What does he do with his two kitchens? Cook for lonely widows? And FIVE baths? I hope he has gold plated fixtures in the bath, at least.
and TSSC encourages single mothers to not feed their children and to not pay their electric bill so that Tommy can live like Hugh Heffner in the playboy mansion?
I've worked in interior design procurement, on regular and multi-million dollar budgets (from a penthouse in NYC to a hotel in Dubai), and these prices are pretty standard for top-of-the-line and custom furnishings. I'm assuming that a lot of items specified are not sourced domestically. For instance, travertine marble for the bathrooms or kitchen, sourced from italy. Custom glasswork from an international source. For the lighting, the sconces could be 5-7k each.
Now these aren't NORMAL prices, but this is certainly not jacked up prices. He could have/should have exercised moderation with his budget, and it's revolting that he was allowed such a budget, but these are legit prices for these sorts of things.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/25/2011 12:54AM by wittyname.
I agree, but even if a private individual who earned their money honestly did it, I'd think that they could have spent the money better; but I'd think it's their money, knock themselves out.
Knowing that it was not his money makes it a lot different for me.
Knowing that people are hurting, and still being manipulated into giving him ten percent of their money, so he can be extravagant, really annoys me.
Knowing that other people are hurting and asking their bishops for help, and he isn't given the money from SLC to help them, and tells them no, really bugs me.
I wish someone would picket Gen Conference with a sign that says:
"Tommy, how many widows could have been helped with the $400,000 that you wasted decorating your condo?"
And have the back side say:
"Tommy, did you earn the money, or did you take it?"
Oh, I agree 100 - no 1,000%! It's absolutely repulsive. The opulence rivals that of the Sheik of Dubai (the project the above-referenced examples come from). The point I was trying to make above was that he's not being taken to the cleaners, rather he's sparing no expense.
Add the "how many people have been foreclosed on because they tithed for your palace instead of paying the mortgage for their own home" to the sign list.
I honestly don't know how he lives with himself, or how anyone can justify that sort of spending. Missionaries have to starve or rely on members just to eat, and this guy's got himself two kitchens. Unreal.
I mean, it really doesn't surprise me that they are spending so extravagantly - nothing is too good for Jesus' representative here on earth, right? I just wonder where this information comes from - credibility check.
Seems reasonable to me and not too extravagant considering the Utah trend to have a full size bathroom for each bedroom and there's plenty of Monson children to visit. If anything it's very moderate considering what could be spent looking at the mansions of other charismatic preachers.
Yes, the GAs are looked after, but as quoted from general conference the limo at the airport isn't for them. And most of the time when they travel they'll stay at a members' home.
TSCC may be a fraud, but the leaders are sincere in their beliefs.
Why does each prophet need to redo the condo? Can you "sincere"ly believe that this is what Jesus or even the original prophets would do with church money? Even if it all came from church investments, why do they need to waste nearly half a million on redecorating? If they expect members to live frugally and give their time and money to a "charity" then they should set the example.
eldermalin Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > > TSCC may be a fraud, but the leaders are sincere > in their beliefs.
This is a disconnect from reality. The leaders of the cult cannot be aware that the entire scheme is based on a lie while at the same time believe it is true. They toe the line and repeat the mantra so as to stay in power and to reap the benefits of that power. Sincere in their beliefs? The leaders only need the poor saps who are members to be sincere in their beliefs.
It says that some items include installation and some do not. If the work was completed, then the installation cost wouldn't be considered separate. Either way, that's a lot.
What kind of condo has two kitchens and five baths?! It must be huge. Even so, they have apparently spared no expense in furnishing the place at $400k. That's a lot of gold fillings.
DH does not like this site (he is till a cultural Mormon), but I was able to have him read this "estimate" by showing him the Google post! He read it and his comment was that "Lawrence is on a mission...lining his pockets with gold and silver!"
I'm sceptical about this thread. Please can someone post the link to the bona fide source of the information, Google is just showing copies of the posts on this forum.
some Anonymous person posts a budget without any documentation backing it up and we're just supposed to believe it? This is silly. It may or may not be true, but how would we know?
I agree with you. I posted earlier on to request a link to some official source. Much as I want it to be true I need something to back it up... (hey, I'm cured!!!)
It's near impossible to get financial disclosure from the church, and I can't believe the contractor would be clueless as to releasing these numbers, beyond saying something safe & nebulous like "quality but common sense renovations were made."