I remember reading some stuff about the Mormon church where they tithe more than 10%, I think 15%? Anyway it's definitely a form of social security, apparently if you're financially stretched they pay your bills and rent for you. One woman described how her single mother was helped out with living costs long term as she grew up. On the other hand they were over involved with parishioners lives but I was pretty impressed with how they help out the less fortunate in their community.
Benevolence (the church providing material assistance) is a way for the church (not just the Mormon church) to have influence in the community and greater control over members' lives. First there is the motivation of gratefulness that encourages a willingness to give the church (and those who lead it) the benefit of the doubt. On the flip side, there is the motivation of fear for members receiving aid that any benefits provided by the church can be withdrawn if one does not stay in the good grace of the leadership and/or congregation.
That's a pretty cynical way to look at it. When I was growing up in poverty, my church was very good about helping us put food on the table, get presents at Christmas when we couldn't afford anything, and help with heating oil in the winter. They didn't ask for anything back at all.
All very commendable. That doesn't change the fact that by providing this support, your church had additional influence over your parents that they would not have had otherwise.
If Christians have received the Grace of God, then they should naturally want to extend that grace to others by helping the needy. If Christians aren't doing that, then you have to question whether they are really Christians or if they are just charlatans.
No disagreement, but the purity of motives does not mean that the church providing the benevolence is not creating a situation in which they have power of those they assist, particularly for members who one would expect to receive more support (and be more expected to conform) than nonmembers. That is why some conservative churches are against government welfare. When people can get help from the government and not from the church, the church loses influence.
<Note: I was raised mormon, served a mission, then left the church in my middle 20's. Its been about 15 years since I set foot in an LDS chapel. I will not return.>
Your comments about controlling members' lives etc. is very true in this community. I don't know how unique it is to the LDS faith however I have also tried (and failed) to find a spiritual outlet in other traditional faiths and found their tithing requirements to be far less invasive in their doctrine, however I believe the Mormons are not alone in their practice.
What it costs to be Mormon:The LDS faith does collect a 10% tithe, quoting Malachi 3:10 to justify the practice. Originally, Brigham Young instructed the practice of tithing as a way to feed and clothe the community as it settled Utah and the rockies, then the practice fell out of favour, eventually being brought back by Lorenzo Snow when the church was facing bankruptcy in the late 1800's.
Today it is unclear what the church uses tithing for. In addition to teh 10% tithe, a monthly fast offering is collected which is used to supply food and cover bills for those who can't feed/care for themselves. Meals are also often supplied by the women's auxilliary (Relief Society) in the case of sickness disease, however these are volunteered by individuals and not paid for by the church.
How is the tithe used, where is income generated?It appears that the LDS Church uses the tithes to fund business startups and to run its temples and other institutions. These institutions are diverse and range from benevolent to outright money makers.
Many are familiar with the LDS university and college program including BYU, BYU Hawaii, and Rick's College. But these are funded through tuition and student fees as well as the same funding avenues as any other higher education facility.
The church also runs the Polynesian Cultural centre - essentially a theme park in Hawaii - which claims to be a religious centre, but offers very little of moral or religious value. This is funded through gate admissions.
http://www.polynesia.com/The church owns a number of successful web domains through investment or directly including ancestry.com - started by a Utah Mormon, still held at an arms length with an agreement from the church's investment branch, and the directly LDS owned familysearch.com while there are other church owned sites, these two are the ones with the most media coverage.
The LDS faith does have a very full investment portfolio though which includes large real estate holdings worldwide such as the following (which come quickly to mind):
http://www.deseretranchflorida.com/https://www.lds.org/tools/print/article/narrow/?url=/locations/camping/sites/1065866&lang=enghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_Creek_Center They also own their own travel agency which is used to move missionaries and church leadership around the world:
It was Murdoch travel, but google is failing me. Maybe its been sold off or something.
The Church owns a number of canning plants, orchards, and farms with which they both produce for Deseret Industries (The LDS Welfare branch) as well as for commercial sale.
How much of the business interest of the church is funded through tithes is unclear since the LDS community has never opened their books to the public, however; since all the business interests are operated under the umbrella of the church, their tax bill is known absolutely. $0.00
The control bit:So how does Mormonism use tithing to control its membership? This one is easy. Tithing is taught early on to kids in preschool using simple lessons, and the notion of teaching giving back to the community is a good one. By the time a child is in their pre-teens, the idea is ingrained as part of their faith.
As a pre-teen, the child will have their first opportunity to attend a Mormon Temple, likely to perform baptisms for the dead. (we can talk about that doctrine some other time) this rite of passage is usually conducted as a group outing, and before attending the temple, the child will have to attend a worthiness interview with their 'priest' (called a Bishop). In that interview, one of the many worthiness questions will be whether the child is a full tithe payer. In the event they are not, the Bishop can declare them unworthy to attend.
It is an embarrassing thing for a teen to face their social web and admit that they will not be attending the temple since they are unworthy. Often the youth leaders will take the unworthy kids along on the Temple trip (in my case a 10 hour drive from Toronto to Washington DC) to 'feel the spirit of the place'. There the child will sit outside alone and wait for their friends to come back out of the temple and join them. It can leave a lasting impression. Depending on the distance to the temple, this scenario may play itself out monthly (we now have a temple in Toronto, so the kids go frequently) or semi-annually.
As the child grows, more temple trips are required for other life experiences, you cannot serve a mission without first attending the temple. You cannot have an eternal family without attending the temple. For converts to the religion, some areas are now requiring that tithes be paid in order to be accepted for baptism.
The essence of all this is that while Mormons believe that a person can leave this world and enter 'a lower degree of glory' after death without tithes or temple attendance, the only way to achieve the 'highest degree of glory' and enter the celestial kingdom (essentially heaven) is through temple attendance - which is predicated upon paying a full tithe. The great threat to all this is that a family cannot be together in heaven if one of its members fails to pay up. And in a religion that builds its entire dogma on the eternal nature of the family, that threat is huge.
All these years later this one song still sticks with me on the subject -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8_-UsTcE3A - Now go pay your tithing or you will be the reason your family isn't in heaven. <---- Sarcasm.
Pish-posh applesauce. I find my God in other places now.
