A story in the Washington Post broke the Mormon internet yesterday with allegations that the so-called church has misused its tithes and offerings from members and been dishonest about how their “sacred” funds are being used.

If true, then excess tithes of $1 Billion that are not used within the church are annually funneled into a different 501(c)(3) organization (Ensign Peak Advisors) where they are stockpiled and used to bail out for-profit organizations like Beneficial Life, or invested into their portfolio for returns that are used to prop up the for-profit division of the church.

If you’re asking yourself if it would be illegal for a tax-exempt organization to have a war chest that is not used for the organization itself or charitable work, you’d be right.

If you’re asking yourself if your tithing is building up the church or building up its investment portfolio, that would be a good question to ask.

If you’re wondering if your tithing built the City Creek Mall or the rodeo arena at the State Fair, that’s a valid question.

The church has long maintained that tithing is used internally to help the membership and pay the bills for the meetinghouses and temples. If that’s true, that’s fine. That’s how non-profit organizations are designed. But if these allegations are true, then the church has been dishonest with its members about how their donations are being used.

The disclaimer at the bottom of the tithing and offerings slip currently reads, “Though reasonable efforts will be made globally to use donations as designated, all donations become the Church’s property and will be used at the Church’s sole discretion to further the Church’s overall mission.” So does that mean that your tithes or offerings could be used to build another City Creek Mall? Yes, yes it does. And the church currently does not report to its members what their hard earned and faithfully donated money is being used for.

If these allegations are true, then I faithfully paid tithing for years that I really could have used for myself and my family instead of buying a new mall for Salt Lake City. I paid tithing instead of rent once because that’s what I was told to do. I bought groceries with credit cards when my hours were cut at work at my first job after I graduated, but faithfully paid tithing. I qualified for medicaid, CHIP, and WIC benefits from the government, and faithfully paid tithing. I could have just used that tithing for food and healthcare for my family. The church doesn’t need your money. Even if all donations ceased, they are earning 7% on their investment portfolio and within a decade or so will have $1 Trillion Dollars in assets.

I thought that Jesus said “lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth”, not “build me a mall with excess tithes” or “bail out my for-profit organizations that aren’t doing so well” or “invest the excess billion into my portfolio”.

If these allegations are as true as they appear to be so far, then the church is not honest in its dealings with its fellow man and would not qualify to enter its own temples.

In the statement released by the church today they said “the vast majority” of tithes are used as intended. $6 out of $7 billion would be the vast majority. So they admit they are skimming off the top and not using the donations in accordance with IRS guidelines for a tax exempt organization?