Those of us who have watched The Expanse know that the Mormon church is saving this money to build a generation ship to settle distant stars and bring the Good News of Joseph Smith to the galaxy.
Nah, I still think "Creflo 𝘋𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘳" takes first place in the "obvious scam is obvious" category... at least until a religious con artist named "Ima Thief" comes along, anyway.
And I thought Oral Roberts whining that God was going to "call him home" if his followers didn't ante up X amount for some building project at ORU, was low.....
On top of the very dubious historicity of the Church's founding, it has clearly morphed into a money-obsessed organization that uses the fear of hell to keep the people tithing. All religious organizations disgust me, and the Mormons more than most.
“it's confidential in order to maintain the focus on what our purpose is and what the mission of the church is, rather than the church has X amount of money.“
What, dear sir, is the mission of the church then? If you don’t want your members to tell you what to do with the money, and you are not spending it on charity, then the only logical conclusion we can come to is that the church’s mission is to make profits, like every other business.
You, the church leadership, tell the members of your church to tithe 10% plus more for charitable causes no matter their financial situation. You check their worth regularly to ensure you are getting your money every year from the peons in the church. You shame and guilt people to show up day after day, week after week, year after year, just so they can put the money in the baskets. These people are facing medical catastrophes, job loss, financial hardship, fixed incomes and all sorts of issues, but you insist they never falter on making their tithes. Promising its charity. Telling them you are spending it on worthy causes. Giving them a superiority complex that they are better because they spend on charity more than anyone else. And what does it go to? Where does all that money end up? In offshore accounts to grow and grow, it doesn’t even go into the temples you build, as fancy and gilt as they look. Do you think you’ll get to spend it on Kolob? In the afterlife?
I guess what do you expect from a religion made up by a con man.
This is why I LOVE 60 𝑀𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑡𝑒𝑠. Sad to say that Mike Wallace and Harry Reasoner are long gone and Dan Rather is doing his own thing, but the basic idea of well-disciplined investigative journalism is alive and well and living in the CBS newsroom.
The PROBLEM is the IRS. Hell, they said it themselves: the likelihood of the LDS church getting any kind of serious scrutiny from the Internal Revenue Service is next to non-existent ... which 𝗣𝗜𝗦𝗦𝗘𝗦 𝗠𝗘 𝗢𝗙𝗙!!! Yeah, I'm sure that the Mormons can buy all the lawyers they want. Seems to me that the federal government could (and SHOULD!) take similar action and grasp this stinking nettle, once and for all.
Then, too, I'd like a pony and a plastic rocket ... and I'm not even Malcolm Reynolds.
Not sure it's much of the IRS' problem in this case, it's a law problem. Sure, the church set up the fake shell companies to hide their money. So they should be fined for that (more than 0.01% of the value of the money hidden).
But IMO the bigger problem is that there's no law requiring religious charities to publish an annual report on what percent of revenue they spent on their stated cause vs. operations and growth vs. held for investments. Donors should not *have* to dig through esoteric IRS filings to figure that out: producing an annual high-level summary should be a requirement for charitable/tax exempt status.
Anyone here surprised by any of this? Anyone? *crickets*
So for a number of years before her death, my mother spent several conversations with me complaining about how the media never talks about all the good things churches do. To some small degree, she did have a point; but it would be remiss of me not point out that most of those 'good things' come with proselytizing attached and are often less charitable than they may appear at first blush - which is likely why the media doesn't report on them anyway.
That said, most anyone paying any attention at all can figure out that some churches aren't doing anywhere near the amount of community good they like to claim with their congregation's donations. Sure, the LDS is the church at hand today and may well be one of the most egregious offenders, but they're hardly alone in their corruption. To my knowledge, the Vatican likely outstrips the Mormon church, though I'll admit it's also quite difficult to make an accurate comparison. 𝑻𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒈𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒇𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒆𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒐𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒇𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒖𝒓𝒄𝒉 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒘.
The real reason churches aren't getting caught is because they've been able, by and large, to make themselves exceptions to the various government institutions and policies that should be watching for this very sort of thing. They've carved out nice little nooks for themselves that mean the fox is guarding the hen house and they can pretend they're helping the local community when the real goal is getting more butts in the seats and more money in the collection plate. It's always been a racket, and they have zero intention of allowing anyone to fix it without a fight. The worst part is while some Mormons might leave the church over this, it's unlikely to be the major numbers we'd all like to see; too many Mormons are so embedded in their church they can't even conceive of leaving for any reason, no matter how justified.
TL;DR: The con is a feature, not a bug; expect more of the same going forward.
Vatican City has LITERALLY NAMED "Treasure Rooms" that are FILLED with hundreds of millions to billions in literal treasure! The Pope has a personal toilet made of gold! (The source of Trump's golden butt envy) The Pope's literal throne is encrusted with jewels!
Look most of these numbers are rounding errors to the Majesty of the Gawd, so stop fretting, pay your tithe, just let it happen, and remain faithful.*
Oh by the way, stop touching yourself, Gawd saw you last night.
*Nice life you got there, shame if some sort of cultural, societal status tragedy would happen to you. Seamus is waiting with the wind in his coat and wagging tail!
Two impeachment attempts, both thwarted by the GQP-controlled congress. How does this fluorescent tangerine jackass, who has broken more laws in a few brief years than several people could in their collective lifetimes, get so damned lucky? Even Richard Nixon, as powerful as he was, was at least forced to resign, and then quietly fade away into irrelevance. The tangerine jackass just keeps radiating lethal poison like a human Chernobyl, poisoning the landscape long after he should have retired quietly to Swamp-a-Lago and thanked his lucky stars that he was able to Get Out of Jail Free. Again.
All religion is a scam. Poor folowers believe the scam, the rich leaders know better.
People who constantly talk about "Truth" aren't talking about "truth." In their obsession with the capital T version, meaning their mystical, mythical, magical, and utterly unverifiable FANTASIES, they lose track of the small t version, meaning REALITY. Their faith entirely replaces honesty.
Actually, that's the fastest way to confirm you're on the right track to capital-T town: see how your own and others' egos react to it. If you're a daisy blossoming on a summer day and drinking in the light, you're going the wrong direction.
It's a little more like waking up, right before being engulfed by the sun.
Seriously makes me sick to my stomach that people are duped into believing there is anything of value in crooks like this who use stupid people for their money. Trump does it to his base. Mormons do it to theirs and Catholics and Protestants and TV charlatans do it as well. Wake up people.
It's a little too late for buyer's remorse, lady- you're just gonna have to live with your role in helping that shitwit into the judiciary. How's it feel, knowing you had a hand in taking your own rights away? Not great, I'd imagine. You probably feel pretty stupid.
Under Trump? Even the slowest of us could see he has no guardrails, and anyone in his influence wouldn’t either. That’s why all the worst people continue to praise and idolize him and the rest of the country is still aghast.
Does clerks choose whose supreme court injustice they work for ? If yes, Sandra Slacker Glover couldn't ignore of drumpster's positions on women's rights.
Those of us who have watched The Expanse know that the Mormon church is saving this money to build a generation ship to settle distant stars and bring the Good News of Joseph Smith to the galaxy.
Meanwhile, Pat Robertson is building an interstellar cruiser to travel through wormholes delivering the message of Jesus to the godless aliens.
https://youtu.be/eh1YvrNyaXg
Commander Benjamin Sisko may have a problem with that.
As befits a worm like Robertson.
Meanwhile, Scientolgists use DC-10's.
We hope you enjoyed your flight.
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2B-hls0imeQ/XWXvAyFJE6I/AAAAAAAAVQk/AZGCjbTtA2kS2A8BcP1qw1i4snYxy3iLgCLcBGAs/s1600/kolob.png
How soon will they be leaving, please?
You’ve reminded me to watch another season of The Expanse. I’m way behind.
Sung to the tune of "love and marriage"
Church and money,
Church and money,
Go together like a bee and honey.
Ask the landed gentry
And they will claim its supplementary!
Try, try, try to separate them.
It's an illusion.
Try, try, try to separate them
You only come to this conclusion..
Church and lucre
Church and Lucre
Go together in a great future
Ask the churchy banker
And he'll admit that he's a wanker.
You're very welcome forvthis bit of pop culture.
https://media.tenor.com/mpGWWgJ7r6MAAAAC/sitting-on-couch-al-bundy.gif
Anyone that still gives their money to this criminal enterprise is a brainwashed fool. Of course I say this from the viewpoint of an atheist.
If the leaders are shiny¹, it's a good sign the cult isn't really benefitting anyone but the leaders.
(¹ Mansions, private jets, couture & bling, yachts, etc.)
Personally I prefer Shiny Shrimps. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6918220/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_2_nm_0_q_shiny%2520shrimps
https://i.redd.it/k924mfvx85r81.jpg
Good NIGHT! I've seen my share of pandering, but THAT ONE takes the taco!
Nah, I still think "Creflo 𝘋𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘳" takes first place in the "obvious scam is obvious" category... at least until a religious con artist named "Ima Thief" comes along, anyway.
Nominative determinism?
And I thought Oral Roberts whining that God was going to "call him home" if his followers didn't ante up X amount for some building project at ORU, was low.....
I had no idea how *low* low could get,
How low? Try well into the planet's core... 😖
And out the other side?
Where the dinos are (according to Edgar Rice Burroughs).
Or Jules Verne :) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journey_to_the_Center_of_the_Earth
https://www.amazon.com/Hollow-Earth-Trilogy-John-Barrowman-ebook/dp/B00L38A8OQ/ref=sr_1_7?crid=RAZ01SKP4K45&keywords=john+barrowman&qid=1684306793&s=books&sprefix=john+barrowman%2Cstripbooks%2C121&sr=1-7
Jesus ain't cheap. You should see the rider that comes with the performance contract.
Just read on Yahoo where Trump and Ghoul-iani were attempting to sell presidential pardons for 2 million a pop.
I saw that as well, and I sincerely hope that Giuliani and Trump both get done on both sides ... EXTRA CRISPY.
No brown M&Ms?
If you see this, can you let Hemant know that the edit function is out of whack (though he'll probably say it's a Substack thing).
Worked for me. Made an edit and it didn't show right away, but did when I refreshed.
Just now discovering that. Yeesh, what a way to run a railroad.
On top of the very dubious historicity of the Church's founding, it has clearly morphed into a money-obsessed organization that uses the fear of hell to keep the people tithing. All religious organizations disgust me, and the Mormons more than most.
They told me to pray about the truth of Mormonism and I would feel a burning in my bosom. I don't think acid reflux is God's way of answering someone.
So many to choose from. That's what's so nice about religion.
Just as a point of order, Mormons don't believe in hell. They have a very gentle version of the afterlife, it helps bring in the rubes.
Funny how EVERY SINGLE FUCKING LARGE CHRISTIAN INSTITUTION turns out to be corrupt and outright evil. Almost like there's a pattern...🤔
“it's confidential in order to maintain the focus on what our purpose is and what the mission of the church is, rather than the church has X amount of money.“
What, dear sir, is the mission of the church then? If you don’t want your members to tell you what to do with the money, and you are not spending it on charity, then the only logical conclusion we can come to is that the church’s mission is to make profits, like every other business.
You, the church leadership, tell the members of your church to tithe 10% plus more for charitable causes no matter their financial situation. You check their worth regularly to ensure you are getting your money every year from the peons in the church. You shame and guilt people to show up day after day, week after week, year after year, just so they can put the money in the baskets. These people are facing medical catastrophes, job loss, financial hardship, fixed incomes and all sorts of issues, but you insist they never falter on making their tithes. Promising its charity. Telling them you are spending it on worthy causes. Giving them a superiority complex that they are better because they spend on charity more than anyone else. And what does it go to? Where does all that money end up? In offshore accounts to grow and grow, it doesn’t even go into the temples you build, as fancy and gilt as they look. Do you think you’ll get to spend it on Kolob? In the afterlife?
I guess what do you expect from a religion made up by a con man.
They check the net worth of their members? How in hell are they able to do that? I have to have passwords just to get into my own bank accounts.
Maybe this a dumb question, but the idea of a religious org being able to delve into my personal financial info just creeps me the hell out.
This is why I LOVE 60 𝑀𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑡𝑒𝑠. Sad to say that Mike Wallace and Harry Reasoner are long gone and Dan Rather is doing his own thing, but the basic idea of well-disciplined investigative journalism is alive and well and living in the CBS newsroom.
The PROBLEM is the IRS. Hell, they said it themselves: the likelihood of the LDS church getting any kind of serious scrutiny from the Internal Revenue Service is next to non-existent ... which 𝗣𝗜𝗦𝗦𝗘𝗦 𝗠𝗘 𝗢𝗙𝗙!!! Yeah, I'm sure that the Mormons can buy all the lawyers they want. Seems to me that the federal government could (and SHOULD!) take similar action and grasp this stinking nettle, once and for all.
Then, too, I'd like a pony and a plastic rocket ... and I'm not even Malcolm Reynolds.
Not sure it's much of the IRS' problem in this case, it's a law problem. Sure, the church set up the fake shell companies to hide their money. So they should be fined for that (more than 0.01% of the value of the money hidden).
But IMO the bigger problem is that there's no law requiring religious charities to publish an annual report on what percent of revenue they spent on their stated cause vs. operations and growth vs. held for investments. Donors should not *have* to dig through esoteric IRS filings to figure that out: producing an annual high-level summary should be a requirement for charitable/tax exempt status.
Anyone here surprised by any of this? Anyone? *crickets*
So for a number of years before her death, my mother spent several conversations with me complaining about how the media never talks about all the good things churches do. To some small degree, she did have a point; but it would be remiss of me not point out that most of those 'good things' come with proselytizing attached and are often less charitable than they may appear at first blush - which is likely why the media doesn't report on them anyway.
That said, most anyone paying any attention at all can figure out that some churches aren't doing anywhere near the amount of community good they like to claim with their congregation's donations. Sure, the LDS is the church at hand today and may well be one of the most egregious offenders, but they're hardly alone in their corruption. To my knowledge, the Vatican likely outstrips the Mormon church, though I'll admit it's also quite difficult to make an accurate comparison. 𝑻𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒈𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒇𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒆𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒐𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒇𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒖𝒓𝒄𝒉 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒘.
The real reason churches aren't getting caught is because they've been able, by and large, to make themselves exceptions to the various government institutions and policies that should be watching for this very sort of thing. They've carved out nice little nooks for themselves that mean the fox is guarding the hen house and they can pretend they're helping the local community when the real goal is getting more butts in the seats and more money in the collection plate. It's always been a racket, and they have zero intention of allowing anyone to fix it without a fight. The worst part is while some Mormons might leave the church over this, it's unlikely to be the major numbers we'd all like to see; too many Mormons are so embedded in their church they can't even conceive of leaving for any reason, no matter how justified.
TL;DR: The con is a feature, not a bug; expect more of the same going forward.
Vatican City has LITERALLY NAMED "Treasure Rooms" that are FILLED with hundreds of millions to billions in literal treasure! The Pope has a personal toilet made of gold! (The source of Trump's golden butt envy) The Pope's literal throne is encrusted with jewels!
And they keep asking for donations!
The RCC sits back and laughs.
"𝘈𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘶𝘳𝘴." - A Cardinal somewhere, probably.
Look most of these numbers are rounding errors to the Majesty of the Gawd, so stop fretting, pay your tithe, just let it happen, and remain faithful.*
Oh by the way, stop touching yourself, Gawd saw you last night.
*Nice life you got there, shame if some sort of cultural, societal status tragedy would happen to you. Seamus is waiting with the wind in his coat and wagging tail!
“The church asked us throughout our most vulnerable years if we masturbated. We have every right to ask them how they spent our money.”
Ain't your money anymore mate. That's what happens when you're gullible enough to give to the unscrupulous. It becomes their money.
What do they do with it though? ... Are there private jets?
When AREN'T there private jets?
When there's only enough left for a private propeller after the private yacht, third mansion, and lamborghini collection.
With over $150 billion, there’s plenty for multiple private jets.
With over $150 billion, you could start your own airline!
Unless you are an ex president with 2 aborted impeachment to his name.
Two impeachment attempts, both thwarted by the GQP-controlled congress. How does this fluorescent tangerine jackass, who has broken more laws in a few brief years than several people could in their collective lifetimes, get so damned lucky? Even Richard Nixon, as powerful as he was, was at least forced to resign, and then quietly fade away into irrelevance. The tangerine jackass just keeps radiating lethal poison like a human Chernobyl, poisoning the landscape long after he should have retired quietly to Swamp-a-Lago and thanked his lucky stars that he was able to Get Out of Jail Free. Again.
If my math is right, that's 230 Gulfstreams.
https://www.businessinsider.com/tour-the-65-million-gulfstream
Good point. What's the point of all that money if no one is using it to advance their lifestyle. :)
Sooner or later you run out of things to buy.
I'd love to be able to know that from personal experience.
All religion is a scam. Poor folowers believe the scam, the rich leaders know better.
People who constantly talk about "Truth" aren't talking about "truth." In their obsession with the capital T version, meaning their mystical, mythical, magical, and utterly unverifiable FANTASIES, they lose track of the small t version, meaning REALITY. Their faith entirely replaces honesty.
But...but...it gives them comfort.
Religion gives people comfort the same way a placebo cures an illness.
Oh, Truth?
Yeah, turns out nobody wants that.
Actually, that's the fastest way to confirm you're on the right track to capital-T town: see how your own and others' egos react to it. If you're a daisy blossoming on a summer day and drinking in the light, you're going the wrong direction.
It's a little more like waking up, right before being engulfed by the sun.
Seriously makes me sick to my stomach that people are duped into believing there is anything of value in crooks like this who use stupid people for their money. Trump does it to his base. Mormons do it to theirs and Catholics and Protestants and TV charlatans do it as well. Wake up people.
My very mormon visiting nurse is there because gawd "stopped" his drinking.Religion is at its predatory high point with broken down people.
Right?! Mind boggling.
If they wake up, they'll be woke. And that will not happen under God's watch.
OT- "𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦?!" cries woman who assisted the leopards' ascent to power:
https://apnews.com/article/amy-coney-barrett-letter-2dab347caf728aee38b2d6248845c463
It's a little too late for buyer's remorse, lady- you're just gonna have to live with your role in helping that shitwit into the judiciary. How's it feel, knowing you had a hand in taking your own rights away? Not great, I'd imagine. You probably feel pretty stupid.
You should.
“I thought there were guardrails.”
Under Trump? Even the slowest of us could see he has no guardrails, and anyone in his influence wouldn’t either. That’s why all the worst people continue to praise and idolize him and the rest of the country is still aghast.
Not only were there no guardrails under Trump, he'd be there to personally push you over the edge.
Does clerks choose whose supreme court injustice they work for ? If yes, Sandra Slacker Glover couldn't ignore of drumpster's positions on women's rights.
No words need fro9m me. https://scontent-ord5-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/346314657_949362599623073_3407424359672914397_n.jpg?stp=cp6_dst-jpg_p843x403&_nc_cat=105&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=wxMoZtMAMuMAX8n6Gi7&_nc_ht=scontent-ord5-2.xx&oh=00_AfBZbQkm2urvofBgTuOMXXF6hNaLMmIn0pBItNZXXzwMtQ&oe=646934AB