Has anyone else noticed that mormons are really willing to help other mormons, but that most other people are deemed unworthy of help (unless they are golden prospects)?

We were even treated to another mormons-helping-mormons story during the debate last night:

Ryan added yet one more story to the list of “proving Romney is human” stories. It was yet another tale of Romney helping a fellow mormon.

Yep, that’s right, we still have NO tales of Romney helping human beings who are NOT mormon.

[Paul Ryan speaking] This is a guy who I was talking to a family in Northborough, Massachusetts the other day, Sheryl and Mark Nixon. Their kids were hit in a car crash, four of them. Two of them, Rob and Reed, were paralyzed. The Romneys didn’t know them. They went to the same church; they never met before.

Mitt asked if he could come over on Christmas. He brought his boys, his wife, and gifts. Later on, he said, “I know you’re struggling, Mark. Don’t worry about their college. I’ll pay for it.”

When Mark told me this story, because, you know what, Mitt Romney doesn’t tell these stories. The Nixons told this story. When he told me this story, he said it wasn’t the help, the cash help. It’s that he gave his time, and he has consistently.

This is a man who gave 30 percent of his income to charity, more than the two of us combined. Mitt Romney’s a good man. He cares about 100 percent of Americans in this country. [end excerpt of Ryan speaking.]

The Nixons are mormons. That makes them worthy of Romney’s help.

http://www.mercurynews.com/politics-national/2012/10/live-2012-vice-presidential-debate-transcript/

Yeah, I caught that too. "They went to the same church." There's also a story of Mitt helping someone get a wasps nest out of their chimney--it was another Mormon in that case too. Also, when they shut Bain down to hunt for a missing daughter of a partner, that partner, William Gay, is also a prominent Mormon. The girl by the way was at a rave in NYC.

According to the little bit of tax information revealed by the Romney's, they contributed 10% to "charity," which we can all guess is the morg (and no charity). Then Mrs. Romney bragged to an interviewer that they gave 20% in taxes and charity, as if they were the same thing.

They can try, but the Romney's don't come across as very charitable, except to their own cult.

> They can try, but the Romney's don't come across
> as very charitable, except to their own cult.

paying a mandatory church tax isn't being charitable. period.

Great post once more. Your depiction is what I have witnessed myself generally through mormonism. Sometimes I wondered if they only help other mormons because anything else would be aiding and abetting.

In addition, I have read on this forum so many times of family cutting support to family members who leave the church. How many students have we read about whose school support depended on church attendance?

I know who the Nixons are. I wouldn't wish their troubles on anyone but they got everyone's help from the Hinkster on down. They are the Boston area church's favorite family to hold up and show how wonderful all the leaders are for helping them out.

The sp use to love to cry over how wonderful he was to them during every stake conference.

The story seems to imply that Romney was helping the family from his personal funds but my assumption is that the money actually came from the ward funds - IOW the other church members.

but mostly only within their own group. This is the conclusion of some research that studied it (cited in the book "The Righteous Mind" by Jonathan Haidt). So, it's not just a hunch you're having but is actually backed up by research.

Yeah, Paul Ryan blew it! All of us watching caught that. Romney has absolutely no anecdotes to describe helping anyone who is nomo.

Well, rhe cult is not often eager to help their own, either. I happen to KNOW from friends who were told this---you get NO HELP from the cult UNLESS YOU ARE PAYING TITHING on the little you earn. If you aren't, then it's F*** you.

I don't like to point this out, but Ryan probably doesn't realize that Romney's "charity" was only because of cult obligation. I winced whe he said that. Most non-cult members don't understand about this. I bet Ryan only knows the cult's "official line".

I sent an email some time ago to the talking heads at MSNBC to the effect that Romney's "charitable donations" were in reality the cost of being a member in good standing and that a miniscule amount of tithing received actually goes to anything resembling charity as most people view it. I was hoping that they might spread the word.

They often have a member of Reuters on there who is an exmormon...they got your message, and yes, watch closely, because they are highlighting this but they do feel it difficult to just come out and call it a cult. Media heroes of mine include Lawrence O'Donnell, Alex Wagner, and CNN's Erin Burnett.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/12/2012 05:57PM by FormerLatterClimber.

jbug Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I don't like to point this out, but Ryan probably
> doesn't realize that Romney's "charity" was only
> because of cult obligation. I winced whe he said
> that. Most non-cult members don't understand
> about this. I bet Ryan only knows the cult's
> "official line".


As a NeverMo, I can just about guarantee that 95% of people 1) don't realize that everyone Romney has helped (at least in these publicized cases) is a Mormon, nor that 2) Mormons are required to tithe. Maybe NeverMos in Utah or other heavily Mormon areas know these things, but otherwise most people just think "Mormons are so charitable." Ryan probably genuinely believes that.

It's time to educate Paul Ryan more about Mormonism. Am sure he's in the golden "fellowshipping" phase still, being heavily courted by Romneys et al and other Mormons.

How can people let him know the cultish aspects, that the "charity" aka donations are mandatory, etc?

Mormons are so freaking two-faced about EVERYTHING. It's all for show.

Yes, this sort of thing is very present in Mormonism. Some mormons are a bit smarter and reach out to people of different beliefs, but most of them only look out for their own kind.

I had a pastor of a christian church do this to me and fiance. Fiance was kicked out of his mother's house because he wasnt forking over every damn dime he had to her because he didnt make much in the first place, so we moved in together but realized we may need some financial help. He called his pastor to explain the situation and ask for help, but he said he couldnt do that because we were living together and he couldnt support our decision. I was so mad. First, we didnt CHOOSE to get into this situation, we had to do it in order to survive! Second, is that what Jesus would do? Only help the righteous? You hypocritical disgrace of a pastor... you might as well be a mormon.

The excerpt below is from a left-leaning website, but most of the claims ring true. If you visit the link, you'll find more links to details that back up the claim.

Excerpt begins here:

If the Mormon church were a business, wealthy adherents like Mitt Romney would count as its dominant revenue stream.

Its investment strategy would be viewed as risk-averse.

It would also likely attract corporate gadflies protesting a lack of transparency. They would call for less spending on real estate and more on charitable causes to improve membership growth – the Mormons’ return on investment.

Those are a few of the conclusions that can be drawn from an analysis of the church’s finances by Reuters and University of Tampa sociologist Ryan Cragun.

Relying heavily on church records in countries that require far more disclosure than the United States, Cragun and Reuters estimate that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints brings in some $7 billion annually in tithes and other donations.

It owns about $35 billion worth of temples and meeting houses around the world, and controls farms, ranches, shopping malls and other commercial ventures worth many billions more.

So Romney is giving huge sums of money to a church which runs commercial ventures and has no obligatin to pay taxes on them. Sounds perfect.

“Most of the revenue of the religion is from the U.S., and a large percentage comes from an elite cadre of wealthy donors, like Mitt Romney,” said Cragun.
[...]
The Mormon church has no hospitals and only a handful of primary schools. Its university system is limited to widely respected Brigham Young…

It counts more than 55,000 in its missionary forces, primarily youths focused on converting new members but also seniors who volunteer for its non-profits, such as the Polynesian Cultural Center, which bills itself as Hawaii’s No. 1 tourist attraction, and for-profit businesses owned by the church.

The church has plowed resources into a multi-billion-dollar global network of for-profit enterprises: it is the largest rancher in the United States, a church official told Nebraska’s Lincoln Journal Star in 2004, with other ranches and farms in Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Australia and Great Britain, according to financial documents reviewed by Reuters.
…
It also has a small media empire, an investment fund, and a mall across from its Salt Lake City headquarters, which it calls an attempt to help revitalize the city rather than to make money. These enterprises are also part of a vast nest egg for tough times. The church expects wars and natural disasters before Christ returns to earth in the Second Coming, and members are encouraged to prepare by laying in stores of food. Farms and ranches are part of the church’s own preparation….

Romney himself focuses on the act of giving, not the result. As he told Fox News Sunday, “Hopefully, as people look at various individuals running for president, they’d be pleased with someone who made a promise to God and kept that promise.”

Right. That’s all that matters.

If I didn’t know better I’d have to assume that this charitable giving to a church that primarily operates highly successful commercial businesses is just another tax dodge. [end excerpt]

http://www.alternet.org/hot-news-views/romneys-charity-church-just-more-corporate-greed-and-tax-evasion

One might question how mormons think about tithing, and how they think about paying federal taxes. Not surprisingly, Romney and his accountants more or less equate the two kinds of "giving."

From Romney's accounting firm:

“Over the entire 20-year period, the total federal and state taxes owed plus the total charitable donations deducted represented 38.49% of total AGI,” the memo said, referring to Mr. Romney’s adjusted gross income.

From a blogger commenting on the memo mentioned above:

"In his mind, apparently, you can just add up the two figures into a new hybrid column, perhaps called, Total Obligation to Society, and make yourself look even more generous.

"It doesn’t work that way, however; charity and taxes cannot be conflated to make it sound like you are “giving away” a larger portion of your income than you are. Conservatives can hate paying taxes, and Mr. Romney in particular appears to hate having tax money spent on the 'dependent class,' but that doesn’t make the government a charity."

Excerpt above is from: http://takingnote.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/21/taxes-are-not-a-charitable-donation/

So, if he only helped mormons, that's more like less than 1% willing, instead of 100%. He'd better settle with 47%.

This, by all means, qualifies him for president.

We should set the White House kitchen to making casseroles and Funeral Potatoes. Then Romney could go around handing them out to foreign diplomats and then start dictating terms - you know, like no money to countries where the leaders don't have a temple recommend...

He could go down in the annals of history as the "funeral potatoes president."

speaking of mormons helping only mormons.... my car broke down and temporarily i asked a co-worker (who is an almighty mormon) for a ride. Gave him $10 a day for gas and time. this basically paid for his gas tank for the week. since I am a female and he is a male (we are both married to other people) his wife said he could no longer give me a ride. Now is that a cop out (not sure). Either way I was stuck trying to find a ride work and he did not care to help cuz I am not mormon and he has no balls to stand up to his wife cuz he is mormon. Mormons and church going people are such hippocrites!! Oh, mormons will help as long as you are another mormon. I thought church going people where suppose to help there fellow man in need. guess I was wrong. MORMONS ONLY LOOK OUT FOR THEMSELVES AND NO ONE ELSE.