If you were asked to be a GA and you knew the church to be a fraud, how much money would it take to buy your silence and life long commitment to the Church?
$1M/month in perpetuity for each of my family members...kids, grandkids, etc... I don't think I could do it though. I might try, but I'm not that good of an actor/liar.
Forever deeply troubled because I was taught that these were uncorrupted, loving, sincere, Christlike men. Took me years to even begin to wonder how they maintained a living for their families.
Isn't there a bible verse that says something to the effect, "What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world, but looses his soul?" "Eternity Is Too Long To Be Wrong" (A quotation I learned from Mormonquotes or Mormonthink, can't remember which one) Regardless whether it be one's soul and/or their legacy.
I suspect, but can't verify it, that most ex-Mormons are typically people of more than average integrity and would take the above view.
Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 08/23/2013 01:16PM by heretic.
Yep, there's also Matthew 10:28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
I would never accept any money from LDS-land. (except a refund of wasted tithing money) . I had a lot of threats for leaving the church, the only thing that didn't happen was someone trying to kill me or my family. I was threatened with my blessings (children) being taken away, was told that I would lose everything, harrassed with unwanted attention (me and my kids), someone came over with a gun and shot a few rounds just scare me. Yeah, the "church" can kiss my ass. Certain family members did everything they could make my husband leave me or make me leave him, etc... a Miserable Mess it was.
Well, everyman (woman), has his price. For big-sh$%s who are called to the big 15, it is probably alot more than it would be for me. Humm...maybe $150,000 a year, until my death would do the trick.
...on the church. If I'd had a career in the church (as, say, an institute teacher), and my health benefits and my family's were dependent on my continued "good standing"... If my kids were getting discounted or even free educations at BYU and were happy, and popular because they're royalty (EVERY Mormon, on some level, thinks/feels the kids of apostles are speshul and chozun...there's a deep sense of foreordination and preexistent destiny in Momronism)... If I were given a huge raise, to include a $1M forgivable loan (that's a euphemism for the church would recall the loan if you balked), that benefited my family and kids...and there were simply no secular market equivalent for me... And I were already middle aged or older and could already sort of see the road ahead the rest of my years... If it were apparent that coming clean would have a train-wreck of consequences in my family's lives, would ruin them and me socially and financially, and that there's no safety net...
I would ask for all they had, that way they would lose all their power that they cherish. Besides, they wouldn't be able to defend their case without money to pay the lawyers. I would require it all upfront of course :)
Remember the scene in 'Network' where the "corporate guy" (Ned Beatty) has the talk with Peter Finch after he has become wildly popular with his "I'm as mad as Hell and I'm not going to take this anymore!" rant and starts to bad mouth the slimy corporatism behind his network?
I think the guys who are ready to spill the beans get a talking-to about the who cultural structure of ChurchCo and their place in it, and go back to quietly sing-songing its praises....
This is what happens when plaintiffs agree to settle a lawsuit for an undisclosed large sum of money rather than carry on the lawsuit to force the morg to reveal its finances. I can understand how a person would take the money and go on with their lives, especially if it's more than they could hope to earn in a few lifetimes and sets their children up.
Someday, someone will be willing to go all the way to punitive damages, which will require a full accounting of the morg's wealth. That will be quite a day, won't it!?
I think blowing the whistle would bring too much pleasure for me. I don't think LDS Inc could afford how much I'd need to be silenced.
An apostle going rogue would be a HUGE deal in Morgdumb. No apostle has apostatized for almost a century. The media coverage would bury the church. I would give interview after interview and expose the church's dirty little secrets. I would be a major thorn in their side.
Even though I wouldn't get money from the church, I am sure I would get sufficient money just from books I might write, media interviews, etc.
By the time any of the Big 15 reaches the point of being bought off--they have proven that they will lie about anything--but especially they have proven they will lie to themselves. So the question is moot. They lied as Zone Leaders over numbers, they lied in "worthiness" interviews," they lie every time they bear their testimony--starting way, back when they were lowly elder's quorum presidents lying about home teaching numbers. A Holland or Bednar is not created overnight--it took a lifetime of lying for the Lord to become as depraved as they are. Everyone needs to read M.Scott Peck's "People of the Lie" at some point in their lives.
Selling your soul for silence and commitment--a story as old as time!
Silence my criticism? Pay back all my donations and a reasonable hourly rate on all the 1000s of hours I labored in the church under false pretense. Oh, and make me young again with my life before me and not beholden to their scam. When they do that, I will be silent.
$20M.....which would be locked away in an offshore account somewhere untouchable by the Morg...or used to purchase gold bullion, in my wife's name....and as soon as I had control of the funds, the sabotage would begin...
Two Billion, up front, in cash. My kids would promptly declare me incompetent, buy a nice house with a casita in back and I'd live out my golden years in California. In my name, my daughter could do a lot of good with that much money and we could see the world, scattering sunshine where ever we went. I would drool a little for the camera on occasion. It would be a small price to pay.
What do I need their money for? I have a job. I have some savings. I have financial management skills. Having more money, enough that I'd never have to worry about it again, would be nice. But if the cost is sacrificing the right to live my life on my own terms, then how is that worth it?
And sell my progeny down the river? I'd never do it. I don't like my ancestor for apostatizing from the church of his ancestors to become an important henchman for the crook Joseph Smith, and to live a life of polygamy and lies. He was the root of destruction of our whole dysfunctional, messed-up family. Our family did have a great deal of money at one time, but Brigham Young stole it from my gr-gr-gr grandmother, when she was a helpless widow. Never mind, that her sister had died--who was also married to the polygamous big-wig--and that she was raising her 6 kids, as well as 9 of her own! Some of those kids left the cult, but were manipulated back into it, and my relative became a counselor to the President of the church. My poor ancestors had family have had to live among the money-grabbing Mormon thieves. Our family is extremely arrogant, and really do consider themselves royalty. The women are just "handmaidens" though. They live back in the dark ages. I would not want my own dear children to be stuck in this quagmire of control and deceit, and slavery--not for any price! Perhaps, in a way, the greatest thing I ever did for my children was to break the cycle of abuse. I'm proud of that!