Mormon tithes are NOT “donations”. They are necessary and must be paid in order to achieve the celestial kingdom and godhood.
“Do Mormons help the poor with these donations?”
Yes, they do...
Look in to the network of Mormon Food Storage Centers/Canneries around the country. They are among the nation’s largest donators to Food Banks/Food Pantries for the poor/Soup Kitchens, worth tens of millions of dollars.
Despite being non-Mormon, we are privileged to be invited to use a cannery, thanks to friends who are Mormon. I save a TON of money yearly doing so.
Actually, it ISN’T a fair question. First, that money isn’t public money. If that’s what we were talking about, your question would at least have merit, and you could debate it.
However, it’s their money, and it’s freely given. Just because I have a dollar in my pocket, is it your assertion that the poor MUST have it, or part of it?
The Mormons are easy people to defend. They take care of themselves, and they take care of each other. Were that the rest of us had the same notions of community, manners, judicious charity, and sobriety in speech, thought, and commerce, then entitlements probably wouldn’t be an issue for the US.
No, I’m not Mormon, but the ones I know and do business with are, individually and as a group, fine, honest, forthright people.
Sounds to me like you want to go back to the bad old days of government-enforced tithing like they had in Germany until the 90’s, and in England.
Here you go, answer awaits.
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=http%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FLDS_Humanitarian_Services
The tithes (should be) are used within the church, to assist financially-struggling members, to help support the canning and preservation centers they have to process and preserve harvests. Members (and others) can bring their harvest to the center for processing. I don’t believe they use much of it for helping poor people in general, however. Their charity pretty much stays at home.
What ELSE do we 'see'?
Headquarters in SLC is going to be MIGHTY concerned if that 4M is LESS than 10% of the GROSS!
Are you a Colofornian butt boy? :-)
The Mormons don’t do charity as most Christians and Jews would understand the concept which comes from Biblical teaching in the Old and New Testaments.
Charity means giving to those in need. The Mormons, like the Jehovah’s Witnesses, help only their own. The money and power structure of the Mormons and their financial holdings is totally wrapped in secrecy.
Two important questions:
1. What do the Mormons do with Mitt’s money, and is he aware of it?
Our church must account for every penny and every expense. If money us given to a senior center, or a missionary outreach, it is published in the annual report.
2. Do the tens of millions Mitt gave in cash & stock in publicly owned companies like Bain give the Mormons control.
3. How much control do the Mormons have over Mitt?
Am I the only one who found Mitt’s comment at the debate about Castro “going to another land” after he dies, totally weird & bizarre?
The more I learn about the Mormon Church, the scarier it is.
However, as far as I'm concerned, it's Mitt Romney's church and Mitt Romney's money. He's entitled to pay his tithes with his money and that's the issue for me (and I understand the implications of tithing for him, but that's theology - my interest is in history and I believe Romney and others are free to believe as they choose).
If there were an article debating claims one way or the other made by the LDS Church or Romney about charitable use of the money, or non-LDS groups making claims about use of the money, it may be different. But here: Romney's money, Romney's church. I'm willing to draw the line.