what goes on there!).

It should also be mentioned that the reonovation work on the two malls in downtown Salt Lake is being paid for by money from businesses that the Church runs, and is NOT being paid for by tithing or other offering categories on the donation slip.

Answer 5

I agree with what Dee said! Mormon bashing is much more acceptable to a few people in this category, who have a vendetta toward the LDS Church!
Their attitude can also be seen in the negative questions that they pose, and the rude comments they make in their answers! In actuality, they are better than a bill board on the side of the highway, as far as bringing attention to the Church!
The negativity makes them look stupid, and gives us a chance to debunk them at the same time! So please, by all means, keep up you attacks!
If it makes you happy to insult other people's religious beliefs, we are more than happy to take advantage of the opportunity to correct your poisonous misinformation!

Answer 6

Everyone is missing your point. They see the $201 millio in your question and think, "Wow the Mormon church is great!" Your point is that the church gives 3-4 bucks per tithe-payer to charity... THATS IT.

You are correct. The church, through tithes, fast offerings, etc... makes a HUGE amount of money. The Mormons religion is one of the wealthiest organizations of all time. It seems that $201 million would be a drop in the bucket, not a substantial contribution whatsoever. Joe Shmo Mormon pays 10% of his tithes, thinking that some kid in Africa will get a couple t-shirts and vaccines. In all honesty, about $3-4 per person (out of all LDS tithe payers) SINCE 1985 has gone to charitable things like this. Where does the rest go?

You can't tell me that it goes to missionaries, (they pay for most of their own missions), which is messed up because you think the church would have enough decency to help the young men and women that are actively giving up 2 years of their lives to further the assimilation of potential future tithe-bearers.

You can't tell me that the rest of it goes into building temples or churches exclusively. Add up the value of the church's structures, minus it from the total value of the church, take away the measley $201 million, and you have a LOT of money unaccounted for.

I guess Monson was tired of swimming in the secret vault of money or something, and they decided to make the view outside their own windows nicer, and use 5% of their money to create a new mall to look at.

What a sad joke.

Answer 7

Ha, I think I see what you are doing, norrispenguin. Earlier today, we had some questions concerning what the LDS church does with its money. All I can say is, I've only seen the money spent on things that have been beneficial for the community, whether it was for relief efforts for Hurricane Katrina, or to shape up downtown SLC (which has gone downhill in recent years) None of that money comes from tithing. It's really none of my business where that money goes, but from what I have seen, it isn't hurting anyone. Only helping. What the church does with that money has no influence on my testimony.

Answer 8

not a mormon (I have family members who are lds)...but...

I find it funny when something good is mentioned about the mormon church, the folks here let it roll off their backs as if it is nothing. see the above answers... "so? it doesn't make them less of a cult" or "who cares?", but when something NEGATIVE is mentioned about the mormon church, those same people have a field day with it.

it just goes to show that people tend to focus on only the negative aspects of other belief systems rather than the positives.

Answer 9

Actually the Church has sent $201 million in "Humanitarian Cash Donations Since 1985" and $705 million worth "of Humanitarian Material Assistance Since 1985" and they currently have 3,552 "Welfare Service Missionaries (Including Humanitarian Service Missionaries)" in the field. One thing that should be pointed out is those figures are not the church bragging about what it has done it is reporting what it's members have done.
"Donations, principally from Church members but also from people around the world, are used to make relief projects possible. One hundred percent of the donations given to the Church’s humanitarian services are used for relief efforts. The Church absorbs its own overhead costs."
The mall you refer to is going to be funded through "Property Reserve, Inc. (the commercial real estate division of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) and Taubman Centers, Inc." not tithing. Property Reserve, Inc.was founded as part of the churches effort to ensure that down town Salt Lake does not degrade like what happens in other major cities. That was mentioned in General Conference so anyone who watched that already knows about the mall in Salt Lake (I do not remember which one but I could find it if you really want to see it). Why don't I have a problem with the Church starting a real estate corporation to help preserve downtown Salt Lake? Simple a temple that took 40 years to build is there and that temple represents the sacrifice of many of the early members of the church. It was built entirely by volunteer labor. So I am glad to hear that the Church is working so hard to protect the House of the Lord that is there, I would expect nothing less.
Yes we view Temples as literally a House of the Lord. That is why we do not talk about what goes on inside them, because they are very sacred to us. The temple is a place where we go and put aside the cares and worries of the world and focus on learning about our Savior. It provides us an environment that is free from the distractions of everyday life and helps us focus on Christ as we should. I feel that no effort is too great to help protect that environment. Could you imagine going to an environment like I described and while you are heading there you find yourself barraged with the normal stuff that accompanies gang presence, graphite, muggings, murder, shootings, the list goes on. Another thing to think about is how hard would it be to preserve the sacred and holy environment of the Temple with that kind of stuff going on around it?

Edit:
When President Hinckley first announced about the building of the smaller temples he stated "One of these small temples can be constructed for about the same cost it takes just to maintain a large temple for a single year." Temples are very costly structures to build and maintain. The church now has 124 temples in operation and 12 more that are announced or under construction.
To give you an idea of how much it costs to build a temple I quote from the book "House of the Lord" by James E Talmage, referring to the Manti Utah temple (and I should point out that when the Manti temple was being built during the late 1800's the labor was performed on a volunteer basis by local church members so there is no labor costs in the following estament) "The estimated cost of building as it stood ready for dedication was one million dollars." (House of the Lord collestors edition by James E Talmage pg 149) Also mentioned in the same book was that the St. George temple cost over $500,000 and the Logan temple cost over $700,000 (House of the Lord collestors edition by James E Talmage pgs 141, and 144) How much does it cost to build a temple today? I don't know but I do know that it is conciderably more when you factor in inflation and labor costs (which is now done for various reasons).
Additionally there are over LDS 14,500 chapels around the world with more being constructed annually. Those chapels all require money to maintain and construct.
With the churches humanitarian efforts anytime someone donates money to help the needy through the church 100% of that money goes to help those in need. The church absorbs its own overhead costs.
There are tons of things that the churches money goes to.

Answer 10

...and according to the link, the value of the humanitarian efforts exceeds $700 million.

the reason most people don't know of this is because the mormon church doesn't toot their own horn when it comes to relief efforts like other organizations do. for all the flack that mormons catch from the rest of christianity, they sure like to help people out. they were the number one source for relief after hurricane katrina. i think their efforts are often underappreciated.

people seem more interested in trying to tear mormons down instead of applauding them for their strong morals and service for their fellow man.