This has been posted before, but I think it is important that we are reminded how far (low) the church will go.

This is the web site for the Porto Alegre temple in Brazil. Pay particular attention to the third pargraph of the "Temple History" section, where it tells about the members selling gold from their teeth to finance the temple.

http://www.ldschurchtemples.com/portoalegre/

I also think it was very kind of President Faust to buy some of the gold teeth to help out....

It makes me sick every time I read that. The fact that they admit they let people do that is mind blowing. I really don't know how they sleep at night.

In the meantime there are people who will go the rest of their life not being able to eat, bite, or chew right. It's so appalling to me.

With gold teeth instead of souls, and a building instead of knowledge. But Faust and the Devil were both involved.

Spending billions and spending thousands of hours doing silly rituals and trying to help the dead, who most certainly do not need it is bad enough. Making poor people sell their teeth? TSCC has billions. That is totally odious.

The kindness and generosity of some is overwhelmingly sincere. If someone asks me why I can find rage for Mormonism, here is a really great example of the behavior of Mormon culture. I'd love for this story to become well know throughout Mormondom.

That page needs to be screen captured for posterity, that story is going to disappear.

As much as I love a good faith demoting story, read http://www.ldschurchtemples.com/saopaulo/ and see that it is actually from 1975 and in regards to Sao Paolo. It was a member, not members, and his offering of his gold teeth was rejected at first but he insisted.

Of course, the reason he felt the need was because back then members had to raise 1/3 of the funds for a temple locally...

It was a member, not members?

The LDS owned Church News published that it was "members", not just one member.
http://www.ldschurchnews.com/articles/31042/Be-loyal-worthy-to-enter-temple-members-urged.html

"President Faust cited Doctrine and Covenants Section 109, which contains the dedicatory prayer for the Kirtland Temple, and noted the promises made at the time of the temple dedication."

"He emphasized the need for Saints all over the world to begin to sacrifice for temple building. He recalled how, when the Sao Paulo Temple was being built, members in Argentina found ways to donate."

"They gave the gold from their dental work to help pay on the temple, said President Faust. He explained that he had purchased some of that gold, for more than the market price, and has shown the gold fillings to various congregations to illustrate the nature of the sacrifice made by these members."

So if it was just one member, the Church embellished to story in 1998.

Yes, but I think "he" was indeed embellished to "they".

There probably never was any gold dental work donated, not even from one individual. The story was most likely a fabricated tale made up by a General Authority. Mormons are good at making up stories and telling lies.

The claim that members sacrificed gold dental work is sickening and the LDS church promoted it "to various congregations to illustrate the nature of the sacrifice made by these members".

squeebee I must disagree when you say it was a member and not members.



from the articles..
"They gave the gold from their dental work "

"With so many having so little, members made extraordinary sacrifices to raise money. One memorable donation was a gold dental bridge presented by an Argentine man to a pair of missionaries."

I think that is the royal "they", there is only one anecdote. At any rate I see no more than one incident, and no record of encouragement for the act.

Don't get me wrong, Faust was holding it up as an admirable sacrifice, from people who should not have to make such sacrifices. His sharing of the anecdote indirectly encourages more of such excess sacrifices, and that is disdainful.

It was a foolish sacrifice, and an unnecessary one, but I can only find one recorded incident that was met with initial discouragement,

What SHOULD have happened was the church telling these people that their sacrifice was dully noted, but keep your teeth, and we're sending a team of dentists down to fix up what you have for free.

Suppose children in a Utah family are not getting proper dental work done because the parents are far behind in their tithing and need their recommends to go to the temple?

Or if those kids don't get music lessons?

Or wear worn out shoes?

Or no vaccinations?

Or eat less?

A dollar spent in one place is a dollar that can't be spend elsewhere -- That's as true in Utah as it is in Brazil-- and poverty exists is in both places.

Gold teeth for temples in Brazil - deprived kids for temple recommends in Utah - What's the difference?

A boy in the primary class that I teach got new dress shoes for Easter. Before that he had been wearing dress shoes that were two sizes too small. He didn't complain about it, but he mentioned it one day. A couple of weeks later I asked him conversationally if he had gotten new shoes and he was like "no..." I get that we're in a farming area and everyone struggles. If it takes 4 months to save enough money to buy a pair of kid's dress shoes from Walmart, though, there might be a problem. Also a bit off, perhaps, to make an 8 year old wear his 2-sizes-too-small dress shoes rather than letting him wear his school shoes instead that actually fit.

I'd say this is as good a time as any to pull a Godwin: didn't the Nazis remove the gold teeth of the Jews they killed in the death camps?

yes, the Nazi's did. but on the bright side, maybe faust paid over market price for the gold dental work of concentration camp victims too.

I only wish that i had the chance to kick out some of james faust's teeth to donate to the cult...

I seem to remember a movie of Faust crouching down and showing the gold fillings in his hand. It seems to have disappeared from the net?

The church has a shameful history of accepting anything as a donation. How about a human?

Green Flake was likely the slave at the reigns of Brigham Young's wagon when he uttered those fateful words, "This is the place."

What the church doesn't widely acknowledge is that years later that same slave was given to the church by his then-owner as payment for back tithing. And the church accepted him as payment. Thankfully, Brigham and boys eventually set him free.

http://www.ilovehistory.utah.gov/people/difference/flake.html

Who needs teeth when you can have eternal life :)
(I mean this sarcastic)

But doesn't LDS theology already grant everyone eternal life?

You're trading teeth for godhood and a harem.