One has to wonder about the orgy of temple building in Utard. I think:

1-TSCC has 100 billion to spend somewhere - why not build, build, build? Gotta blow this tax exempt wad somewhere. Some temples now have revenue generating real estate development around them owned by TSCC (Ogden for ex.). Revenue, revenue, revenue!

2-TSCC membership is waning badly in Utard. Is this cluster of temples some kind of pageant show to demonstrate that TSCC is still relevant and still the proverbial big kid on the block?

Given the steep drop in members and activity in Utard, I really don't think it's about making it easier for the sheeple to access the temples (as we've been told by the charlatans in charge). Rather; it's now about saving face and maintaining relevancy. You'd think they would understand that religious beliefs live in the mind and will of its members. Large and spacious buildings really mean nothing. It is abundantly clear that TSCC is losing the battle. It's a church that is rotten at its core should be hewn down and cast into the fire.


https://www.ksl.com/article/50136013/heres-an-update-on-all-the-latter-day-saint-temples-planned-under-construction-or-renovation-in-utah

A few points:
"gotta blow this tax-exempt wad somewhere". No they don't. You launder money for two main reasons. 1) to hide it and avoid taxes. LDS money is already tax-exempt. 2) to make illegally obtained money appear to have come from a legal source, and pay taxes on it, so as not to get convicted of tax evasion. That was what got Al Capone arrested and convicted.

LDS Inc does not need to launder money for either of those reasons. Their money is already tax-free, and already legal. We may not like that, but it is what it is.

I'm pretty sure they build temples because the amount of tithing generated by people near the temples being pressured to keep a current TR pays for the temple. If they were building temples just to give money to contractors, they could be building basically anything to do that. In particular they could build lots more chapels and give each ward their own building. They clearly are not doing that. They work to shoehorn as many wards into ward houses as they can get away with.


Second: membership is waning badly in Utard. I'd describe it more as slowly sinking into the mire, rather than waning badly. It may be the 700 lb gorilla rather than the 800 lb one, but it still packs a serious punch in Utah.


There may be some truth to claims that LDS Inc is profiting from involvement in housing developments around temples. I know the Tooele temple site was moved when local residents in Erda objected to the housing LDS Inc planned to put around the temple, so they took their ball and moved to Tooele.


I don't know that there is a steep drop in activity. We need to see what happens post-covid. I'm hoping there is a steep drop. In the past, I would again describe it as slowly sinking into the mire.


I think all the temples are being built mostly for tithing. That would be very easy to bean-count. They may have a secondary motivation in that it might keep more members engaged in the church if the temple is so close they can't really say it is too much trouble to attend. I really doubt that is going to work for keeping members, but I think they (the Q15) believe it.

As for temple property itself being some sort of real estate investment - not hardly. The buildings are expensive to build, expensive to maintain, and if a temple and its land ever were sold, the building would essentially be a tear-down. Having to tear down a huge building and parking lot doesn't add to the value of the land. It lowers it.

Yeah, there is no real estate tax on the land, but that is of zero benefit to anyone who buys it. Unless they are a tax-exempt organization, the land becomes fully taxable when they buy it.


I think that long term, all these temples are going to be albatrosses that LDS Inc will eventually have to unload. They obviously think otherwise, and at least one of us is wrong. Unfortunately I won't live long enough to see if I am right. :-/

Perhaps the powers in Ew-tah will pass some sort of legislation ala the voter suppression that Repubs are enacting all around the U.S., Georgia taking the lead.

Some ppl moving to Ew-tah are herd Republican voters, but the herd might be thinning...

Also, the votes / laws about lottery & marijuana didn't happen by accident, ya know.

ChurchCo has mastered the discipline of mixing 'political' & 'religious' issues, that probably will bring more Uber-TBMs to the surface to get on the bandwagon so they can 'defend the faith'...

this might have been sub rosa a while ago, but that cover has been blown.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/30/2021 07:36PM by GNPE.

I think it is more of control than anything else.

I remember in the 60 lots of folks didn't even have temple recommends. If they needed to attend an endowment session they'd scurry up one. For sealings I know folks that just showed up with expired recommends and the temple president would give them a pass to attend the sealing.

Outside of areas that had no easy temple access members might only have one or two in their lifetimes.

I was overseas for almost a decade and with no temple for a thousand miles it never ever even came up as needing one unless someone went stateside.

No recommend means no interviews hence no intrusion into peoples lives. No control.