I an in the UK. Also I am an exmormon who is legal guardian to my downs syndrome middle aged brother who lives in an assisted sheltered house overseen by the local Authority social services people.

Each year I meet with these folks to review his needs and future support, given that he is getting older. Amongst the issues discussed in the 3 hour meeting was the spectre of end of life care. They informed me that his file stated his religion as mormon but I asked that they remove that statement as our core family tradition has always been Anglican.

They asked me why and this is where things became 'interesting'. I stated that until our parents' death he, and another now deceased handicapped sibling, had paid tithing. Having explained how the church uses fear tactics to get the holders of the purse strings, previously or TBM mother, to pay pray and obey, they were shocked.

They stated that they have other clients who register as mormon and they would now be obliged to investigate the 10 percent levy on Government money paid to disabled and welfare recipients in their region.

Have I started something?

anon

I hope so.

Maybe. But they should be informed. It's important that the disability money gets to its intended recipients, and not a third party beneficiary like TSCC.

The mormon church did nothing to deserve this money which is intended to help those with disabilities.

I wonder if there is a policy on folks putting money in the offering plate?

I know it's no where the 10 percent levy.

Be interesting to find out.

m

Might be interesting to see if the government sues the church for the return of donations.

The offering plate doesn't come with a minimum purchase requirement. People put in typically what they can afford to. There are no mandates to my knowledge of how a person spends their money, including if they are on public relief.

It would be as foolish to squander it on donations if that's all someone is getting, than to play lotto, gamble, or booze it up.

Right. It is not necessary to put anything in the offering plate, and other churchgoers will not look down on you if this is the case. Or you can just put in a token amount.

Good for you. I hope that the authorities do investigate it. It is shocking that the Mormon church would demand, expect, or accept a 10% tithing from the poor and disabled.

They did ask where tithing was sent once collected. I told them all tithing is collated in Salt Lake City. They weren't happy that Government money is being extorted from recipients and sent to the US. We had a long detailed conversation about this issue so you can imagine what they learned.

anon

Certainly, any money obtained from government largesse ought not to go to a religion when it's NOT the desire of someone mentally competent to understand what and why they're doing it. Was the recipient judged to not require baptism? If so no judgment can be made; he's on a free pass to Paradise. Let's get the church off that gravy train!

As for money leaving the British Isles for Zion, that doesn't happen. All of Europe is a money pit for the church. Yay!

Good for you, I hope this is investigated and that it gets out in the world media. I think this is disgusting that the cult gets away with exploiting those with disabilities, as well as the elderly. It's a form of abuse in my opinion.

The elderly in nursing homes are expected to fork over 10% of their scant living allowance.

I may get some feedback and if I do I'll let you folks know

anon

I hope a scandal breaks out in the media, and hits the U.S. Both Gov and taxpayers will be outraged at a church that grabs THEIR money from the most vulnerable. I will be thrilled if both Govs sue the LDS church! And bring criminal charges too, perhaps. Those scoundrels deserve all that they may get.

Unless the governmental organization's laws and regulations forbid the funds to be used for anything other than the recipients care, there isn't anything anyone can do keep money going to tithing.

If the patient has given someone power of attorney, then that person can decide how funds are expended.

It's wrong for many reasons. It's likewise wrong that parents should pay tithing on child support. Has that ever been challenged?

There's alot of people in my mid singles ward that seem to live off of SSI or some kind of government assistance, one I know could work but claims her weight and bad knees prevent her from standing too long but she's at every social event moving just fine, they love to brag about being full tithe payers with there free income

Everyone on Social Security or SSI disability gets reviewed, at varying periods, depending on the nature of the disability. The longest period, last I knew, was 7 years between reviews.

Just because a person has limited ability to be on their feet is not enough to get disability. They would also look into the person's education and work experience to see if they could do a desk-type job. Being unable to return to your previous job won't necessarily do it, either. They look for "transferable skills" - something you already know how to do that could be re-routed into a new type of job.

In the U.S., Disability is very, very difficult to qualify for.

Seems the Church would have recognized the expediency of exempting the mentally handicapped on gov. assistance because of the appearance it has to the public. Would be interesting to hear a response from the Church on this which is unlikely.

ALL GOV'T SHOULD PASS A LAW THAT RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTIONS STAY IN THAT COUNTRY..

To not do so is Approval for Robbery!

That would never happen. What about wealthy countries whose churches send aid to poorer country or countries in disaster?

Sounds like a good deed!

Whilst it is true that benefit recipients can spend as they see fit, the officers seemed to be more interested in the methods used by the church to persuade people to hand over money to the church, 10% of everything received was perceived by them, as evidenced by our conversation, as a form of extortion and abuse of the vulnerable. I wonder if they will examine that issue.

anon

On the other hand the Equality act 2010 means those with religious beliefs are protected characteristics who are entiteled to have adjustments made for their belief which maps over to the Human Rights Act 1998 freedom to practice their belief how they wish....its a sticky wicket and the church knows it.
Those people on the other hand need those benefits for their disability...disabilities are expensive to live with. So in that sense thought the church has a rule of tithe, essentially THEY too would be breaching the Equality act by NOT allowing the person to be exempt....hhhmm interesting ...will be good to see what happens.

I agree that the church lawyers would probably point that if someone is getting gov't benefits and gives some to a tribal religious entity or their local Anglican church, even a 'Star Wars' based group, they would win a lawsuit over "religious rights".

But I doubt that any of those other groups are one-tenth (pun not intended) as pushy about getting their cut.

IMO a decent church would not want more than a token donation (if that) from a mentally handicapped member living on disability. I don't know of any decent church that would expect a 10% tithe from such a member.

Absolutely! You are on the right track.

Here is the important caveat as far as the TSCC is concerned.
Was your Down's syndrome brother ever baptized?

Since Mormon doctrine puts forward that these innocents cannot be tempted and are automatically in the Celestial Kingdom, they do not have even the slightest claim on their money.


As a Direct Service Professional for Disabled adults, we are under very strict guidelines on how to help the disabled to handle their money. We have to first, treat them with respect, second remind them what they really wanted to spend their money on after discussing their budget; example; if you go out to eat today you will have less money to spend for the t-shirt and autographed photo of the singer whose concert you are going to go see this Friday.
Third, if an adult diabetic wants to buy the candy bar after being counseled not to; they are still adults and can buy the candy bar.


The upshot is; your wonderful brother can be guided to make good decisions about his money, but the state is required to make an accounting of where the money went!
An adult who doesn't even understand the whole gospel package as required for membership has no business donating even a ha'penny to the robbing TSCC!!!

Thank you all for your responses. As the conversation was quite lengthy I'd like to offer more detail. I told the officers how they managed to extort the money. My brother and sister, both profoundly handicapped and not baptised, living with our pensioner mother, were purported to be guaranteed their CK reward and mother was told that she had to pay up to guarantee that she would be with them. Given that she was in her twilight years she paid 10% on ALL the money she received, being Attendance Allowance, Disability for 2 and her own pension. She was also asked to hand over 10% of charitable receipts, i.e grant for wheelchair, wet room, diapers, mobility aids and mobility/car/taxi awards.

anon

Well done for being a protector of vulnerable people. You are more like Jesus than his church.

i'm autistic. I'm verbal but it's still a pretty severe case I cannot interact with others well at all. I cannot keep conversations going with people for long at all. And I have very severe sensory overload issues. Several years ago I used to have a job but I got fired for not being chatty enough.

Right after I lost my job I had a bishop interview. My bishop was very kind and asked me how I was doing. I told him I was frusterated I am disabled and had just lost my job. And he acted very nice and wished me well. But then later he called me and was like "I see your not paying tithing" I was a bit surprised seeing as how I had JUST told him I had just LOST MY JOB but I figured id tell him again and that would be the end of it.

Well I told him again and he started acting a little angry and told me "well you should pay it anyways!" I'm just thinking to myself with what money exactly?! I mean what did he want me to do go be a prostitute or something?! Gosh! Now that I know how dishonest the mormon church is with tithing it makes me extremely glad I stopped going to chuch and never payed it! I feel so bad for people on disability who feel like they need to pay it! The church is so evil for doing this to disabled people! And what?! They take it from child support too?! Although why am I even surprised? Ugh! The cult needs to go down already!