The problem is that tithing is so central to Mormonism that to eliminating it would make Mormonism unrecognizable.

Mormonism makes a huge deal that it is better than other churches because other churches do not follow the teaching of the Bible to pay a full tithe.

It says that you can't be saved by not paying tithing.

It is a CORE DOCTRINE.

You can say paying tithing is a matter of faith, just like temple attendance, reading scriptures, etc. You do it out of faith alone, even if it doesn't make much sense otherwise.

If you take faith out of religion, all you have is logic, and religion has a tough time dealing with logic alone.

Again, tithing is a CORE DOCTRINE.

No matter what the leaders use the tithing for, the important thing is that you pay it.

Another doctrine of the Church is that the leaders can never lead you astray, and you should never criticize them, even if the criticism is true. So you should pay your tithing no matter what.

The Church's wealth is a byproduct of its doctrine.

The Church is one of the few churches that successfully get their members to pay 10%.

How does the Church do this? This goes a long way in explaining why religious belief is so central to human nature. It shows how hard it is to get people to question their beliefs. It shows how easy it is for humans to be illogical.

The thing about tithing is that it gives awful people a reason to believe that no matter how dishonest, abusive, manipulative, greedy, or whatever they are, they can still get to heaven. I mean, they know that the temple is the closest thing to heaven on Earth, and the most important thing you need to be to get into the temple is not to be honest, not to be nice, just to be a full tithe payer.

If they made tithing into a pledge amount or gave low income people a pass, the deplorable people wouldn’t feel special. It really does tell them that they can buy their way into heaven. We all know Mormonism isn’t a church, it’s a business. They are not interested in helping struggling people. The full 10% tithing requirement is the cornerstone of their whole business model. The closer a lot of people get to death, especially if they know there are things in their lives they might be held to account for, the more tithing they will pay. Even if it means leaving their spouse in debt. Tithing is like a drug to them at that point. It’s the only thing that gives them some relief from the fear of that final judgment they’ve been so brainwashed with.