Posted by:
benjimanluther
(
)
Date: December 02, 2010 11:18PM
This is inspired by the thread about whether exmo pianists and organists felt used when they played for church.
Long story short, I am a professional musician, and a big part of my income is from church work. Based on market rates, I estimate that I donated about $25,000 worth of free organ playing to the church during my college and mission years. Additionally, I spent 18 months as ward chorister and choir director. Where I live now, an equivalent professional position would have paid $15-30,000 during that time. So, the total value of the professional services I donated to the Corporation is somewhere between $40-55,000.
The thing that really ticks me off about this whole thing is that while I lived in Utah, the church was simultaneously screwing me three different ways: by taking my tithing money, utilizing my professional services for free, and undermining my ability to achieve professional success by eliminating demand for paid keyboardists and artificially reducing market rates for music teachers.
Classical music is a very difficult career path that takes many years of hard work before it starts to pay off. In most parts of the country a good keyboardist can make decent money doing church work, but the Mormon Corporation has effectively eliminated that opportunity in Utah by creating a culture in which musicians are expected to perform in church for free. Additionally, families earning what would be a middle-class income are forced by the exorbitant church tax to become cheapskates just to survive. Things like music lessons become luxuries that some families just can't afford unless teachers drastically reduce their prices.
Back in the 1800's, the church used to accept in-kind donations in lieu of cash for tithing. Farmers could donate milk or eggs as their tithing, which would then be used to help needy families. The market value of the professional services I donated to the church far exceeded gross tithing on the income earned by my wife and I during those years. The way I figure it, we should have been able to count that as tithing. That would have allowed us to have a comfortable savings margin in addition to our modest budget. Instead, we struggled to make ends meet, while the church took the bulk of what was left after taxes and living costs.
Meanwhile, MoCorp hands out IOU's in the form of promised eternal blessings for which it can never be held accountable, and preaches about how fortunate we are to have the restored gospel of Cheese and Rice in our lives.
So, yes, I feel used.