Wow, just when you think the stinginess of the church has hit its lowest point. I guess nothing should surprise me about the lds church, but it sill does! <sigh>

A 12 year old wants to build a wheelchair ramp for the cultural hall at his lds building. Great, but why can't the church fund the project? They have enough money for this. Or have the ward members donate one Sundays tithing money to the project.


http://www.ksl.com/?sid=36539285&nid=1284&title=boy-scout-makes-lds-building-accessible-for-elderly-disabled

"Jim will need to raise $4,300. His older brother set up a Go FundMe for the project and so far it has raised more than $4,100."

I just remember something that bothered me as a member. There was no department/agency/branch of the church where people could get assistance from. I mean, the Catholic and Protestant churches have them here in Southern Ontario, but not the Mormon church. The answer always was "well, the members in Utah see a need and start their own organizations...." but that was not the answer, what does the LDS church do for their communities? Nothing I guess, since they cannot even fund their own accessibility ramp.

Was the church ever approached to fund the project? Did the church ever flat out turn down such a request?

I can EASILY see the Boy Scout telling the Bishop about his idea for a project and stating that through fundraising it wouldn't cost the ward/church a dime. Why would the church/ward turn that down?

"Why would the ward/church turn that down?" Umm, because a "ward/church" is not supposed to be absolutely craven. Religion and morality, and all that not-for-profit-driven stuff.

Hi Mr. Happy,

You ask "Was the church ever approached to fund the project?". It doesn't say in the article if he did but I would suspect no. Why? Because members just don't do that, period. At least not in this area. Any idea must be funded by the members, not the "ward budget" whatever that is because nobody other than the bishop knows.

But your point brings up a question. Where would a member go to get funding for anything? They would probably be refer to a bishop, whose hands are tied. We know that all tithing goes to SLC and only a small budget is returned.


There was a saying in our stake, the fastest way to lose your testimony is to serve as the financial clerk.

And that saying is absolutely spot-on.

I've seen members do the same after a loved one died and faithfully paid the morg their tithing etc... With all the money that the morg has surely they can give it to back to grieving families or even a ramp for a Eagle Scout project!!??

This type of publicity online, particularly with the number of visitors GFundMe gets is not a good thing for LDS Inc.

Actions such as this will add to the upcoming national discussion about taxing churches.

I googled the lds church in Wellington, UT and the building already had wheelchair ramps...at least according to google street view taken Aug 2008. You can pretty much view all sides of the building.

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.5436627,-110.7331194,3a,75y,170.43h,96.85t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1ssEdaPJPHcStsqmnfCkrBwQ!2e0!7i3328!8i1664

The ramp he wants to build is for the cultural hall, not the building itself.

Isn't this an ADA requirement anyways to have a ramp for that building??

branandco Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Isn't this an ADA requirement anyways to have a
> ramp for that building??

Religious facilities are exempt from the ADA:

"III-1.5000 Religious entities. Religious entities are exempt from the requirements of title III of the ADA."

http://www.ada.gov/taman3.html

Wow - seriously?

Wtf? I'm sick of religions being exempt from everything in our society. Especially greedy corporate religions like Mormonism and Scientology. This will probably ever be addressed tho, since no politician wants to piss off the religious right.

From the comments, it doesn't really give the church a good image. They have money to spend on resorts and cattle ranches, but not this. Someone commented the church does care about the disabled. I thought, they only care about getting 10% of their disability check.

Oh you are so right! My TBM sister has chronic progressive MS. She lives her life in her wheelchair and at this point barely has the use of her hands or legs or ...anything left. She lives on SSDI and food stamps in a section 8 apartment. You bet she gives 10% of her SSDI check to TSCC. Makes me angry, but now you are the only ones who know. I keep my opinions to myself around family.

She is upset with her bishop because she asked for help with food from the church, and the pric said that they don't want her to get dependent on them. Just who is depending upon whom? How could anyone look at her circumstances and accept a tithe?

Thanks for letting me vent!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/18/2015 12:15AM by mswhinny.

That is truly pathetic. Perhaps you can investigate non-Mormon food pantries, meals on wheels, etc. I can tell you at the food pantry that was run by my last school, anyone who showed up was given at least a couple of boxes worth of food, no questions asked. So someone could go on behalf of your sister. Or if you contacted Catholic Charities I am sure they would help as well.

Honestly, I wish this horrendous behavior on the part of LDS church officials was better publicized. They have no sense of shame at all.

There are many good people, Mormons included, that I am grateful for; they help, love and support my sister. Meals on Wheels is an organization that I cannot say enough good about! TSCC - not so much.

I don't get this. Of course it is KSL, but they are treating this like a heartwarming story rather than shaming the church for having total disregard for people with disabilities, and being unwilling to part with the few thousand dollars required to fix this. This should be a huge black eye for the church.

That's true, the church only cares about getting 10% of disability checks. I found this out when my ex-husband's former roommate was a HT for someone who was born blind, yet he paid tithing on his SSI check every month. This person in the singles ward could only afford to live in a neighborhood that was full of crime because what he was able to keep after tithing wasn't anywhere enough for rent in a safer neighborhood.

I saw that kind of thing many times. If they were so against receiving any money from the stats, they wouldn't accept it. Total hypocrisy.

I saw both problems (wanting 10% of disability check and not helping with food) when a lds friend of mine was receiving disability. I've been out of the church for 20 years and I'm now on disability. I am so thankful I'm not paying disability money to the mormon church.

If the church building needs a wheelchair ramp to allow people to enter, it should be doing this on it's own to be in compliance with ADA.

They should just boycott the cult's buildings (everyone should) until they make them all handicap accessible. All people should have use of all of the rooms in the CULT's buildings and the CULT should pay for it.
Otherwise everyone in the CULT should boycott CULT attendance.
I think it is illegal to not have handicap access.

It says the church is covering $7900 of the costs. His go-fund-me was to cover the rest of it.

Either way, they should have built it for disability access to begin with. Required by law or not. It's not like they have to come up with a new design for it. They have standard designs they just plop down for these McChurches.

The CULTural hall is a separate building? Weird...

Actually this looks like it's just for the rear entrance to the building. I think his eagle project would have been better spent somewhere else. This is a win...for the contractors.

He says some people can't get in to do church activities because of it, so I doubt that's all it is.

Again this is not a valid Eagle project. Eagle projects can not be for the benefit of the Charter Partner. I would never have approved this project. Mormon Eagle Scouts are useless. They lack scout skills. My Tenderfoot Scouts would regularly beat Morgan Eagle Scouts at camporees. I've caught Mormon Eagle Scouts lying during their board of reviews, but the district made me pass them anyway. I quit doing eagle boards because of it. The Mormon church is a stain on scouting.

Steve (Eagle Scout, OA Vigil Honor, and Silver Beaver)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/17/2015 10:41PM by magic823.