[Corrector]

I feel compelled to correct the abundance of misinformation being dished up:
* Mormons pay tithing to their bishop privately
* Bishops are not paid for their service
* The LDS Church’s humanitarian efforts go far beyond it’s own members
* Other Christian religions also require tithing.
* There is no indication in the New Testament that tithing was abolished
* The tithing pays for more than buildings, which are used every day of the week.
* Mormon missionaries typically save for their missions, or are supported financially by their families.
* In short, tithing is a principal of faith for members, that we give as gratitude and through obedience to God. To suggest otherwise is for the most part just ignorance and hateful. If I paid tithing just to attend the temple, you could at least surmise that attending the temple also has deep significance to members with regard to their commitment. I imagine that most of you have your minds made up and have never bothered to really speak to many members to understand us. I challenge you to be more honest in your judgements.

[colorcountry]

I feel compelled to correct the abundance of misinformation being dished up:

We're so happy you signed up today, just to set us right. ;) Welcome to FreeRepublic

[Tennessee Nana]

Youre wrong kid

[ejonesie22]

Welcome (back) to FreeRepublic.

You will find many here who know more about the LDS than the practices lines and shiny brochures reveal...

[Godzilla]

* The LDS Church’s humanitarian efforts go far beyond it’s own members

The mormon church failed to even break into Forbes top 200 charities. But organizations like Pat Robertson's CBN did.

Other Christian religions also require tithing.

Other churchs don't link 'tithing' to exhaltation to godhood either. Nor will these other churches demand you pay your tithe when facing the poor farm.

There is no indication in the New Testament that tithing was abolished

Acts 15:24: “Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, Ye must be circumcised, and keep the law: to whom we gave no such commandment.” Tithing was part of the law to ISRAEL- NOT the Church.

* The tithing pays for more than buildings, which are used every day of the week

Like a 4 Billion + dollar Mall in SLC

If I paid tithing just to attend the temple, you could at least surmise that attending the temple also has deep significance to members with regard to their commitment. I imagine that most of you have your minds made up and have never bothered to really speak to many members to understand us. I challenge you to be more honest in your judgements.

On the contrary - most here understand fully the significance of being a TM. Tithing is a component of maintaining that TR and without it, no stairway to godhood.

[greyfoxx39]

I feel compelled to correct the abundance of misinformation being dished up:
If I paid tithing just to attend the temple

IF?? If you wish to attain salvation, (mormon brand, exaltation) you have NO choice but to pay tithing and attend the temple, where you will take part in arcane manmade "covenants" which mormon see as binding on God.

I imagine that most of you have your minds made up and have never bothered to really speak to many members to understand us. I challenge you to be more honest in your judgements.

Several of the ones posting here are former mormons and well-versed "understanding" you. Most of us have been through the temple.

I challenge you to be more honest in your judgments.

[Elsie]

I feel compelled to correct the abundance of misinformation being dished up:

Could you LIST the reply numbers of this misinformation?

I want to DIRECTLY address it.

[Elsie]

I feel compelled to correct the abundance of misinformation being dished up:

Could you LIST the reply numbers of this misinformation?

I want to DIRECTLY address it.

---

Other Christian religions also require tithing.

This statement sounds like you may think that MORMONism is CHRISTIAN. Do you?

[Elsie]

You are replying here to #51, so you MUSTR have read #43 & 45.

They address YOUR 'incorrect' statement here:

There is no indication in the New Testament that tithing was abolished

[Elsie]

Bishops are not paid for their service

Too bad...

This just MUST be translated incorrectly:

1 Timothy 5:18
"Do not muzzle the ox while it is treading out the grain," and "The worker deserves his wages."

---

I sure hope that TEMPTATION does not latch onto a bishop and he SKIMS a bit off for himself.

How would HQ know, anyway??

[Colofornian]

I imagine that most of you have your minds made up and have never bothered to really speak to many members to understand us. I challenge you to be more honest in your judgements.

As Greyfoxx indicated, many on FR are X-Mo. I've pinged at least six such X-Mo on this post alone...and I'm a direct descendent of a Mormon leader...and have spoken with MANY Lds relatives and acquaintances (as in triple figures)...

Hence, I'm able to post what Mormon leaders have said (see post #132). Hence, I'm able to elaborate upon things like historical Mormon socialism which pre-dated the Mormon "law of tithing" (the United Order; the Law of consecration -- see post #132).

And many posting in this thread have had literally thousands of conversations with Lds FREEPERS. So, why do you assume we lack discernment?

Bottom line? Hey -- We aren't voting for Romney; 94% of Mormons in Utah & Nevada in '08 voted for Romney the RINO & at least 86% of Lds have a "favorable" view of Romney the RINO now...So who again is utterly FAILING to show basic discernment?

[Scoutmaster]

The LDS Church previously told members not to consult the Internet. Since then, the LDS Church has retained professionals in internet placement and is one of the largest owners of domains in the world. If you Google "LDS Humanitarian Aid," the first three pages, and for pages and pages after that, you'll find LDS-owned domains with different names that have been optimized to come up.

However, in 2006, the LDS Church issued a statement printed by Deseret News Publishing Company, saying that "since 1984, the LDS Church has donated nearly $750 million in cash and goods to people in need in more than 150 countries.”

That's $37.5 million per year or less than $4 per Mormon. That's less than 1% of revenues based on very, very, very conservative estimates of revenue. For a Church with assets in the tens of billions of dollars, there are many corporations that aren't nonprofit entities, or religious entities that give well in excess of $37.5 million per year.

And $750 over 22 years pales when you consider the Church is spending approximately $4 billion on the City Creek Center Mall.

Unlike volunteers from many groups, the LDS always issues press releases whenever it provides any humanitarian aid, and outfits its members in special yellow t-shirts to be noticed.

I won't bring that up, except for your "Corrector" statement about the aid going far beyond the members. It simply doesn't and hasn't.

Other Christian religions also require tithing.I'm unaware of any Christian churches that keep track of tithing and require you to be current (and caught up from previous years) to enter their temple/sanctuary/cathedrals, to view the weddings/baptisms of their children or relatives (or to be married in their temples), to be exalted, to earn the church doctrine's promise of families forever, or to become a god over his own universe (with multiple goddesses who have been sealed to him).

Now - as for the theology? That's theology. I respect your right to believe in eternal progression, and exaltation. But other churches don't tie heavenly rewards to being current on their tithes on earth.

How familiar are you with the history of the two revelations Joseph Smith says he received on tithing? The events that took place before he received them? The text of the revelations?

[Scoutmaster]

Mormons pay tithing to their bishop privately

And why do you think that is?

I can make a payment to my God through my church anonymously, through placing a sealed envelope in the collection plate or by slipping it in a special box in the church office (which is empty during much of Sunday morning).

Nobody knows how much I gave except God and me.

But you pay your tithe to your bishop - because your bishop needs to keep track, and you have to be certain your bishop keeps track. You need credit for that tithe, not with God, but with the LDS Church. It's your ticket to the Temple. It's your ticket to watching your daughter or son get married in the temple, or watching your grandchildren get baptized. If you're widowed, it's your ticket to spending eternity with your deceased husband (provided he calls the name given you in the Temple Marriage and brings you through the curtain, if I understand the theology).

So of course you pay tithing to the bishop.

Again, I respect your right to your theology. But acknowledge the reason you pay your tithe to your bishop. Look at all the cash put in a collection plate in a Baptist or Methodist church. People give to give, and they give anonymously. How much money in anonymous tithes does the LDS Church take in?

[P-Marlowe]

I imagine that most of you have your minds made up and have never bothered to really speak to many members to understand us.

LOL! A large portion of the inmans here grew up in Mormon families. I suspect that maybe you are a recently brainwashed convert.

I am a fifth generation Mormon turned Christian and I can testify to you that Mormonism is a wholly different religion from Christianity.

The Mormon Jesus is Satan's brother. The Christian Jesus is the Creator of all things, including Satan.

We have had our eyes opened by God. You are walking in blindness, and yet you think you have the light. The bible says that if the light that is in you is darkness, then how great is that darkness.

Maybe you should study the Christian Gospel instead of being an apologist for a false gospel. Start with the first chapter of Galatians.

/rant

[P-Marlowe]

Corrector
Since Jan 27, 2012

Saundra, is that you?

We know you aren't resty.

[Elsie]

There is no indication in the New Testament that tithing was abolished

oh?

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Acts 15

The Council at Jerusalem

 ¹ Certain people came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the believers: “Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved.” ² This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them. So Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question. ³ The church sent them on their way, and as they traveled through Phoenicia and Samaria, they told how the Gentiles had been converted. This news made all the believers very glad. ⁴ When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and elders, to whom they reported everything God had done through them.

 ⁵ Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, “The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to keep the law of Moses.”

 ⁶ The apostles and elders met to consider this question. ⁷ After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them: “Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe. ⁸ God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. ⁹ He did not discriminate between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith. ¹⁰ Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of Gentiles a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors have been able to bear? ¹¹ No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.”

 ¹² The whole assembly became silent as they listened to Barnabas and Paul telling about the signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them. ¹³ When they finished, James spoke up. “Brothers,” he said, “listen to me. ¹⁴ Simon^[a] has described to us how God first intervened to choose a people for his name from the Gentiles. ¹⁵ The words of the prophets are in agreement with this, as it is written:

 ¹⁶ “‘After this I will return
   and rebuild David’s fallen tent.
Its ruins I will rebuild,
   and I will restore it,
¹⁷ that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord,
   even all the Gentiles who bear my name,
says the Lord, who does these things’^[b]—
 ¹⁸ things known from long ago.^[c]

 ¹⁹ “It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. ²⁰ Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood. ²¹ For the law of Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath.”

The Council’s Letter to Gentile Believers

 ²² Then the apostles and elders, with the whole church, decided to choose some of their own men and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They chose Judas (called Barsabbas) and Silas, men who were leaders among the believers. ²³ With them they sent the following letter:

   The apostles and elders, your brothers,

   To the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia:

   Greetings.

 ²⁴ We have heard that some went out from us without our authorization and disturbed you, troubling your minds by what they said. ²⁵ So we all agreed to choose some men and send them to you with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul— ²⁶ men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. ²⁷ Therefore we are sending Judas and Silas to confirm by word of mouth what we are writing. ²⁸ It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: ²⁹ You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things.

   Farewell.

 ³⁰ So the men were sent off and went down to Antioch, where they gathered the church together and delivered the letter. ³¹ The people read it and were glad for its encouraging message. ³² Judas and Silas, who themselves were prophets, said much to encourage and strengthen the believers. ³³ After spending some time there, they were sent off by the believers with the blessing of peace to return to those who had sent them. ^{[34] [d] 35} But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, where they and many others taught and preached the word of the Lord.

Disagreement Between Paul and Barnabas

 ³⁶ Some time later Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us go back and visit the believers in all the towns where we preached the word of the Lord and see how they are doing.” ³⁷ Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them, ³⁸ but Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work. ³⁹ They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus, ⁴⁰ but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the believers to the grace of the Lord. ⁴¹ He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.