You'll have to forgive my ignorance. My expertise is in healthcare/surgery and not law.

Had I known that the top 15 were paid I would have done the following:

1. Quit the church

2. Stoppped paying tithing (I only paid because the church told me it went to building the kingdom, and specifically stated we have no paid ministry)

3. Not served a mission (this was costly for me)

4. Not given up my full-ride baseball scholarship to serve my mission (this was also costly for me)

5. Stopped all finincial and other contributions to a church that misrepresents where the money goes.

Please explain how attempting to recoup money wouldn't hold up in a U.S. court. I'm assuming thousands would have already if it were a winnable case, but again, I lack the understanding of the law pertaining to it.

Thanks!

Richard Packham has covered this topic before. Read his site and see if you have anymore questions to follow up on .

http://packham.n4m.org/lawsuit.htm


If you have a sexual abuse / molestation lawsuit that is valid then that would hold up in court.


Any financial related stuff thought will probably be best of the lawsuit is done in another country, affecting a foreigner and happens to be against the local law there.

Reflect on the fact that Scientology still operates in the United States. And so, the LDS church will continue operations as it seems they have been untouchable for the last 180 years.

This is essentially what Tom Phillips is doing in the UK -- suing the church for fraud regarding the collection of tithing money.

While legally he's not yet succeeded, from a PR standpoint he's succeeded marvelously. So much attention has been brought to this issue.

I'm not a lawyer (and I don't play one on tv), but from what I know, you'd have to show that:
a) fraudulent claims were "official" church statements and not just the ignorant mutterings of local leaders
b) the ONLY reason you gave money to the church was because of the fraudulent official statements the church made
c) you were individually damaged/hurt by giving money because of fraudulent claims.

If you can consult with a non-TBM lawyer for nothing or a low cost, it might be worth talking about. I'd hold out little chance for success, but even if you lose it would greatly raise awareness.

To me, it would be worth it if it simply forced the church to acknowledge that it pays its top 15. That would be another shocking revelation to church members.