Posted by:
summer
(
)
Date: December 05, 2019 07:37PM
I respect money, but I don't worship it. I have no problem with people who want to buy a nice home (and perhaps even a second home,) a nice car, exotic vacations, etc. But it seems to me that at a certain point, money becomes problematic. If you own an enormous yacht, you have to pay big bucks to maintain and staff it. If you own a great estate on the order of the manor used in Downton Abbey, then you have a ton of headaches in repairing it and keeping it going.
When is enough, enough? When do you have enough money to not only support yourself and your living descendants in style, but also your descendants far into the foreseeable future? At what point does the money that you own become an obscene amount?
This week, a banana duck taped to a wall sold as a work of art for $120,000. A second "edition" of the same also sold for $120,000. A third "edition" is on offer for $150,000.
https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/art-basel-miami-maurizio-cattelan-banana-scli-intlNow perhaps the people who paid this ridiculous amount of money for a banana duck taped to a wall were simply trying to support a known artist. Perhaps they paid that amount as a joke. Who knows? But I find the news of these sales revolting. This is money that could feed a starving child. This is money that could pay for a deserving student's college education. This is money that could pay for vaccines or clean drinking water. This is money that could make someone, somewhere, feel loved and cared for, someone who desperately *needs* to feel loved and cared for.
This is money that appears to have been thrown away, instead.
I will relate this to the Mormon church, with its relentless demands for tithing -- tithing that often breaks and impoverishes families. This is the season when tithing demands are made. This is the season when Mormon families put heavy loads on their credit cards or take out loans that they call ill afford in order "to be right with the lord."
I read once that the average church donation per family in the U.S. is 2.6% of income per family. This is for churches that generally pay their local staff (which takes up about half of their incomes.) With a volunteer local clergy, the Mormon church would likely only need 1-2%. Not ten percent. Not even close.
And President Nelson has the audacity to ask for 10% from church members who live in third world countries. He has the audacity to ask for 10% from struggling families in first world countries. He has no shame whatsoever. Evidently the god he worships has no shame, either.
The Mormon church has extensive investment holdings. It has an extensive real estate investment portfolio. It owns dozens of businesses. And yet the leaders ask for more.
At what point would the leaders feel ashamed for asking? At what point would the yawning needs of humanity speak to the truly impoverished souls of Nelson and his brethren?
When is enough wealth, enough?