I just do not get it?

Another 18 Temples announced that will put LDS Inc. at 300 in eventual operation.

Membership has stagnated, activity is way down, they are combining wards, selling chapels, trying to cover costs by issuing service projects. They now tell the youth they must go on missions, etc. etc.

Inflation is running wild worldwide, people can hardly pay their bills, medical costs are outrageous, for us in the U.S. we are on the verge of loosing Social Sercurity. Construction costs are crazy, there are not enough workers, etc. etc.

And they keep building temples that will cost twice as much. They will cost far more to heat and cool and maintain. And where are they going to get all these members to staff them? And how much are they going to utilized, I mean what, 3 or 4 hours daily at best for a building that cost millions on millions to build, and then millions to renovate them over the years?

I mean this is just nuts, nobody in their right mind would do this. Then on KSL's website I read comments after the conference articles. Saying when is the temple in Missouri going to be announced, another says that they are glad to pay tithing, because it humbles them to go without and sacrifice. I mean really people, hows that future looking when you get to retirement? Then does it occur to any of them, that if Christ really did come back, there would be no need for money. So whats with the comments of we are blessed with this huge fund for the return of christ, I mean come on! And not only do they pay 10% of their income, they pay thousands to send a kid on a mission. My Mother In Law was talking to me a couple of weeks ago, her husband passed away about 5 years ago. His only desire in retirement was to serve missons, thats where he had planned to spend every dime of their retirement. I just stood there looking at her with a smile and nodding my head, while in the back of my mind I was screaming "what the hell".

I mean this is just nuts, and then I see this picture of Russell Nelson griping the wrist of Dalin Oaks while sitting in their plush red chairs. I mean those guys are old, really old. And they have this stupid grin on their faces, and I think to myself, "Hell these guys are clueless, they have no idea what is going on outside their little bubble of self righteousness.

None of it makes any sense, the more I look in from the outside, it just makes me wonder why people cannot see how bad the con is, logically the whole thing just boggles my mind.

Alright, I have had my rant. What do you think?

The church needs a way to launder its money. Temple building is probably the best way to dodge capital gains taxes.

The church is a tax-exempt organization.
They do not have to pay capital gains taxes whether they build temples or not.

https://theconversation.com/amid-calls-to-taxthechurches-what-and-how-much-do-us-religious-organizations-not-pay-the-taxman-164988

"Religious organizations also pay no taxes on their investments, whether it be interest they earn on their investments or in capital gains – the increased value of stock from when the stock was purchased."

Not only that but building temples converts tax-free money into taxable income to the construction companies. The belief that building temples somehow avoids taxes is one of the more clueless zombie beliefs around here that refuses to die.

Unfortunately, both inside and outside of Mormonism, there are a lot of people who believe that their religious faith and the physical symbols of that faith (temples, churches, chapels, etc.) are beyond the strictures of the world, and they are willing to therefore give everything they have to support that faith, even if it keeps them poor and isolated. Even more unfortunately (and this is found in the parable of the Widow's Mites in the New Testament), the Bible and other religious texts explicitly encourage this kind of cultish behavior.

1- This is the only game plan they know. They really don't know how to change nor do they want to change their end game of building temples.

2- I think they build temples to virtue signal their biggest tithe payers and donors. Look the church is growing- the church is true. The church wants the biggest donors to feel that they are part of a successful [winning] organization.

3- Temples could boost the morale of young missionaries- it's part of the illusion that God's church has spread across the land.

4- It further enslaves/guilts existing members. Here's a potential example. The church is planning to build a temple in Elko Nevada. Elko is really off the beaten path- middle of nowhere. So the church builds it then the top leaders can complain and berate the members- The Lord provides you a beautiful temple and you can't be bothered to show up once a month? -Shame on you!

I have previously shared how the church expected members to donate their time at the church's pear (welfare farm). One stake president would look at the attendance logs when calling people in for their TR interviews.

Once the church sold its welfare farm, it got worse! Now members were assigned to cannery duty! What's the catch? The church would buy certain lots of incoming crates of harvested tomatoes and negotiate time to "work" the cannery. The local leaders and stake presidency would cold-call members to report to the cannery for a 12 hour shift. My Mom worked for a member (dentist) and he closed his practice to work a cannery shift. Not only did my Mom lose a day's pay but she got manipulated to work the same shift!

"Not only did my Mom lose a day's pay but she got manipulated to work the same shift!"

Wow double Whammy no pay and no time off.

Thank you for telling us the inside scoop. Very interesting how the lds church still uses it's members although they are wealthy now.

The wealthy Mormon faithful need new travel destinations.

"Saying when is the temple in Missouri going to be announced"

Like never. The C of C owns the land and they already have their spiral needle-nose temple on it.

If the church wanted to buy the property, they would likely have done it by now. They certainly have the means. I doubt the C of C would turn down, say, $5B for the Temple Lot; SLC wouldn't even miss the cash, and TBMs would say smugly, "See? That's why we needed all that money!" But they don't.

----

"another says that they are glad to pay tithing, because it humbles them to go without and sacrifice"

Some people deserve to be mormon. That isn't a compliment, and I don't feel sorry for them.

> Some people deserve to be mormon.

Ouch. I love it!

Does ChurchCo 'have to' build a temple on land now owned by C of C?

Short answer, yes, if they intend to go by their own history. The property is called the "Temple Lot" for a reason. Smith & Co. dedicated it for their prophesied New Jerusalem temple in 1831.

And CoC doesn't own it. The small sect owning it won't die off and their reason they exist is to own the temple lot.

Hm. After further review, I stand corrected. It had escaped me just how splinterrific the church is. Let's see if I have this right.

On one hand, there's the Community of Christ (CofC) that used to be the RLDS. They're the ones with who built Curly Temple (and I think own the Kirtland one as well?).

On the other, there's the Church of Christ Temple Lot (CCTL), AKA the Hedrickites. They've got the deed to the actual New Jerusalem temple site, across the street from Curly.

I wonder what CCTL's endgame is. They can't indefinitely outwait the big-ass church with its big-ass resources. Maybe as small as they are, they'd be willing to sell out for a couple billion and vanish with their platinum parachute. Or maybe Kirton McConkie is patiently biding its time until CCTL eventually dies off, then swoops in and picks it up on the cheap in an estate sale. You know that SLC would love to own the property for bragging rights and to use it as bait to keep the faithful in a constant state of tithe-paying anticipation. "Only the best and most loyal will be invited. Stay prepared…"

I wonder why the Temple Lot group does not build a temple to hasten the return of the Jesus. Money is probably a problem, but if they could start building it and spoil the plot of land, that would be great.

Wasn't there a plot of land dedicated for a temple by Moroni or some 'ancient'? Was that Manti? I don't know much of what I'm talking about here... just talking with memory vapors here.

I am waiting for the temple to be built at the temple lot in Missouri. More temples are being build but not the one that Joseph Smith had prophecied.

Like the "friend" who has been in many leadership positions and we were very good friends. He's the one who told me that it is my fault my husband cheated. It is, after all, the woman's job to keep them satisfied whether he is gay or not.

Many others. Like the leaders I dealt with before I got married. LIKE MY COUSIN who is as mormon as they come. I loved telling him I had been in a relationship with my boyfriend for 15 years at the last time I saw my cousin. He was the man I had to get my TR from when I got married. He was horrible. I'm his mom's favorite niece. She didn't like him much.

For the church temples are works of art and their gallery is the world. Doesn't matter if they are empty. They aren't meant to be filled with living people.

Ironically, of the three most important temples of Joseph Smith's time the LDS only own one of these so called sacred grounds.

And it is the first masonry one. The first was a glorified chapel. The second was supposed to be a temple complex for the New Jerusalem and the third became like unto Solomon's temple only in being a part of enacting an allegory with mysteries.

Stupid things to get a complex over.

Elder Berry Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Ironically, of the three most important temples of
> Joseph Smith's time the LDS only own one of these
> so called sacred grounds.
>
> And it is the first masonry one. The first was a
> glorified chapel.

Since Freemasonry was solidly involved in founding the Mormon church, (as they were with the JAYDUBS and other such), it's no wonder their temple rituals resemble the stupid rites you recite when you go there.

I can't wrap my mind around the fact that eighteen new temples have been announced. That is beyond crazy. With the current backlog, even six would have been a lot.

I don't know what Rusty can be thinking. Is it a, "if we build it, they will come" mentality? Does he think it will make recruitment easier if a temple is nearby? What do the rest of the Q15 think about this?

Let's not beat our heads against the wall looking for logic in people who do not operate from reason.

Rus Narcisson is making the decisions now, and he needs more, bigger, fancier temples to satiate his ego. I doubt there's any more thought that goes into it than that.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/04/2022 06:42PM by skp.

You haven't seen anything yet. Russ will announce 30 temples at the next conference.

Amazing to watch them moving into caricatures of what it used to mean to be mormon.

There are now probably more real life Mormons outside the church than real life Mormons attending church.