Once had a bishop promise the ward that if they paid double the normal fast offerings, it would come back to them twice over in 30 days or less.

I couldn't believe what I was hearing! Also couldn't resist putting it to the test. Result....it must have been like that slippery treasure JS was always finding. It just kept slipping away.
I paid close attention the next FT meeting to see if anyone would talk about getting double their money back. Not a peep.
They never issued that challenge again, so I'm guessing it didn't work out too well.
That experiment cost me $20. Just another item on the shelf.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/19/2012 03:04PM by Mia.

Something that blows me away is how blatantly money-grubbing the church officials are, and yet the members eat it up!

The leaders have made it clear in no uncertain terms that tithing is at the very top of the list of ways to "show faith." But how could God care about money that much? Isn't putting your time and talents into callings just as great a show of faith? How could that not be enough for a loving god?

I'll quit asking questions and say what I mean to say, which is that I don't see how people fall for this. They can't see how being permanently stretched to the very brink of material and psychological survival is not a state a loving God wants anybody to be in.

Glad I never paid much.

Your bishop did not promise the vague, unprovable "blessings" as leaders normally do. Anyone with basic math skills would know exactly how much extra money should come to them the next month!

So when this did not happen, why didn’t members all band together and go to your bishop, demanding to know why he had issued a false promise?

Probably because everyone individually assumed that the reason they had not received the promised doubling of the fast offering was because they had not been good enough. Oh, the SHAME! Heavenly father had withheld the promised blessing because they had not been WORTHY that month to receive it! OF COURSE they are not going to admit to a fellow ward member that they had failed to measure up!

Sadly, that’s how cults keep members. When the promised result fails to occur, it’s ALWAYS the member’s fault!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/21/2012 11:29AM by WiserWomanNow.

Basically, the morg wants your money and your free work.
And they want you to breed more kids so they can get more tithepayers.

The idea that you you can "bind" a god to give you what you want through offerings actually comes from the Occult.

It goes back to the time when Joseph Smith and his family dabbled in Magic.

Mia, do you know what became of Bishop Madoff?

That explains so many MLM scams in Utah now....

They even have pyramid schemes in the one true church....

with the lowly sheeple supporting the cushy lives of those at the top.

I agree with the issue of making false promises, I have also seen a health and wealth Christian church that the pastor promised people would get rich if they paid their tithing to the church. I will say this about fast offerings, they do go to help people, and when I was an active member I received help a couple of times. One of my concerns about the Christian churches(Not LDS) is that they spend so little on helping the poor. They cannot pay someone's rent or utilities. There is often little emphasis on giving money to fund help for the poor.